Chapter One
"Tadeo!" Two figures ran through the brook, splashing up the crisp water. The boy had a grin on his face, running with impressive speed as the high sun glistened off the three short knives attached to his belt. He had grown from a small boy to a tall teenager. A breeze blew through the boy's hair. It was the same color as the dried hay in the village. His cloth sandals, clearly worn out, beat against the grass as he made his way up one of the many hills.
"You're too slow, come on! Hersha goes faster than you!" The girl was running behind him. Her hair, black as the night time sky whipped behind her, a small wooden charm still pinned up to keep it out of her face. A small bag bulging with plants and herbs slapped against her legs as she ran through the grass, trying to keep up with the boy.
"Good! Maybe she can catch up with me and take me back home! Where are you taking me? Just tell me!" The boy stopped as he reached the top of the hill, and began kicking at the grass in boredom. Moments later, Naramai reached the top, rolling her eyes at her friend's self entertainment.
"You're pathetic; it took me an extra three seconds." He only smiled and crossed his arms. The Okai woods lay thick and dense beyond the hill, at the bottom the grass stopped growing to let the mighty trees take over the land.
"Three seconds too slow, and I wasn't even running at my best." Naramai pretended to look annoyed.
"Well we all can't be as un-naturally fast as you. You wait, one day you'll trip and fall and bust up your legs, and then what oh mighty runner?" He began to laugh.
"Then you'll fix me up!"
The two looked out into the darkened realm of trees. It was rare for a villager, or anyone, to venture into the woods. Naramai had always wondered what lay beyond the first line of ancient trees but was strictly told never to discover for herself. Avoiding the forest was an unwritten rule of the village, never explained but was expected to be followed.
"Impressive, a view of the Okai forest, thanks for the daily dose of excitement Tadeo but, I have to help Hersha today." Tadeo had a pleading look on his face.
"Oh come on, the coot can take care of herself." Naramai raised her eyebrow, the old woman had been a mother like figure for her as long as she could remember, and she had taught her all she knew about healing.
"Tadeo, she's not a…"
"Ok, sorry, sorry, let's just go!" He quickly grabbed her bag of her shoulder and waved it high in the air as he ran down the hill, laughing.
"Oh you little…Tadeo! Give me that!" She ran after him, down the long grass covered hillside.
Making her way down the hill she yelled after him, "If you lose any of those plants…" He only turned, smiling at her, and began to run faster.
As she reached the bottom, Naramai could feel a presence, ancient in feeling; she knew many years had passed with these woods standing here. They had reached the edge of the Okai forest. Tadeo threw the bag back to Naramai, and she quickly looked to make sure the contents were still intact.
"Well it's in here, it won't take long." Naramai glanced up at the huge trees. They seemed to touch the sky with their black branches and deep green leaves and vines. Different plants crawled up their sides, thick underbrush covering the ground. She couldn't even see past the first few trees, the rest of the forest looked like a black cave.
"I know rules are as foreign to you as common sense…"
"Hey!"
"…but Tadeo, we can't go in there. You know that. Hersha doesn't even like it when I come near it just for herbs. We won't ever see the light of day again if some one figures out we've been in there." Tadeo bent his head, sighing. He ran up to one of the ancient trees and leaned against it, then took out one of his sleek knives and quickly thrust it into the ancient wood. Naramai stomped her foot like a child.
"Tadeo!" He took a few steps back and put his arms up as if showing off an exotic relic.
"Look, see? Nothing is wrong with this forest. I've already been in here. I don't know why every one is so uptight about it. Just some old trees and a bug or two, nothing to get worked up about. Come on, you said you'd let me show you something." Naramai reached her hand out to touch one of the trees, a shiver going through her body; there had to be something more to these woods than just "some old trees and a bug or two". Rules, even unwritten ones, weren't made for nothing. She withdrew her hand and looked cautiously into the woods.
"Something isn't right. Can't you feel it? This whole wood, it's just something…" Tadeo walked beside her and grabbed her arm.
"I've already been in, no big monsters, no trees that come to life, no quicksand of doom, just a forest. You're just feeling bad because Old Hersha is going to have to be alone for a few minutes having to suffer through her own company." He smiled, and pulled her along. Naramai sighed.
"Fine." Tadeo's face lit up, and his plain, dirt colored eyes glistened.
"Great, you'll love this, and I promise nothing bad is in here." He began to walk into the pool of darkness, his body consumed by the shadows. Naramai looked back into the safe world of light and clear hillsides. Hersha is going to kill me for this...if these woods don't kill me first. This feeling was so unnatural; it was as ominous as the woods themselves, but she trusted Tadeo more than she trusted this her own feelings. It's only some trees Naramai, just some old dirty trees. Just some trees. She took her first step past the tree line, and entered the Okai woods.
