Chapter V: Voices of the Forest

Chapter V: Voices of the Forest

A man stumbled towards the group. “Beware! Beware of Silver’s power!” The middle-aged man collapsed to the ground.

Nolen helped him up. “Sir, what has happened?”

“The forest, and Vesper used to be so peaceful, but now it is like spirits of many deceased townsfolk are haunting the forest. You can hear the dreadful cries, as well as sorrowful songs throughout the nearby Forest of Umbra.”

“This is not good at all…” Queen Quara whispered. “We have to stop him!”

“Do what you wish, but I warned you!” The man ran away.

“Yes, we need to hurry…” Nolen agreed.

Sylvia was still sitting down, and had calmed down a bit more. She did not feel like hobbling around with a stick. She stared down. “I do not belong here… I am just slowing these people down. Their task is extremely important…”

“Sylvia…did you hear me?” Zell tried to get her attention again.

She pulled away from of her thoughts. “Oh, sorry… no, what did you say?”

“Would you like my help?”

“No.” She shook her head still with a distant gaze.

“Sylvia, are you alright?”Zell noticed a change in her mood.

“I'm going to stay here, and separate from the group.”Sylvia replied.

“That's ridiculous.” Zell refused the idea.

“Oh come on,” she argued. “You know that I'm just slowing all of you down. I don't belong here anyway…”

Sylvia…” Zell was not too sure of what to say. “You're just not used to this time period. You have not even laid your eyes on the amazing Enigma Kingdom! You will love it there.” He persuaded.

Zell’s attempt at trying to make her smile failed. She responded. “I bet it is beautiful, but it is not my home, it is yours. I don't belong anywhere…” She turned, staggered a few feet back, and sat down against the trunk of a tree.

“What is she whining about? I cannot wait to see how she handles the frightening Umbra Forest.” Tessa asked Zell.

“Quit being harsh.” He looked at Queen Quara. “Please, allow me to handle this. We will catch up to you.”

“Oh, is Zell getting sweet on a girl?” Tessa made a teasing gesture.

He ignored her and walked over to Sylvia. “Is it okay for me to sit with you?” Sylvia wiped a few tears from her eyes quickly and said nothing, but continued to stare out. Zell spoke again, “I'm not the best at words. It bothers me to see you like this.”

She gave him a funny look. “You don't even like me. Don't waste your time pretending.”

“That is not true,” He saw her give him another look. “Okay, okay… just because we did not get along to begin with does not mean it will never happen.

“Go join your friends. I think they started to leave without you.”

“Then you better get on my back now so we do not have to walk in this strange forest all the way by ourselves.”

“I'm going. I want to say my goodbyes right here and now.”

“After what just happened, I'm leaving you alone; and how are you ever going to get home?”

“That is true... I guess you will have to let me talk to Silver when we find him.”

“I would rather you not, but it is not like I could stop your stubborness.” He bent down in front of her. “Just get on my back. I will do everything I can to get you back to your home.”

She climbed on his back and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Home…” She thought. She jerked a little when her ankle was moved. “Ow, be careful with my ankle.” She said as he stood up and made sure he had a good grip on her.

“My apologies, I will try to be more gentle.”

They headed into the forest. It was slightly dark in the forest. It was dim in this forest. The trees stretched tall to the sky. The breeze felt nice as it ruffled Sylvia's red hair. She felt more relaxed than she thought she should have, especially being carried by Zell. As she glanced around the forest she remembered how Tessa had teased her earlier and said that this place is frightening. The sight of three furry gray squirrels that skittered around and played did not make her feel scared.

Sylvia asked, “How long will it take to get through this forest? It seems like a long time already. I cannot even tell if it is still actually sunny the further we go.”

“Well, it could take a while. I'm not sure where the rest of the group is. I would think by now we would have caught up to them.”

“Do you need a rest, Zell? You have been carrying me for a while. I'm probably heavy.”

“No, you are not heavy. We need to keep going. Is your ankle still hurting?”

“The swelling should have gone down a little more. It's ok.”

“Hmm, I wonder where the others are…” Zell scanned around,

“Are you worried?”

“A little. I mean this forest is strange at times, especially thanks to Silver and his powers.”

“Exactly what kind of powers?”

He continued to stare ahead at the trees. “Well, there is not really a good way to explain it because you would have to see it for yourself.”

“Oh really?” “Why is it such a big secret?” Sylvia wanted to make him tell her someway, but she did not feel in a mood to argue so she let it go... for now. She changed the subject as they made slow progress further into the forest. “This forest doesn't seem so scary. What do you think about that man's words?”

“Just be glad nothing strange has happened so far.”

“Too late.” She whispered under her breath as she came to a halt. It was as if now the forest seemed less lively. The trees took on a gray and dead look. Hardly a minute ago the trees were alive and some with luscious looking fruit. The furry creatures of the forest were no where in sight. Birds above scattered away with noises of warning. Cobwebs, became more apparent, with some deadly looking spiders that crept around. “Zell, it seems I spoke too soon.”

“We need to hurry out of here.” A powerful wind picked up as he said that; and eerie voices were heard. They echoed from each other back and forth.

Timber timber

Trees in the forest

Whisper whisper

Songs of the tortured

Hear us hear us

Seeking revenge

Runaway Runaway

Before your life ends

“Zell… what was that?” Sylvia jumped. Cold chills crawled all over her body.

“I don't think we want to know.”

