Chapter XIII - The Dark Forest

Chapter XIII

The Dark Forest 

by Faith McCann 

Catsandra, Avi and Pip walked carefully down the path. When it started to narrow, the trees seemingly darker and more menacing and it seemed as if every step was a sharp report! A snap! Pop! Rustle, which only announced to the entire forest they were coming. 

"Hold up." Avi said quietly. Catsandra stopped without question and looked at him. "Let us quiet our steps, shall we?" 

"Shall I?" She looked at him, glad to finally have someone who didn't shy away from her because of her magic nor used it as a means to fawn over her for favors. It was nice to have an equal. She looked around and saw a large stone a few feet off of the path. It was raised up about eight inches off the ground with a fairly flat top. She hopped up onto the stone. It was large enough for both of them to stand on it. She held out her hand and he stepped up. He was tall so he didn't need to hop. 

She closed her eyes and made a deep connection with the earth. She felt the energies flow up and over their feet, even enclosed in shoes. She felt her feet and lower legs get very warm then tingle and finally the feeling dissipated and she felt just as she had before. 

She looked at Avi, and he raised a brow. "That's it? It felt warm, but will we be silenced?" 

She smiled and jumped off the rock. He followed and they proceeded down the darkening path with absolutely no sounds emanating from their travels. Not a twig snapped, not a leaf rustled as they passed. 

She certainly was full of tricks, he thought. He had decided, firmly, that he was going to get to know her. He .  .  .  liked her. It had been a very long time since he had really trusted anyone. He knew though that she didn't hold much back. He felt that he knew where he stood with her. No games. 

They moved quicker now down the darkening path into the depths of the Dark Forest. She was aware that they were being observed. Whereas humans watch, other worldly beings such as trees, woodland creatures, the occasional faery or mossy gnome tended to observe and left humans alone. For the most part. 

Avi moved along and occasionally looked down at his own feet, encased in leather boots and still not making a sound. Then they both stopped in their tracks as if they had hit a wall! Before them was not one, not two, but nine paths that their path branched into. They could take one of three that branched to their left, one of three that opened up directly ahead of them, or one of the three that branched to their right. The tenth path, technically, the one they were on,  only went back the direction they had come. 

"Now this is a quandary." Catsandra said as she slowly turned around in the center of the opening of the path, carefully looking at each path to determine which one might be the correct one. 

She held out her palm on her right hand. Facing out towards the paths. She again turned slowly and the opening to each path grew darker as her palm passed by it's opening, until she came to the paths in the center, in front of her fellow band of travelers. She stopped when she came again to the path in the center which veered slightly towards the left. As her outstretch palm passed by that path, it suddenly lit up all along it's trail, glowing a soft greenish, yellowish light. The path was speckled with colored crystals that picked up the ambient lighting. Even surrounded by dark, dank trees, draped with ancient vines and covered with old moss, the lit up path beckoned and made them feel welcome. 

"Obviously this is the path we are meant to take." she said to her companions. 

"But is it the right path?" Avi sensibly questioned. 

She looked up at him, and with a slight smile replied " I suppose, like many important choices we make in life, that question will be answered after the fact. Yet .  .  .  not knowing the answer right now,  can never be a reason for failing to do what we feel is right." 

"This path feels right. Ready to go?" She pulled up her cloak's collar and smiled at Sir Pip. He squeaked his ascent to continue. 

"Let's continue on." Avi stepped in front and withdrawing his short sword he held it lightly in his right hand with his wand in his left. 

As they continued a sound started to grow. It was a low roar, which as they went deeper into the Dark Forest soon became distinct voices shouting and yelling. It sounded like many voices, rough, harsh and muffled in an odd way. It was difficult to determine where they were, and if the voices were friendly or not? The voices ebbed and flowed as if they were in a cave or on the other side of a mountain. She wasn't aware of any such places deep within the Dark Forest. 

"Can you tell from which direction the voices are coming from?" Catsandra asked. They sound like they are in  cave but I know of no cave systems in this area."

"The Dark Forest is reputed to be magickal, haunted, enchanted, and bewitched! Why would it be a surprise for it to create and recreate itself as it desired?" 

