CHAPTER 1.15 - THROUGH THE FOREST
Hugo wakes, utterly disconcerted by the gloom around him. He considers that his prior lifestyle afforded him the luxury of only ever seeing this time of night as an indication he should probably go to bed. Preferably the bed of someone attractive who wondered what his clever little fingers might do, or who speculated his silver tongue might serve for more than sparkling repartee. Then he remembers his dreams, feels the monocle still grasped in his hand.
Despite the man’s taciturn speech, Rian had unmistakeably described a similar vision to Hugo’s swoon last night. Behind him, a forest exactly as the big man described, eerie white trees with jet-black foliage. Strikingly similar colouration to Nobody’s child. Thaesurala’s child.
In front of him, however, a very different scene to any Rian had described. A bridge pitched high above a dark torrent of river. The material of the bridge was initially unclear, however in dream logic the thought had shifted his perspective closer. He remembers balking as he perceived the detail. The bridge was composed of bones, but impossibly large and somehow with great spikes protruding upwards and outward from the walkway. But his focus held only for a moment. His fright catapulted his perspective into the dark sky of his hallucination like a startled bird taking flight. Before the vision ceased, he saw that the bone construct completed an imperfect land bridge. To his right, the forest was interrupted by a huge lake, the land to his left disappearing into the vast blackness of the sea.
Rian is, of course, already up, and kneeling over him with a cup of the tar he calls coffee. In his bemusement, Hugo expels a grateful noise as he grabs the cup greedily. He can read amusement in the big man’s expression, albeit pasted over a definite question. Hugo pauses after his first draw, returns the man’s monocle. Quickly describes what he saw, the woodsman nodding gently before looking through the loop. Hugo remembers the pull, the direction of it. Rian seems to feel the same, turning just south of eastward. The big man says “Oakbridge” quietly, a strange blend of confirmation and misgiving. As Hugo takes another draught of hot, healing caffeine, the big man quietly walks away, tucking the loop into his pouch.
Thae, sleep cycle mutable from long service to the Temple’s clock and the ‘needs of others’, is also fully in play, helping to pack away their sparse supplies. Hugo would normally be gratified when he spots Anuk, even paler than normal (if THAT’S possible), resisting Thae’s attempt to rouse her. Instead, he raises his mug to the bleary woman, giving her an empathetic smile. Sees her visibly shake herself, look up to see a similar vessel provided by the ever-thoughtful Thae.
As if on cue, Thaesurala steps out of the giant oak. She beams a broad smile towards each of her guests, then steps over to the little nest to retrieve her son. The mastiff, Night, moves to the dryad’s side from her previous guard posture by the crib. Neither child nor giant dog seems hampered in the dark of the clearing. The child’s black eyes, to all appearances, scan around to encompass each figure. But that can’t be right, can it? Far from his area of expertise, Hugo felt reasonably certain the kid wouldn’t see more than blurs for…a while. The realisation slots into another speculation. If the boy’s father’s from somewhere dark and deadly, maybe the son has inherited some trick of seeing in low light? And as young as possible?
He pushes himself to his feet, wanders over to his friends clustering around the dryad. Thae’s speaking to her, the language seeming dense but not urgent. Seeing his confusion, Anuk – almost kindly – translates for himself and Rian.
“Thae’s telling her a story, seems like a myth? Some Nature goddess…oh, it’s like a creation myth. This goddess is so entranced with the beauty of a droplet of water that it moves her to tears. She’s so caught in the emotion, and it’s worse, as she’s creating more sparkling beads… Oh, oh I get it; it’s because of this excess of passion that we have oceans. In the story. And of course, that’s why we’re surrounded by endless salt water.” Thae finishes the tale, Hugo can tell from the intonation, then backs it up with a question.
Thesurala, in an encapsulation of much that Hugo thinks of her, looks delighted to hear a pretty tale, however, has very evidently never encountered it before. Then again, how many stories do the trees tell? How many really gripping narratives do the creatures of the forest have? Hugo remembers one of his tutors, a man with some books behind him, but erratically recalled given his appetites for drink and drugs. This mix of features did benefit Hugo’s patchwork of learning, after a fashion. This guy once told the child Hugo, annoyed by one of the flights of fancy of a kid already entranced with music, that if we could understand birdsong, it would be far from beautiful, actually. It would be a bunch of ‘stay away’ threats mixed with sexual propositions.
Predictably, the man didn’t last long as Hugo’s tutor. Not that Hugo missed him much. X told him the man had ‘moved on’, a euphemism he later realised might mean ‘had worked off his debt’ or ‘became a liability’. One of those options carried the promise of a much happier life than the other.
Thae turns to the group, explains “I was thinking about that question we had about primordial forces or actual deities. Our hostess, sadly, seems to struggle to understand even the terms. Never mind the difference.” “A fine attempt, nevertheless, Thae” Hugo offers, patting his friend on the thigh. At the same time, he smiles up at the dryad, sensing her gaze upon him.
Thaesurala drops to her knee in front of Hugo. For a moment he’s perplexed, until he sees her hand coming around from her side. Held in her grasp is a perfect belt pouch woven impossibly from slim viny shoots. It’s tied with more intricate vines, and as the Woman of the Woods proffers it to him, these seem to unwind of their own accord. Suddenly, Hugo becomes aware that Three is truly, profoundly, awake, tiny red head popping out from his tunic, nostrils twitching. Thaesurala says “Tree!” in delight, showing both halfling and squirrel that the pouch is full to bursting with seeds and nuts. Hugo drops into a deep, formal bow. He wouldn’t admit it, but the dryad’s kindness is moistening his eyes and thickening his throat.
