Chapter 16
"Another Macabre Encounter"
It was around 8am, a time that Scuro considered late. He had insisted that they needed to go, even though their mission didn't have a deadline. After all, there were monsters with a reputation as powerful as the nocturnal ones roaming about in the forest. After packing up and ensuring that everything was ready, Mario, Luigi, Starlow, and Scuro left the cave to resume their journey.
Fallen leaves scrunched under the Mario brothers' feet as they trekked the forest. Starlow and Scuro flew effortlessly alongside them. They noticed the trees and the shade they provided thinning, indicating that they were about to exit the forest. This relieved them, knowing that they would be out of the haunting forest and away from Macabres and Lady Lisa.
Their relief was only short, though. The forest began to thicken yet again, casting a darker shadow that made the shrubbery more menacing than they really are. They paused, except for Scuro who without a single bat of an eye entered the dark abyss. Mario and Starlow only shrugged before following the ancient relic. Luigi, being the least brave of them, wanted to stay behind until Mario pushed the protesting green plumber with them.
It was darker. Not a ray of sunlight filtered through the break of the darkened leaves. The light here was minimal but still enough to illuminate the forest floor dimly. At least Scuro's glowing red eyes and Starlow's luminescent star helped to illuminate more of their way. The twisted trees here were darker, not because of the shadows, but of their gloomier and darker tint. The ankle-deep layer of dried and grayed leaves carpeted the ground, as if the trees were constantly dying. Everything looked gray and dead... It was like the forest had just turned from creepy to horrifying.
The group grew more cautious of their darkened surroundings. Even though they knew they were still in the same forest, the newer scene encouraged them to be more careful. The darker feel reminded them too much of the Macabres, and this made the group uneasy. They trudged onwards nonetheless, putting their unease behind them and inviting their courage and confidence.
A deep bellow echoed throughout the forest, making the group pause. A wooden creak followed soon after... Macabres were here.
It sounded relatively far, but still close enough to be worried about. The group shrugged it off and continued. They grew more careful and nervous at the same time. Luigi started shivering and stuttering in his steps. Mario quieted his steps in an attempt to lessen the chances of them being detected through hearing. Starlow shrunk into the center of the group until she was practically hiding behind Scuro. The Dark Star simply snorted and frowned at the disturbance.
They calmed down a little bit after a few seemingly tense minutes. The Macabres were in the same forest as them, but that didn't mean that they were in imminent danger. They had nothing serious to worry about because other than themselves, they were alone.
Little did they know that electric blue eyes were following them.
...
The group trekked on for hours through the gloomy forest. The darkness and emptiness made for a haunting feel. But it just had to add mist to the scene, creating an even eerier atmosphere. Soon, the mist grew into a light fog, decreasing visibility and the group's field of vision to only several yards.
The humidity made the group cold. The Mario brothers hugged their arms to warm themselves and their hairs stood on end, making them feel prickly sensations all over. Starlow pressed her feet closer to each other for warmth and began shivering, her teeth clenched tight in discomfort. Scuro's snorted dismissively, the warm puff of air creating steam.
As they delved deeper into the foggy forest, white specks began floating about through the moist air. Mario held out a hand to gather the floating particles into his palm before bringing them close to his face and studying them. "It's... ash." Mario declared.
Why there would be ash here, they didn't exactly know. Maybe there was forest fire. But the chances were low, keeping in mind that the place was too humid to keep anything from catching on fire. Where the ashes came from perplexed them. They decided to ignore it, despite it being suspicious and peculiar. Ash was harmless, unless the flame was close by.
Then they saw it.
The absence of the darkened leaves and thick above-growth allowed light to illuminate the scene. It's supposedly noon by now, but the sun could not be seen through the thick fog. The only hint of it being there was a barely noticeable brighter patch of fog on the sky.
Burnt and uprooted trees lay on a carpet of white ash. The blackened trees left standing had no branches. Even through their limited vision, they knew that the damage was wide... The fire probably burnt down a good few square kilometers of the forest.
They continued their trek dauntingly, ignoring the uneasy churning in their stomachs as they passed by the grotesque and hauntingly familiar shape of the burnt trees. The silhouettes of grotesque roots formed haunting shapes of clawed hands, seemingly trying to grab at them.
They paused as they found another peculiar sight. A skeleton.
It was no ordinary skeleton. It was huge; a little bigger than Lady Lisa. Bones, black from being burnt, were scattered around a long spine, a rib cage, and a skull. The group took in the form and shape of the skeleton, and they realized that it belonged to a dead Alphazard.
It obviously did not have the best experience. Some of its ribs were smashed under a fallen tree. Its tail was cut short at the hip by the fallen tree's single remaining branch. Its head was reared up, supported by a large rock, and its mouth frozen wide open, preserving its final screams of agony. A sharp branch peeked out from a crack on its forehead, indicating that an impalement was the killing blow.
