A King's War

Chapter 7

VER

“Tell me,” Galen said as we walked through the forest. “Why is it that we waited until after sundown to set out? The dark hunters are only out at night. Why would we want to give them an opportunity to kill us?”

“You really don’t know anything about the Red Forest, do you?” Raven asked from her position in front of us instead of responding to his question.

Galen narrowed his eyes at the back of her head as we continued walking. “Forgive me,” He mocked. “for wanting my life to last by avoiding unnecessary risks.”

“Says the king’s guard,” She replied simply.

Galen blew out an angry breath. “Are you going to answer my question?”

Raven continued walking, stepping over rocks and around leaves and branches. “There’s a clearing about three days' journey into the Red Forest,” She finally said. “You leave at sunrise; you’ll make it to the clearing at sundown. You leave at sundown; you’ll make to the clearing at sunrise and have a reprieve from the dark hunters.”

“We don’t have to worry about dark hunters during the day regardless,” Aila told her.

“None of you would have lasted a day in here by yourselves.” Raven shook her head. “In the Red Forest, you always have to worry about dark hunters. The trees are so thick, their leaves and branches so dense that no sunlight gets through. In the Red Forest, it’s always night.” She looked over her shoulder at us. “And there’s always dark hunters.”

I found myself looking around even more after she spoke, just waiting for something to jump out at us. “Then why exactly do they call it the Red Forest?” I asked her. “Why not the dark forest?”

She briefly glanced at me before responding. “When the dark hunters were first brought into existence, no one realized it. The roamed the Red Forest around Valveronia first, before traveling outward to the rest of the kingdoms. People still thought the forest was safe and traveled through as they pleased.” She started to lead us up a rocky path. “It was just before winter when the dark hunters were created,” She said.

“So?” I questioned when she didn’t continue. I thought I heard her let out a sigh, but I couldn’t be sure.

“Snow is the only thing that makes it through the trees to the forest floor,” She replied. “and only because it piles up so much on the top of the trees, that the branches can no longer support it so it falls through.” She stopped at the top of the rocky path and turned toward us. “They call it the Red Forest because that winter the snow was soaked in the blood of the people who traveled through here. No one made it out and thus the floors of the forest glowed red with the blood on the innocent. Hence the name, Red Forest.”

We all shared a look with each other as she continued on. I felt chills run down my spine and for the first time I questioned what we had set out to do. I told myself that I’d do anything for my brother, and that was true. And though I knew the task before us was difficult and dangerous, I hadn’t realized that the biggest threat we could face was not Valveronia, but the Red Forest itself.

She waited at the top of the path for us to pass.

“Oh, that’s disgusting,” Galen said as he stared down the huge bubbling mud pit before us.

 “We need to deal with your clothes,” Raven said simply.

Galen looked down at his tunic and trousers. “What’s wrong with our clothes.”

“Other than they scream, Ralorn?” Raven questioned. “Those outfits will get us caught faster than anything else out here.”

“And you have a solution?” Aila asked her.

“I do,” Raven responded and before I knew what was happening, I was falling into the bubbling mud pit in front of us, followed closely by Aila and Galen. Galen cursed. Aila pushed herself to her knees and wipes mud from her face. 

“What is wrong with you?” She asked Raven.

Raven stood at the edge of the mud pit staring down at us. “You’ll thank me later,” Was all she said as she began walking away. “Come on, we need to keep moving.”

Galen and I looked at each other with a grimace before pulling ourselves out of the mud and getting to our feet. I wiped at the mud on my clothes and flicked it off my hands. Galen did the same and some managed to fly in Aila’s face. She glared at him and he held his hands up in surrender. I was lucky enough not to get any mud in my face, unlike both Galen and Aila.

“Explain to me why she thought this was a good idea,” Aila muttered as she pulled a clump of mud from her hair.

I was about to respond when Raven walked right up to me. I found myself taking a step back from her because of the proximity but she just reached out and grabbed hold of my bow like she’d done once before and held me in place. She took some of the mud that hand clumped on my shoulder and spread it over my bow, more specifically over my family’s crest until it was no longer visible. I stared at her in a wordless question and she looked up to lock eyes with me.

“Being an elf this close to Valveronia is bad enough,” She told me. “Being a member of the royal family is worse. And being the rightful king, well . . .” She trailed off. “You get the picture. The mud will make your clothes unrecognizable and mask your scent.”

“My scent?” I asked her.

