Spirit

Spirit

 

 

No light touched the depths of the forest as Ellias looked around. Immediately after slipping through the wall she had been enveloped in darkness, completely cut off from the world outside. The forest was a land of eternal twilight, half-light giving more shadows than it did illumination, but what light was about seemed to resonate from the very forest itself. The sun didn’t exist under the thick tree canopy, and already Ellias could feel the cold seeping in.

 

The only way forward was straight ahead, but even as she watched she could detect subtle movements in the forests, branches and roots moving and reshaping themselves. No doubt when she turned her back, they would change again and try to confuse her, try to get her lost in this endless maze of trees. Hefting her bag higher onto her shoulder, Ellias turned to what she hoped was north and started walking.

 

She was turned around in circles several times as she walked. The forest playing tricks on her as she went, but with no idea as to where to find a Unicorn, there was nothing she could do but keep moving and hope for the best. The Umbreil didn’t abide by the same restrictions of day and night and while she was sure she had travelled for hours, the light had never changed or faltered. She stopped when she was tired and walked when she felt restless, but in all the time she rested and walked, there was not a bird song on the wind or any signs of animals in the brush. The moaning and whistling of the trees was the only sound, they were talking to each other, plotting and planning how to rid the intruder from their midst.

 

It was the oppressive nature of the trees that disconcerted Ellias, more than the lack of wildlife ever could. Unconsciously her hand kept slithering inside her sleeve, nervously working the iron of her knives to give herself confidence. Iron was safe and strong. If she could have chosen to turn her blood to iron, she would have.

 

The repetitiveness and quiet of the forest lulled her into a less cautious state, after hours of walking had made her both hungry and tired. Unfocused, when the forest cracked behind her she only just managed to dive out of the way, before a branch came thudding down to the forest floor. It was easily as wide as her head, and Kae would say just as thick. She had been stupid, losing her focus in this place, where the forest itself was trying to kill her.

She couldn’t move until her body had stopped shaking, unable to will her legs to move. Taking a chance, Ellias sat on the fallen branch.

I won’t be intimidated by a bunch of trees.

“You seeing this, tree? You want me dead!? Well looky here at my butt on your branch, you like that, huh?” she shouted sarcastically, wriggling around on the splintery bark.

 

A shower of leaves rained down on her head, and she wisely jumped away as a tumble of thinner branches and sticks fell, though she did catch one on her cheek, earning a thin scratch. At her curse, the tree beside her seemed to purr, and not wanting to dwell on the unusualness of that alone, Ellias grumpily shouldered her pack and continued on her way in haste.

She was covered in scraps and dirt from tripping over purposefully raised roots, and every tree she walked past seemed to enjoy purposefully lowering its trailing branches to tangle in her hair or scratch her face and arms.

 

By the time she had given up and stopped for dinner, she had passed the same evil tree twice and hurried away. Now seated at the base of another tree, Ellias had respectfully kept her mouth shut so far, even though the moss creeping over the roots was cold and seemed to enjoy sticking to her skin. A fire didn’t seem like a wise idea in the middle of a forest, especially not without stones to keep it caged. If the trees took offense to her insults alone, she couldn’t image how one would react to her burning it for firewood. One day in the Umbreil and she’d already learnt her first lesson: Never insult a tree.

“Who would’ve thought trees were such prissy creatures.”

 

Dinner without heat was a solemn affair. Eating raw meat wasn’t new to her, but it was a worst case scenario as well, so her meal consisted of the nuts she had previously collected, cracked open on the tree trunk. A little exploring also found her some shoots of a bulbous plant, and digging them up gave her three large, white bulbs. After brushing off the clinging dirt, she began munching on one as she continued looking around.

A living, thinking forest seemed more troublesome now than when she had first entered. For one thing, she was fearful to cut or strip any trees to build a shelter, in case it tried to squish her again. Of course she was left without a fire and adding in the fact that every damn tree in the forest seemed to have a personal vendetta against her presence, and Ellias was beginning to truly hate Kae for sending her here.

 

The best she could do back in her pitiful camp was wrap herself in a blanket and lean against the trunk of a tree, which thankfully hadn’t tried to get rid of her yet. She hoped it was feeling generous, and not silently plotting a way to squash her in her sleep. Maybe it would be a blessing in disguise. It seemed a little premature to give up after just one day but her quest seemed hopeless, to put it lightly. Maybe why that was why out of all his agents, Kae had chosen to put her on this case. She had always seemed to thrive in hopeless situations. It was part of her charm.

 

Sleep came slowly to Ellias, the moaning of the trees waring her away from rest. When at last she did drift off it didn’t last long, she was woken again at a time she guessed was close to midnight. There seemed to be more life in the air as her eyes blinked open in the dimness, and even the trees seemed livelier. Sitting up, she rolled her shoulders to try and get rid of the stiffness from the awkward sleeping position, looking around with alert curiosity as to what had woken her.