She and Pip both looked at him with pleasure at his deep grasp of the magic surrounding them. He was exactly right. Even the paths behind them could be completely erased as they attempt to go back, but she was hopeful the forest would sense that their soul's energy was good and kind and be kind in return to them. 

Catsandra stopped and pulling Avi close, whispered "Can you cloak yourself against discovery? Using magic? You know how?" She didn't have time to wonder if her questioning him as if he were a novice would be insulting. She could worry about hurt feelings later. 

"Yes." A short reply was best in these circumstances. They both brought their cloaks closed tight against their necks, hoods covering their heads and hanging low over their faces.  She laid her hands on top of both of his. Together they both made a magic circle of their energies and intentions for their mission. Suddenly two things happened simultaneously. Firstly they appeared to all observers, who just happened to be a tiny red squirrel and two blue jays in the branches of a ancient oak tree, to simply fade away. But wait, as they moved away a slight ripple of the air could be seen and then nothing. Simply trees, leaves laying heavy upon the ground, and the forest as it always appeared. 

Secondly, as they lifted both their heads, though completely cloaked, they could see through their hoods perfectly well. Not simply in front of themselves, but they had a clear awareness of all around them. 

"Just know" she whispered. Whereas our feet have been silenced on the floor of the forest. and our physical forms are cloaked in invisibility, should we speak or cry out, we will be heard. No matter what happens we need to be silent. Pip knows this all too well." 

He nodded. She held out her hand. "The Tintinabulum, please. Hand it to me. I will place both yours and mine in this lovely old tree for safe keeping. This way we can communicate magically without anyone hearing us." 

He hesitated, but he had known her long enough. He knew enough about her to know she had no interest in using her magic against him. They were both in this for one reason. To bring Mother Shermona's killer to light so he or they may be dealt with properly. He had enough experience in this world to know, that anyone who would betray or deal deception at another needed to have a reason, someway to benefit. He had nothing she wanted, except maybe his help. As he wanted her help. 

He handed her his tintinabulum, remembering when it was made for him many, many years earlier, by his uncle who had been a master metalsmith. His uncle, Aziel,was a man who was a master of many of the world's magical secrets. How as a young boy he would steal away to his uncle's shop to watch him working with all sorts of metals, sparks flying high from the forge, as if a great dragon was breathing forth the smoke and fire. A dragon made of clay bricks, smudged black with the flames of the forge as it worked it's magic. 

His mind flashed to that early morning, so very long ago, when he said goodbye to his uncle as he was about to set off on a journey to find his place in this world. His uncle gifted him with this special silver disc, designed after an ancient formula and charmed with ancient blessings and spells to keep his thoughts safe from other's magical intrusion. Whereas he was a young man and was still learning to read other's thoughts, his were cloaked from prying, evil intended magical ones. A journey that was suddenly interrupted by a knock on the head, almost as soon as he had left Aziel's shop, walking down the street when the sharp pain came out of nowhere and blackness descended upon him. When he came to he was aboard a huge ship in the middle of a great ocean. All of that seemed like a thousand years ago. 

He brought his thoughts back to this moment and saw her slip his silver charm into a small black pouch along with her own. She tightened the draw cord and went to the large oak tree. She stepped gingerly upon the exposed roots and stepping up, reach high above her head and tucked the small pouch into a crook of the tree. She whispered a few words, made a symbol in the air. Her palm made a perfect circle and then made an equal armed cross in the center. 

She came back down and the trio quickly started down the path.  

                                     The Oak tree in the Dark Forest painted by F.McCann 2022 

To be Continued Chapter VIX: The Ghost Castle 

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From the Author:  I hope you are enjoying the story of the Rag and Bottle Shop. If so, please follow my page! I am enjoying sharing the adventures of Catsandra and her familiars and the community of Castlewick with you. Please feel free to share this blog link to other fans of magical, fantasy fiction. 

I write my stories using the inspiration of the incomparable Charles Dickens who wrote and published his work during the 1800's in Great Britain in installments. Mr. Dickens was a strong social critic of industrialization and capitalism, as well as bringing to the public attention the need for social reform. Thank You for reading my work, Faith M. McCann