CHAPTER 23

RUN!

Evil will never stop hunting you.

As I’ve said before—evil will seek to either to convert you, or destroy you.

This will never change because evil seeks control.

Over you, over me, over everything.

…and there will come a time when you’ll find yourself cornered, unable to flee or retreat.

What will you do then?

The forest had gone silent.

Oh, the river was still raging and the leaves and underbrush being trampled on still made plenty of noise, but Wendell couldn’t hear it.

Not above the beating of his own heart.

Thunderous drums resounded in his ears, masking all other noise but the shouting of his companion at his heels.

“What is wrong with you!??” Jan yelled, desperately trying to keep pace. Branches whipped by as they plowed through the forest edge.

Wendell frantically looked for the small dip in the underbrush that would help them find their way to the fallen logs.

They had to get back across the river.

“Wendell, slow down!”

Tha-THUMP-THUMP!!

Tha-THUMP-THUMP!!

It’s close. I know it’s close, he warned himself. It looked right at me!

Which didn’t make any sense. Pushing another branch out of his way, panic started to set in. He couldn’t find the path that would lead home.

That thing was going to find them.

But how? he questioned.

They’d been quiet. They’d been careful. Sawyer hadn’t noticed them—even talking loud over the river.

It wasn’t until I…

Tha-THUMP-THUMP!!

“We need to find that bridge!” Wendell shouted back. Eyes wide, he scanned the forest with every step. Come ON—where ARE you?!?

“You’re not making sense—why are we running? You’re going to lose more blood this way!”

Wendell couldn’t stop.

There was no way to know how fast the creature could travel.

Jan has to know. I need him to understand.

But would the lumberjack believe him?

Skidding to a halt Wendell flipped around so fast, Jan nearly slammed into him. Grabbing the lumberjacks tunic with one hand, Wendell opened his wounded palm and held it up into the rays of moonlight.

“Look!” he snapped, “The wound is already healing. I’m going to be fine.”

“Then why…”

“Shut up and listen to me,” he snapped again, “I know you haven’t seen that—that thing, whatever it is—but it’s real. It looked right AT me, Jan, and I’m telling you right now that we are both in danger if we don’t get out of here, RIGHT NOW!”

Jan grabbed Wendell’s palm and pushed his thumbs into the wound.

“Ow!” Wendell flinched, yanking his hand back. “I said it was heaLING…”

Jan winced, “Oh. Sorry. I just—okay, I believe you.”

Wendell grumbled.

“Sort of.”

Wendell willed a soft glow of light to appear around their feet. We don’t have the luxury of secrecy if we’re going to get out of here.

Pushing Jan in front, he replied, “Right now I don’t care if you believe me or not—I just want to leave!”

A howl echoed through the trees.

Followed by another further away.

“Annnnd we have company,” Jan moaned, sprinting off at full speed. “Let’s go!”

“Oh sure—NOW you want to run!” Wendell turned to run and immediately tripped over a root, nearly face-planting on the forest floor.

Tha-THUMP-THUMP!

I’m doing the best I can! SHEESH!! Come on legs, we need to work together! After all this time we should have figured out bodily coordiNATION. Go, go, go!!!

“Here!” Jan shouted ahead, “Found the path!!”

“Don’t stop!”

Hurtling through the last twists of the forest, Wendell almost shouted for joy when the fallen trees came into view.

Just a few more yards across and we can run all the way back to the village.

Jan gripped the protruding branches and hauled himself up onto the logs. “Come on!”

Tha-THUMP-THUMP!!

WHAT’S YOUR HURRY, BOY?

The words caused Wendell’s legs to tremble…and he stumbled down the last part of the hillside. One foot fought the other, slamming him hard into the base of the bridge.

Tha-THUMP-THUMP!!

A chill gripped the base of Wendell’s spine.

Tha-THUMP-THUMP!!

Tha-THUMP-THUMP!!

Tha-THUMP-THUMP!!

Flipping himself around, hands curled into fists and raised in a defensive posture.

FISTS?

AND HERE I WAS TOLD YOU HAD A GOOD HEART.

IS THIS ANY WAY TO TREAT SOMEONE WHO COMES IN PEACE?

Tha-THUMP-THUMP!!

Wendell clenched his teeth tight, desperately willing his shaking body to remain upright.

Come on, Wendell…he squinted into the shadows before him, it’s nearby, I know, but you have to go.

Tha-THUMP-THUMP!!

“What are you waiting for!?!” Jan shouted from the middle of the bridge. “You said we had to leave!? Get your backside UP here!”

Another howl  in the distance.

Body trembling, Wendell inched his foot back, gingerly testing the ground.

You can do this Wendell, you’ve got to get out of here.

