Forsaken Dreamscape (Nevermor) (26 page)

Wren
was ready to follow them, and Calico had already stepped toward the lift, but a
whistling sound made them stop.

Wren
turned her head to see Finn and Nix running their way.  Her heart was lifted to
see them both, glad that they would all be together now as they got to safety,
but the smile was quickly taken from her face.

A
forceful arm drew around her shoulders, pulling her back, restraining her.  One
of the villagers that had been leading her away had taken hold of her
unexpectedly, and to her thinking, for no reason.  A hand went to her throat,
and though she had not seen it, she could feel the cold edge of a blade on her
skin.

Nix
and Finn were aware of it as well.  They slowed their pace, hesitant now.

“Please
don’t do this,” Finn entreated, keeping his voice firm.  “We’re better than
this.”

The
person holding Wren said nothing in response, but she could hear his nervous
breath.  She was nervous as well.  She could see that Finn’s eyes were full of
concern, and beside him, Nix was itching to act.

Someone
do something!

“Put
the knife down,” Finn said, begging with his hands.  “We don’t have to result
to this again!”

Wren
could hear the one behind her groaning angrily as if he wanted to speak, but
couldn’t quite recall how.  Calico had managed to move closer to Finn and Nix,
away from those who might try to grab her as well.  Though Finn was begging,
the villager did not seem to be losing his grip.

“Finn!”
she gasped pleadingly, hearing the desperation in her own voice.  Her captor
had not budged, despite Finn’s effort.  Nix was looking at her, and he had lost
all patience for this.

“Finn,
get your man to
back off
,” he shouted.  He was reaching for his gun. 
Wren could not see how this could go well.

Her
captor pressed the knife harder against her throat as if to warn Nix against
his pending act–

Wren
heard noises behind her, the snapping of branches, and then a sudden jolt sent
her falling to the wooden planks below.  Nix was there quickly, pulling her to
her feet, and she turned in enough time to see what had delivered her.

The
one who had threatened her was there, pierced through by a branch that left a
bloody wound in his chest.  The others of his kind did not dare try to help
him.  They only stood back, watching as their kinsman was pulled back into the
dark tree, disappearing from sight.

Other
sharp branches shot out, stabbing into the villagers that were standing near
the edge of the platform, pulling them back into the darkness.  Wren’s eyes
widened in horror as she watched, but what was happening was clear in the
simplest form: the forest that had protected these people had turned on them.

“We
have to get out of here, Finn,” Nix reminded him harshly.  “
Now
!”

Finn
came to life at that, swallowing this misfortune and taking control of himself.

“Everyone
wearing the Tikilin?” he asked quickly, ushering them back as he turned.  None
of them spoke up against it.  “Follow me then!”

Finn
dashed off, and Nix quickly pulled Wren to follow.  He was holding her arm so
tightly that it might have bruised, but she did not want him to let her go. 
She wanted him to get her out of here.  Calico was with them, but the villagers
stayed behind.  They did not even try to flee as the forest picked them off one
after another, taking as many as it desired to pay the blood price.

They
aren’t even trying to fight!
  Distantly, she was reminded of
herself.

Wren
knew that she couldn’t dwell on the fates of those people.  She had to focus on
getting herself away from the danger, keeping up with the others.  She was not
sure where Finn was taking them, but she kept running and did not look back.

“This
way!” Finn shouted, and without any sort of hesitation, he leapt off the edge
of the platform, plummeting to the forest floor below.

Finn!

Wren
gasped and rushed to the edge.  It was a long way to the ground, for the trees
were quite tall, and when they reached the end of the platform, Finn was still
falling.  They all saw him land – straight on his feet with what looked like a
bit of bending at the knees, but he stood back up and waved his arms to them,
perfectly unscathed.

Calico
muttered something in her native tongue, but followed his lead without question. 
Though it was clear that all this was perfectly safe with the aid of the Tikilin,
Wren had no intention of dropping off there.  She was frozen – completely
unable to move.  All too suddenly, she was standing on the edge of a roof
beneath a dark sky.  A storm was blowing in, tossing her hair violently.  In
her ears were swirling whispers, and beneath her on the ground was the bloody
grass.  The children’s bodies,
broken
.  It had not been meant to happen
that way! 
Why
had it happened?

Please
forgive me.  I couldn’t save you.  I was a fool.

When
a hand touched her arm, she gasped and drew back in shock.  She looked up to
see Nix, realizing then that she was shaking.

“Let’s
go!” he insisted.

“I
just – I cannot do this,” she sputtered, hardly able to gather the words.

Nix
looked back over his shoulder, no doubt gauging the danger of the thrashing
branches.  Wren did not dare look back.

“What
is the difference between this and flying?  You’ve done that many times.”

“Because
it is not
flying
; it is falling!”  An idea came to her. “I have the
fairy ashes.  I can use some of them now.”

“No
time!”

So
much blood…  It could have been me as well.  It should have been!

She
lowered her head so he could not look at her terrified expression.  He tired of
her quickly.

“I
suppose we’ll have to be old-fashioned about this then.”

Before
she could protest, he had swept her up beneath her knees, lifted her up in his
arms and stepped over the platform.  She was too terrified to scream, using all
of her concentration to hold on tightly to his shoulders.

It
was several moments of falling before they hit the damp ground, and even after
the wind had stopped rushing up through her hair and gown, Wren was not able to
feel comfortable enough to pry away her grip.  Nix let her legs fall to the
soggy earth, and after feeling it beneath her feet, she was finally able to let
go and stand on her own.  Here, the trees were still, and they did not stir
even at their presence.

