Hidden (Book 1) (24 page)

"Now," Bastian
yelled. Light from
Carrac’s
dragon candles blasted
through the fog. Twenty beasts stood in a semi-circle in front of the ragtag
army.

Their
fangs bared, dripping with blood and spittle, the beasts towered over them,
twice as tall as the humans, bodies covered in bristled hair, claws longer than
Bastian’s sword.

Bastian's
legs trembled. His stomach rebelled. But he held his ground, not showing the
monsters his fear. Instead he gazed on them with darkened eyes and a fire
burning in his soul.

"Bastian."

The
voice came from the beast in the center, its lips moving, mocking Tressa's
voice. Snarling, its jaw dropped, releasing hideous laughter.

"Attack!"
Bastian broke free of the safety of his group and lunged for the beast in the
middle. His sword swung in the air, dropping in a deadly arc toward the beast's
belly. Roars enveloped him, masking every other sound in the forest. The cries
of his people fell away. It was only
him
and the
beasts.

He
hacked and slashed, using every ounce of his strength until his muscles
shrieked for respite. Fur flew in the air, followed by flesh. The light gray fog
quickly changed to maroon, oozing with the blood of the beasts.
Or of his companions.
Bastian wouldn't turn away from the
battle to see.

A wooly,
muscled arm flung out at Bastian, knocking him down to the ground, taking all
of his breath in one fell swoop. His sword slipped, just beyond his reach.
Bastian shook his head, forcing clarity to return.

Through
the mist, he saw a pike sticking out from the chest of one of the beasts, one
of Bastian's men hung from the shaft, his legs dangling in the air. Still he
didn't give up, Tom
thrusted
with all of his
strength, desperately attempting to drive the spear deeper into the beast's
chest. The beast howled, sending chills down Bastian's spine.

He
pushed himself up to sitting, but his head still swam from the impact. The
battle raged on around him. His men and women stepped up to the challenge,
fighting the beasts with a passion and bloodlust Bastian didn’t know they had
possessed. Simple life in Hutton's Bridge hadn't dulled their instincts after
all.

Chips
of oak flew through the air as their hastily made shields splintered upon
impact. The might behind the beasts' arms arcing through the air were no match
for their shields. Still, it bought time and the people of Hutton's Bridge
needed every second they could muster.

Another
wave of men came running through the fog, leaping toward the beasts. They
hacked at their ankles, bringing beast after beast down to its knees. One beast
lifted an arm, his paws bearing three of Bastian's men impaled on its claws. He
popped all three in his mouth, filling the forest with the sound of crunching
bones.

Men and
women fell to the ground, landing in puddles of blood. The beasts were winning.
Not one of them was felled yet.

Bastian
heaved himself to his feet, reached down for his sword, and took off running.
It was time to give the advantage to his people. He
zigged
and
zagged
through the battle, jumping over fallen
friends without a second glance. At the feet of a beast, he speared it in the
calf,
then
hoisted himself up and over its knee. His
fingers knotted into the beast's fur, he pulled the sword out of its calf and
stuck it in the beast's hip, pulling himself up again.

The beast
swatted at him, but Bastian used its own momentum against it. Like a fly, he
hopped around, never letting the lumbering beast touch him. It was used to
fighting slowly in darkness, but Bastian had the advantage of light this time.
He was quicker and more agile. Time to prove to the townspeople that the beast
could be defeated.

Bastian
pulled his sword out of the beast's hip. With one final thrust, he slid the
sword into the beast's heart.

It
cried out and stumbled to the side. Bastian pulled on his sword, then stuck the
beast again in the same spot, giving the hilt a twist. Blood spurted out of its
mouth, raining down on the assailants.

Bastian
couldn't help but smile. He held on tight as the beast fell to the ground.
Bastian climbed on top of its head. "They can be killed!" he yelled,
shaking his sword.

The
townspeople rallied, their arms swinging faster, thrusting harder, emboldened
by the victory.

One
after another, the beasts fell, until only Bastian’s army remained standing.
Not without significant loss of life to the residents of Hutton's Bridge.
Bastian walked among the dead, speaking their names aloud and committing them
to memory. He'd brought them there and if he couldn't bring them home alive,
he'd at least remember them.

"Now
what, sir?" Garrick, one of the younger men of the community who shadowed
him asked, “Are we free?"

"The
fog still stands. We have one more foe left to defeat.”

“It
can’t be worse than those.” Garrick pointed at the dead beasts with his sword.

“I
don’t know,” Bastian said. “We’re about to find out.”

"Let's move." Bastian
wiped the blood off his blade with a large leaf.

"Where
to now?" asked Tom. Blood was smeared across his face, erasing the smile
he'd always projected. Battle changed him. It would change them all.

"If
we keep moving ahead, we'll make our way out of here in no time." Bastian
pointed ahead into the mist. He motioned to one of the candle bearers to come
forward.