Naramai wanted to turn back. The little light that shone came from her own palm, a small orb of light dancing above her hand, barley enough to see Tadeo running in front of her. The forest floor was covered in thick undergrowth, making it hard to move quickly. Twisted vines and old roots were spread across the ground, covered by decaying leaves. She could hear small creatures moving about, making little noises as they scuttled. The feeling she had as she touched the Okai tree continued to grow as she moved farther and farther into the forest. Tadeo was running ahead of her, whooping and jumping around. He seemed to feel right at home in this dark world.
"Isn't this great? I don't know why no one comes in here. These trees must be thousands of years old!" Naramai just nodded her head and continued to run through the throng of trees. As she ran, seconds turned into minutes. The forest became denser. It was becoming difficult to walk over the huge roots that emerged from the ground. Naramai stubbed her toes many times as she ran into decaying wood and uplifted roots. And the sounds of larger creatures roaming the forest floor, grunting and moaning, only made the feeling worst. She could hardly see Tadeo, now walking beside her.
"Ah, don't worry, nothing will come to get us, and even if they tried," he paused and pulled one of the small knives from his belt, tossing it in the air, "they won't try for long." Naramai still felt uneasy about the strange woods.
"Tadeo, how far away is this…thing exactly? It's already been a while and if I don't get back soon Hersha…" Tadeo stopped walking and smiled.
"You can stop worrying now, we're here." He ran through an opening between vine covered trees. Naramai looked ahead to where he had disappeared. She could see faint sunlight pouring out through the small opening. Small flowers grew at the base of the trees, like tiny stars covering the ground. The noises from the beasts that filled the forest could not be heard.
"Naramai, come on in," Tadeo's voice called from within.
As she walked through the passage like entrance, sunlight hit her face. A small pool of water was surrounded by huge Okai trees, with roots taller than her. The star shaped flowers covered the ground by the base of the trees. The water looked pure and clear, and shined as the sunlight reflected off it.
"Tadeo…" He walked up next to her.
"See, I knew you'd like it. I walked in the woods one day and came across it; I thought you would like it." She was awestruck, looking from right to left, up and down, observing every little part of the hidden pool.
"The spirits themselves must have made this." The soft grass felt nice underneath her feet, no more vines or fallen branches. She bent to pick one of the star like flowers and lifted it to her nose, it smelled so sickeningly sweet.
"What is this place?" Tadeo sat at the edge of the pool, placing his feet in the cool water.
"I don't know. I just saw light coming through the two trees back there, so I checked it out, and I found this place." He moved his feet around in the cool water, the ripples shining from the light of the sun.
"I don't understand where this pool's source comes from, there's no river or stream, nothing. Hmm, maybe it's underground." He bent his head, his nose almost touching the water.
"I wonder how deep this is, I can't even see the bottom. Naramai, come feel the water, it's great." Naramai smiled and walked over to her friend, she looked into the deep water, so clean and clear; it was true, the spring seemed bottomless. She lifted her leg to dip it into the water, her toes touching the pool, feeling the cool sensation.
A painful feeling began to spread throughout her body numbing her, barley letting her excrete a small gasp. The light around her began to dim out, her world becoming black. As her eyes shut she fell into the water, the spring engulfing her body, the sight of her black hair disappearing beneath the surface.
"Naramai!" Tadeo jumped up, seeing her body sink, and dived into the water after her.
Naramai's mind was black. She felt nothing, not the coolness of the water, nor the thumping of her heart and lungs struggling to stay alive. As she sunk deeper and deeper, she saw red, swirling and spiraling in her mind, red as blood. It was blood. Men and women fighting brutally, beasts also appeared to be fighting alongside. No, they weren't humans, they couldn't be, they didn't wield swords or shields, and they used the curious powers Naramai herself had. The bodies were falling, people screaming. She felt anger and greed eating away at her emotions, until no one was left standing. The images were slowly replaced by new ones. A man and a beautiful woman were running, the woman dressed in fine clothing and jewels and the man clutching a sword. The image became clearer and a wriggling bundle could be seen in the woman's arms, little hands reaching out. It was a baby. It cried and screamed, reaching to clutch the woman. The man began to disappear into nothingness, followed by the woman. Only the baby was left, its arms raised, screaming and crying as its body skipped across water, like a stone thrown across a lake. Naramai felt fear consume her body, and she continued to sink into the abyss of the pool.
"Whoa…Naramai, you alright?" The girl's eyes opened, no longer viewing the darkness, but the light. Tadeo was sitting by her side, a look of relief on his face. Water was dripping from his head, his clothing as soaked as her own.