He glanced quickly to the side, locating a step up onto the bridge—yet too afraid to turn his back fully to the blackness of the forest. Without a clear path, there was no way he would be able to get up and over the logs quick enough.

Ithari…are you—

I am with you, Wendell.

Her voice was soft and unwavering.

Right, he swallowed hard, then let’s do this.

He was in danger. There was no question about that. But he also knew that there was only one way forward, and that was THROUGH the fear.

Letting his breath out in a steady stream, Wendell focused his attention on a different feeling.

He’d felt it many times before, but he’d ignored it.

It wasn’t the feeling dominating his mind or body at the moment—that was the fear pushing his mind to the terror of the unknown.

No.

This was something smaller, softer, both clear and profound that whispered to him.

To his heart.

A voice that whispered he was not alone…and that whatever was before him and required of him, Wendell could rise to the challenge at hand.

That the unknown did not just hold fear…it also contained possibilities.

…and hope.

Inhaling sharply, he decided to trust that feeling.

“TEHO!”

Night turned into day as the power of Ithari blazed from his chest—a perfect circle—while the smiley upon his crest grinned wide. Flowing through the mägoweave the brilliant white light pierced the shadows of the forest around him.

Crouching low to the ground, a hooded form hissed. Not more than ten feet from where Wendell stood, it now cowered in the full light..

“Woah Nelly!!” he blurted out, and again Wendell fought to keep his legs beneath him.

Like a loosely wrapped corpse half-decayed and pulled violently from its grave, an oily black hood looked up at him. Despite the overwhelming light emanating from the Ithari, a blackness untouched stared back defiantly from the gaping hole.

HELLO, BOY.

Thin tendrils of tattered cloth gripped and clawed at the  ground underneath it.

Tha-THUMP-THUMP!!

“Ho boy, you’re ugly,” Wendell gulped, locking his legs to stay upright. “Zombie-thingy is not what I was expecting,” he quivered.

I’d prefer a wispy shadowy version right about now!

Without looking away, he reached back, fingers searching for a handhold.

But his feet just wouldn’t move.

Get on the logs…get on the logs!

“What are you doing!?” Jan called from the bridge, a forearm over his face. “I can’t see a thing!”

The slight bobbling of the hood seemed to look beyond Wendell.

GOING SOMEWHERE?

Tha-THUMP-THUMP!

Wendell cocked his head to the side. “Places to be, things to do. Shopping and stuff,” and he found himself smirking, “You look like you could use a run to the laundromat.”

Though the hood continued to bob softly, the sarcasm seemed to push the fear to the back of Wendell’s mind. I can’t let this thing past me, he breathed, clenching his teeth over and over. Be brave, Wendell—stay between it and Jan.

Yet with every motion he made to retreat, the robe mimicked him. Each step back was met by the clawing of the ground, pulling its hunched mass towards him.

Tha-THUMP-THUMP!!

I know—I know!! This is bad, bad, bad. Come on,  Wendellizer think of something!!

“Turn around and keep going,” he finally shouted to Jan. “I’ll meet you on the other side!!”

There was a slight delay, and then, “I can’t see to walk across—it’s too bright! Get rid of the light!!”

YES, WENDELL…GET RID OF THE LIGHT.

Wendell kept his gaze on the robe. “No one was talking to you,” he mumbled. “And you’re not getting past me.”

THAT’S IT, BOY—BE BOLD. BE BRAVE. HAVE PRIDE IN YOURSELF. YOU ARE THE HERO, AFTER ALL.

The voice nearly made Wendell sick to his stomach.

“W-who are you,” he dared to ask.

But the robe just stared back at him.

Daring to glancing down at his side, Wendell found a handhold and promptly stepped up onto the logs.

Alright greaseball, he thought in the most sarcastic way he could summon, let’s figure this out. You don’t like the light—that part’s obvious. But I also know if you get close enough, you can cut through my mägoweave—so we want distance.

The sound of the rushing water below made it hard to thin—

I wonder how you feel about water?

Keeping the robe in his peripheral vision, Wendell pushed himself backwards, step by step away from the threat.

The robe followed him.

“It was you, in the forrest. That night, with the young men from the village. Wasn’t it?”

No answer.

“Why have you been following me?” Wendell prodded, forcing the question from his lips as calmly as he could. “What do you want?”

Come on, creepo...follow me up onto the bridge.

Slowly the mangled figure pulled itself up and between the roots of the logs, its head and shoulders pushing between branches only inches apart. The cloth folded and scrunched, then unfolded to its original size once through.

Wendell cringed, “That had to hurt.”

The robe skittered over to one side, dangerously close to the edge of the bridge, almost defying gravity—then paused half-way over the edge.

The hood once more turned to settle its gaze hauntingly upon Wendell.

