“No,” Sekeu said, and whacked Dash.
Dirk snorted.
“Hey,” Dash said and jerked a thumb at Dirk. “What about him?”
Sekeu whacked Dirk. Dirk frowned and whacked Dash. Then the two boys were punching each other, and Redbone and Abraham had to separate them.
Ignoring the ruckus, Sekeu went to the wall and tugged over a basket of mangy-looking hides. She handed one to each of the New Blood. “Put these on.”
Nick held it out before him, unsure just how one went about putting on a hide.
“Just stick your head through that there hole,” Abraham said, then added, “They’re for camouflage.”
What are we hiding from? Nick wondered, but was afraid to ask.
By the time Nick got the hide situated, Sekeu handed him a belt. The belt looked ancient, the leather cracking and flaking. It was wide and studded with rings of tarnished brass. Nick noticed intricate swirling designs all but worn away from the years of abuse.
“You have to earn the right to carry a sword,” Sekeu told them as she plucked four spears off the wall. “For now, you are permitted spears.”
Nick noted that the Devils carried a long knife on their belts and a short sword slung across their backs. Dirk and Dash brought along spears as well.
Sekeu tossed Nick a spear. It was heavier than the practice spears, the staff a bit thicker. It felt smooth and true in his hand. He admired the sharp, jagged edge of the spearhead.
Danny was staring at his spear with a sour face. “What do we need these for?”
Nick could’ve answered that one, recalling the claw marks on the door.
“In case we are attacked,” Sekeu said.
“Attacked?” Danny stammered. “Huh? By what?”
“Monsters,” Redbone said, his eyes serious.
SEKEU SLID THE bolt over and pulled the heavy round door inward.
Nick was surprised to find himself eager to venture out. The last time he was out, it had been too dark to see anything, and the time he peeked out the door, well, he’d been too scared to see past his own shadow. But with all the Devils coming along, all armed to the teeth, he didn’t feel scared, he felt an odd excitement.
He glanced at Redbone, Sekeu, Abraham, Dirk, and Dash; they looked alert, dangerous. Not a group he’d want to run into in the forest.
They shuffled out single-file; Nick following Redbone. He took in a deep breath and the musky smell of damp earth filled his nostrils. He peered around the tall boy, eager to see the forest.
The door thudded shut behind them and the heavy bolt clacked into place. Nick stared at the deep claw marks on the door and swallowed loudly. He glanced up and realized that the fort—at least part of it—was actually in a tree, a huge tree that appeared to have grown right out of the stony cliff face, its thick roots and vines twisting around the boulders like a massive octopus. It towered above them and he could see a few lookout stands here and there among the limbs.
They crested a short slope and Nick got his first clear look at the land of Avalon. He couldn’t have told you exactly what he’d envisioned, but the scene before him wasn’t it.
Gray saturated everything, dull and rutty, like the skin of something long-dead. Where was the thick, flowering undergrowth, the giant trees alive with purple monkeys and floating butterfly people, as in his dream? There were no magical creatures, not even a pixie. For that matter, there wasn’t a sign of any living creature of any sort. Not so much as a bird or a bug. The landscape laid out before him was composed of barren sooty earth and the carcasses of once mighty trees. Thorny vines snaked around jagged stumps and huge briar patches formed daunting barriers in all directions.
They marched over the rise and down a crooked, uneven trail, crawling over and under the fallen hulks of rotting trees. There came the occasional break in the low-hanging clouds, and Nick could make out steep, rugged cliffs just beyond the forest.
Redbone fell in beside him and they brought up the rear of the troop. He stared at Nick, that weird grin on his face.
Nick smiled back once, hoping this would placate him. Redbone reminded Nick of the crazy folks that talk to you on the street, the ones you quickly learned it was best not to make eye contact with.
A dense fog swept across the trail, momentarily obscuring the path.
Redbone began making low ghost sounds.
“Silence,” Sekeu called from the front of the troop.
Redbone stopped at once but his crazy grin never wavered. He gave Sekeu a sieg heil salute and winked at Nick.
