Ch 4 Missing
"Eben, wake up." I am nudged awake and open my eyes, happy to see Geela's familiar face. "Eben, you were asleep for so long."
"I was, for how long?"
She gently smiles, "Long enough that I was beginning to miss you." She offers her hand toward me and helps me off the floor of the hollow. While getting up, I notice that I am not feeling as strong as yesterday. "Probably just a morning thing." Geela beckons me to come out with her. We slid down the tree and walked to the meadow together. Everyone else is doing the usual: playing with other spirits or practicing their talent. It is such a pretty thing to see, all the spirits enjoying themselves, but the joy I feel was immediately displaced by a deep sense of despair. I remember what I learned last night. "I have no talent".
"Eben, there is something I want to show you. Something special." She takes my hand again, swinging her arms back and forth in joy as she skips She leads me to the other side of the meadow, into the thicket of trees. I forgot how dark the forest was, the canopy of leaves blocks so much of the light. As we continue through the forest, I drag a bit behind Geela, unsure of how far she will go.
"It is not much further. We can still see the meadow." She pulls me along just as happy as she was yesterday. Deeper and deeper into the woods we go until the sunlit meadow was nearly covered by the trunks of the trees in front of it. She crouches down to a patch of ferns and lifts the edges of a few of the leaves. Under the leaves is a glowing, shimmering crystal. The blue light echoes the appearance of the light of the Spirit Tree.
"It's beautiful, isn't it Eben?" I kneel beside her, marveling at the crystal and the beautiful movement of the light inside it.
Wanting to know what is, I ask her, "Is it—"
"Shh," she says quietly, her ears turn, listening to the forest. "We need to go back," she whispers. "It is not safe here." She carefully and slowly stands and lightly treads back towards the Sacred Meadow.
-snap- We both turn around towards the source of the sound. There, in the bushes, are two orange eyes looking right back at us.
"RUN!" Both Geela and I dashed towards the meadow. I look back see the creature of darkness jump out of the bushes and throw its fists onto the ground, shaking the ground and destroying some of the foliage around it. Fear courses through me. "If that creature gets too close to me, I am as good as dead." I run as fast as I can. But the weakness that I felt in the morning comes back to me all at once. I lose the strength in my legs and slow down. The guttural noises of the creature and the sound of its destructive stomp keep getting closer, and louder. Its blue, scaly body and warty, orange fists continue crushing the ground beneath it and creating shock waves that are strong enough to be felt. And it keeps getting closer. -boom-
"EBEN!" Geela cries out.
I call back, "I can't run faster!" -Boom- I am thrown off balance by the force of the creature, but I regain my footing and continued running as fast as I could. I almost reach the edge of the forest and -BOOM- The creature strikes the ground right behind me. The force of the stomp throws me into the air, towards the trunk of a tree. -Whomp- The pain of the impact surges through every part of my body.
I am struck with such pain that I can barely move. I force my eyes open to see the creature of my doom make one final leap to finish me off. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a bolt of light intercepts the creature, knocking it away from me. I cast my gaze towards the light and see that it is another spirit, adorned with a sash of woven leaves. He runs toward the creature, hitting and kicking it while twirling in the air.
The creature jumps once more to crush the Spirit. But he blocks the crushing blow, sending the creature of darkness flying backwards. It retreats, back into the dark forest from which it came. The spirit, standing strong like a mountain, yells out towards the fleeing beast, "And if you come back again, I will be that last thing you ever see!"
Geela rushes to my side, placing her hand on my bruised head. "Eben, are you all right?"
"I— I don't feel well at all."
The other spirit also approaches me. "May I h- Geela!?" His voice instantly goes from calm to upset. "Geela! How many times must we tell you that the forest is dangerous before you understand that we are absolutely serious?"
"Aaro, I'm sorry. I just wanted to show Eben one of the energy crystals you and the other defenders use to protect Nibel."
"How can we- He catches his words and speaks more softly. "How can we protect you if you endanger yourself by not following the rules? The rules are there to protect you. I can't be responsible for the loss of another sibling to a painful death in the forest that is still very much covered in darkness. I have already seen two die in front of my eyes, and today, your friend almost became the third." Aaro crouches down to me, pulling a few loose strands from his sash and placing them on my bruises.
"If you go back into any part of the forest that the defenders do not guard, I cannot promise that anyone will be there to protect you."
"But I can look after myself. I can outrun all of the creatures of darkness." Geela protests.
"But he can't. He can't outrun a Stomper. You saw that yourself." Aaro says as he helps me to my feet. But my legs are weak and wobbly again and I fall into Aaro's arms. "Are you all right?" he asks.