Starlow cringed at the sight. Mario and Luigi removed their caps from their heads and held them close to their chests. Scuro simply stared at the pile of bones, studying the skeleton with a familiarity. To the Dark Star, there was something wrong with it... Not because of how it died, but because of a presence that lingered alongside the corpse.
Before Scuro could think much about it, another deep bellow echoed. It sounded too close for comfort. "Uh... I think w-we should go now." Luigi suggested. The group didn't complain, and they left the skeleton behind.
Behind a line of trees and fog, electric blue eyes rested questioningly on the pile of burnt bones. The owner of the eyes studied the skeleton with intrigued curiosity. Lady Lisa hadn't been through this part of the forest. She would stick only to her side where it was greener and comparably livelier than the gray and gloomy woods she was in. She only strayed here because she was making sure those weird creatures wouldn't cause any trouble, and in the process claim this land as her own.
During her rule, she had rarely encountered any of her own species. The only indication she knew they were here were the roars and screeches that echoed throughout the forest every once in a blue moon. They were territorial creatures... too territorial for their own good. Trespassing into one's territory meant an unpleasant experience for the large reptile. The only time Alphazards could meet without hostility was during mating season. Oddly enough, Lady Lisa despised the occasion, mostly because she wanted to remain independent, and that she didn't want any younglings... yet.
The remains she knew belonged to one of her kind, and that meant that this part of the forest was once its domain. She was trespassing, even though this area was now hers since the former ruler has died. But she still paid her respects. She approached the skeleton and touched the skull with her snout. She blew air from her nose and gave a respectful croon.
Then she sensed something... It came from the skeleton... It was something cold. The large reptile jerked back in disgust. This skeleton is infected... It has traces of the energy that she sensed on those undead trees and spherical relic. She took back her respectful gesture with a disgusted snort and a malignant growl. She turned around, and smacked her tail on the skeleton, further destroying it.
...(Scuro's POV)...
"Can't we just fly out of here? I mean, Scuro and Starlow can fly us out, right?" Luigi complained as we found our way through the fog.
The fog was annoying... Even my piercing red eyes didn't completely help with the problem of limited vision. All I could see was white, grays, the occasional blackened wood, the ground and the dried leaves, and the slight tint of red from my eyes. Vision was limited to only a few yards, and that slowed us down. Even with this so-called "compass", which supposedly shows us the directions, didn't help when we would occasionally bump into trees or into each other.
"No." I answer blankly.
"But why?!" Luigi whined. "Why do we have to walk and bump into everything and get lost when we could just fly out of here?!" The green plumber raised his fists into the air in exasperation. He pointed towards me and Starlow. "You guys can fly, right?!"
"Easier said than done, plumber." I retort.
Starlow huffed. "Yeah, Luigi. I agree with Scuro. We can't just fly out of here."
"But why?!" Luigi groaned and whined like some annoying little brat who didn't get any candy.
"Well, for one..." I started. "We might as well get hit with branches and fall on the way up. Despite me being able to withstand the hit, I doubt your considerably fragile bodies to endure."
"We can take it!" Luigi dared.
"Two..." I continued, ignoring Luigi. "Flight for us is limited. It costs us energy for an amount of time. To put it bluntly, it is quite tiresome for us."
"Well, you guys float all the time and I don't see you getting tired so easily. And when we fled from Lady Lisa, you guys flew and when we took a rest, you weren't even out of breath!" Luigi countered.
Starlow sighed exasperatingly. "Think of it this way, Luigi. Floating is to walking, and flying is to running. Now, wouldn't you get tired carrying people while running them to their next destination?"
"Then just float us up!" Luigi argued.
I growled under my breath. "As much as I favor the idea of watching you suffer, I do not wish for you to suffocate with altitude sickness. We not only have to fly over the trees, to make sure we take a safe path, we must also fly above the fog and mist."
"And add to that reason number two!" Starlow reasoned.
"But- but, why do you guys insist that floating is different from flying?!" Luigi whined, grabbing his mustache and pulling it.
"Because floating is different from flying." I was becoming very impatient. "I already have difficulty floating and yet during battle I persist to fly even with the risk of fatigue. Riding on me is only allowed when necessary or in circumstance. I am also sure Starlow thinks the same way?" I look at her, metaphoric eyebrows raised in askance.
"Well, yeah." She answered. "I only fly you guys when needed. Like when you need help evading attacks or scouting."
Luigi pouted at this. Starlow shook her head. "We're not airplanes, Luigi. We can't just fly anytime we want without any difficulty."
"But you're flying, now!"
"We are floating. Not flying." I repeat. "Now stop complaining. We are in the same situation as you are in, but do you hear us complaining?"
