The Summoning (working title)
Chapter Three
Erick abruptly woke from his restless sleep when a hand
clamped roughly over his mouth. His eyes flew open, and he tried to jerk his
body away from the pressing hand, but he was pinned down by Ryan. The dim light
told him morning had barely arrived. His eyes widened in fear when he saw the
alarm on Ryan’s face, and his lips formed a silent Shhh.
Erick quit struggling, and Ryan moved off him. He
motioned for Erick to follow, then started crawling on hands and knees, keeping
close to the fallen tree. Erick followed Ryan as they made their way down the
length of it. The splintered end of the log became lost in a tangled web of
branches and green-black leaves of the next tree. The thick brush gave them
enough cover to peer unseen into the forest spreading out before them.
Erick heard the sound. The soft plodding of a four-footed
animal making its way through the layers of decaying leaves. Slowly the figures
wove their way through the trees, coming into their line of sight. Two of them,
each riding the strange animals like horses and covered in black hooded cloaks.
The material draped in heavy folds and fell past their feet. The deep hoods
were pulled up, completely obscuring their faces. Only their hands, clutching
the reins of their mounts, were exposed, revealing black skin stretched tight
over long gnarled bones. The fingers thinned until they resembled claws more
than fingertips.
The four-legged creatures mirrored the riders’
frightening appearance. They were completely black, emaciated looking, with a moist
sheen on the hairless skin. The head reminded Erick of a horse’s, though
painfully elongated. Long rows of serrated teeth were set into narrow extended
jaws, and the pointed snouts held large slit-like nostrils. Where eyes would
have been, nothing but large hollowed sockets remained. Starting at the base of
the skull, boney projections proceeded down the neck and must have continued
along the back. The tail looked like vertebrae strung together and covered with
tight black skin.
The two riders rode together as much as the forest growth
would allow. They ambled at a casual pace, but with a sense of purpose. Within
a few long agonizing moments, the closest rider plodded within four feet of the
boys. Then, in the heavy oppressive air, the smell reached them. A sickening
sharp scent mingled with the overpowering stench of decaying flesh turned Erick’s
stomach with the first inhale.
Erick swiftly clamped his jaws together and pursed his
lips to fight back a reflexive gag. Despite his effort to keep silent, a sound
came from the back of his throat. The closest rider paused to glance in the
general direction of the small noise. His face, shrouded by the concealing
hood, didn’t allow Erick to make out any features in the darkness. But he was
pretty sure, based on what the hands looked like and the putrid smell, he didn’t
want to see what was hidden inside.
The second rider paused as well, and the seconds
continued to stretch unbearably long. Erick could feel the panic rising, making
his heart race. His muscles tensed and quivered, readying his body to bolt at
first sign of discovery. The rider, though, eventually became satisfied with
the silence and started to slowly move on with the second rider matching the
casual pace.
Ryan and Erick remained concealed long after the riders
left until certain they were out of earshot. They extricated themselves from
their shelter of branches and began to run, flat out, in the opposite direction
of the riders. Tripping over gnarled roots, stumbling over rocks, and pushing
through grabbing branches, Erick had one thought: We’re in hell.
***
Erick, hunched over on hands and knees, retched
violently. Not having had anything to eat nor drink for almost a day, it was
more a series of dry heaves rasping against his throat. He finally collapsed,
breathing deeply. He glanced to the side and saw Ryan sitting a few feet away,
watching him with a slight smirk.
Erick closed his eyes, wondering how Ryan remained so
calm. Hunger and thirst he could deal with, although both were tapping his
strength, but those … things shook him to his core. Every nerve in his body
told him they were evil, and he shuddered to think there could be more in this
forest.
When his stomach stopped roiling around, Erick sat up.
“You look like shit.” Ryan’s voice held no sympathy.
“Yeah, well, I feel like it, too.” Erick’s throat hurt,
and his head throbbed. With a shaky hand he tried to sweep away the strands of
hair sticking to his clammy forehead. Erick found it easier to let his eyes
close than trying to keep them open. Everything seemed washed out and distant
anyway. Exhausted, he didn’t care if he slipped into the waiting darkness and
never woke up. It couldn’t be worse than here.