"T-Tadeo…" He smiled and lifted her body up to embrace her.
"What happened to you? Your eyes were closed and you wouldn't swim, you just kept on," he stared back at the spring, "sinking." Naramai could see they were still at the spring, the sun was moving from above the clearing over them, making the area look darker. She felt so tired and exhausted, and so weak.
"I…I don't know. Everything just got black and I just fell in." She looked over to the pool, so simple and harmless looking, nothing any one would normally fear.
"This place is cursed Tadeo." It was all she would say, Naramai didn't want to tell him about the images she saw; it would only worry him more.
"The spirits really must have made this damn place, angry ones. Are you sure you're alright though? You've been out of it for a while." She nodded, and struggled to sit up, her head ached so horribly.
"Naramai…something, uh…happened to you, something I've never seen happen before. When you were falling into the water, this…I don't know, image of a hand began to glow on your own hand." Confused and frightened she lifted her hands to her face, but of course no glowing image appeared.
"A hand?"
"I take it this never happened before…" he looked around the towering border of trees, almost expecting beasts to come jumping through the cracks, "great." Too many things raced through Naramai's mind. A curse from the pool? A sign from the visions? She didn't like not knowing what was happening.
"Tadeo, we have to go, we have to go now." She strained to pull her self up, until Tadeo held her arms and helped her.
"We need to get you to Hersha, can you walk?" he asked, bringing her arm around his neck, holding her up. Her body felt useless, as if it could collapse at any second. She was cold and wet, and felt light headed. Grass was attached to her wet limbs, irritating her skin. But they had to leave this cursed place, they had been lucky, Naramai knew she could have drowned, and she didn't want to take another chance on something worse happening.
"I'm…I'm going to be…fine. Let's just get out of here."
The two slowly made their way out of the secluded spring. Only a small glimpse of the sun could be seen over the secluded pool and it was now almost as dark as the rest of the woods. Tadeo held tight to Naramai, helping her to walk straight. Water dripped off of them onto the ground, dead leaves sticking to their feet. They moved at a slow pace, for the forest floor was covered in obstacles. Only the ancient Okai trees lay witness to their long march home.
As the forest began to thin out, Naramai looked up to see Tadeo's grim face.
"I'm sorry Tadeo. I'm sorry for what happened back there, you were so excited to show me…"
"No, no, if I had known what would've happened I would never have shown you in the first place." He squinted his eyes, and looked ahead.
"Look, up ahead…grass, it's the hills, we're almost out of here." Naramai glanced ahead, it was true, the trees were thinning out and she could see the green grass of the hills. As the two walked out of the Okai forest into the light, leaves crumpled nearby. A pair of silver eyes emerged from behind a nearby tree, but the rest of the spectator was hidden by the shadows and the vines and leaves littering the forest floor. A smile crept upon its face as it laid witness to the two figures leaving the forest.
"Found you…"
Naramai and Tadeo reached the top of the hill, where only hours before they had stood, unaware of the misfortune to come. The sun was setting behind the tree tops, turning the sky red. Their feet trudged through the grass, as they listened to the crickets' songs and the birds' evening cries. As they crossed the brook, they could finally lay their eyes upon the village. Children came running from farther down the brook splashing up the water onto their clothes and swarmed around the two. This new generation had taken a fancy to the brook, just as Naramai had.
"Where you been? You missed Betona catch a really, really bit toddie!" The children jumped around them as Naramai and Tadeo continued to walk. A little girl smiled and pulled on Naramai's bag.
"Old Hersha was looking for you all day! Naramai gots in big trouble!" Tadeo shook the tiny boy with messy hair off his leg. Tadeo looked around at all the children and knew they had to leave.
"Is that so? Thanks for the warning kids, but why don't you go catch us another toddie? In fact, get the biggest one you can find." The children giggled and ran off to a deeper part of the brook, screaming assortments of commands and plans to catch a great toddie. Naramai sighed as they entered the village. Hersha was not the woman to make angry. Tadeo had seemed to make an art of this, and had once again proven his skill. She could already imagine the screaming and flailing of the arms.
"So what do we tell her, the old coot bag?" Tadeo asked as they walked down the dirt road. Naramai frowned.
"The truth. Lying doesn't work with her, she can see right through it. And stop calling her that." The boy looked ahead.
"Ah, here comes the bundle of joy herself." The old woman walked uncommonly fast for a woman of her age. A bag, similar to Naramai's was tossed about as she walked; a stern and angered look on her face. She hardly used her walking stick as she moved toward them.
"Brace yourself…" Naramai whispered.