I grimace, "I am so hurt and so weak. It is hard to stand."
He looks at me closely. "You are dim. Your light, it is weak." He pauses for a moment, wondering what he should do. "I am going to carry you to the Spirit Well. Are you all right with that?"
"Yes." Immediately he lifts me onto his back and carries me.
"Eben, can you promise me something?" Aaro asks.
"Yes?"
"Stay where is it is safe. Please." We cross the threshold of the forest into the meadow. The sunlight warms my skin, bringing back the peace and safety of the light.
"I don't think I even want to go back to the forest." Aaro continues carrying me to the Spirit Well, doing so as gently as possible. While I am bruised and in pain from the encounter with the Stomper, I feel safe as he carries me. I sense that he was strong and unwavering. It was his duty to defend Nibel, or, more specifically, the young Spirits of Nibel.
He places me in the center of the Sprit Well. The energy of the Spirit Tree revives my strength and heals my wounds once more. I hug Aaro, telling him, "Thank you for saving me back there."
"Be safe Eben," he said, hugging me back. He returns to the forest in haste, not even glancing back.
I felt a hand gently ctouch my shoulder. "Eben," Geela said, her voice more worried now. "I'm sorry that I put you in danger by taking you too deep into the forest. But I really wanted to show you that energy crystal." Her ears droop and her eyes look to the ground.
I am not quite sure what to think. Geela is honest; she was sorry. "But she still endangered me. She knew that the forest we went into wasn't safe. I almost died."
"Eben, I'm so sorry," she says again, her sight shifting between my eyes and the ground.
"I accept your apology." I just sit there at the edge of the Sprit Well, thinking and remembering the terrible experience I had in the forest. The pain, fear, and danger of the forest was obvious. I have already promised Aaro to stay in the meadow, so I promise myself: "I will never go back into the forest while it is still dangerous. If I go again, I may never come back alive."
"Eben?" Geela looks at me with tears in her shaking eyes. "Do you forgive me?"
"Of course, I do." I forgive her in my heart, but my mind kept wandering to the fact that I could have died. Seeing the sadness in her eyes, I hug her, hoping that it will make her feel better. Her ears perk back up again, the joy returns to her face.
"So," she asks, "do you want to play tag again?"
"In the forest? No way, not there."
Her expression changes to complete shock. "Wha— I thought you were my friend."
"I am your friend, I just don't want to go back into that forest." She turns away and walks slowly back to her tree. As she returns, she does not run or even skip, but slowly, and sadly walks on. "Come on Eben, tell her you are sorry!" I tell myself. But I can't get myself to do it. "What if she goes back into the forest again? What if she won't treat me the same again? What if—" My mind continues to stall me from doing what I need to do to solve the problem I had caused. But now that I have finally gathered enough conviction to go and apologize to her, I cannot find her.
I get up and go toward her tree. "She must be somewhere over there."
AMITA
I rush through the dense foliage, my hooves pounding against the ground. "What is going on here? In all the time that I have been alive, those Spirit Wells have been always been reliable. Why would this time be any different?" I know that something is not right.
"Amita! Where are you going?"
I glance behind me to see one of my most dutiful students running to catch up with me. "Nuri, I thought I told you to stay and protect the west side of the Meadow!" I keep running towards the Spirit Well.
He responds with a tone of urgency in his voice. "Aaro said that he could cover for me, and you looked like you were in a hurry." Then he continues wittily, "So, whatever it is that you are running to must be very important and most likely dangerous.
I shake my head. He knows me too well, I can't hide my emotions from him.
"And if it really is so dangerous, you might want a little more firepower on your side instead of going alone like usual."
"He is right. I often go by myself on these quests. His ability to create a Spirit Flame and attack with it has been invaluable at times. It is probably best if he tags along just in case the situation becomes dire." "All right," I say, "Stay close, I have a really bad feeling about this."
We continue running at breakneck speed, jumping and dodging past creatures of darkness as we go. Clearing them for this part of the forest is not important. We have to find out what is wrong with the Chasm Spirit Well. No matter how many times I tried at the Meadow Spirit Well, I could not transport myself to it. No Spirit Well can connect to it.
We arrived at Kurro's Chasm. The canyon is lit with the beautiful colors of sunset, echoing the orange dust of Sorrow Pass further North. I look to where I knew the Spirit Well to be. Instead of seeing a pristine arrangement of rock and root glowing with the light of the Spirit Tree, I see a pile of rubble.
