When The Snow Melts

by Bluespectre

Chapter Eight - A Lantern in the Forest

CHAPTER EIGHT

A LANTERN IN THE FOREST

The walk back through the forest was taking far too long. Everyone was tired now, the alcohol-fuelled excitement transforming into a bitterly cold trudge through the seemingly endless snow and ice. The villagers huddled together like frightened animals, whether for warmth or for safety, Rush wasn’t sure. He just wanted to get these fools back and then get home himself. At first he’d thought about staying with Nasta for the night. After all, he wouldn’t have complained, especially after this episode. Then he thought of Snow, alone and still lying injured in his house. He had to get back to her; he had to be there for her.

Rush’s lungs were raw from breathing the cold night air. They’d been slogging along for what felt like hours now, and his leg muscles burned horribly despite the freezing temperatures. Surely they were near the village now? To make matters worse, he had the distinct feeling they were being watched, and that at any moment…

He shook his head. Thoughts like that could addle your mind and take the edge off you when you needed to stay sharp and alert. Especially now, in this damned forest, he needed his senses at their keenest more than ever.

A shout from up ahead brought the villagers up short. Worried murmurs broke out, followed by a woman’s terrified scream. Rush’s heart skipped a beat. Somewhere in his heart, he knew what had happened. Gods, he hoped he was wrong.

“RUSH!”

Nasta nearly crashed into him, his face drained of colour. “Oh gods, Rush…I…”

Rush clenched his fist. “It’s the two who ran off, isn’t it.” It wasn’t a question.

Nasta nodded silently. “I think you need to see for yourself.”

Pushing through the villagers, Rush moved up to where the deputy and Cray were staring up one of the trees. The two youngsters were there alright. What had been done to them was…

He turned to Cray. “Get them moving, all of them.”

Cray nodded, returning to the terrified villagers. The deputy looked round at Rush, his face ashen. “We have to cut them down. We can’t just leave them—”

“You want to end up like them? For the gods’ sake, Nile, don’t you get it now? You’ve not been hunting it…it’s been hunting you, you and your bloody drunken party of children.”

The deputy’s eyes went wide as he grabbed Rush’s shoulders. “What the hell are we going to do?! We’re going to die out here! We’re going to—”

There was a resounding crack as Cray’s fist connected Nile’s jaw. “I’ll carry him, Rush. You lead us out; Nasta can take the rear for a while.”

Following their own tracks back to the village was child’s play, and Rush knew they weren’t far now. Behind him, he could hear several of the villagers crying and being consoled by some of the others. It had been a night none of them would forget in a hurry, and one he hoped would be over soon. Tomorrow, they’d have to send out a detail to bring back the bodies of the two young ones. If he had his way, that impetuous fool Nile would be leading the recovery, but judging by the look on his face now, it was highly unlikely. Coming back to his senses, Nile was now trudging along as solemnly as the rest of them, occasionally rubbing his chin which would no doubt be sporting a large bruise come the morning. Rush shook his head in dismay. It was probably too much to hope for that Cray's fist had actually knocked some sense into the man.

He closed his eyes and tried to will away the image of what he’d seen. In all his years, he’d never seen anything like it. The brutality, the cruelty…why? There was only one word he could think of to describe it: evil—pure, unadulterated evil. If there was one thing that Rush knew for certain now, it was no animal that had done this. They hunted for food, they didn’t…

He shook his head. Damn it! How far did they have to go now? Surely they must be near the village. As if in answer to his thoughts, a light appeared ahead of them between the trees; it was like a gift from the gods. Nile suddenly ran up beside him.

“Oh thank the gods! Someone’s come looking for us at last!”

Something niggled at Rush’s mind. The light was swaying, but it wasn’t moving forward or back. If someone was there…

The deputy ran ahead. “We’re here! Over here!”

Realisation suddenly dawned on Rush. “NO! Come back, you fool!”

He watched in horror as Nile suddenly staggered, then stopped. The young deputy looked up at the lantern tied to a branch, moving in the breeze, its light so inviting. Slowly, he turned to face the others.

“Rush?”

The black shaft of the bolt protruding from his chest glinted in the moonlight as he fell to his knees and dropped face first into the snow. Rush’s heart leapt into his throat as unbridled pandemonium broke out behind him.

“Damn it! Cray, Nasta, keep them—”

It was too late. Panic had taken hold of their hearts, and the villagers surged past him into the forest, trampling the fallen deputy beneath their headlong charge. Nasta and Cray’s shouts were to no avail…they were gone. Cray hurried to the deputy’s body and looked back at Rush.

