Chapter 2: Over the Painted Bridge
After a while of silent walking, Lync and Holly came to the Painted Bridge; the gateway into the Dark Black Forest. Many village children had grown up with nightmares, imagining what horrors could possibly be in the pitch black on the other side of the black-painted Bridge. Holly was no exception.
Lync stood still for a second or two, almost as if he was fighting back fear, or something to that extent. "You must be very quiet when we go in, Holly. That Forest can kill you in a hundred different ways." Holly nodded, understanding.
Then they crossed the bridge. Holly was half-expecting all of her nightmares to come true at that very instant.
But they didn't.
Instead, Holly had lost all desire to talk or make noise, or be anything other than silent. Noise would have made that music harder to hear. That beautiful, odd music that seemed to be echoing around every tree (AN: In case you haven't already guessed, the music she's hearing is the Dark Black Forest song).
Lync stopped Holly before they took another step. He pointed to one of his empty bottles and then at Holly's rucksack. She got the message and handed him a bottle. He, however, signaled for Holly to take it.
Then Lync walked over to the stream they had just crossed, which had suddenly become crowded with what appeared to be small, aquatic fireflies. Lync examined the stream for a while, nodded, opened his jar and scooped up a couple dozen of the flies. Then, he crushed some nearby leaves and placed them into the jar before putting the lid on. Holly repeated the procedure.
With their new makeshift lanterns, they proceeded deep into the Forest, surrounded entirely by that haunting music.
For Holly, it was like a truly disturbing dream. She felt as if she was walking through an ocean of black cloth, with only a will-o-the-wisp lantern to guide her. The darkness was heavy, but the music was even heavier. "Why hasn't anyone else heard that music?" Holly wondered. "And I could have sworn that those fireflies, or whatever they were, hadn't been there before." Suddenly, Lync put a very forceful hand on Holly's shoulder.
"Stop," he whispered. "Can you hear that?" Suddenly, she could. It was an odd, low-pitched thumping sound, made in a perfect rhythm. "Holly, get out of the..." But that's as far as Lync got. Holly was pushed forward with incredible force by her teacher, just before she heard a horrible ripping noise. She picked herself up off the ground, only to see the most horrible, gruesome thing she had ever had to witness.
She had turned around to find a pair of wolf-like creatures with long, bristle-covered tails and great, big, tufted pointy ears. They were jumping up and down on their hind legs, creating that low-pitched rhythmic sound she was hearing. But that wasn't what scared her. What scared her was the fact that they were slashing Lync with the two-foot long claws they had on their front legs.
"Master Lync!"
"Holly!" Lync had tried to shout while crawling away. "Do you know why the bridge is painted?!" Those were his last words before one of the wolf-like creatures ran a claw straight through Lync's heart.
Holly was frozen in shock. She wasn't for very long, though. She started running after she first noticed that the wolf-likes were hopping her way. The whole time Holly was running, she thought she would tire out before she was safe. And then she remembered the box.
Maybe if she opened Lync's box, she'd be protected. Holly swung her rucksack from her shoulder and tried to get the box and the key out, all while keeping hold of the lantern. The box came out safely, and the lantern was secure... but the key fell from her grip. And then more bad news came. Holly had stopped running when she came to a long, and apparently very deep, creek. And this one had no bridge.
The wolf-likes, meanwhile, were hopping in their rhythmic pattern, making their sound, every one of their pounces gaining at least eight feet. Holly ran through her options. She was stuck between bloodthirsty wolf-demons and an impassable creek, Lync's box was impossible to open, and her parents were possibly dying of a contagious disease. "What to do, what to do?!" Holly panicked. The wolf-demons pounced a final time.
A shelled dolphin-like thing surfaced just behind Holly.
The dolphin flipped in midair and shot two spines out from its shell, and made a direct hit at the wolf-demons' bellies. They were caught in mid- pounce, slamming them backwards to land on their backs about ten feet away. Two more spines, and the wolf-likes hopped away madly.
Holly turned to face her defender. The dolphin-like thing made some humming sounds in four low, very soothing pitches. Apparently, it was trying to talk. Holly had tried to understand and reply, but with no luck. Then she remembered Lync's other gift.
