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Ch. 12 Black Jimson

The black wood had its own kind of atmosphere, it was still and the air was crisp, like winter morning. When the wind blew the white leaves of the tress clinked together like glass wind chimes. Every now and again I would catch my reflection in the obsidian like tree trunks and frighten myself. Unlike the Moor forest which had many paths, the Black woods had none only deep brown forest floor that looked undisturbed.

"This place give me the creeps." I said thinking out loud. Bip nodded in agreement and moved a bit closer to me. Dee blended in so well with the forest that more than a few times I had lost sight of him. He had been on high alert ever since we crossed over into the Black woods, the muscles in his back taught as a long bow.

"How far do you think we have to go?" I asked Bip, whose emerald eyes scanned the area left and right in a constant state of weariness.

"I don't rightly know, the only one of us that's ever stepped foot in this place is Dee." He said, his voice low and cautious and almost adult like. Further and further into the woods we went, silent as the dead but still making enough noise to cause disturbance in the woods. I was beginning to wonder if in fact we were the only beings in the woods. Bip had said that there were all sorts of evil spirits here, but so far I hadn't seen anything. Not a slug, not a bird, not anything. Just the black trees. Maybe even evil things avoided this place.

Dee stopped and looked back at us before sitting down, I guess that was his way of telling us to take a break. I took my bag off and dug out some food for us to snack on, and wondering how Dee could be happy with just an apple. Bip took two, and when I frowned at him he crossed his arms and said.

"I'm a growing boy!" At that Dee had snorted and shook his head.
After eating my own share of food I went in search of some privacy, but didn't wonder too far. The forest frightened me more than embarrassment. After that had been taken care of I turned to follow my tracks back to the boys.

"Oh." I was somewhat surprised to see a flower that one of the trees had hidden from me on my way here. It grew right next to the tree, its stem was sturdy, white, and long about to my hips and perched gracefully on top was a black flower. Its petals curved in a windmill shape, grew thinner towards the tips, and looked somewhat like a sharp star. It was beautiful, but what was most eye-catching was the bright purple color of the inner flower. Its pigment so deep and rich it almost seemed to glow.

'Touch…' it seemed to whisper.

I don't know how long I stood there and stared at it, the beautiful thing, but Bip and Dee soon rounded a few trees and saw me just as I reached out to touch it.

"Mistress!" Bip shouted as Dee barked my way, and just as I touched the flower I looked their way. Bip looked pale, like he would be sick and next to him Dee's tail was somewhere in between his legs. For a long slow moment I wondered why they looked so odd, but then a pain so sharp, so all encompassing, shook every thought and every feeling but pain and fear from my mind. My eyes napped to the flower and to my finger that had touched one of its petals, the pain moving from tat finger to my arm, and then to my shoulder until I felt a white hot mind numbing agony to the tips of my toes. In the distance I could hear someone screaming, but before I could wonder who it was I realized it was me. The skin on my hand had gone deathly pale and my vein had taken on a sickly purple color. Then the next thing I knew I was looking up into the canopy of the Black woods writhing, and twitching, and screaming.

"Mistress! How could you be so careless? I told you! Evil spirits are everywhere here!" Bip shouted as he knelt next to me and looked me over. His voice sounded odd though, as if I were hearing it through a plane of glass, or underwater. He took my hand and his was blessedly cool.

"We have to find a fairy. Now." But this voice wasn't Bip's, it was far too deep. As I looked towards it my eyes began to grow dark, but I could make out just barely the figure of a man before my eyes slammed shut. Even in fevered sleep my body kept me aware of just how much pain my stupidity had caused it.

"How!" Bip asked Diaval as he traced her body with his hands aglow with magic. Diaval, now in his human form, looked from Bip to the deadly black flower.

"I can't heal her and if you try, you'll both die. I can fly ahead and find Cereus." He said watching the agony on her face as she tossed restlessly. The veins in her face had gone purple and slowly the poison crept closer to her neck.

"And what if that old bat aint home? What then!" Bip shouted, losing focus on his magic. It blinked out for a moment before he reined his own panic in and went back to trying to stop the spread.

"I'll go find Maleficent." Diaval slipped a hand into one of hers. As soon as he and Bip had seen her, hand outstretched, eyes glazed over in a trance, his heart had stopped, and it felt like he had swallowed a handful of stones. There had been a great rushing sound in his ears and then she had fallen in an uncoordinated fit to the ground screaming as if she was being burnt alive.

"This fairy or that fairy, just go get someone! I'll…I'll try to keep it from spreading, at the very least I'll keep it away from her heart." Bip said trying to put on a brave face but letting a tear escape down his cheek.
He hated it, hated having to leave her and Bip alone in the Black wood, and it took every ounce of self-control that he possessed not to scream. Instead he transformed into his raven body and flew as fast as possible towards the mountain.

Meanwhile….

Maleficent watched as Aurora had her scribe write down her words. The young queen was pacing back and forth with her hands behind her back, and at his table the scribe scribbled furiously.

"I don't want it to seem like a wanted poster, but I need it to be clear and urgent." The scribe nodded and jotted his own notes in the corner of his parchment. Aurora pointed to the portrait on his desk as well.

"I want this reproduced on all the posters as well." Again he nodded and jotted a note. Aurora went back to pacing, a deep thoughtful look on her face.

"I want the people to spread the word that the queen is looking for this woman, and that finding her, or her coming forward would be a great service to the kingdom." In the corner Maleficent snickered and shook her head as Aurora looked her way.

"What?" She asked looking over at her god mother. Maleficent smiled at her and walked her way.

"A service to the kingdom? Beastie that's a flat out lie." She said peaking over the scribe's desk. Aurora had the decency to look slightly ashamed.

"Well it's not a total lie, it would be a service to me, and Diaval." She said as Maleficent came around the desk and to her side.

"Ah, and that makes this a matter of state for the kingdom?" She asked raising an eyebrow the queen's way. Aurora puffed out her bottom lip and crossed her arms.

"No, it's a matter of friendship. Diaval watched out for me along with you since I was a baby. I would want to help him in any way I could if it meant he would be happy." She said resolutely. Maleficent let a real smile spread across her face and wrapped an arm around Aurora's shoulders. She was about to tell her how cheesy she sounded when a familiar sparrow flew through an open window and perched on her staff.

"Hold that thought beastie." She said as the bird breathed deeply to catch its breath.