"A simple task! A simple task! All day I was running around trying to…Tadeo! What did you do? Why are you holding her like that? Let her go! Naramai! Where have you been? A simple task, un-like any other! Where were you? You're soaked! Tadeo! Let go of her! Running around all day, looking for you! A simple task and you go running off some where! Where have you been?" She prodded her stick into Tadeo's chest.
"You, young man, what are you doing with Naramai? Get off of her! Shoo! Little rascal…" Tadeo put his hand to his knives, but Naramai held back his arm.
"That's right, threaten an old woman like me. Go home!" Hersha grabbed Naramai's arm, causing the girl to fall to her knees.
"What's wrong with you? Tadeo, what did you do?" Tadeo stared at the woman.
"She'll tell you," he said, and turning around muttering under his breath, "you fat old coot bag." Hersha prodded her stick into his back; causing him to stumble. Tadeo turned his head to give her an icy glare. The old woman put Naramai's arm around her neck, and walked off with her. Tadeo continued to walk down the road, muttering under his breath.
Hersha took Naramai through the cloth door and into the healing hut. She laid her down onto the plank table and covered her shivering body with a blanket. As the old woman ran her fingers over the assorted bottles on the wall she shook her head.
"So many questions. Naramai, where did this happen? What did you do? It was that boy's fault wasn't it?" Naramai sat up, clutching the blanket close to her body.
"No, Hersha, it wasn't his fault. He…he just wanted to show me something." Hersha grabbed a bottle from the wall and walked back to the plank table.
"Ah, and what was this thing that was so important, more important then helping me out today?" The woman poured some of the clear liquid in a small bowl, and walked over to another table, covered in dry herbs.
"I'm sorry Hersha; it was only supposed to take a few minutes." Naramai pulled the small wooden charm out of her wet hair as the old woman began to crush the herbs under a smooth rock.
"You still haven't told me where you went." Naramai toyed with the small charm, tossing it from hand to hand.
"We," she paused and looked toward the bottle covered wall, "we went into the Okai woods. He just really wanted to show me something! I'm sorry…" Hersha banged the rock on the table.
"The woods!? The woods! You completely disobeyed me! Naramai…the woods! You are never to go into those woods! The one thing I've always said! The one thing I ask!" Naramai faced her.
"I know! I'm sorry…I, I don't know why I did it." Hersha placed the crushed herbs into the bowl and stirred the concoction together, holding the spoon with a firm grip.
"So you went into the woods, how did you get wet? And why were you so weak?" Naramai continued to toy with the wooden charm.
"Well, he showed me this little pool." Hersha dropped her bowl to the floor, breaking into many pieces, spilling the soup like mixture onto the ground.
"What…did…you…do?" Naramai tightened her grip around the blanket.
"I don't know! I touched the water, and everything turned dark. Tadeo said I fell in, and I saw these…images," She buried her head into the blanket, "I don't know what happened." Hersha walked to the entrance of the hut, putting a hand to her head.
"Hersha, he said he saw something appear on my hand, when I touched the water. He said he saw a hand, appear on my own." Hersha turned around, and placed both her arms on Naramai's shoulders.
"Listen to me; you must never go back to that pool. Never go back to those woods. Promise me, you will never go there again." Naramai looked at Hersha's solemn face.
"But why? What happened to me there? Those images…" Hersha bent down to pick up the broken pieces of the bowl.
"Yes, tell me what you saw." Naramai closed her eyes, trying to remember exactly what she saw.
"First, there were people fighting. People like…me. There was blood everywhere. I could feel anger and greed. It was horrible. Then, I could see a man and a woman running. The woman had a baby in her arms. The man and woman, they disappeared, leaving only the baby. I could only feel fear then. Hersha, what happened to me?!" The old woman placed the broken pottery on the table.
"Images, only images Naramai. Forget them. It will do you no good to dwell on them. Just, forget them." Hersha began to walk toward the entrance.
"Try to get some sleep. If you feel you have the strength you can eat the leftover loaf on that table over there. And please Naramai, no more trips to the woods." The old woman pushed aside the cloth. As she walked outside, she could see the last of the setting sun. It was quiet in the village, not even a small breeze to take away the silence. The old woman paced back and forth, outside the hut. She will need to know soon. I don't know how she will react. Poor child. She knows so little…so little.
Naramai tossed the small charm in her hands. The wood was carved to look like a whittle reed. Small flowers and vines circled around it. She knew that Hersha didn't want to talk about what she saw. She lifted her hands, pale as always. No hand appeared on them, nothing at all, just pale skin. She wrapped the blanket around her body and placed her head on the table. As she closed her eyes she could still see the images, racing through her head, and she could hear the screams of the crying baby.
