Avondale (31 page)

Rafe drew his sword with his right hand and his dagger with his left. There had been times growing up that Tiberius had envied his friend’s prowess with weapons. Rafe was a natural born fighter. He not only had the physical ability, but he understood tactics and strategy. Glancing at his friend now, Tiberius thought he looked like a legendary warrior. If they had to die, and Tiberius was hoping it wouldn’t come to that, he at least took comfort in knowing that he would die fighting beside his best friend.

Crack! Crack!
The whip popped again and again. The glowing eyes stopped moving forward and began to pace back and forth.

“What are they waiting on?” Lexi asked through clenched teeth.

“I’m not sure,” Rafe said.

Then the horses began to buck and neigh loudly in terror.

“They’re after the horses!” Rafe shouted.

He dashed into the darkness. Tiberius wanted to follow him, but he knew he needed to keep cracking the whip. The loud pops might be the only thing keeping the rest of the pack at bay.

“Get out of here!” screamed Rafe.

Tiberius felt a churning in his guts. He hated the fact that he couldn’t see what was happening. Inwardly he vowed never to be caught in such a situation again. He would make sure they had enough fuel to protect their camp from now on, if they could just survive the mess they were in.

“What happened to him?” Lexi called out.

“I don’t know,” Tiberius shouted. “I can’t see him. Rafe!”

“I’m okay,” came the reply.

The horses were still straining against the leather reins that had been used to secure them for the night. They neighed and shuffled nervously.

“They don’t seem to be anxious to attack,” Rafe called again. “Loud noises scare them.”

Tiberius kept working the whip, snapping and popping it over and over again. Lexi started shouting and Rafe rejoined them. The Graypees growled and hissed, but eventually they retreated. When the sun finally rose, they saw two of the large lizard creatures lying dead with spears through their bodies.

“That makes three,” Rafe said proudly.

“They would have attacked and killed us if it wasn’t for Tiberius’ whip,” said Lexi.

Tiberius slumped to the ground. He was so exhausted he couldn’t imagine anything that could keep his eyes open for even one minute longer.

“What’s happening?” Olyva said in a voice close to panic.

Everyone turned, shocked that Olyva was even awake, but what they saw took their breath away. Olyva was holding up her right hand. It was dark and discolored, but even more amazing was the tiny brown stem that was growing from her palm and the fragile, green leaf that slowly unfurled from it.

The dark dream seemed to last for an eternity. She remembered lying down on the soft turf, nestled between the gnarly roots of the odd looking trees. Rafe had been close, he was always close, always reassuring. And then the dream began. It was dark at first, and musky, like rich soil and wet leaves. She saw woody tendrils reaching out for her. At first she fought them off, slapping them away, but soon there were too many. They covered her, pulling her down into the spongy moss and dark earth. It was horrifying at first, but then a sweet feeling of peace swept over her.

Amber sunlight invaded her dream, but the sun felt like life itself. It poured into her skin, into her hair, nourishing, strengthening, and beckoning for her to rise. But she was too tired, and eventually the sunlight faded away. Darkness came over her again and she was aware of the silent growth happening inside her. She could feel the essence of life taking shape and moving toward the surface of her body. At first she was confused and frightened, but then the peace came again and she recognized the beauty of what she was becoming.

Eventually things changed. She felt the presence of fire close by, not just the heat from the flames, but the substance’s eagerness to consume and a raw wild terror that made her body shake. All around her she felt dissonance, vibrations of worry and fear buffeted her from the beings around her. She didn’t like it, but there was nothing she could do. She needed the sunlight to strengthen her again. When it came at last she heard voices, but they were hard to make out. There was a sense of the familiar, but no real recognition. As the sunlight soaked into her again, she felt the sweet beckoning once again.

Finally she woke up. At first she thought it was all a dream, just one long strange dream that felt unbelievably real. It was rare for a dream to effect her so strongly, but not unheard of. Usually her dreams were more romantic in nature, but this dream had been fantastic and completely out of the realm of the ordinary. She opened her eyes and saw the beautiful amber colored canopy of clouds overhead. She breathed deeply, filling her lungs with the sweet clean air. She stretched and it felt good to move her stiff muscles.

She pulled herself up, propping her body up on her elbows to look around. She saw Rafe and Lexi; both looked tense as if they were expecting trouble. The Earl’s son Tiberius was nearby; he looked completely exhausted. She was just about to call for Rafe when she felt something strange in her hand. It felt like a tender twig. She glanced down and was shocked to find a tiny branch growing out of her palm.

“What’s happening?” she asked, her voice quaking with terror.

As she watched a tiny leaf unfurled from the branch.

“What is it?” Rafe said hurrying over.

“I don’t know,” Tiberius said in a strangely tense voice.

“Is that a leaf?” Lexi said.

“What’s happening?” Olyva asked again.

She felt tears stinging her eyes and despite the sun’s beckoning, she wanted to lay back down, cover herself, and fall back into the dark where everything was peaceful.

“Olyva,” Rafe said, dropping to his knees beside her. “You’re awake. Thank god for that.”

“Look at me!” she demanded, holding her hand up.

“It is a leaf,” Rafe said.

He reached out and plucked the leaf from the stem. From the look of consternation on his face, he had expected the twig to come with the leaf, but it was rooted securely in her hand. To Olyva’s surprise she felt not only the tug, like a rotten tooth being jerked from a person’s mouth, but also the leaf as it was smashed between Rafe’s fingers and pain as he pulled it away from the stem.