He hears Thae and Anuk, almost in concert, thanking the woman on his behalf. Tries to surreptitiously wipe his nose and clear his throat before daring to look back into the woman’s eyes. In that, he is cossetted in a look that feels like the warmest hug from a beloved mother. Thaesurala looks on him with infinite patience and love as he fails to hold back tears. Then he almost jumps out of his skin as a giant head butts him from the side. It’s intended to be gentle, but Night is huge and powerful. He silently thanks the monster, a bark of laughter expelling from him as he hugs the beast. Cringes slightly as he feels the giant tongue on which his head had lain as the beast slobbers a tear away. All is forgiven, apparently. “Here, here ya big dumb monster” he laughs as he scratches between the thing’s ears, grateful for the distraction from such a display in front of relative strangers.
-x-
They took their leave in an extremely foreshortened round of goodbyes. Thaesurala remained unperturbed by their appeals to be careful of bandits and besides was keen that Night shouldn’t be caught in the forest at daybreak. And so, a couple of hours later, they are following Rian, this time with him tracking the dog’s jumpy progress through the thick forest. He’s now seen enough times that the creature can disappear from one patch of shadow to another without passing through the intervening space. Again, Hugo’s impressed by Rian’s ability to keep sight of what equates to a drop of black ink on a sheet of charcoal paper. Even acclimatised to the gloom, Hugo was feeling queasy trying to follow the creature’s progress.
Otherwise, the going’s good. Hugo’s happy that neither woodsman nor dog shows any hint of irritation towards chat, assuming it’s kept to a reasonable level. That said, the big man isn’t loquacious at the best of times, particularly not when following an invisible dog. And for all of Hugo’s hopes that there might be a thaw in relations between himself and Anuk, she’s back to sullen silence.
Instead, Thae and Hugo chat in quiet excitement. Another bounty is his friend’s wide-eyed delight at the world and its magic. It could so easily have been lost on Hugo, thanks to his new laundry list of problems, that their stay in the forest was enchanted in the most literal sense. Plus, he’s realising that the cleric, by dint of Temple education, possesses a whole different set of information than anyone Hugo has encountered. They decide that the monocle’s visions seem to correspond to places from their world, translated through the gothic light and grim filter of a darker, scarier place. It ties too conveniently with the metal Hugo’s holding, the colouration of the child. Not to mention Thaesurala’s seeming bar from her Ebwyn while the baby was inside her. It also increases their concern that this man, this Nobody, knows little of love, nothing of familial responsibility, cares only for his own survival.
But then, the glassless monocle represents an anomaly. And perhaps the gestures: leaving the dog, some currency, a weapon with the dryad, might indicate at least a recognition of debt or duty? Again, Thae’s optimism raises their spirits at that frustrating, demoralised point. Even this push through the dark tangle of the night forest beats their last journey for comfort. The knowledge that their wits aren’t about to be snatched away by madness renders the occasional trip or tangle almost pleasurable in comparison.
-x-
Dawn’s a couple of hours away when Rian raises a hand ahead of them. The companions, trusting his lead, freeze in place, peering in the direction of the big man’s gaze. They can barely make out Night, a darker patch in the gloom, sniffing the air, the slightest growl from her throat. By Hugo’s reckon they’ve been travelling westwards since departing Thaesurala’s clearing; the hound seems to be objecting to something to the northwest of their position. As they watch, it prowls off, blinks southwesterly, huge muzzle turning in an arc, begins to skirt in a circle away from the invisible, agitating presence. Rian eyes his companions, mimes a hand across his mouth, and sneaks after the dog. Hugo watches Thae and Anuk drop slightly, themselves arcing away from the mastiff’s signal direction. The effect is slightly spoiled by Thae’s chain links susurrating, but Hugo holds for a moment, black dagger drawn, guarding his friends’ backs before stealthily following. He knows how silent he can be, and the advantages of being half the size of a regular attacker.
-x-
Dawn’s close when the group, their canine guide unperturbed by any further dangers, come to the crest of a hill overlooking a tiny village. Night gives a quiet woof, turns a circle in front of them, points back the way they came. Rian goes down on one knee in front of the beast, talks gently to it, thanking her and giving a vigorous round of patting. Hugo, feeling as though the creature spared them some danger, feels better of himself, joins in with scritches under the terrifying beast’s chin. He receives more enthusiastic slobber up the side of his cheek before the dog shakes itself, eyes the sky, then vanishes to reappear in one of the increasingly sparse puddles of shadow.
They sit for a brief respite as the sun rises over the village. It seems picturesque, a standard Emerald Forest settlement eking out its existence with a mix of farming and hunting. With the latter in mind, Rian rouses them after too short a rest, suggesting they enter the village before hunters might discover them in the woods. The three of them shrug, sensing the wisdom of this, skirting around the elevated ground until they find a more traversable slope to the village proper.
They walk, Hugo feeling tension in his shoulders from the interrupted rest. Suddenly, he senses something slicing the air over his right shoulder. It takes him a moment to realise ‘arrow’, but Rian and Thae seem to be ready, weapons drawn as they scan around for ambushers.
His heart drops as a voice rings out from the trees up ahead. “Drop your weapons, we have you surrounded!”
