CHAPTER EIGHT
Phoenix’s first instinct was to yell out their names. He even opened his mouth but then his Warrior awareness kicked in and he shut it with a snap. A rapid scan of the dirt path showed no extra footprints and no signs of a struggle. His backpack was gone, too. So they were either hiding for some strange reason, or they’d gone ahead without him – which seemed unlikely.
A flash of scarlet off toward the road caught his eye. Romans! A stone from Brynn’s sling whistled past his ear. Jade hissed at him from several metres away. Silently, he slid over to join them where they hid behind a large thicket.
“Romans,” Brynn murmured, pointing toward the road. Phoenix nodded. This group of soldiers moved slower than the others. There were more of them, too and they weren’t sticking to the road. Several men fanned out on either side and crept through the forest, swords drawn.
“They’re looking for someone but it’s not us,” Jade whispered. “I guess I speak Latin, too,” she added with a shrug when Phoenix looked a question at her. He realised then that he, too, understood the low conversations drifting toward them.
Brynn nodded in agreement. “I can’t hear who it is but they definitely want him pretty badly. They have orders to take him straight back to the Governor in Londinium.” The boy shivered, clutching his thin shoulders. “Wouldn’t want to be that guy. Let’s get deeper into the woods. The Romans probably won’t come too much further in.” He tugged at Jade’s sleeve. She nodded and slipped in behind his small figure.
Phoenix glanced once more at the nearest soldiers. He felt strangely reluctant to run away like this. It felt wrong to his Warrior self. He should be out fighting the Romans, not skulking away like a coward. No, they only had a few days to get the Jewel and thwart both Feng Zhudai and the Romans. No time for fun. Sighing with regret, he got a grip on himself and followed the other two deeper into the green gloom.
They didn’t risk another path for a long while. Even when they found one that seemed to lead in the right direction, they were wary and tense. There was little speech between them and no thought of stopping to rest or go to the toilet. Some of the excitement had worn off the day. There was more than a hint of danger in the air.
Ahead, Jade drew her cloak tighter about her slender form and peered into the forest.
“What’s wrong?” Phoenix whispered.
“I feel…” she glanced around again, “like someone’s watching us.”
Phoenix felt it too: a strange prickling on the back of his neck. There was someone – or something – watching them. Had the Romans found them? Surely they wouldn’t just watch - they’d charge in and capture by force of numbers. Not the Romans then. So who? Brynn’s Forest Folk?
From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of movement.
“On the left,” he murmured. Jade and Brynn nodded in silent agreement. Brynn slipped his sling from his pocket and casually loaded a stone into it. Jade held her staff in both hands. Phoenix loosened his sword in its sheath. They padded on, deeper into the woods.
Only moments later came a cry of shock and pain from somewhere off to their left. It was followed by a strange creaking, like the timbers of an old house settling at night; then the sound of a blade chopping into wood. More creaking. A human voice cried out again, this time a call for help. The three companions stopped, exchanging wary looks. The yell became more desperate; the creaking louder. Jade chewed on a fingertip and took a step toward it.
Brynn grabbed her arm. “He’s speaking in Latin. It’s a trap, my lady. Don’t go.”
“Why would they bother with a trap? They have hundreds of soldiers.” she shook off his grip. “No, that’s someone in trouble. Come on, Phoenix. Please?”
Phoenix nodded, sword-hand itching. “Suits me. Whoever it is, we need to shut him up anyway, before he draws every soldier for three miles around.”
Together, the Players pushed through a screen of bushes. Behind them Brynn swore then caught up, sling ready.
Jade pulled up short at the sight beyond. In the centre of a large clearing stood a massive tree, its canopy of small, dark green leaves reaching at least ten metres in every direction, its trunk a thick and ancient tangle of ropy aerial roots bound together. She frowned.
“This is wrong,” she said. “It’s a strangler fig. They only grow in the tropics of Southeast Asia, not here.”