As they moved along the path, Nick noted a few trees—usually the larger ones—that still held a bit of green in their uppermost branches. Curiosity got the best of him and he asked Redbone in a hushed whisper: “Is the forest dying?”
“Man, all of Avalon is dying,” Redbone answered, seemingly pleased as Punch that Nick wanted to talk. “They call it the scourge. Even in the short time I’ve been here, I’ve seen this forest go from a thing of beauty to the way it is now. Each time we go out for berries, seems we got to trek farther and farther north.”
“How long you been here?”
“Man, that’s hard to say. Time’s different here, y’know. I do know it was 1974 when I left the human world.”
“Whoa.”
“That’s nothing. That cat Abraham, he left the human world way back during the Civil War. He used to be a slave.”
Nick looked at Abraham, disbelieving. “No way.”
“Yup, and if you think that’s way out, dig this: Sekeu has been here since the pilgrims. She was a slave of the Delaware tribe. Peter stole her right out from under their big fat noses.
“Abraham told me that when he first arrived, this whole forest was still teeming with all sorts of magical little beasties, even the wee folk. Looking at it now, man, that’s hard to believe.”
Nick saw something move in the mist, a dark, skittering shadow about the size of a rat.
“That’s a darkling,” Redbone volunteered. “From what I’m told, they’ve always been a part of Avalon. Nasty life-sucking things. But pretty much the only life you find around here, now. Hell, these days, even the darklings are starting to fade. With all the wee folk gone, they only got each other to eat.”
Nick saw another one duck away into the hollow of a log. It looked like a spider but was the size of a cat. Geez, Nick thought, and made a mental note to steer clear of any hollow logs or stumps.
They passed a clump of dead bushes, then rounded a bend, and a shallow valley opened below them where brown foliage sparsely littered the trees. As they trekked along the trail, the landscape gradually began to shift and the trees and bushes to fill in. But it wasn’t until after about an hour of hiking that Nick finally caught sight of any real greenery.
They forded a wide, lazy creek, crossed a field of tall brown grass dotted with a few wilted wildflowers, and shortly thereafter entered a forest of thick, sprawling trees.
“This is Myrkvior Forest,” Redbone said. “It’s the oldest woods on Avalon, the very heart of the island. Its magic is strong, but man, look at that.” Redbone pointed at the scraggly limbs and gray-and-brown leafage. “Man, even here the damn scourge is choking the life out of everything.”
Nick found no signs of magical creatures, and only heard the occasional lonely birdcall.
The troop halted while Sekeu and Abraham inspected a line of prickly bushes, poking and prodding among the brown leaves.
“Find anything?” Abraham asked.
Sekeu held out two shriveled berries.
“Now that be a pitiful sight,” Abraham said, shaking his head.
The group moved along, farther and farther into the tall trees, checking one cluster of bushes, then another, then another. A couple of hours later they halted beneath a grove of short trees. Redbone pulled a limb down for Sekeu to pluck a couple of berries. She dropped them into Abraham’s bucket.
Abraham looked into the bucket. “Well now we’re getting somewhere. Why that make
s eight berries and about twenty acorns so far.”
“Enough for my breakfast,” Redbone said. “Don’t know what the rest of you jive turkeys are gonna do for grub.”
Abraham let out a long, defeated sigh. “Once you could’ve filled all our buckets up from just this one bush here. If this keeps up we’ll be eating thorns sure enough.”
“What the fuck?” Dirk said. “Last week there were plenty of berries here.”
“Shit,” Redbone said. “It’s like it’s going faster. Every time we have to search farther and farther into the forest. Man, what’re we gonna do when we run out of forest?”
“Enough talk,” Sekeu said sharply, her face tight. She walked quickly away, continuing down the trail.
The rest of the Devils exchanged somber looks and followed.
A SMALL DEER broke cover. It was thin and mangy. It leaped across a wide, shallow creek, up a slope, and disappeared into the brambles.
Redbone snatched Danny’s spear away from him and started after the deer.
“NO!” Sekeu shouted.
Redbone ignored her.
“THE LADY’S WOOD!” she cried.
Redbone stopped. He looked up and down the creek, his face confused.