 

There were ghosts in the trees.

At first she thought she had simply imagined the light dancing through the branches of her tree, but soon it was joined by more and more. There were little spheres of light weaving between the trees in all kinds of colours, from a clear sky blue to some kind of iridescent rainbow shine. She had heard of these lights before, travellers called them Spirit Lights and they were presumably the souls of those who had died in the forests and remained trapped. There were many rumours also that connected the Unicorns with the lights, that they were their guardians charged with their protection, or that they were supposed to lead the lost souls to the Allier, but had forsaken the duty. They were all stories told by men, their fear and imaginations heightened by darkness and a campsite fire. She didn’t know what to believe, and beforehand hadn’t believed in the existence of the Spirit Lights. In the least It was something of an assurance, if they existed why not the Unicorns?

 

 

Standing, the blanket fell from her shoulders to pool on the ground. Unknowing as to whether or not the spirits were a danger to her, Ellias’s legs were rigid with caution as she slowly stepped  away from the tree’s embrace. She wanted to run, every fibre of her body screamed for her to move, but she was frozen and useless.

 

 A few of the orbs flickered as if unsure, then winked out of existence. Others still, apparently braver bobbed towards her. Captivated, she outstretched her hand and laughed when one brushed her palm. It felt like the softest silk and gauze had been woven together into one little being. And following its lead, soon more and more of the lights were gravitating towards her, spinning and brushing against her, blowing her hair back and tugging at her clothes.

A few of them took forms, merging into the shadows of animals bounding through the sky, or remnants of human faces, ghosts of all those, animal and human alike that had died in the shadows of the forest. A starry hare tried to nibble the grass at her feet, but was startled by the rambunctious bounding of a floppy-eared dog tearing towards it. A formed human seemed to call it back, and pet and master reunited and became orbs again. Birds flitted around her head and Ellias lifted her eyes to watch them blaze stars across the canopy roof, creating a sky for her when she couldn’t see her own.

 

Coaxed into a dance with them, she was soon spinning around the clearing with a pair of antlered dear and laughed again. Her fear of the forest had melted away in the embrace of the spirits, and even so, the trees seemed to be laughing as well. No branches were falling. There was still a voice of logic in the back of her head, pulling at her to reign in her caution again. If you lost yourself in the forest, you died, the trapped souls were proof enough, and now they were slowly leading her away from her camp, into the shadows.

That thought stopped her dead, and when she stopped everything else did, and the only sound that could be heard was her heavy breathing. Looking around wildly, Ellias tried to remember which direction she had come from. Her camp was nowhere in sight.

‘Holy s**t, I’m screwed’

Turning in a circle, she tried to calm herself down. Crouching, she strained her eyes to make out her tracks in the dark. One  of the Spirit Lights floated closer as if to help, illuminating a small patch of her tracks with hazy light.

 

“Thanks,” she muttered grudgingly, shooting the purple orb a wary glare.

The lights, apparently more wary of her now that she had stopped following, were slowly bobbing out from behind trees and plants. They gravitated to her again, but annoyed now, Ellias shooed them away. “Keep off, it’s your fault I’m lost out here now.”

They seemed to deflate a little, and some turned away, leaving her with less light.

“Alright, alright, wait!” she called desperately. “You want to help? Fine. Help me find my camp again, and I’ll forgive you.”

 

This seemed to rejuvenate them, and soon she was running back through the forest following a colourful trail of lights. Apparently they could only take their past forms when at peace, since slowly one by one orbs flashed into horses, deer, birds and men alike, running and flying beside her. Of course the suspicion that the orbs were again leading her astray had crossed her mind, but this time the trees around her weren’t laughing, they were silent, as if sulking. That seemed evidence enough that the orbs had, had a change of heart and were leading her back.

 

When her camp came into view, Ellias stumbled thankfully into the familiar surroundings, ghosts pooling around her, clamouring for attention. They froze suddenly, as she did, when it became clear that they were not alone in the clearing.

It was strange to see the dead scared of something, but as she watched the faces of ghost men and women creased with terror, and the animals drew back behind her.

What, did they expect her to protect them?

What would the dead fear?

 

The dead would fear those that killed them, and those that never allowed the souls left behind to pass on.

 

Ellias stepped back as a ghostly wraith appeared on the other side of the clearing. Even as she watched dumbfounded, more shapes joined the first until there was a total of three, and one by one the Unicorns stepped into the clearing. One was the rich honey colour of warm cider, another dappled grey and the last, creamy with the softest tough of sunset pink. On all their heads sat the mark of their race, spiralling horns, easily the length of her arm. And on their feet were hooves of sparkling gold.

They held such pride in the shape of their heads and the graceful curves of their necks. As they walked, their deadly hooves were held high and dainty, as if each step was carefully planned. They each gave off a gentle light that illuminated the clearing, and all dirt was fearful to mar their pure coats.