“Don’t forget where ‘here’ is at the moment,” Phoenix reminded her, “the programmers can put anything they want anywhere they want, remember?”
There was a gasp from Brynn, who had just appeared at his side. The boy raised a shaky finger. “Look.”
They followed his finger and saw a young man, about their own age, entangled in the dangling roots of the tree. They were wrapped around his limbs and torso from ankle to neck. Beneath him lay a sword, with which he must have been hacking at the plant. It had fallen from a now-limp hand. His face was dark red, his eyes closing as he gasped for breath.
“How-” Jade began.
“It’s a Strangler,” Brynn said. “They catch their prey this way. He’s done for.”
“Not if I have anything to do with it,” Phoenix grinned, snatching his sword out and striding forward. Three swift slices detached the roots encircling the boy’s neck. They swung uncontrollably through the air as though lost. The stranger gasped, blood draining from his face as breath returned. He began to struggle again. Phoenix waded in, hewing at the thicker vines twisted around his torso. Every time his sword bit into wood, reddish sap oozed out like congealing blood. A thin, high-pitched screeling echoed in the clearing. Jade clapped her hands over her ears.
Dozens more ropy vines dropped down from above, lashing wildly about, stretching toward Phoenix and the tree’s victim. Phoenix yelled as one connected and tightened around his ankle. It yanked. He slashed at it as he fell, freeing his foot just as he hit the ground. Winded, he staggered upright, panting for breath. The stranger was once more cocooned and suffocating. Phoenix raised his sword, hacking again and again at the branches.
“Wait!” Jade screamed, her hands pressed tightly to the side of her head. “Wait! You’re hurting it!”
“That’s the idea! It’s killing him!” he shouted back.
Jade ran forward, grabbing his sword arm. “Wait. Please. Let me talk to it.”
A thrashing root reached for her. Phoenix severed it in one clean blow. She winced.
“Please,” she begged him. “I can make it stop. I know I can. Brynn, give me that rabbit you hunted earlier.”
Phoenix glanced at the entangled stranger. His eyes were closed again, his movements feeble.
“You’d better be right and make it fast or he’ll be dead in a few seconds.” He backed away, out of reach of the seeking tendrils.
Jade dropped her staff and stepped into them, holding the rabbit in one hand. The tree tendrils shivered, reaching for her like a thousand thin fingers. Brynn cried a warning. Phoenix held him back as he tried to rush to her rescue. She closed her eyes and let the tree encompass her completely.
There was silence in the clearing. Breathless moments passed. Phoenix cursed his own stupidity. It wasn’t going to work. Now both of them were caught and he couldn’t chop them free fast enough. Growling, he raised his sword again and took a step toward Jade’s swathed shape.
Abruptly, the branches and roots fell away, vanishing up into the canopy and into the ground. Jade stepped free unharmed, like a magician’s assistant revealed after a trick. Her hands were now empty. The stranger collapsed unconscious to the ground. She ran to his side, pulling out her herb bag. Laying hands on his chest and head, she closed her eyes. A purplish haze shimmered around her hands as she Healed him.
He sucked a deep breath, his eyes flying open to fix on her face. Remembered
horror dawned and he sat up, staring at the now-dormant tree towering overhead.
“It’s ok,” Jade assured him. “It won’t hurt us now. I gave it some food and asked it not to.”
He stared at her, shock and lingering pain in his eyes. “You…you… asked it?”
She nodded. “But I think we should leave its territory. Phoenix did hurt it and it’s not very happy with us. Can you get up?” She rose, staggering, a hand to her head as if in pain.
The stranger nodded. Scrambling to his feet, he put an arm around her waist, steadying her until she could walk. Then he picked up a bow and quiverful of arrows from the ground nearby, regathered his sword and held it tightly, glancing again at the quiescent tree as they moved far out of its reach.
“You alright?” Phoenix asked Jade as the two approached.