“Oh, good Lord,” Abraham said, his voice incredulous. “She’s right. That’s Cusith Creek. Why, I didn’t even recognize it. Not with all them leaves and flowers gone.”
“Impossible,” Dirk said. “The scourge in the Lady’s Wood?”
“If we don’t bring something back we’re gonna starve,” Redbone growled. “I say we go after it.”
“You go,” Abraham said. “I’m in no mind to throw my life away for a spot of venison.”
Redbone stared after the deer.
“The elves will kill you,” Sekeu stated with certainty. “The trees have eyes and ears.” She pointed to three bird-size faeries watching them from a high branch.
THEY FOLLOWED THE dark creek downstream, stopping occasionally to examine the bushes along the banks. The sun never came out from behind the clouds, but the day had grown warm and humid.
“Hey,” Danny huffed, wiping the sweat from his brow. His face was bright red, his T-shirt soaked. “Any chance of a break?”
Sekeu kept plodding onward, her eyes relentlessly searching the bushes and underbrush.
“Y’know,” Abraham said, “break might not be such a bad idea. Be a mite awkward if we were to kill the New Blood on their first day out.”
Sekeu stopped, took a hard look at Danny, then scanned the surrounding tree line. “Rest here. I will go check oak grove. Dirk, come.”
Nick collapsed atop a large, flat stone next to the shallow creek and watched Sekeu and Dirk disappear into the woods. He let out a tired sigh and joined the rest of them in dousing his head and getting a long drink. The sweetness of the water still amazed him.
“Can’t believe the scourge has spread to the Lady’s Wood,” Redbone said. “Man, I would’ve never dreamed that possible.”
“Seems to me, it’s accelerating,” Abraham said. “I do wonder if Peter has any idea.”
“Y’know,” Dash said, “Peter should’ve been back by now.”
“Just hope he ain’t got himself in a spot he can’t get out of,” Abraham said.
“There’s no such thing as trouble that dude can’t get out of,” Redbone said.
“I just hope he brings some more Snickers,” Dash said.
“Man, there ain’t much I miss about the world,” Redbone said. “But I gotta say I sure miss the food. Remember that time Peter brought back six boxes of Ray’s pizza?”
“Do I ever,” Abraham said, and a big smile lit up his face. “Why I dream about that most every night.”
Danny’s eyes grew big. “Pizza! Wow, that’d make my decade.”
“Don’t tell me you’re getting tired of acorns and mushrooms already,” Redbone said, and nudged Danny. “Man, you gotta wait ’til you’ve been here as long as me before you start griping about the food.”
“So where is Peter?” Nick asked.
“Catching kids,” Redbone said with a laugh.
Nick couldn’t believe they were laughing. “That’s funny?”
Redbone’s smile faded.
“It’s not right,” Nick muttered, half-under his breath.
“What’s not right?”
Nick didn’t answer, he just shook his head.
“I said, what’s not right?”
“What do you think?” Nick said. “The bastard kidnapping kids. That’s what’s not right.”
Redbone struck Nick. He moved so quickly Nick didn’t even see it coming, hit him in the chest, knocking him into the creek.
Abraham was up and between them in a blink, holding Redbone back. “Whoa. Ease back now. Let it go. He’s New Blood, remember?”
Redbone glared at Nick then glanced around at the other New Blood. “Let’s get one thing straight. I don’t want to catch any of you badmouthing the man. That jive don’t fly with me.” He walked over to Nick, grabbed him by the collar, and pulled him up out of the creek. He propped Nick back up on the rock, then plopped down across from him, leaning forward and locking his crazy eyes on him.
“You need to understand a thing or two,” Redbone said. “So I’m gonna lay it on you. Back before I came here I lived upstate with my old man. Got tired of the sorry fuck beating the snot out of me every other day. So I upped and lit out for the big city. In less than a week, I was sleeping in a cardboard box, stealing, and turning tricks just to eat. You’ve any idea how bad that is? I had to do things I can’t even talk about still. I was thirteen. Fucking thirteen!