As the
boy walked, the light bounced off the mist and tree branches, giving the forest
a more frightening appearance. Beasts had lurked in
a those
shadows, drawing villagers from Hutton's Bridge to their deaths for many years.
No longer.

"Walk
with me," he told the boy. "We have no reason to hide any
longer."

The boy
nodded nervously. Still he kept pace with Bastian. Their feet trudged through
the damp undergrowth. Bastian's breeches were soaked to mid-calf and clung to
his legs like a snake to a vine.

The
dragon candles still shone in the mist, illuminating the landscape Bastian had
only felt until that day. Trees of all kinds, birch, oak, and maple, reached up
toward the sky. Lichens meandered up and around trees, crawling from branch to
branch, connecting the trees to each other in an intricate dance of life.
Centipedes scurried, their legs scuttling faster than a hummingbird's wings in
flight.

The
mist clung to everything, a shawl enveloping the forest in its protective
embrace. At least this time Bastian could see it all instead of worrying his
deepest fears lurked in its depths. He knew its secrets intimately. He'd
defeated the beast. The woman in the trees, and her two companions on the other
edges of the forest, only seemed to care if something, or someone, was entering
the forest. He finally felt he had been given a blessing to leave.

Adam
nudged Bastian with his elbow as he slipped up next to him. "All the
wounded have been cared for or taken back to the village. There are about fifty
of us left for the next battle."

The
woman in the tree.
She was Bastian's next target. It would be
tricky. The upper branches of the tree wouldn't hold the weight of all of his
warriors. He needed the strongest and the
most clever
.
The ones who could think quickly and act accordingly.

It
would be impossible to sneak up on her. Climbing the trees would take a few
minutes and it was unlikely they could do it quietly enough to surprise her.
If noise even mattered.
Her body was tied to the tree in
some magical fashion. It was likely she knew their every move on the way up.
The rest of the men would remain on the ground, to catch them if they fell like
Bastian did the first time, or climb up and attack if their comrades fell.

"Those
numbers are good. More than I expected," Bastian said.

Adam
raised an eyebrow. "You fought well today. So did the others, considering
their lack of experience."

"You
think we were lucky." It wasn't a question. They both knew it.

Adam
nodded. He looked back at the candle bearer. The boy made no indication he was
listening to them. "The beasts were frightened and disoriented by the
light. It weakened them."

"Their
advantage lay in the darkness of the mist, I know." Bastian shuddered as
he remembered the trouble they had caused him. Of the lives lost.

"And
in their size."

Bastian
laughed. "In some ways that worked against them too." He looked up at
the trees, knowing they were getting ever closer to the edge of the forest and
their next target. His words dried up, sober.

"What
do we need to know about her?" Adam asked. He switched his pack of medical
supplies from one shoulder to the other. Bastian noticed it wasn't as full as
when they left Hutton's Bridge.

"She
has great magic, for one. Beyond that, I do not know. Her heart appears to be
fed by the tree sap. Or maybe she gives life to the tree. I wish I knew more
about how her magic worked before we climbed up. Sophia’s book didn't tell me
much."

"We're
just lucky
Carrac
discovered the power of dragon
tallow." Adam pointed at the lantern. "Without it, I'm not sure we
would have beaten the beasts."

Bastian
nodded. "There is so much we don't know. I saw things beyond the forest
that I don't understand. Children there know more than we do."

"We'll
learn soon enough. I, for one, cannot wait." Adam rubbed his hands in
anticipation. "Finding new medicines to save lives. New procedures. I have
to believe they're farther advanced than I am."

"They
are." Bastian remembered the doctor who'd claimed he could save Connor
before he'd been stolen from the infirmary. "I have a feeling you'll have
more to learn than you can in your lifetime."

"That's
fine with me. I've been ready to leave Hutton's Bridge for years."

"Then
why didn't you ever volunteer to go into the fog?" Bastian asked. His
uncle hadn't ever shown interest in leaving before.

Adam
sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I promised Sophia I'd stick
around and keep an eye on you and Tressa. She implied there was something
special about the two of you." He rolled his eyes. "Just an old
woman's
rantings
, but I didn't want to worry her. I
wanted to leave, but it didn't mean I was willing to commit suicide in the fog.
When you came back, it was nothing short of a miracle."

Bastian
hung his head. He'd brushed death too many times over the last few months. He
didn't believe in miracles, especially after seeing his mother and Tressa's father
living in a hidden settlement in the forest. He wasn't special. He was
persistent.

"I
wouldn't have followed anyone into the fog," Adam said. "Though it
never occurred to me to follow my nephew. I should have gone with you the first
time you left. I never should have let Connor go. He had a wife he loved.
Children. No one would have missed me."

"Hutton's
Bridge needs your healing knowledge. Without it, they'd all be dead from
plague." Bastian stopped abruptly. He reached out and grabbed the shirt of
the candle bearer in front of him, pulling him backward. The fog was dissipating
quickly. They’d reached the end.