The wind picked up stronger and the whistling sound became louder. It blew around them for long seconds. It tugged at their clothes, then oddly the wind stopped then switched directions more than once. Zell finally fell off balance onto one knee. He had fought to keep himself steady, afraid that Sylvia would get hurt. “Zell!” Sylvia hollered out with concern. She stumbled off him, knelt down with her arm around his back.

“That wind is not normal.” He spoke.

“Says the man from a magical kingdom.. What is normal?” She asked rhetorically.

He regained his focus to Sylvia. “Let's get out of here.” He scooped her up in his arms, and began walked cautiously against the wind. All fell quiet, but it did not last long.

Timber… timber…

They heard the creepy voices again. This time they also heard a crashing of trees around them. Zell picked up the pace and hurried through the forest.

Runaway… Runaway…

Before your life ends…

“You have no idea what the blazes is going on?” Sylvia asked.

“No! Maybe that old guy was right about the people killed by Silver. Then it would seem that their spirits really are haunting this place.”

It seemed like the forest was falling apart from all the collapsing of trees. The silence was broken by the snapping and breaking of trees. It was a bit nerve racking not knowing which direction a tree might fall. The ground vibrated with force from the crash of the trees.

Beaten by rocks

Watch them fall

Silver magic mocks

Feel the burdens of us all

“Are they taking this out on us instead of Silver?”

“I have no idea.” He dodged a couple of large, sharp edged rocks. “Ahh… this is ridiculous!”

“Please, don't get hurt.”

“Ha ha , are you worried about me, yourself, or the fact that if something happens to me, you will be helpless?

Sylvia had to think about it for a second. She was sincerely worried for Zell risking his safety to protect her. It bothered her that she couldn't do much in this land to protect herself. She knew without him and his friends that would be as helpless as she was when she got thrown into that blasted orphanage. “Just find a way out of here.” She didn't want Zell's ego to inflate so she didn't admit that she needed him.

“Don't worry. I will.”

“I hope so.” She thought to herself. She could practically feel the determination rolling off of him.

A dead looking tree tumbled in front of them as Zell was hurriedly making his way in that direction. Luckily, the tree was not terribly large. Zell stumbled over it as he tried to slow his pace, with Sylvia still in his arms.

Sylvia reacted to her fear and had buried her face against his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck. She smelled sandalwood and leather. For a second, Zell felt like he was holding a small, scared girl in his arms.

“I promise I will protect you.” He reassured her.

In her view, he seemed valiant. Since her mother had passed on, few people had tried to protect her. She had a new respect for Zell for doing this for her when he really did not have to. She felt like she could trust him, though she did not want to so easily. In her eyes now he was not so bad. She no longer saw him as the crazy man who held a dagger at her throat upon their first meeting. She had seen his caring side for her and the others. He was strong, and she was seeing that now. As much as she hated it, and did not want to admit it, she was relying on him to protect her. She had to though because she did not know this area; nor did she even know much of this time period. Apparently, he also knew all too well of the mysterious power of Silver that everyone was so afraid of. Zell almost collapsed when they reached the end of the haunted forest. He released Sylvia carefully.

“Oh, blazes that was close.” She fell back on the ground and threw an arm over her face as if she tried to grasp all that had just happened to them.

Zell was catching his breath. “Are you alright?” He asked.

“I am.” Sylvia sat up and noticed his forehead was bleeding. “Are you? You should see your head.”

“If it looks worse than how it feels then it is terrible. It could have been from a rock or tree limb.”

“Here…” Sylvia dug through her bag. “I have some medicine that will help.” She found it and crawled over to him on her hands and knees. She poured a little water from her container on the cloth.

“No, really I’m okay.” Zell protested.

“Are you afraid it will sting?” She teased.

Zell rolled his eyes at that and let her clean the cut on his head.

She pushed back his bangs, then pressed the damp cloth to his forehead and washed the blood from the wound. She rubbed some light green medicine on her fingers and placed it against his head. She felt slightly awkward being this close to him. She noticed how pretty his green eyes were. Other thoughts entered her mind, like how the kindness reflected off his face from his deep eyes. He was stronger than she had realized. She found he was hard to read though those hypnotizing green eyes. She found herself wondering about the past of this man who sat in front of her staring back.

Zell caught himself in thought of how caring her touch was. He found himself staring into her eyes for a short moment, and then his gaze drifted to her thin, soft looking lips. They both blushed at their thoughts. “There, that should help.”

“So we have a healer on our hands, do we?” He smiled.

“Hardly. I didn't do much at all.” She said modestly.

“Thank you. It wasn't necessary.”

“Yes, I did. I owe you that, at least. You didn't have to protect me.”

“That is true.” He paused to see her reaction. “I'm kidding, of course I did.” He said before she could find anything to hit him with. Her look had suggested that she might. “What kind of person would I be if I had not?”

“You would be like everyone else from my time period.” She simply said.

“What exactly happened to you there?” Zell asked with wonder. He remembered just a bit from back there at Sunset Valley, but he had not wanted to bring it up then.

“I don't want to explain it now. Maybe when I know some of your secrets.”

“Hmm, an exchange of secrets? It's a deal.” He agreed.

Sylvia looked around. “So where are we now.”

“We are in Vesper. Things may be a bit darker here because we are treading lightly to Silver's area. It seems he may have taken over this town.”

“I see. Zell, what if the others stumbled upon trouble?”

“I am sure they will be okay.”

“How can you say that? How can you be so sure?”

“All three of them are tough that is why I can be sure. Despite all our differences, we all work well as a team and have each others back. ”