“Not
so bad,” Nix said to her quietly. “You’re alright now.”

He
may have been sure of that, but Wren was not.  True she was alive, and perhaps
safe now, but she was furious with him.

“Perhaps
not so bad for
you
,” she snapped, shoving him in the chest to push away
from him.  He didn’t say anything and she didn’t feel like explaining herself –
refused to talk about it – but she did not appreciate what he had done.  She
trusted that he knew that for now, and that was all he needed to know.  She
stormed away.

“You
need to be braver, Wren,” he said after her.  She heard his words, but made no
response to them.  Instead, she looked toward Finn.

He
was staring up toward the village, silent as he’d been when he’d dwelled among
them.  There was sadness in his eyes, but how could there not be.  He had cared
about those people.  She wanted to ask if he was alright, but almost as soon as
the words had come up from the back of her throat, Finn stood up a little
straighter and took a breath.  In that moment, she saw him put all of the
night’s events behind him.

How
can it be that easy?  But perhaps it is.

“Right,
so you’ll want to take point then,” Finn said to Nix knowingly.

Nix
was silent as he took the lead, but shook his head as he stepped past her. 
Wren stood there sullenly, waiting for her heart to slow, and as they began to
move, Finn took her arm.  She must have looked as unsteady as she felt.

“I
hate that this was how you experienced the village,” he said.  She couldn’t
believe her ears.  After all that he had seen himself, he was concerned over
her.

“Finn,
please…”

“No,
you were right,” he cut in.  “What you said to me earlier is true.  If there is
even the slightest chance that this world can be fixed, I have to take it.  I
really have no choice.  I guess that we’re off to meet Rifter, whether I like
it or not.  It has nothing to do with me.”

Wren
was not quite to the point of being relieved, but she was glad to hear him say
it.

“And
I’m sorry about the jump,” he went on.  “You get used to it.  I’ve always found
it helps to think of it as flying.”

That
was not flying
,
Wren thought to herself.  Flying was controlled.  Falling was not.  Consider that
she might have landed on her head?  Terrible thoughts.  Terrible
memories
.

Even
so, Wren swallowed her uneasiness and moved on with her three companions, off
on a path that Nix had explained to her previously – finishing this stretch of
woods and a piece of flatland until they reached their next destination of
significance.

The
mountains.

4

Hidden
within the trees of the Silent Woods, a tiny golden-skinned creature looked on
at the scene, and after she saw what transpired, she smiled mischievously to
herself.  The Pack was gathering, just as anticipated – as foretold – and among
them was the demon that was all too familiar to Whisper.

Wren
, she recalled
disgustedly.

The
fairy wisp remembered this girl.  She had never been anything but trouble for
Rifter and this place, but was strangely untouchable.  All of Whisper’s
attempts to destroy her – and there had been many – had failed.  This time,
however, there was no escaping what was in store.  The fairy could have gone
for her now, but she would wait – wait because the outcome would be much more
satisfying.

With
a light snicker, she turned away, shooting off through the trees.  Yes, it
would be worth the wait to
finally
watch Wren die.

1

After
the events of the night which had left a mark on them all, the company traveled
in silence for a long while.  The rain had stopped and dawn had broken, but
dark clouds were looming overhead, threatening a downpour.

As
Wren walked, she cast her gaze over at Finn.  He was quiet as the rest of them,
dressed in his furry disguise from the night before.  His appearance was
frightening in a way, but in the daylight it was clearer that the attire was
only a costume.  His satchel was secured beneath the covering of fur that hung
over him, giving the impression of a nastily curved spine.  On his face beneath
the hood, his mask jutted out in a short beak and he wore a pair of bulky
goggles that enlarged his interesting eyes, making him look even more inhuman.

He
must feel horrible about what happened
.  While she felt sympathetic toward
him, she couldn’t bring herself to offer words.

He
stayed near to her, but she had since begun to travel without the support of
his arm.  Since her descent from the treetops, she was feeling better.  She had
almost forgotten it, but not the way she had snapped at Nix, who had not spoken
to her since.  Nix continued to lead while Calico trailed straight after him as
if it were her duty to keep him in line.

I
should apologize
,
Wren thought, but changed her mind.  She would wait until an opportunity
presented itself. 

“It’s
not too far until we’re out of the woods,” Calico called back to them.  “The
trees are thinning.”

“What
do you know about the mountains, Finn?”  Nix asked. “Since they aren’t far from
where you dwell, you must know something useful.”

“Thank
you for that rousing vote of faith,” Finn countered.  Wren thought that he
sounded very much like his old self in that moment.  Perhaps he was not so
beaten down after all.  “But as luck would have it, I do know something.  I’m
familiar with this range.  We call it the
Northern Barrier
.”

He
made a signal with his hand as he said it – a force of habit.

“Not
to be confused with the High Mountain; that is a long way from here.  I haven’t
been near them in years myself, but I’d say conditions are the same as they
were.  The barrier was always fairly deserted because of the cold weather and
harsh winds, but the Tikilin will help adjust our body temperature so that we
might handle it.  Who knows what dwells there...  Could be any form of beastly
nightmare – or nothing at all.”

“No
people?” asked Wren, keeping up with his stride.

“Perhaps
a few,” he conceded, “but most likely not on the mountain itself.  They would
live in the caves beneath.  In former days, the caves were said to be the
secret dwellings of pirates, but I’ve never heard a confirmation of that.”