“Ouch! What are you doing?” she cried.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize it would hurt you,” Rafe said.

“Is it stuck in her hand?” Lexi said. “I don’t see any blood.”

“You mean like a splinter?” Tiberius asked. “I don’t think so.”

“What is happening?” Olyva said again.

“We’re not sure,” Tiberius said. “But the trees were doing something to you.”

“What?”

“It’s okay,” Rafe said. “We rescued you.”

“I don’t understand,” she said, tears welling up in her eyes.

“The grove of trees was…” Rafe searched for the words.

“Sentient,” Tiberius said, “and predatory. I’m not sure what they were doing to you, but while you were sleeping, they covered you with their roots. We had to burn the grove down to get you out.”

“And you were unconscious all the next day and night,” Lexi said. “Probably because of some toxin they used on you.”

“Or black magic,” Rafe said angrily.

“Whatever it is,” Tiberius said calmly, “its having an effect on you, but there’s no need to panic. We just need to find out what exactly is happening. How do you feel?”

“I feel okay,” Olyva said. “I had a really strange dream, and then I woke up.”

“Other than the stem in your hand, do you feel different?” Tiberius probed.

“The sun feels exquisite,” Olyva said, standing up.

She stretched, lifting her arms up toward the sky. It felt so good, the sunlight was like warm water cascading over her body and into every inch of her skin. She started taking off her tunic.

“Hey!” Rafe said. “What are you doing?”

“I want to feel the sun on my skin,” she said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Tiberius turned away and Lexi stared wide eyed. Lady Olyva, the prim and proper Earl’s daughter from Hamill Point, had suddenly lost any modesty she might have had.

“You need to cover yourself up,” Rafe said, grabbing her tunic and covering her chest.

“Oh my god,” Lexi said. “Tiberius you have to see this.”

“Have a little respect!” Rafe shouted angrily.

“No, look,” Lexi said pointing.

Tiberius turned around. Lexi was pointing at Olyva’s back.

“What is it?” she asked, a note of panic in her voice.

“Oh, god,” said Rafe, his voice cracking.

“You’ve got more stems on your back,” Tiberius said, bending close to look.

“I do?”

“Yes, and some rough patches that look oddly enough like bark.”

“Tiberius!” Rafe said, obviously on the verge of having a fit of rage. “What the hell is happening?”

“I don’t know,” Tiberius said. “But it looks to me like the trees were somehow transmuting her into a tree. It’s possible that all of those trees were once people.”

“This isn’t happening,” Rafe said.

“We need to see the rest of your body,” Tiberius said. “And we need to see if it gets worse or better, and keep track of how quickly the changes come.”

“Are you saying she’s going to turn into a tree?” Rafe said.

He was pacing, his hands clenching. His agitation was discomforting to Olyva. She could feel the anger and fear radiating off of him. It was like the screech of rusty hinges and made her gnash her teeth.

“Are you okay?” Lexi asked.

“Rafe’s too angry.”

“I just don’t understand,” he cried.

“Get him away from me,” she said.

“Come on Rafe, let’s check on the horses,” Tiberius said.

Tiberius walked with his friend down the river bank as Lexi helped Olyva pull off the pants that Rafe had given her. Her legs had similar patches of stems and bark. The stems, she could see them on her legs, were like thick, brown fuzz, barely taller than her skin and soft. The patch of rough scales did in fact look like bark. Her feet were covered in the rough scaly skin, and her toes seemed longer and more angled on the ends. But the sun on her skin felt wonderful. She thought to herself that she could stand in the sunlight all day, just basking in the wondrous feeling of the sunlight on her skin.

“Are you hungry?” Lexi asked, as she held out the pants for Olyva to put back on.

“Do I have to?” she asked.

“You don’t want to put your pants back on?” Lexi asked.

“It just feels so good.”

“To be undressed?”

“The sun,” Olyva said. “It’s wonderful.”

“Well, be that as it may, you need pants on. And a shirt. We were attacked by Graypees last night and they could come back.”

“Graypees?” Olyva asked, the note of fear returning to her voice.

“Yes, Rafe killed two of them. He and Tiberius held the others off, but they could come back.”

“Okay,” Olyva said.

She pulled on the clothes reluctantly then turned her face up toward the sun. She rolled the baggy sleeves of the tunic up, and left her feet bare so her toes could wiggle in the soft turf.

“Aren’t you hungry?” Lexi asked.

“Thirsty,” Olyva said.

She felt dry, not just thirsty but dry all over. She walked over to the river and squatted to scoop up some of the clear water. She drank and felt the cold water as it flowed down her throat and into her stomach. It was almost intoxicating. She felt a giddiness she had never experienced before. She wanted the water to cover her body, but she settled for wading into the stream with her bare feet. Then she stood up, stretching as far as she could and stood with her face turned up toward the sun, a look of ecstasy on her face.

The horses were still nervous. They were comfortable around humans, but they had never been around other animals before. The leather reins Lexi and Tiberius had used to hobble the horses were now a tangled mess. Tiberius and Rafe set about calming the horses. They spoke to them in soothing voices, rubbing their jaws, foreheads and necks. Then they untangled the leather straps and put the bridles back on each of the horses. Finally, they tied the reins to one of Tiberius’ packs, which was set on the ground between them. The pack wouldn’t keep the horses from bolting, but it would keep them from wandering too far away.