“Did you hear me?”
The loud voice cut through his stupor, and Erick blinked
to find Ryan’s face mere inches from his own. He tried focusing on the brown
eyes boring into his, but it was just too difficult, and his lids drooped
again. He heard Ryan curse, then felt fingers digging into his shoulders. The pain
was enough to make Erick open his eyes again.
“We need to get going. We can’t stay here. We need to
find water and get more distance between us and those things.” Ryan enunciated
every word slowly and clearly, and the seriousness of his expression suggested
he was more rattled than he let on.
The words and look registered. Erick nodded and tried
getting his feet under him. The hands on his shoulders tightened, and Ryan
pulled him up, letting go once Erick stopped swaying. Ryan turned, took a few
steps, then looked back. Erick took a couple unsteady steps, then a couple
more. Ryan started walking while Erick staggered behind him. Just follow.
Don’t think. Just follow.
***
Not knowing whether mere minutes passed or lengthy hours,
Erick was jarred back to awareness by a bright stabbing light. When his eyes
adjusted to the brightness of the midday sun, he found he was standing on top
of a bank that dropped about twenty feet to a large sparkling and tumbling
river. On the opposite bank a wide grassy meadow stretched and rolled until
reaching the base of mountains. High grey purple peaks jutted far into the
cloudless blue sky. On their side of the bank, the forest continued without
end.
Erick followed Ryan down the steep embankment, slipping
every few feet, until he reached the shore. Zeroing in on the water, Erick’s
strides lengthened across the sand.
“Drink only a little,” Ryan called out as Erick dropped
to his knees near the water’s edge. He knew Ryan’s advice was probably wise,
but when he cupped the water to his mouth and the coolness flowed down his
parched throat, he found he couldn’t stop drinking. He drew more and more water
to his face and sucked it in, barely stopping to breathe.
It didn’t take long before he leaned over the sand and
threw up. Ryan snickered as Erick rolled over onto his back, closed his eyes,
and let the sunlight wash over him. He didn’t care if Ryan laughed at him. He
was just thankful they’d found water.
After a couple of minutes, he returned to the water and
sipped small amounts. He glanced over to see Ryan sitting with his legs
extended straight out, his upper body angled back supported by his elbows. His
face, with eyes closed, tilted back while a light breeze lifted strands of his
long wavy brown hair. His relaxed posture gave Erick the hope they were going
to stay here awhile.
They ended up staying the rest of the afternoon resting
in the warm sun and drinking the cool water. The sun began to sink lower in the
sky and before it touched the horizon, Ryan stood. “You’d better take one more
drink before we head back into the forest.”
Erick’s eyes grew wide upon hearing he’d have to go back
into that dreaded place. “Why?”
Instantly he regretted questioning Ryan when he saw his
jaw set. He glared at Erick, but paused before he spoke. “We’re out in the open
here. With the noise of the river, we won’t hear anything until it’s too late.”
Erick noticed the effort Ryan made not to yell at him, so
he reluctantly nodded in agreement. He didn’t like the idea of going back into
the forest, but he disliked the idea of pissing off Ryan by arguing even more.
Erick took a last long drink from the river, then waited
for Ryan to take the lead. They scrambled up the embankment and walked until
the sound of the river was just a murmur in the stillness.
Ryan picked out a sheltered area where the branches hung
low, and the ground was well padded with leaves. “How about you take the first
watch tonight? You look better than you did earlier, and I think it would be a
good idea if one of us stays awake while the other sleeps.”
Erick nodded. “Sure.” The request was fair, and he felt
rather obligated to comply.
Ryan returned the nod, then stretched out on the ground. “When
you start dropping off, wake me up.”
Soon Erick heard Ryan’s breathing become slow and deep in
the silence. Time passed slowly, and he did his best to stay awake long enough
for Ryan to get some rest. When he caught his head repeatedly dropping down to
his chest, he gave up and woke Ryan to take over. Erick lay on his makeshift
bed of leaves and, without any effort, drifted into sleep.
