AN (short): I just want to give a quick thank you to all of you who have, read, reviewed, followed, or favorited. Thank you! I truly did not expect such support right off the bat. You are amazing!

Chapter III

Lost and Found

Dreams are peculiar things, absurd creators of realities not common; silly at times, embarrassing at others, and sometimes frightful. Like the mysterious creak of a floorboard in the deep of night. I slept soundly, my subconscious devoid of any such distraction, so restful in fact that it could be construed as unnatural. Though certainly not ungrateful, too many had been my sleepless slumbers of late. The hope that I would wake refreshed and retaining some soundness of mind was also too great an expectation.

"Wake up!"

The voice was insistent, invading my unconscious state, and (honestly) I was extremely reticent to comply with such a demand. Was I supposed to be cooperative when someone had the audacity to enter my room uninvited? Of course not! So it was that I rolled over, or tried to.

"Stupidity of men! Get up!"

This time I was nudged unkindly and it was not unlike provoking a badger from its hole. I bolted upright in such a huff, a dagger-like verbalization at the ready when I was struck speechless. The sight to greet me was quite unexpected and undoubtedly not a fixture associated with home. In fact, I was far from the comforts of the room I'd imagined. The disarray of hair and indomitable face peering down at me gave me a great start. Flummoxed, I stared. The last vestiges of sleep slowly seeped away and left in its wake the drudgeries of yesterday.

"You're not a dream," I stated.

My words only seemed to aggravate the wizard further.

"To be so simple," he uttered yanking me from the ground. "No amount of wishing or dallying in the clouds is going to help you now."

His words were rushed and his tone serious.

"What do you mean?" I dared to ask.

He leveled such a look my way, with such intensity, that I was afraid.

"We have to leave," he informed me, and sensing the budding question to come, he added, "It's not safe."

By his reasoning, this should have been explanation enough. I, however, did not make the ready connection that he so obviously did. It was still dark, probably the early hours of morning before the sun made its trek into the sky. Nothing seemed to be amiss.

"Are you sure?" I pressed, though I had the forethought to do so timidly.

"Am I sure!" he barked incredulously. "I should—"

Whatever he was about to say died upon his lips. Sharply, he peered out into the trees and I tried to follow his line of sight, but I could see nothing in the dimness. Just as abruptly he turned back. Within three strides he was beside me, towering oppressively, and brusquely snatching then shoving the forgotten cloak into my hands.

"Put that on!" he ordered.

I stammered helplessly, fumbling with the mess of rough spun material; it was overlarge and presumably meant for the wizard. Why it was necessary for me to don the article was a curiosity in itself. It was more likely to be a hindrance than any sort of help; especially in the instance of a hasty departure. Nevertheless, I did as he bade. Better that, than the risk of his wrath.

"What is going on?" I pestered, determined for an answer.

"What deed granted me such insufferable, excruciating inquisitiveness?" he lamented, grabbing my arm and pulling me after him.

"Excuse me!" I shot angrily back. "Is it so shocking that I would want to know—what—I am in danger of?"

"No, indeed," he admitted, "but there isn't the time for it."

"Isn't the time!" That was the last straw! It was ridiculous, this expectation that I would just blindly trust his word! For all I knew, this cantankerous old wizard was leading me straight into harm's way! So I dug my feet firmly into the ground and ripped my arm from his grasp.

"By—"

I cut him off, "No! I will have an answer, or I won't be going to wherever it is that you're taking me."

He looked as if he might march off right then and there, but instead gave a great noise of exasperation. "Now you deem it wise to test my merit! Might it have been better to do so before you drank from my cup, or slept under my watch? If I meant you ill, would I not have done so then?"

That was a very sound and logical argument. "Unless," I countered, "it was your plan all along to lead me into false security."

Indignant, he replied, "I concede to your greater powers of mind." And he began to trot off at swift pace.

"Where are you going?" I cried, running after him.

"Somewhere safe," he snapped. "If you wish to remain behind, then so be it. Perhaps you can talk the foul creatures to death!"

"Foul creatures!" The wizard spun about so suddenly that I very nearly collided with him.

"Yes…" his voice taking on a dark edge, "foul creatures and they are hungry for something."

I swallowed, "How do you know that?"

"Because," he over enunciated the word, "the wood was at peace before…your sudden arrival. And the trees told me so."

The last bit was said with ease, as if it were common and so ordinary that it didn't elicit a second thought.

"What? The trees?" I glanced up warily, lowering my voice, "But trees can't speak."

"Oh?" And he glanced up as well. "I'm sure they'll remember that the next time peril laps on your heels."

Just like before he turned and started away.

"No, wait! That's not what I meant." I ran after the wizard.