"But... This forest is creeping me out... I want out! I want to get out of here!" Luigi began whining again. He gripped his hair and pulled in frustration, messing up his hair and hat. I myself wanted to smash my own face into a tree in frustration at Luigi's endless whines.
Luigi began to get teary eyed from his frustration. His whines threatened to become crying. It was hard to believe that a man, perhaps around 20 to 30 years old, would cry out of fear like a little youngling would. For some reason, I didn't want to strangle him anymore. I still needed to if I wanted Luigi to shut up and stop complaining. Thankfully Mario did it for me.
It was supposed to be amusing, however something about the action made it serious.
Mario held his hand over Luigi's mouth and held him close. The green plumber's teary eyes changed into those of questioning and confusion. Luigi began to squirm under Mario's grip, only for the red plumber to tighten his hold on his brother. Luigi began pulling the hand off his face only to be swatted off by Mario's forearm.
Starlow and I looked at each other in confusion before looking back towards the two brothers. We were about to ask what was going on, but Mario looked at us, his mouth pressed into a thin line and brows furrowed, and shook his head.
Luigi's muffled protests were drowned out by creaking and moaning. Rhythmic and heavy thumps followed. A groan, sounding very close, came before a loud bellow. After venturing through the long silence of the forest, the bellow sounded deafening. Undoubtedly, it belonged to a Macabre.
Other Macabres echoed their own calls, some relatively close and others noticeably far away.
We sprang into action and began finding a place to hide. I personally would have faced the tree head on, but Mario pushed me towards our hiding spot. We ducked under a fallen log, high enough for us to crouch behind and not get spotted. We got some black soot from leaning on and holding the log, but for the matter, no one seemed to care. We kneeled up and looked over our hiding spot. Luigi, Mario, Starlow, and I were scoping the scene like some vultures waiting for their prey to die out.
We could not see very well past the fog, but we could make out a silhouette just a little over 30 meters away. A large and black Macabre Tree, definitely a leader, trudged through the mist, seemingly unaware of our position. It looked like it was trying to find something, since it was bent over and the red glowing eyes were scanning the ashen floor.
It placed one of its hands on the ground to support itself. It stooped down farther to get a better look on the ground. It began sniffing... which was a peculiar sight for a tree to do. Then, its head snapped to where we were. We immediately ducked down, not wanting to be spotted.
creak... thud...
creak... Thud...
Creak... Thud
Creak... THUD...
CREAK... THUD...
The tree was getting closer... Luigi began to tremble from the suspense. Starlow hid her luminescent star behind herself as best as she could, trying to stop the glow from giving away our position. Mario's hand clenched into a fist and gripped the ground in anticipation. I ceased floating and let myself go into half-sleep so that I hid my black, fire-like aura and my glowing red eyes.
The sounds were getting closer and closer... Then it stopped.
...
...
...
The eery silence was deafening. I could hear the fast and thumping heartbeats of my companions and sense their adrenaline rising. What was only a few seconds of silence felt like hours, and for a moment, I thought the tree was gone.
Two, large, wooden hands grabbed the log and tossed it aside like it was a toy.
I immediately sprang up, my black and fire-like aura re-emanating, and red and glowing eyes flashing back to life. Mario jumped back and landed in a fighting stance. Starlow floated away and positioned herself between me and Mario. Luigi stumbled forwards, away from the looming Macabre Tree, and reunited with us.
Now that the tree was close, we could get a better look at it. Large and sharp branches that resembled spikes bristled its whole body. Its mouth was lined with teeth too big for its size, giving the Macabre a permanent grin; something that reminded me of scientist-bug. It was very large, nearly another tree larger than the Black Tree in Dimble Wood. Then I noticed that the Macabre was actually two trees mended together, an answer to why it was larger than the others. The secondary tree made up some of its back, two legs, and its whole left arm which was larger compared to its right arm.
It hissed, warm steam and dark smoke sifting through its clenched teeth. That was new; this Macabre is different. Not in a way that it was special, but in a sense that it was... evolving.
It roared, more of the dark smoke pouring from its mouth. I roar back challengingly. The Macabre stepped closer towards us, one of its feet planting itself firmly just a mere few feet before us. It chittered and hardened its glare at us before screeching.
Distant creaks and moans sounded from everywhere in a chorus of echoes. The sounds grew louder and soon, the telltale footsteps of the undead trees surrounded us.
White trees, just as misshapen and grotesque as the black tree towering before us, slowly revealed themselves from the fog. I could see only the silhouettes, but I could still identify their arms, additional appendages, and basic appearance. The dangerously closer ones, those that wanted to inspect us closely despite the black tree's warning growls, bared their wooden teeth malignantly at us.
We went into back to back positions: Luigi to my left, Starlow to my back, and Mario to my right. Now with eyes around all directions, we observed the trees for their every move.
Mario nudged me with his elbow to call my attention. I snort, telling him non-verbally that I was listening.
