The Forgotten Land of Myria

ROY

It took Leof quite a while to explain what had happened. Apparently, Theon had executed a surprise attack on Musgrave Pen. Eleazar, Jardious, Livia, and Sky had all agreed to go and defend Musgrave. Leof, however, stayed back to look for us. With no help from the others, he wandered into Squire Elm Fortress and, already injured from the gnomish ambush, he couldn’t remember how he ended up like that.

“But if Theon’s army is in Musgrave Pen, who’s in there?” I wondered, cocking my head at the row of trees that seemed to look a lot creepier now.

“C--Carmilla,” Leof said. “I’m--sure it’s them.”

“Who?” I asked.

“The Carmilla siblings,” Safira responded. “Damalia and Vance. The keepers of the Forest of the Undead, and leaders of one faction of Theon’s army.”

“Can we take them?”

Safira’s expression made me feel like an idiot for even asking.

“Look what they did to Leof,” she snapped, as Leof groaned. “Either way, Theon always has something else up his sleeve.”

“Enough questions now,” Safira said as she got up. “We have to get going.”

Then, looking around deviously--like a Dung Bomb Boy just about to pour hot milk on his friend’s face--she pulled out a tiny bag and dropped a handful of herbs into her hand. She poured a bit of Myrrh from another flask into the same hand, crunched the herbs, and stuffed the oily leaves into Leof’s mouth. In a matter of instants, he was able to get up on his feet, and--though he was still pretty banged up--looked like he could survive a fight.

Seriously, forget Theon! These guys always have something up their sleeves to solve all their problems--and they were always trying to save it for the worst possible scenario.

“Okay, take it easy,” Safira nodded at Leof in approval, though he completely ignored her command.

“Let’s go,” he said, as he simply began limping back into Squire Elm.

“Wait!” I called. “What about Tanya and Zeff?”

Safira looked back at the two wildlings, perched like two statues about twenty feet away from us, too scared to come near Leof. Safira thought about it for a moment, then waved them over.

“Wha--we can’t just drag them into Squire Elm!” I contested. “Like you said--look what happened to Leof!”

“Do you have a better idea?”

I didn’t, so I did what had to be done and reached out for Zeff’s hand. Zeff, though, had a different idea--he climbed right up my arm and into my back. Safira took Tanya as we followed Leof into the forest.

Since I couldn’t find a response, I nodded and took Zeff by the hand--Safira took Tanya--and we followed Leof into the Fortress.

“Remember,” Safira said as we stepped through the leaves. “Squire Elm is steeped in hallucinogenic spells. As real as things may seem, they’re just illusions.”

As we moved deep into the dark forest, I lost track of time. I was seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling, and tasting so many things that in my mind, the only truly real thing I was holding on to was my spear. I could feel Zeff’s hand tremble in fear every now and then, and reminded myself that he was, in fact, a human. With that thought, I made myself a silent promise not to let anything happen to him, like I did to Alice. I kept whispering reassuring things to both of us--even though he couldn’t understand me--until I began reciting a nursery rhyme. The Hummingbird rhyme that the Dung Bomb Boys kept screaming that night in the basement. At the moment, it was the only happy thought that came to mind.

However, my entire sense of control fell apart when I saw a blurry figure materialize right in front of me. It was Alice. I couldn’t turn away. It wasn’t a vision. It was real! When I tried to reach out to her, she was pulled away like a puppet. I lifted my spear, but Safira caught my arm.

“What? Don’t you see that?”

She shook her head sullenly.

“Snap out of it. Remember, it’s just an illusion.”

“Not this one! I--I saw her! She was right--”

Safira stared straight into my eyes. She was right. The last time I’d run off without thinking, I almost cost myself my own life. But it was so real. I shook my head. Just an illusion. Just an illusion.

We walked on, and a few feet ahead I could see Leof’s bloody body toppling from side to side. When I decided that it was the real Leof, I rushed over and put his arm around my shoulder. Zeff, in response, slid down my right arm and held my hand as I strapped my spear onto my back. I strained as we walked on, his heavy beaten body weighing on mine. The trees blew creepily towards me like they were trying to tell me something. I heard whispers. She’s here...you’re getting closer...not enough time...

It was torture. My breathing was heavy and my eyes stung with the urge to give in to instinct, but I knew that wasn’t going to help me.

“I can’t take this anymore,” I muttered, toward Safira, who suddenly wasn’t by my side anymore. “Safira?”

She had stopped dead. Her face was blank in fear and sweat was beading on her forehead. She trembled and let go of Tanya’s hand.

“Safira, are you--”

Before I had finished my sentence, she was off. Before I could think of running after her, Leof clutched my shoulder like he was out of breath. He pressed hard and I realized he was trying to tell me something--at that moment we heard heavy stomping.

“They’re--they’re--coming,” he said. Whatever that meant I wasn’t going to wait for it to happen.

“Tanya. Zeff. Get up in the trees!” I whispered, gesturing frantically, until they understood my command and scattered up one of the trees.

I would have climbed them myself, but a second later I had a hand clamped over my mouth.