But
there was one more battle ahead.

He nodded
his head toward the tree, one finger over his lips,
then
he pointed up.

Adam motioned
for silence to the men behind them. The forest was still, their
chests
, alive with breath, the only movement.

Bastian
checked his sword. It was secure in the scabbard. He reached up, hoisting
himself into the lower branches of the tree. The branches he’d broken in his
fall the last time through were still hanging askew. Still, he climbed, knowing
she was up there somewhere.

He
emerged above the fog, face to face with the woman in the tree. He reached out,
touching her hand.
As hard as bark, and as fragile.
With
the slightest snap he could break off her fingers. He took care to use a light
touch. If Sophia’s book spoke true, the woman was as trapped as the rest of
them. A slave to the magic she’d wrought eighty years ago.

The
last time he’d been there, she hadn’t paid him any attention before the bird
flew into view. It was a threat to the village. All he needed was to create a danger
to rouse her from her slumber. Bastian whistled a signal to Adam.

A bird
flew upward, released from a bag Adam had carried with him. Bastian hated
sacrificing the colorful warbler. Short of attacking the woman, he didn’t know
of another way to get her attention.

The
bird flew up to Bastian, flitted around the branches, and rose higher up the
above. The woman’s eyes snapped open, focused on the bird. Her hand lifted.
Green blood pumped through her veins, preparing to fire her magic.

“Wait!”
Bastian pleaded. “Don’t hurt it.”

Her
gaze left the bird and burned into Bastian. “You again. You are dead.” Her green
lips whispered like spring leaves.

“I need
to talk to you. I’m from Hutton’s Bridge.”

Her
hand drifted down to her side. “You must go back. Stay hidden.”

“No.”
He argued as gently as he could. “It’s time for us to leave. It’s time for the fog
to fall.”

She
stared over his shoulder at the fog. “I tried to protect you from the dragon.”
The green blood pumped harder, her veins bulging and popping.

“It
landed in the village, where it quickly died.” He hoped reassuring her would calm
the anger.

“I have
failed.”

“No.
You protected us. You did as you said you would. But now we can stand on our
own again. You must let us be free.”

“My
brother to the east tells me Sophia asked for the fog to remain. Every year she
visited him, begging them to maintain the fog. We did as she asked.”

Sophia?
In the fog?
Bastian couldn’t help but think of the
book Udor had found in the cottage. How much had she known? What had she done?

“Sophia
is gone now too.”

A tear
of sap slipped from the woman’s eye. “She was the last of the originals.”

“Yes.
Now it is time for us to be freed.”

“Perhaps
it is.” The woman stepped from the hollow, vines still connecting her to the
tree. She laid a hand on Bastian’s shoulder. “Are you prepared?”

“Are
any of us ever prepared?”

Her
branch-like fingers dug into his skin. “We only wanted to protect you.”

“You
did. You saved countless lives. But now it’s time to let us go.”

Her jaw
dropped. A sound like the rustling of leaves in the height of fall tumbled from
her mouth. The trees responded
,
gaining momentum until
it appeared the entire forest was shaking in rhythm.

He
stood still, not sure what he was waiting for.

The fog
began to dissipate. Like a sheet falling from a clothesline in the summer
breeze, the fog drifted to the ground. Bastian knew it was gone when the whoops
and cheers of his fellow townspeople reached his ears.

When it
was done, she looked at him again. “Now what becomes of me?”

“Can
you leave the tree? You are welcome to come with us.” Bastian looked at the
branches, entwined with her own limbs. He’d separate them one by one if he had
to. It was the least he could do for her.

“I am
the tree. We live together. We die apart.”

“Then I
swear I shall protect this part of the forest as long as I am alive. And before
I die, I will teach others to do the same.” Bastian reached out, caressing the
bark.

Her
eyes closed. “That is the first time I have been touched in years.” The leaves sighed
along with her. The trees swayed lightly under his strokes. “If only I could
live again like I used to. I had forgotten the pleasures that come with flesh.”

Bastian
pulled his hand back. “I am sorry for your imprisonment.”

She
smiled, her teeth stubs of bark. “It is well, human. It is well.
Journey on with my blessing.
And if you ever need me to
protect your village again, I will help. All you need to do is ask. Leave now.
Seek your destiny.”

“Thank
you,” Bastian said. He climbed down carefully, reaching the ground quickly. “Those
of you with family back in Hutton’s
Bridge,
head home
quickly and let them know the way out. There is a city ahead, but it isn’t
friendly to outsiders. You can stay in Hutton’s Bridge, but know that seeking
your fortune elsewhere may not result in a happier life. I will forge ahead and
look for medicine.”

He
wanted to forget all of it and search for Tressa, but now that the fog was
gone, she could find her way easily alone. If she still lived.