“He’s gone.”

Nasta grabbed Rush’s shoulder. “We’ll be too, if we don’t get the hell out of here!”

“But the villagers!” Cray shouted, taking the deputy’s sword. “They’re just kids!”

Rush hefted his spear. “There’s nothing we can do now. We have to move. Come on, or we’ll end up like him!”

They ran. Rush’s feet pounded through the churned snow. The younger villagers had disappeared into the darkness while Cray and Nasta pulled ahead. Fear was your worst enemy in the hills, and they’d become prey to it as he’d dreaded all along. Now, it was every man for himself, and he was damned if he’d end up like the others.

Ahead of him, a blood-chilling scream rent the forest air, but still he kept moving. Another, further off. Dear gods, what the hell was that thing? The ground suddenly disappeared beneath him, and he pitched head-first down a slope, crashing through bushes and bamboo, bouncing off rocks and stones before coming to a sliding halt in a half-frozen stream.

The shock of the ice-cold water quickly brought him around, as did the pain from his leg. He quickly surveyed the damage—broken by the looks of it. Rush shook his head and fell back in the snow, looking up at the sky as a wave of nausea struck him. What was he going to do now? What could he do? He was completely alone. He tried to shout for help, for Cray or Nasta. They couldn’t be that far ahead, but he was so winded that all he could manage was a strangled coughing noise.

Somewhere in the distance he could hear shouting and more screams, growing more and more distant. He began to laugh. The absurdity of life, everything that had happened to him, it was all so pointless. If only his mother could see him now! Here he was, the ‘madman of the forest’ lying in a ditch with a broken leg beside a frozen stream in the dead of night. You had to laugh. It was all part of life’s great joke; the gods must be having a field day with this one.

He lay there, consciousness beginning to fade away. So this was how it would all end, was it? They’d probably not even bother looking for him. Well, maybe Nasta and Cray would, but…Snow. He could see her in his mind’s eye, lying in his house, alone and afraid. If not for himself, he had to get back to her. She needed him. In some way, he needed her.

Rush took a deep breath, trying to clear his head. If he could bind his leg, splint it, he could…

He froze. Something had moved on the other side of the stream, a dark shape, blacker than the night that surrounded it. Partially obscured by bushes, a low rumbling, clicking sound emanated from the thing. It was looking for something, or someone. Rush kept quiet, trying to breath as little as possible. Animals had a keen sense of smell, and he prayed to whatever gods would listen that he was downwind of the beast.

He watched in fascinated horror as steam snorted out from the creature’s nostrils, white clouds curling away in the chill air, but it was the pair the of bright red eyes that drew his gaze. They were like two glowing fires, flickering like the open pits of hell. The thing stopped, sniffing the air and then turned, its gaze locking onto the broken reed worked lying by the stream.

Rush sighed. “So, you’ve shown yourself at last, have you?”

The thing clicked and hissed at him, but didn’t move.

“Come on then, you bastard, I’m here! Come on, come get me!” Rush fumbled for his reed knife, his fingers numb with the cold and probably blood loss. Whatever this thing planned for him, he’d have a piece of it. Oddly, and despite the cold fear gripping his heart…he smiled. “Guess who’s coming to dinner?”

The creature took a step toward him then stopped, turning away before making a harsh, shrieking sound. A sudden flare of golden light blinded Rush, and he held his hands up to his eyes to try and shield them from its intensity. It was all too much. His body was failing him, his sight narrowing, and he knew from treating others that he was going into shock. He sighed to himself. At least he’d be able to see Blossom again soon, and that wasn’t so bad, really.

The last thing Rush saw, as the darkness began to pull him inexorably down into the depths of unconsciousness, was a pair of large purple eyes gazing down at him. They were so gentle, so full of kindness, the way the starlight caught them…

She was so…beautiful…

Author's Note:

Edited by JBL

Comments

[Thunder--Clash]

AMAZING WELL CHOSEN WORDS I SAY

[That One Brony Dude]

A sudden flare of golden light blinded Rush, and he held his hands up to his eyes to try and shield them from its intensity.

Frodo. I am Arwen. I've come to help you. Hear my voice. Come back to the light.

[NecromanCREEEEEE]

7096855 Just make sure you're going to the right light

[FIRE FLASH 3]

I'm lovin' the "Predator" vibe from this chapter