She got the Dictionary out of her bag and spread her hand across it, just as Lync had shown her. "I'm sorry, what did you say?" she asked tentatively.
Surprisingly, the dolphin-thing had talked back. "I was askin' what you were doin' here! A human all alone in the Forest is never a good thing, and gettin' mixed up with locans? Horrible, horrible, horrible."
Holly waited a few seconds to make sure that the thing was done talking, and she replied. "Locans? You mean those wolf-things back there?"
"Yeah. Nasty creatures. I guess your trespassin' ticked 'em off, eh?"
Another brief pause. Holly had so many questions, it was hard to decide which one to ask next. "What's your name?"
The dolphin-like thing gave a sort of chuckle. "We don't really 'ave names. We just tell each other apart by looks and scent. I'm one o' the Tebo species, if that's what you mean."
"Species? There are others like you?"
"There are others like those Locans, too. We'd better get outta 'ere before more come." The Tebo lowered its body into the water. "Climb on, but watch the spines."
Holly hesitated. "Why are you helping me so much?"
"I'm a water creature," Tebo replied. "I don't 'unt livin' things down for sport like those savage land beats do. I can't even chew meat. Now get on my back, before we're both lunch."
There was a brustling noise behind Holly. That was enough persuasion. She got on. Once Holly was settled, Tebo took off like a shot. Holly's legs and shoes were getting thoroughly cold and soaked, but it was a small price to pay. Tebo was fast.
Then, Tebo finally slowed down. Holly took the opportunity to talk. "Why did you slow down?"
"We're outta their territory now. Shouldn't be as many problems." Tebo turned to look at Holly, which wasn't easy, as it had very little neck to work with. "By the way, where did you get that Dictionary?"
Holly held up the piece of wood, which she was still pressing hard against. "This? My master gave it to me just before we came into the Forest. Said it might be useful."
"You're gettin' talk outta me, aren't ya?" Tebo replied. "So where's your 'master'? Who are ya? What're ya doin' here? And why, oh why are ya keepin' a bottle of vites so tantalizin'ly close to me?"
"Vites?" Holly asked. She held up her lantern. "You mean these glowing things?"
"Not 'glowin' things.' Vites!" It was hard to tell in a creek, but Tebo's mouth could have been watering at that point. "It's so great the way they melt right in your mouth and warm your belly. I haven't been able to get hold o' any for weeks."
"Why's that?"
"Other Tebos beat me to 'em. Don't suppose I could have a few?" Tebo looked as pleading as it possibly could have with so few facial muscles.
Holly shrugged. It was the least she could do after all of this. So, she let a couple of vites out of the bottle. Bad move. Tebo began splashing and bucking and thrashing around trying to get every last vite.
Finally, it stopped and kept swimming. "Thanks," Tebo said, completely in bliss. "So, as for my other questions?"
Holly took a moment to calm down and quit panting. Hanging on to Tebo during that whole mess was tiring. "My name is Holly. My master is a... was a doctor named Alexander Lync – "
Once again, Tebo almost threw Holly overboard right there. It was a miracle that she could keep hold of the Dictionary through all this. "Lync? Did you say Lync?! That nutso who came 'ere before?!"
"You mean he really came into the Forest and survived?"
"Yeah! Everyone in the Forest was ordered to kill the guy after he met with Niomo."
Yet more questions arose. "Wait a minute. Who's this Niomo?"
"He's a healer. Dang good one, too. It's cause o' him that everyone 'ere lives so long. We all listen to him, since we all owe 'im favors. So, when he told us to kill Lync, we did our best!"
"But why did he want Lync killed?" Holly asked.
"Lync came to Niomo for some of his Cure. But he never told Lync that there's a test for gettin' the stuff."
"Getting out of the Forest alive?" Holly guessed.
"You got it. But Niomo never took back his order to kill Lync."
That explained the Locan attack. Holly pressed on. "You mentioned something called a Cure. What is it?"
"Cures any sickness, heals any injury, lifts any poison. No one knows what's in the stuff, but some say it's made from Bloodbarb juice."
The word "Bloodbarb" rang a bell with Holly. Wasn't that the thing that made her parents ill?
"So, what're ya here for?" Tebo asked.
Holly finally knew the answer to that. "I'm here for the Cure."
Tebo shrugged its flippers. "Your funeral."