The further I followed him, the larger the trees; bent and knobby, jutting this way and that, spidery limbs locking above me in a weave that didn't seem usual. Sizable roots broke out of the earth, sometimes obscured by brush or heather, and sometimes not. I was moving onto an incline, which made it that much harder to catch up, considering my shorter stature and lesser steps. He continued as though I'd never spoken. The audacity spurred me onward, and by some miracle, I found myself adjacent to him upon the crest of the hill.

He hadn't stopped for me. That was obvious by how he stared, his face drawn in consternation. I couldn't make anything out in the murk, but the faintest line of the rise and fall of the ground as it continued in a squiggly fashion. No hint of moon or starlight piercing the canopy above. There was a weight in the air, thick and stifling. It pressed in from all sides, pounding down upon me. The overpowering sensation that I was about to be crushed was unbearable, and I found it hard to draw my next breath. Not a leaf rustled from the shadowy sentinels standing about; the gnawing feeling that I was being watched inescapable.

I risked breaking the still tension. "I am sorry," I offered, my voice mild and hushed.

That drew the wizard's eyes back to me, adding to the heaviness.

"I am not the one you should be apologizing to," he admonished, though he did so softly.

My eyes snapped up to meet his, as I had been gazing out when I'd spoken.

"I wasn't talking to you," I shot back.

Unexpectedly, he smiled and it was oddly dazzling. Like the way sunlight shown on things of a vexing nature and made them pleasant.

"Good. I have no need of apologies."

"Then we agree on something," I added.

"Indeed we do," his statement almost one of camaraderie.

I might have smiled then, but as things have a habit of doing, such moments are rare and often despoiled.

A thundering sound ripped through the silence with such groaning's and howling's; like a mounting wave the branches swayed above, the leaves rushing. A deafening crescendo.

The forest had come alive.

"Quicker than I had thought…" Without warning the wizard grabbed my arms, turning me to face him. "Do not remove the cloak," he ordered, "it is spelled to aid the wearer."

"But—"

"Silence!" At his shout, I cringed. "Now go! The trees will help you!"

He then shoved me back and I stumbled. My eyes widening as he seemed to grow. A vivid, green light exploded from his staff. The illumination bringing out what had sought to remain hidden. A chorus of infuriated screeches erupted and I froze in panicked fear. At the base of the hill were the creatures, scrambling about, trying to escape the light. They were as big as men, covered from head to toe in a pelt of hair the color of bark. Their mouths biting with snarls and spit, and their eyes wild and vicious. Some stood on two legs and others on all fours, but all had jagged bone-like claws.

The wizard noticed my stuck form. "Run!" he commanded before slamming the butt of his staff into the undergrowth.

An invisible force pummeled into me and sent me careening down the other side of the hill. I had no sooner stopped in my decent when a root jutted up beneath me, forcing me to my feet.

Run! The word reverberated within along with a daunting fear should I be caught. Frantic, I gathered the cloak to myself and ran leaving behind a terrific clamor. I barreled blindly ahead sometimes missing the dark unmovable blurs, but mostly not. Each collision only served to slow me further. How was I supposed to navigate my way in the black? The stampeding noise followed me still, and with each fall or knock of the shoulder, I was sure to be taken. Not even a spelled cloak could stop that. I could hear them tearing through bush not far behind.

"I can't see!" I helplessly, breathlessly, exclaimed. Why I thought to cry out escaped me. It was a desperate move, a fool's hope that I would find aid. The notion that perhaps the wizard would appear was quickly crushed. Instead of a pointed remark I was greeted with a frenzied growl. An immense weight pounced into me from the side taking me to the forest floor. Desperate, I fought to free myself, but the creature effortlessly batted away my attempts, sinking its teeth into my arm. I screamed and the trill was answered by more guttural sounds.

Surely, all hope was lost and my doom near at hand. That was the only thought to enter my mind before it was tossed out by pain, and the need to make it stop. Kicking hard, I connected with some spot of vulnerability. The beast unclamping from my arm to shriek in pain or rage? It was ample enough to allow me a scoot or two before it rebounded with a slap, claws pricking into my side, and sliding me forcibly into the base of a tree. The impact jarring, I lay for some moments before I was able to focus. Why had that monstrosity not finished me off? The reason being that it had lost sight of its quarry.

Its head thrashed about, whirring this way and that as it looked to find me. The ground trembling beneath its fit and me prone with pain. Crashing, bending, breaking, squawking! Every moment closer. Every moment the cold certainty of being sniffed out twisting in my gut. There was no boldness left in my limbs. It would be a mere two steps before I fell to a nasty end. Assailed no less by gob and sickly claws. The din fell away as its contorted face turned my direction, tilting and bobbing in a seemingly calm fashion. My breath hitched as it dropped to all fours burying its nose in the undergrowth before rising a bit and veering some paces away. It continued on zigzagging to and fro until it came to a final spot, repeating the previous action, but this time becoming static. With horror, did I observe its slow and deliberate rise, its hair rustling back and one leg coming off the ground. A deep gurgle rumbling out as its jowls pulled back in anticipation. It had found me.