“One night this pimp gets a hold of me. Bastard tells me if I wanna work his street, I gotta pay. Pay? With what? I didn’t have enough dough to buy food. How was I supposed to pay this hustler? So I don’t. Sure enough he catches up with me and beats the crap out of me. I mean really beats the crap out of me. Left me in a Dumpster, spitting up blood. Man, at that point I wanted to die.
“Week later I’m back at it, because that’s all I got, see. Only now, no one wants anything to do with me. Y’know why?” Redbone’s eyes bore into Nick. “Because I got this gnarly scab on my mouth and I was all scraped up from the beating. So I’m mostly stealing shit and eating out of garbage cans. He caught me on his turf again. I wasn’t getting any action. I was just there, y’know. Made no difference to this motherfucker. He drug me into an alley, stuffed garbage in my mouth so no one could hear me screaming, and pulled out his knife. Says he’s gonna fix me for good and gives me this.” Redbone traced the scar running down his face. “Would’ve killed me, but that’s when Peter showed up. Y’know, the guy you were just badmouthing? Before that asshole even knew what was happening Peter cut him wide open. Laid him out! That’s one son’bitch that’ll never hurt another kid, ever.
“Peter doctored me up the best he could and brought me back with him. So let me lay it on you straight. I love that pointy-eared dude. He did more than save my life. He gave me a life. Gave me a family. I know what I’m about, ’cause it’s all real simple here. We’re clan. We’re Devils and we look after one another.”
Abraham and Dash nodded along.
“And if you think my story’s bad,” Redbone continued, “man, you ain’t heard shit. Get Abraham to tell you what it was like to be a runaway slave sometime. Ask him about the life Peter saved him from. Hell, ask any of them kids back at the fort. Every one of them gots a hard-luck story that’d bring tears to your eyes. Plenty a lot worse than mine. And there’s not a single one of them that wants to go back. Because we’ve all had our share of dealing with fucked-up parents, stepparents, priests, cops, pimps, pushers, crackheads, all those fuckers out there. That world out there, I say they can keep it, man.
“Peter’s given us another chance. That cat has put his life on the line for me. For you and for every kid here, time and again. The sooner you get your mind right about that the better off you’ll be. Are we straight on that?”
; No, Nick thought. We’re not. But he nodded anyway.
“Good,” Redbone said. “Because I like you. And I’d hate to have to kill you.”
Nick wasn’t sure if Redbone was kidding, was pretty sure he wasn’t, pretty sure this kid would kill him if Peter asked him to, and judging from what he had seen back at the fort, probably any of them would. He glanced at Abraham, Dash, Leroy, even Cricket and Danny. He could see it in all their eyes. They were completely taken in by Peter’s ruse. It was as though Peter was some sort of messiah to them, come to take them to the promised land.
“This is a magical place,” Abraham said, addressing all the New Blood. “You wouldn’t know it. Not by the way things are now. But when I first come here these forests were lush, teeming with life. Every kind of fruits and nuts you could imagine. Why there were wild bananas hanging off the trees…a true paradise.”
“And it’ll be again,” Redbone stated with absolute conviction. “That’s where we come in. Where you come in. Together we’re gonna drive away the Flesh-eaters and then.” His eyes glimmered. “Then, we’ll be the Lords of Avalon.”
“Flesh-eaters?” Cricket asked.
Redbone hesitated, cut his eyes to Abraham.
“Tell us,” Cricket prodded.
“Yeah, well,” Redbone muttered. “Let’s just say they’re the ones causing all this trouble and leave it at that.”
“What are they?” Cricket persisted.
“Hush up, now,” Abraham said. “Here comes Sekeu. She’s in a foul enough mood already. She’ll scalp the lot of us if she hears us talking to New Blood about Flesh-eaters. Peter will tell you. Let you in on everything soon enough.”
Why can’t we talk about these Flesh-eaters? Nick wondered. What are they hiding? Nick thought about asking Sekeu, then saw her face and decided now wasn’t the time.
Sekeu held out her hand: four gray acorns.
“That there’s from Oak Grove?” Abraham asked.
She nodded.
“What’re we gonna do?”
“I say we slip across the creek,” Redbone said. “Make a quick raid into the Lady’s Wood.”