She nodded. “Just a difficult Healing. He had broken ribs and a collapsed lung. It took a lot of energy. We should keep moving, though. That made a lot of noise. It might bring the Romans straight to us if we stay.”
“Ha! Too late,” Brynn spat, “he is a Roman. See?” He pointed at the distinctive gladius sword in the young man’s hand. “A soldier, I’d say. It was a trap and he’s the bait. His cohort will be here any minute.”
Phoenix raised his own weapon, eyeing the newcomer warily. This boy-man was strong-looking but Phoenix thought he could probably take him in a fair fight. They would be close-matched. He seemed to be about sixteen years old but carried himself confidently, like someone older. He was almost as tall as Phoenix, with short, black hair and a long, straight nose. His eyes were dark in a strikingly handsome face. His short tunic and cloak were plain but of good cloth and well made. A heavy gold ring glinted on the little finger of his left hand.
Jade laid a hand on the Brynn’s shoulder and held him still. She retrieved her quarterstaff but didn’t raise it. Tilting her head, she seemed to assess the stranger.
“You’re Roman but you’re not a soldier, are you? Who are you?”
“No, I’m not yet a soldier, my lady.” The stranger bowed gracefully.
There was an air of calm resolution about him, now that danger was past. His face was composed, eyes steady. He sat down on a fallen log and drew a long, slow breath. It was not the action of a man about to attack them so the others slowly lowered their weapons.
“But I am the son of a Roman soldier.” He held up a hand as Brynn muttered under his breath. “I am no threat to you, though. Indeed, I would call you friend, for you are my enemy’s enemy.”
“What does that mean?” Phoenix asked. “Which enemy? We’re starting a collection.”
“I have forsworn my Roman heritage,” the stranger replied with dignity.
He gazed into the distance for a second, a brief look of pain on his handsome features. There was a short, awkward silence. He seemed to be the sort of person who spoke little and thought long and hard before he did.
“I don’t like what it means to be Roman in the land of the Bretons. We slaughter all who resist us and kill the Fair Folk, like you my lady, for no reason except that we are frightened of them.” He glanced at them. “It’s wrong and I won’t be part of it.”
The tension drained from all three companions as they sensed his honesty.
Phoenix sheathed his sword and reached down a hand. “We should keep moving. What’s your name?”
“Marcus,” came the answer as the boy gripped his hand and pulled himself upright. “Yours?”
“I’m Phoenix, this is Jade and Brynn.” He indicated the others.
“I’m indebted to you all for a timely rescue.” Marcus bowed. “Especially you, my lady.”
Jade blushed and smiled faintly at him. Brynn glowered.
They moved off through the greenwood, putting distance rapidly between themselves and the uncanny tree.
As they walked, Marcus looked at each in turn. “An odd group. A Breton warrior with a Greek name, an Elven woman walking abroad in daylight and a child. Are you pledge-partners and this your son?” He jerked his head at Brynn.
Phoenix started and almost laughed at the thought. He hid the laugh with a cough, realising it would be hard to explain that he was actually only thirteen years old and could hardly be the father of a ten year old! He kept forgetting this body was more like eighteen. He exchanged a glance with Jade, who gave an embarrassed half-laugh and shook her head as she too must have realised what he meant by “pledge-partners.”
Phoenix tried to look cool but probably only succeeded in looking flustered. “No, we’re not…um… together,” he managed. He was never going to hook up with anyone. “Brynn, we met by chance. He’s our guide.”
After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Marcus took up the conversation where he had left off. “So if you’re not married, why do you carry matching blades?” He nodded toward at the knife Phoenix carried in his belt.
Phoenix swapped startled looks with Jade. She snatched her own knife from her belt and examined it. He moved over and held his beside hers. Marcus was right. They weren’t identical – Jade’s was bronze rather than iron - but both knives were decorated in a similar way. Phoenix touched a finger to each of the seven small rubies embedded in the hilt of her knife and in his. They glowed faintly.