He was walking through the gloom of the forest again,
anxiously looking for something. The longer it took to find it, the faster he
went until he was stumbling and crawling through the forest. He was going too
slow! Panic started to set in as he realized he’d never find him. “Wait for me!
Don’t leave!”
Erick heard the muffled galloping of hooves on the forest
floor. Turning his head, he could see the black rider coming fast through the
trees. A scream caught in his throat, and the ground came up to meet him when
his foot caught an exposed root, tripping him. The rider stopped his mount and
dropped lightly to the ground. Erick frantically scrambled to get himself off
the ground, but he kept slipping on the dried leaves. Striding swiftly, the
black figure was almost on top of Erick. A gnarled black hand extended toward
his throat. “Ryan!”
Erick struggled violently against the grip. Something was
clamped over his mouth and nose, cutting off his air, while he tried to scream.
“Shut up!” Ryan hissed into his ear. Erick opened his
eyes in the dim morning light to see Ryan’s furious face right next to his. One
of Ryan’s hands gripped the back of his neck painfully hard and the other was
still firmly over his mouth. Erick stopped struggling, and the silence resumed.
Then they heard the soft galloping of hooves on the leaf-littered forest floor.
Ryan cursed repeatedly in low whispers. Erick’s eyes grew
wide, and his body stiffened. Ryan quickly brought his hands down to grab the
front of Erick’s shirt. He pulled Erick, seemingly without effort, to his feet
and threw him behind a large bush growing next to a massive tree. Ryan grabbed
a short thick branch off the ground and hid himself behind the tree. All they
could do was wait. It was too late to run.
The galloping grew steadily louder. It was a lot more
than two this time. The dull muffled pounding came to a stop nearby, followed
by the sound of riders dismounting.
Erick had a difficult time seeing anything clearly
through the mass of leaves. He adjusted his head, careful not to make any
noise, so his line of sight found a small opening. He glanced at Ryan’s back
and saw him poised and ready with his makeshift club. Erick wondered if Ryan
realized his attempt to defend them was a futile effort given the dozen or so
newcomers. He turned his head to peer through the tangled branches and felt the
tension in his body lessen. They weren’t the black riders.
The new arrivals were fair-skinned and similar to each
other looks-wise. They were small in stature, none taller than himself, and
slender, with narrow angular features and black arched eyebrows. Long arms and
legs allowed them to move in a smooth, sinuous fashion. Most wore their long
black hair in ponytails.
Differences between them were subtle; height, hair
texture, and some showed graying at the temples. Their clothing, consisting of
long-sleeved tunic tops, leggings, and soft-looking boots, were in shades of
green, brown, and tan.
Human-like, Erick determined, but definitely not human.
Their eyes more than anything else gave this away. The colors were more vibrant
than human eyes. Normal colors of blue, green, and brown, became absolutely
striking against the pale skin and black hair. But the gold hue in some and
obsidian black in others made these people look completely inhuman.
Although grateful they weren’t the black riders, Erick
had no intention of approaching them. They fanned out to examine the area, and
all were armed with narrow bladed swords.
While he concentrated on studying the visitors, one of
them drifted in front of his hiding place. He started at the unexpected
appearance. He focused his eyes to observe the passing figure and noticed this
one was short, and the hair tumbled long and wavy down the back. Though thin
like the others, the small waist gave the appearance of slight curves. The head
and upper body turned to almost face Erick, and his breath caught. Female!
She turned away and continued to silently make her way in
front of the massive tree, coming unknowingly closer to Ryan’s raised club.
Although he couldn’t see nor hear her approach, Erick could see Ryan was ready
to bring the club down at first sight. There were only seconds left.
Erick sprung from the brush, leaping onto Ryan’s back and
thrusting them forward past the concealing trunk, causing them to tumble to the
ground. In an instant, Ryan rolled, flattening Erick to the ground while
straddling him. Erick saw Ryan’s face twisted in fury and his fist raised. The
fist froze when a sword tip pressed against his throat. Erick glanced away from
Ryan to see the female’s face cold and glaring, her hands gripping the sword
tightly. Erick knew, and he was sure Ryan did, too, she wouldn’t hesitate in
running the blade through.
TO BE CONTINUED...