Ellias’s breath was caught in her throat and held like a burr, unable to comprehend the sight before her. The rumours of the beauty of the Unicorns’ hadn’t been exaggerated.

 

They seemed wary and curious as they searched her camp, heads slightly lowered and noses quivering as they sniffed her bags, pulling out her belongings. It didn’t take long for them to find her food, and the grey gobble up her bird, though turned its nose up at the fish. Ellias almost snorted in derision. Clearly the narcissistic nature of the Unicorn hadn’t been exaggerated either.

She was supposed to catch one of these?

 

There had been a coil of rope in her bag that she had been planning to use, if she could reach her bag to get the rope…..the same rope that the chestnut was currently chewing.

Fricken’ nag, that rope was expensive!

 

The spirits had slowly been receding from the scene, and now turned tail and disappeared completely, leaving her alone with the man-eating creatures.

“Cowards, you’re already dead. What can they do to you that they haven’t done already?” she breathed in exasperation, if only being annoyed to keep the fear at bay.

 

It took her a while to realize that there were only two Unicorns in the clearing. The chestnut had sat itself down and was still quite contently mauling her beautiful rope, while the dappled grey had managed to get its horn stuck in her bag and was parading around, wearing it as a hat. If she had to guess, these two were still yearlings, young and idiotic. Even when entering the clearing the creamy had seemed older, warier, and smarter.

And she was the one that was missing.

 

 

 

A tickle on her neck made Ellias reach her hand back to brush her hair away  in irritation. There it was again, a puff of air of the back of her neck. Suddenly cold, Ellias turned in horror, eyes widening as she saw the towering Unicorn in front of her. Stumbling back, she tripped and sprawled into the clearing with a gasp of shock.

At the sudden movement, the chestnut lurched to its feet and the grey turned, still wearing his hat-bag. Maybe it was the blood pounding in her ears, but the trees seemed to be cheering as the larger Unicorn followed her into the clearing, whipping their leaves together in a parody of applause.

 

Rope, rope. Where was it? Ellias looked around wildly, until she spotted the matted remains on the ground. She couldn’t help but feel disappointed, then angry.

Yeah, because you can tie up three Unicorns at once. Rope, huh? Nice thinking, genius.

Berating herself gave her more confidence to sit up, looking at the Unicorn warily as she waited to be eaten. Though she wasn’t being examined with hunger, just open curiosity as the Unicorn lowered its head to sniff at her, rubbing its nose over her arms, though its horn was way too close for her liking, hovering beside her neck.

 

Slowly, she let out a nervous breath. She tried to clear her head, she needed to think. However no matter what kind of force she tried, the only thought that stuck in her mind was that she had been wrong, Unicorns did smell exactly like horses, and that thought sent her into a bout of hysterical laughter. At the outburst, the sunset Unicorn stepped back as if startled, large eyes blinking in confusion and what couldn’t be, but looked surprisingly similar to human amusement.

Struggling to regain herself, Ellias wrapped her hands around her stomach and shut her mouth. Laughing at something that could potentially eat her didn’t seem very wise.

 

Slowly, she slid her hand into her sleeve, feeling for her knife subtly. Closing her hand around the familiar handle, a rush of comfort filled her. Moving slowly, Ellias pulled the slip-knife out, turning it in her grip. She’d go for the cream first and try to knock it off guard. If she had the chance to grab her bag, she would. While she doubted she could outrun a Unicorn, she had the benefit of darkness, and she was small enough to hide.

 

Lurching forward to begin her attack, Ellias froze and fell back halfway as all three of the Unicorns stiffened, raising their heads to some unknown cry. Without warning they all turned, the two younger ones disappearing first back into the forest, as soundlessly as they had appeared. Then the sunset Unicorn also set off as if to leave, and Ellias scrambled to her feet to watch them go mutely.

 

“Hey, wait!” she called, though she didn’t fully understand why. Surprising, the Unicorn paused and swivelled its head around, ears flicking and eyes questioning.

“Well I-“ she broke off, unsure what to say. Why had she called out to it in the first place?

 

As if understanding her confusion, the creature turned and glided back to Ellias, who found herself holding her breath once again. Lowering its head, the Unicorn rested the carving tip of its horn on her chest, right below the hollow of her neck for a moment. It was warm, almost hot and then was gone as the Unicorn pulled away. Silently, the Unicorn turned and disappeared back into the forest, and this time Ellias didn’t try to stop her.

 

Reviews

[DaughterNature]

Very exciting! Your ideas are strong, I just want your writing to match them. Be careful of word choices that can help or hurt your message; for instance, in the last chapter and in this one you described her dinner as "somber" -- is it always the same? Also, when she rises to see the ghosts, she moves away from the tree's "embrace" -- is the tree hugging her, or does it want to kill her? When the Unicorns appear, make sure you hold true to a particular personality for each one so that they do not all sound the same. Keep going!!!