Jade whispered, plainly not wanting the others to overhear. “The rules did say we have seven lives in the game? Could these show how many lives we have?”
Phoenix turned his knife over. “I don’t know but the old woman in the gray place said that if we failed we’d die in our world, too. If these are extra lives, at least we have some chance of succeeding.”
“Seven isn’t very many when you consider what we’re up against,” she shot back.
She was right. Seven lives didn’t seem like much when they had five levels of the game to complete. It was a frightening thought and Phoenix saw the fear in her eyes again. There were so many dangers in this world and they knew so little. He’d been an idiot to remind her.
He looked up to see Marcus and Brynn watching them. Acting casual, like it was nothing important, he muttered, “Let’s work it out later,” and moved away. He needed time to think. That was hard to do with Marcus and Brynn watching his every move.
It was a relief when the Roman boy asked a different question. “Where are you going?”
Phoenix hesitated. They didn’t know this guy. He said he was an enemy of Rome but could they believe him? He might be a spy. On the other hand, how could the Romans possibly know they were even in the forest to be spied on? He compromised, giving a part-answer.
“We’re following the river for awhile. Heading west. You? Are you the one the Romans were looking for today?”
He nodded. “I escaped from an encampment just over the hill yesterday morning. My father sent men after me. I’ve been keeping only just ahead of them for the last two days. I don’t know these woods and I’m afraid I’ll stumble straight onto the Legion if I keep going in circles. That’s why I was following you. You seemed to know where you were going.”
“And now?” Phoenix prompted. “We’re heading deep into the woods. Brynn here knows the paths but we don’t and you don’t. Where are you going to go now?”
Marcus scanned their faces as though wanting to ask an important question but afraid the answer mightn’t be what he wanted. “Honestly, I was hoping I could travel with you for awhile. At least until we’re out of these woods and away from my father’s men.”
Phoenix glanced at Jade. She raised one eyebrow and held up two fingers as if to say – Companion number two? He twisted his mouth. He wasn’t sure about this guy. They were already a walking target with Jade being a half-elf and therefore wanted by the Romans. If they added a runaway soldier’s son to their group, wouldn’t it be even harder to evade the troops?
“We’ll
definitely meet more Romans on this trip.” He watched the Roman boy’s handsome face. “Are you able and willing to kill them if you need to? I won’t let them take us and I won’t risk Jade’s life or Brynn’s to rescue you if you get captured.”
Marcus held his gaze for a few moments. He pulled his bow off his shoulder. Notching an arrow to the string, he drew and released it in one smooth movement. The arrow flew through the gloom and thunked into a tree trunk over thirty metres away.
“Able, yes, willing, definitely,” he said grimly. “I don’t want to see the Fair Folk destroyed either.” He bowed toward Jade.
She blushed again and glanced away.
Phoenix looked sceptically at the arrow. It wasn’t too hard to hit a tree. The shot wasn’t a great indication of his skill as an archer. Even as he opened his mouth to say so, Brynn gasped and ran forward. He jerked the arrow out with an effort. Something small and dark fell to the ground. Brynn picked it up gingerly and brought it and the arrow back. He dropped the dark thing into Phoenix’s palm and handed the arrow back to Marcus with a look of reluctant respect.
In Phoenix’s hand lay a large, grey-brown moth. He glanced again at the tree it had been on. O...K..., he was willing to concede that hitting a camouflaged moth at that distance in the uncertain light under the canopy was pretty darned good shooting. Phoenix caught Jade’s eye and she nodded slightly. Brynn screwed up his mouth and nodded his agreement.
“Very well,” Phoenix said, “you’re welcome to join our odd little group as long as you like but I warn you, it’s not looking like an easy trip. Hope you’re prepared for the worst.”
Marcus grimaced. “What could be worse than that tree-thing?”
Brynn sent him a knowing look. “That was nothing compared to what else lives in this forest, Roman.”
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