"No," I exhale in disbelief. I make my way to the remains of the Spirit Well. As I get closer, the destruction of the Spirit Well becomes more and more apparent. After many detours across the chasm's cliff walls, Nuri and I finally reached what remains of the Well. "How-" my voice shakes with fear and desperation. "How could this … happen?" Broken stone and shattered wood are all that remain of the Well. I reach down, grabbing one of the stones that once had the glowing markings, but the light it once carried is now completely extinguished. "Nuri, what could have done this?" I toss the rock back onto the pile.
The ground rumbles and the air fills with the sound of crumbling rock. The rubble of the Spirit Well is heaved in all directions. In the same instance, a tall pillar of darkness erupts from the ground. The top of that tall, dark form curves towards us. Two eyes stare right back at us from this black snakelike form. I have never seen anything quite as large as this. It's a huge creature with scales as black as obsidian with hints of purple iridescence. Its jaws gape open to reveal two sharp fangs that curved into its blackened mouth.
Its eyes lock onto mine and pulls its head back, ready to strike. In haste, I touch the ground and pull up an energy barrier. The deep whoosh once again filled the air and the light filled the space around us as the creature lunges towards us. I tense, preparing for the worst. Immediately, the creature impacts the barrier… and shatters it. I am sent flying through the air, tumbling backwards head over tail. I hit the cliffside, rolling atop the slippery, dusty stones. I barely catch a ledge to keep from falling into the river below. I look back towards the giant snake to see Nuri dodging the attacks of the creature of darkness above me. He attacks it by throwing spheres of spirit flame at it. But, the snake smacks Nuri into the canyon wall, and he falls into the canyon.
He falls past me, completely limp, towards the tumultuous waters below. In desperation to save his life, I jump in towards him.
EBEN
I tried looking and calling for Geela, but I couldn't find her without stepping my foot back into the forest. I found her friends, whom I had met yesterday. But even they could not find her. Geela did not return to her tree at all. So, I gave up and sat myself back down on the Spirit Well. I'd look for her again tomorrow. Remembering back to the painful experience with the Stomper only strengthened the conviction I had. "Never, I am never going back into the forest until it is completely safe."
"That is a very sad thing to promise yourself." Startled, I turn around to see Kynan, his form outlined by the setting sun. He sits down beside me. "The forest of Nibel has never truly been safe, even before the Days of Decay."
"What?" I ask quizzically. "I thought things were perfect before."
"Eben, there has never been a time where everything is perfect. There is always something that happens that shouldn't. There are always troubles and mistakes. It is part of life." Everything he says seems so counterintuitive. "The thing is, the forest of Nibel will always be at least a little dangerous." He clasped his hand on my shoulder. "I know you had a really bad experience today, but so have most of us. Don't let fear decide what you will do and what you will not do."
I think about it for a moment. "But Aaro—"
Kynan reiterates firmly, "Aaro is right, you should stay where it is safe. And there are safe places in the forest around the Sacred Meadow. Where Geela went wasn't safe. But the areas at the South end of the meadow are safe."
His words are hard for me to understand. "If the forest was never entirely safe, how could the south areas be safe?"
"Eben." I look back to Kynan. "It's ok to go off exploring. You shouldn't be confined to this place completely. I assure you, the closest portions of the Thornfelt Swamp are safe. If you are really so worried about running into another creature of darkness, go with a group. They will keep you safe."
His words do make me feel better. But I know that it will be a long time before I can go back into that forest. "Everything is going to be ok. I promise that everything is going to –" He stops speaking and his whole posture changes. He stands alert, staring off into the distance. "I have to go," he says urgently. "Something is wrong, very wrong." Before another word he races off into the forest.
As the sun continues to set, I noticed the sky slowly change colors from blue, to orange, to a light purple, and a dark blue before finally turning to the black of night. As the night grows darker, I am not afraid because of the comforting light of the Spirit Well, which evaporates any of my fears of darkness. As the night continues on, I notice that there were tiny points of light that slowly became more and more noticeable and numerous. They fill the sky in two bands of light that stretch from one side of the sky to the other.
And I lay back, taking it all in. I noticed a small point of light, moving along a distant cliff in the south end of the forest. The light jumps off the cliff edge and glides softly against the background stars towards the east. As it moves, storm clouds begin gathering all across the sky. The billowing masses of cloud grow thicker and darker as it covers the whole sky. Cracks of lighting rip across the horizon making it difficult to keep track of the moving light. Before long, I loose sight of it.
As the wind kicks up and the rain begins to pour down, I realize something. "Geela never returned to her tree. She is somewhere out there in the forest, but I cannot help her, I can't even help myself." In my fear, I become stiff.