"That tree is different..." Mario whispered. Even without looking at him, I knew he was talking about the black tree. "I noticed...", I whispered back.
"They look tough... Should we be careful?" Luigi asked in a hushed whisper.
"Unlike the Macabres in Dimble Wood, I doubt these trees are as mindless and unaware as them." I murmured my own opinion.
"Well, what now?" Starlow whispered her question.
"Give them the first move. We'll take the defensive." Mario whispered his own plan.
The black tree kept glaring at us. It had an expectant look in its eyes as it studied us with caution... It was still observing us. It was smart enough to wait for us to make the first move.
"We are in a stalemate..." I whisper to no one in particular.
Mario whispered back at me. "We need to distract them. And then we take the first move."
Luigi asked. "But what kind of distraction?"
Starlow hissed. "Anything. Just something to make them lose focus on us."
The black tree growled and hissed, its red glowing eyes flickering brighter. It was becoming impatient, and it pounded the ground before roaring impatiently at us. It was as if it wanted so bad to maul us to death but something was keeping it from doing so.
"This tree isn't the leader..." I muttered my own thoughts.
"What?" Starlow whispered her question in confusion.
"The black tree... It is not the leader of this group."
"Then what is?"
A loud roar pierced through the silence and all eyes, ours' and even the Macabres', faced towards the source. They landed on a particularly darker patch of fog, and out came something we had least expected to see...
...(3rd POV)...
Lady Lisa wanted very badly to just reveal herself and give Macabres the death they so righteously deserved. She fought the urge to pounce on the nearest tree and maul it to splinters. She knew better than to simply jump out and surprise the undead trees. Surprise was only momentary. Yes, it would give her the chance to destroy some trees without any resistance, but they would still recover.
She was positioned stealthily above a large and mossy boulder. Her forest-themed colors provided sufficient camouflage on the green moss. She had a good view of the scene up there.
Below her, the Macabres hissed and rumbled impatiently, awaiting their master's command. She had guessed that the black trees were the leaders, since every time she encountered a group of the undead trees, only a single black tree accompanied. And now, this large group of trees had an exceptionally large leader that loomed over the weird creatures. She eyed the black tree, watching it expectantly for its next move.
Her bioluminescent, lightning blue eyes drifted towards the weird creatures.
They were small compared to the Macabres towering over them. They looked so vulnerable and puny. They wore determined expressions, but the large reptile could sense the fear they tried to suppress. She wanted to jump down there, spring into action, and protect them... The fight just seemed unfair. Two humans, a star sprite, and that dark fireball couldn't possibly best dozens of giant, mutated, dark powered, undead trees.
But the weird fireball... She focused her gaze on the Dark Star, curious to what he was going to do.
She still did not trust the ancient relic, but she forgave him for his actions. She still felt bitter about what he did, and she did not especially like being disrespected. He trespassed. He attacked and disrespected her despite her authority. He was not natural; he was an abomination that was not welcome in her territory... But he did not harm her home. He had done nothing wrong to upset her territory.
Some part of her wanted to make sure the Dark Star does not destroy her turf by destroying him. Another wanted to wait and observe his decisions. She chose the latter, not seeing sense in pointless death.
For a moment, she suspected that the Dark Star was with the Macabres. They were alike in many ways. She sensed the same dark power on them. They acted almost the same; the only difference was that Scuro was smarter and more calculating. It was quite sensible that Scuro and the Macabres had some form of allegiance.
Watching them, she initially thought the black tree and ancient relic were discussing something. When the Macabre growled and roared in hostility, the thought shattered. Now she knew the Dark Star was not one of those undead trees, despite being somewhat related.
The Dark Star is not an enemy.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud roar. It echoed throughout the forest, and her ears rang from the loud sound. What confused her was that it sounded like her... It sounded like one of her kind.
It was partially a screech and partially a roar and rumble. It sounded echoey and hollow, as if it came from a different realm.
The group and even the Macabres snapped their gaze towards the source of the sound. She did the same and watched where they were looking at. There was a darker patch of fog, and the large reptile eyed it cautiously.
Through the dark mist, magenta eyes flashed to life. One eye stuttered in blinking as if it had a glitch. The other was brighter and was unblinking. It the magenta glow flowed throughout the rest of the creature, forming strange patterns on the fog. It still hadn't fully revealed itself, but it would soon...
A magenta line lighted under the eyes, forming what looked like a mouth. Vertical and curving lines lighted where its body was supposed to be. The light formed... a rib cage?
The monster lumbered forward, fully revealing itself.
There stood a reptilian skeleton, bigger than Lady Lisa. A branch peeked out of its forehead, and its bones were blackened by fire. It roared again, making sure everyone knew that it was back to reclaim its place. The sound echoed throughout the forest, everyone hearing it being informed that a leader has returned. It was this forests alpha, and anyone who defies its reign must face its wrath.