After a while of silent walking, Lync and Holly came to the Painted Bridge; the gateway into the Dark Black Forest. Many village children had grown up with nightmares, imagining what horrors could possibly be in the pitch black on the other side of the black-painted Bridge. Holly was no exception.
Lync stood still for a second or two, almost as if he was fighting back fear, or something to that extent. "You must be very quiet when we go in, Holly. That Forest can kill you in a hundred different ways." Holly nodded, understanding.
Then they crossed the bridge. Holly was half-expecting all of her nightmares to come true at that very instant.
But they didn't.
Instead, Holly had lost all desire to talk or make noise, or be anything other than silent. Noise would have made that music harder to hear. That beautiful, odd music that seemed to be echoing around every tree (AN: In case you haven't already guessed, the music she's hearing is the Dark Black Forest song).
Lync stopped Holly before they took another step. He pointed to one of his empty bottles and then at Holly's rucksack. She got the message and handed him a bottle. He, however, signaled for Holly to take it.
Then Lync walked over to the stream they had just crossed, which had suddenly become crowded with what appeared to be small, aquatic fireflies. Lync examined the stream for a while, nodded, opened his jar and scooped up a couple dozen of the flies. Then, he crushed some nearby leaves and placed them into the jar before putting the lid on. Holly repeated the procedure.
With their new makeshift lanterns, they proceeded deep into the Forest, surrounded entirely by that haunting music.
For Holly, it was like a truly disturbing dream. She felt as if she was walking through an ocean of black cloth, with only a will-o-the-wisp lantern to guide her. The darkness was heavy, but the music was even heavier. "Why hasn't anyone else heard that music?" Holly wondered. "And I could have sworn that those fireflies, or whatever they were, hadn't been there before." Suddenly, Lync put a very forceful hand on Holly's shoulder.
"Stop," he whispered. "Can you hear that?" Suddenly, she could. It was an odd, low-pitched thumping sound, made in a perfect rhythm. "Holly, get out of the..." But that's as far as Lync got. Holly was pushed forward with incredible force by her teacher, just before she heard a horrible ripping noise. She picked herself up off the ground, only to see the most horrible, gruesome thing she had ever had to witness.
She had turned around to find a pair of wolf-like creatures with long, bristle-covered tails and great, big, tufted pointy ears. They were jumping up and down on their hind legs, creating that low-pitched rhythmic sound she was hearing. But that wasn't what scared her. What scared her was the fact that they were slashing Lync with the two-foot long claws they had on their front legs.
"Master Lync!"
"Holly!" Lync had tried to shout while crawling away. "Do you know why the bridge is painted?!" Those were his last words before one of the wolf-like creatures ran a claw straight through Lync's heart.
Holly was frozen in shock. She wasn't for very long, though. She started running after she first noticed that the wolf-likes were hopping her way. The whole time Holly was running, she thought she would tire out before she was safe. And then she remembered the box.
Maybe if she opened Lync's box, she'd be protected. Holly swung her rucksack from her shoulder and tried to get the box and the key out, all while keeping hold of the lantern. The box came out safely, and the lantern was secure... but the key fell from her grip. And then more bad news came. Holly had stopped running when she came to a long, and apparently very deep, creek. And this one had no bridge.
The wolf-likes, meanwhile, were hopping in their rhythmic pattern, making their sound, every one of their pounces gaining at least eight feet. Holly ran through her options. She was stuck between bloodthirsty wolf-demons and an impassable creek, Lync's box was impossible to open, and her parents were possibly dying of a contagious disease. "What to do, what to do?!" Holly panicked. The wolf-demons pounced a final time.
A shelled dolphin-like thing surfaced just behind Holly.
The dolphin flipped in midair and shot two spines out from its shell, and made a direct hit at the wolf-demons' bellies. They were caught in mid- pounce, slamming them backwards to land on their backs about ten feet away. Two more spines, and the wolf-likes hopped away madly.
Holly turned to face her defender. The dolphin-like thing made some humming sounds in four low, very soothing pitches. Apparently, it was trying to talk. Holly had tried to understand and reply, but with no luck. Then she remembered Lync's other gift.
She got the Dictionary out of her bag and spread her hand across it, just as Lync had shown her. "I'm sorry, what did you say?" she asked tentatively.