A whimper, strangled and born of terror squawked out of me; it being the very thing of encouragement needed. The beast leapt. The action spearheaded by such ferocity, that in spite of my circumstance, I sprung back into solid bark.

"The trees will help you!" Words remembered that I had quite forgotten in the span of some minutes. Nonetheless, it was much too late, and I resigned myself to the tragedy about to befall me. This last fraction of life devoted to the thought of how disappointed the wizard would be by my inability to pay attention. Unbidden tears fell. The connection of sight between me and the soulless eyes of that twisted thing of nature drove everything else out. My mouth opened but not a sound came forth. It was stuck somewhere between my chest and throat not to be coaxed whatever the situation. I was stricken.

Its jaws widened. The head snapped back as claws dug into shoulders. The pressure building while pricks manifested themselves in coarse cloth, and held me to the tree. It was then that I broke from the daze: hot breath, muscles straining forward, the sharp lunge for the neck, and a sudden thump! Instead of the biting pain there was a piercing yelp, a splitting crunch, and a swooping pummel. Hooks grazed across collarbone, leaving punctures in their wake, as they were forcibly removed. Death skittering along the forest floor and me bound for the stars.

To say this was surprising was a gross understatement. The shock of suddenly being thrust into the air and then caught—branches circling about me—only to be flung directly after; was an imaginative miracle not to be found in my head. The fluid, direct motion left me gasping, reeling in the dizzying momentum; a distinct reminder of my earlier tumble. My hunters beset by nature most unnatural. Up, down, up, down, up and down; a teasing dance and they scrambled beneath me: jumping, snapping, swerving, and bawling. The trees just as discontented; they swooshed and cracked, the once impenetrable crown broken by the frenzy. They dangled me in the air and smote the beasts below. A grating of morning light piercing the murk in a wave; rolling with the massive rush of green like the break of surf upon rock, and just as booming.

The cascade of events left a scream brimming at the surface, constantly about to breach only to be stayed by another whoosh or click of teeth whose only reward was nothing whatever. How long would they persist in their pursuit? When outmatched, did not animals retreat? Yet these showed no signs of slowing, only a horrifying determination, as if driven, but by what? The idea of being forever tossed in a never-ending chase until the end came, not by savage, hairy things, but by the less than gentle ministrations of trees, seemed all too likely. I was lost under power not my own, left to fate and the laws of the natural world. For instance: what goes up must come down.

I flew from the latest wood just narrowly missing twigs and limbs as they stooped, leaves slapping my face and snagging on cloak and clothes. The friction not enough to slow me in the slightest; up I sailed in an arch under the rising rays of the sun before a choking decent and the realization that there was no tree to catch me. The thick greenery had given way to a clearing devoid of life, and there—keeping pace with me—my shadow.

I fell and it sprang with a twisted grace.

A great revulsion swelled within and I gagged. Wind thrust hair and cloth back, the better for me to see the powerful muscles surging, claws outstretched, mouth agape and sickening, ripe teeth. It was as if I was tethered by rope (a rather stretchy rope), and having reached its limit been snapped back toward the center. I fell with such utter certainty, that I failed to take into account the one thing that would not be ruled in such a manner: the ring.

It was an anomaly unto itself, and why it acted now instead of before was just as puzzling as it was frustrating. Later thought on the matter would probably lead to the conclusion that it was arbitrary in its preservation of life. Namely that of its bearer, and that (had the facts been known before) would have been better kept lost. Still, there was no wriggling out of the consequences now, and I found myself—again—the subject of an overwhelming stupor; a swirling lack of mindfulness, a hot flicker and then a cold shudder. When I did find myself able to fix my senses, I saw nothing at all. Not tree, nor man-beast, nor ground.

Actually it was all white and a mouthful of water. Icy liquid surged over me, burning into my lungs and sending me into a panic. It felt as though I was caught, something seeking to pull me down and the current pushing me about in the same instance. Spluttering I bobbled upward, shattering through the surface, and roughly being shoved against a steep bank. My chest was on fire, being racked with spasms, sprays of water shooting out of my mouth. The momentary respite quickly replaced as I was claimed back by the deep; sinking down, down, and down. As my vision narrowed, thoughts dulled, and movements became sluggish, I saw, no—remembered. It spurred something inside, and in a last effort I shot upward. My hand brushing against some tendril in the water and I grabbed onto it, moving forward until head and shoulders were free from the watery depths.

The flow of the river seemed to hold me aloft as I heaved until I could endure the deed no longer and collapsed. My lifeless body hooked in a tangle of massive roots that had long ago burst from the earth and fed the old, towering willow above. It was the curious ripple of silver that caught my rescuers attention across the way, and alerted him to the poor wretch afloat there.