She nodded. “I told you, dark hunters aren’t the only things to fear in the Red Forest.” She suddenly moved closer and reached up, standing on her tiptoes to grasp the edges of the hood attached to the cloak. She flipped it over my head. “Keep that up unless you want to be identified as an elf.” She turned and walked away. “Both of you do the same,” She said to Aila and Galen. “We don’t have all night, let’s get moving.”

We kept going at a fairly fast pace, only slowing a couple of times when she thought she’d heard something. All of us moved in silence. Her even more so than us. She seemed to know every turn, every rivet, every boulder in our path.

I studied the surrounding areas as we passed but everything started to look the same. The same tall trees that seemed to reach all the way to the stars that were obscured by their branches. The same puddles of mud. Same mushrooms growing out of the trees. Same piles of rocks. The same occasional bush. Otherwise, there was nothing but dirt and thankfully-so far at least-no monsters of any kind.

She suddenly slowed and held up her hand. She continued to move forward, but her eyes gazed off into the darkness, her muscles tensed, and her expression focused, listening.

“What is it?” Aila whispered.

“Quiet,” Raven hissed, her eyes darting around.

I listened closely but didn’t hear anything and since I knew that I had better senses than her, I found it doubtful that there was anything currently out there. I opened my mouth to tell her so and she held up her hand to me before I could utter a word.

“You don’t know what to listen for,” She said as if she had read my mind. I found it unnerving.

“There’s nothing,” Galen muttered as he took a step forward and then scowled as his foot landed on something squishy. “Just what I needed,” He said. “more mud in my boots.”

He tried to pull his foot free only to discover that he couldn’t. “What the . . .” He trailed off as his foot began sinking deeper into the mud.

“Just pull your foot out,” Aila said.

“I’m trying,” Galen replied and I moved to his side to help him pull himself free but it was like he was anchored down. Aila then joyed in and Galen just seemed to be getting pulled into the mud faster. I looked to Raven who still had her back to us, still on alert.

“A little help?” I asked her as I strained to hold on to Galen.

She finally turned toward us. “There are dark hunters moving this way,” She said calmly as she pulled a small pouch from somewhere under her cloak. “We need to get out of here.”

I stared at her, wondering how in the name of the Gods she could be so calm about it. I could feel panic begin to swell inside of me but I pushed it down, putting on a brave face. Even if I was the only one, I was fooling with it.

“Are you going to help us then?” I questioned as I both me and Aila struggled to hold on to Galen.

“I am,” She said simply as she stood at the edge of the mud pit.

“No rush,” Galen muttered, his voice strained. “it’s not like I’m getting sucked into a black hole of mud.”

Raven shrugged. “There’s really nothing you can do until the creature shows itself.”

“Wait what?” Galen practically shouted. “Creature? What do you mean by creature?”

I looked at her in shock, waiting for her to explain though as it turned out, she didn’t need to. For at that moment something began to break through the mud and wrap itself around Galen’s leg further. It resembled vines, long and winding and there were many of them.

Raven removed the dagger sheathed on her arm and walked into the mud closer to the creature’s limbs. She then dumped the contents of the pouch in her hands over the vine-like limbs and Galen’s leg. There was a horrifying stench that came suddenly came from the limbs followed by a shriek as if something were mortally wounded. The strange creature released Galen and we all fell back into the dirt beside the mud pit. Raven stepped back out of the mud as something began to emerge from the mud.

I watched as it came up out of the mud. It looked like nothing more than a pile of what looked to be hundreds of vine-like limbs, but then they all separated down the middle and there was something at the center of it. One large eye and a mouth attached to what looked like a glob of mud. It let out another shriek, but this time it sounded angry and then began to move toward us a frightening speed. It lunged right toward the three of us and I seemed to watch what happened next in slow motion.

Raven moved surprisingly quick, her dagger coming up and piercing the eye of the creature just as it hovered over us. It went completely still and then all the limbs dropped lifelessly one by one. Blood dripped down the dagger and her hand, dripping a few drops onto my face as I stared up at it.

She removed her dagger, let the creature drop, and then kicked it back into the mud. I watched as she wiped the blood off on her trouser leg and then sheathed the dagger once more. She held out her hands to both me and Aila. We took it and she helped us to our feet. She then did the same for Galen.

“What was that thing?” He asked her.

She shrugged. “I don’t think they have a name.” She picked up her staff that she’d discarded next to the mud pit. “I call them muds. We need to get moving. Dark hunters are coming.”