Surprisingly, the dolphin-thing had talked back. "I was askin' what you were doin' here! A human all alone in the Forest is never a good thing, and gettin' mixed up with locans? Horrible, horrible, horrible."
Holly waited a few seconds to make sure that the thing was done talking, and she replied. "Locans? You mean those wolf-things back there?"
"Yeah. Nasty creatures. I guess your trespassin' ticked 'em off, eh?"
Another brief pause. Holly had so many questions, it was hard to decide which one to ask next. "What's your name?"
The dolphin-like thing gave a sort of chuckle. "We don't really 'ave names. We just tell each other apart by looks and scent. I'm one o' the Tebo species, if that's what you mean."
"Species? There are others like you?"
"There are others like those Locans, too. We'd better get outta 'ere before more come." The Tebo lowered its body into the water. "Climb on, but watch the spines."
Holly hesitated. "Why are you helping me so much?"
"I'm a water creature," Tebo replied. "I don't 'unt livin' things down for sport like those savage land beats do. I can't even chew meat. Now get on my back, before we're both lunch."
There was a brustling noise behind Holly. That was enough persuasion. She got on. Once Holly was settled, Tebo took off like a shot. Holly's legs and shoes were getting thoroughly cold and soaked, but it was a small price to pay. Tebo was fast.
Then, Tebo finally slowed down. Holly took the opportunity to talk. "Why did you slow down?"
"We're outta their territory now. Shouldn't be as many problems." Tebo turned to look at Holly, which wasn't easy, as it had very little neck to work with. "By the way, where did you get that Dictionary?"
Holly held up the piece of wood, which she was still pressing hard against. "This? My master gave it to me just before we came into the Forest. Said it might be useful."
"You're gettin' talk outta me, aren't ya?" Tebo replied. "So where's your 'master'? Who are ya? What're ya doin' here? And why, oh why are ya keepin' a bottle of vites so tantalizin'ly close to me?"
"Vites?" Holly asked. She held up her lantern. "You mean these glowing things?"
"Not 'glowin' things.' Vites!" It was hard to tell in a creek, but Tebo's mouth could have been watering at that point. "It's so great the way they melt right in your mouth and warm your belly. I haven't been able to get hold o' any for weeks."
"Why's that?"
"Other Tebos beat me to 'em. Don't suppose I could have a few?" Tebo looked as pleading as it possibly could have with so few facial muscles.
Holly shrugged. It was the least she could do after all of this. So, she let a couple of vites out of the bottle. Bad move. Tebo began splashing and bucking and thrashing around trying to get every last vite.
Finally, it stopped and kept swimming. "Thanks," Tebo said, completely in bliss. "So, as for my other questions?"
Holly took a moment to calm down and quit panting. Hanging on to Tebo during that whole mess was tiring. "My name is Holly. My master is a... was a doctor named Alexander Lync – "
Once again, Tebo almost threw Holly overboard right there. It was a miracle that she could keep hold of the Dictionary through all this. "Lync? Did you say Lync?! That nutso who came 'ere before?!"
"You mean he really came into the Forest and survived?"
"Yeah! Everyone in the Forest was ordered to kill the guy after he met with Niomo."
Yet more questions arose. "Wait a minute. Who's this Niomo?"
"He's a healer. Dang good one, too. It's cause o' him that everyone 'ere lives so long. We all listen to him, since we all owe 'im favors. So, when he told us to kill Lync, we did our best!"
"But why did he want Lync killed?" Holly asked.
"Lync came to Niomo for some of his Cure. But he never told Lync that there's a test for gettin' the stuff."
"Getting out of the Forest alive?" Holly guessed.
"You got it. But Niomo never took back his order to kill Lync."
That explained the Locan attack. Holly pressed on. "You mentioned something called a Cure. What is it?"
"Cures any sickness, heals any injury, lifts any poison. No one knows what's in the stuff, but some say it's made from Bloodbarb juice."
The word "Bloodbarb" rang a bell with Holly. Wasn't that the thing that made her parents ill?
"So, what're ya here for?" Tebo asked.
Holly finally knew the answer to that. "I'm here for the Cure."
Tebo shrugged its flippers. "Your funeral."