I WANT YOU, SILLY BOY.

Swaying from side to side, Wendell suddenly felt dizzy and flung a hand out to steady himself on a nearby branch.

“Me? Why—would you…”

As he glanced once more to the side, the robe performed a sudden, short leap, closing the gap between them. With a silent pounce it landed squarely in front of Wendell.

“WaAAHHH!” he squeaked, nearly falling back and over the side of the bridge. He pulled his legs toward his chest and without a word, the light around him instantly gathered. Like a giant lighthouse, a single beam blazed from Wendell’s chest, focused directly upon the robe.

The creature hissed loudly and fell back, flipping off the logs and down into the dirt—its tattered edges of cloth whipping about like the tendrils of a sea creature.

“That’s better!” Jan yelled from behind.

Wendell held the beam of light against the robe, which darted from side to side until it found cover behind the roots of a tree.

IMPRESSIVE.

YOU HAVE A BASIC COMMAND OF LIGHT.

Tha-THUMP-THUMP!!

Basic? Wendell scoffed to himself, I though that was pretty dang good, if I say so, myself. Combat flashlight powers!

Another step backwards.

He reached for another branch.

A high-pitched howl echoed through the forest trees, immediately followed by another nearby.

Glancing over his shoulder, Wendell could see Jan almost to the other side of the bridge. Just a few more steps and…

“I’m over!”

Without hesitating, Wendell spun on his heels and pushed off the tree limb. The light he controlled flared again—this time forming a brilliant globe which hovered at his back, focusing behind him.

Take THAT for control, bucko! Come on legs, don’t fail me now!

Focusing on the center log, Wendell dashed across the bridge, hopping over the smaller branch nubs along his way.

That is…until something gripped his ankle.

IT’S TIME YOU AND I HAD A LITTLE CHAT.

With a sickening thud, Wendell slammed chest-first down onto the bridge.

The light from the Ithari flickered.

“Ugh,” he grunted, hands quickly going to his side.

Trembling violently, he fought to take a breath and couldn’t.

Raising a hand into the light, Wendell saw thick red liquid dripping warmly down his fingers and palm.

“Wendell!” Jan quickly jumped back onto the bridge.

“Stay back,” he tried to yell, but there was no breath in him. Instead, Wendell braced his knee against the log and pushed.

…peeling his side off the jagged branch, and then slumping down into the crevice of the logs.

As his will waned, so did the light.

Which is when the robe crawled out from under the bridge and into the full light of the moon.

“Pääjumä save us!” Jan gasped aloud, now hovering over Wendell’s prone body, “What IS that!??”

DOES HE HAVE TO USE SUCH FOUL LANGUAGE?

Tha-THUMP-THUMP!!

Tha-THUMP-THUMP!!

Forcing air into his lungs, Wendell could feel the gaping hole in his side pulse under his fingers. “Jan,…run.”

Pulling his knife from his hip sheath, the lumberjack crouched into a defensive stance. “I’m not leaving you.”

The hood of the robe slowly turned its attention on Jan.

LOOK…THE CHILD HAS A METAL POKEY STICK.

Again the Ithari flared.

The robe reeled, its fluid form snapping back into the deep black clump of oily cloth once more. Thin tendrils whipped out, piercing the bark of the logs to stabilize itself.

Wendell looked up at Jan, sweat dripping from his brow in effort. “I said RUN!”

Without warning, the night air rumbled around them.

Padded feet waded out onto the bridge with perfect balance from both directions.

“Wendell,” Jan gasped.

Wendell turned his head to find the black abyss of the robe inches from his face.

YOU HAVE TALENT, BOY. FOR THAT I AM GLAD.

Pain took the place of fear, and Wendell stared unblinking into the depths of…nothing. “Looks like the puppies are here to play,” he whispered through a grunt of pain. He tried to smile, but failed.

The light of the Ithari wavered once more and blinked out.

AHHH, BUT I’M HERE TO PLAY WITH YOU.

Step by step, the wolves moved in, the deep grumble traveling from their chests, through the fabric of the wood below them. The alpha, thick and muscular, waded past Jan without hesitation.

Wendell watched two smaller canine working their way up from behind the robe.

“Then you better hurry,” he whispered. He managed to smile then. “The wolves aren’t with me…but I’m pretty sure wherever you go, they’ll find you.”

A small claw flicked up into Wendell’s peripheral vision,  followed by a searing pain down his cheek. Warm blood trickled down his chin, pooling into the hollow of his throat.

WE ARE GOING TO HAVE SO MUCH FUN, YOU AND I.

We’re wha—?

But Wendell didn’t get a chance to ponder.

As the wolves lunged for the robe, it wrapped itself around Wendell like a straightjacket and plunged over the side.

…into the blackness of the river below.