The Forest of Life: Part 4

Altomia raced back to her village. Her white flowing dress and headscarf concealed her physical features and flaming red hair, but Altomia still worried about being seen. She went back along paths that were hidden in trees or long stems of grass. She made it to her house without being seen. She entered the tailor shop through the back door and headed to her room.

Altomia grabbed her game bag (she occasionally went out to kill a deer or two) and started filling it up with things she would need to survive in the wilderness: a hunting knife, a bow and arrow, a small pumpkin to ward off witches, dried apples, three warm blankets, three bedrolls, three pillows, a gallon of water, a compass, a map of the area, and sewing supplies. All that was left to do was wait. Altomia laid down and went to sleep. She had a long day ahead of her.

The next morning, as light was just breaking through the dense greenery of Aldold, Altomia crept out of her small village house. She tiptoed past her parents bedroom and tried not to trip over anything in the dimly lit hallway. She sneaked along the well-worn path to the pond that connected to Emerando’s village. When she finally got there, Emerando was waiting, with Elmerita in his arms, her tiny body cradled against his. The three said nothing as they hurried towards the green hills in the distance.

As the travelers wore on through the shrubbery of Aldold, Altomia said, “Have you ever considered that we might never return to our villages?”

“I guess not.” Replied Emerando, looking up from Elmerita.

The two stopped talking for a time, only stopping to say things like, ‘There’s the hills in the distance.’ or, ‘We’re almost at the beginning of the forest on the hills.’ This silence ended when they finally entered the forest. Emerando gasped as he looked around and said, “I’ve never seen anything so beautiful in my entire life.”

The forest was so green, it was hard to look at and the trees so utterly majestic and amazing that neither Altomia nor Emerando could move, much less speak for a long time. Even Elmerita stopped whimpering for a while. There were clearings in the wood occasionally, beautiful clearings, ones with wildflowers and tall grass that brushed Altomia’s skirts so much that she had to lift them up when she walked across the clearings. There was moss everywhere, and it covered so much of the forest tree roots that no one could see the dirt beneath them.

This calmness only lasted for so long, as they had to find a place to stay the night, since the trip had taken most of the day, and the sun was setting. Both Emerando and Altomia started to search for the perfect spot. Finally they found it, in a cave overlooking the meadow from which they had come. It was sheltered from the wind and had a small trickling waterfall from which to drink.

As soon as they had settled down to sleep, they heard a noise. It was a faint laughter, which became louder and louder. As it came closer, Altomia could see figures, flying through the night. Hags. They flew on their leathery black wings, that were tattered and torn.

They swooped through the cool wind, and yelled “ My lovelies, come come. We be the Hags of the Hill monsters of the Forest of Life. You disturb our peace, We will tear you limb from limb!”

“Perfect. Hags. I should have known they would come for us.” Muttered Altomia.

“What do you mean?” Asked Emerando.

“Hags are known to roam these woods at this time. Most people think it’s folklore, but a few people know the truth.” Said Altomia.

As soon as she had said this, one of the hags landed at the mouth of the cave. She neatly folded her fleshy, torn wings, and began to slowly creep towards Altomia and Emerando.

The hag and her brethren were about to reach Altomia, Emerando, and Elmerita, when they all heard a creaking. Altomia sneaked a look past the gang of hags and saw something that scared her. All the trees in the forest had started to move. They crawled like spiders towards the hags. As soon as the trees got close enough, they wrapped their huge branchy arms around the hags and each tree pushed them, screaming, into their massive trunks. Altomia, Emerando, and Elmerita were cowering in the corner. The trees turned their backs on the three, apparently not interested in their puny forms. The trees sank back into the ground, and the rest of the night, was silent.

Aquafina and her crew were approaching Emtolia. They crossed the border in the early morning, when everyone was still asleep. They closed in on a small sleepy village, the one nearest to the border. They entered a small tavern, which had one beggar in it. As Aquafina sat down the beggar saw a glimpse of the badge of the Queen that she had hidden in her tunic.

He pointed to it and yelled "Aldoldians! Queen's guards!”

The bartender pulled an empty wine bottle from under the counter and flung it at Aquafina’s head, missing her by a narrow margin. Aquafina and her crew pulled out their knives, and before anyone could say a word, they had the bartender, the beggar, and the bartender’s wife, who had just appeared from upstairs, against the wall with a knife at each of their throats. Aquafina gave the go ahead, and three voices were silenced that night. They buried the corpses in the backyard, and no one suspected a thing.

When Emerando woke up the next morning, he woke up to the smell of cooking and wildflowers. He looked around and momentarily panicked, for he was alone in the cave. Then he noticed that a wall of pebbles that had been in the back of the cave the night before was gone, in it’s place a curtain of wildflowers and lemongrass. He crawled out of bed and passed through the curtain, to find another room. This room looked bright, for every square inch was decorated with flowers gathered from the meadow. In the center of the room sat Altomia, Elmerita in her arms. She had made a fire, and was roasting a small bird carcass on it.

“Morning sunshine,” She said, without looking up. “Do you like what I’ve done with the place? I woke up early and The wall looked hollow, so I knocked it out. You’re a sound sleeper, but Elmerita isn’t. She got hungry fast.”

Emerando sat down next to Altomia and said “I love this room. It’s beautiful. Can I have some?” He asked, gesturing towards the meat on the spit.

Altomia nodded, and Emerando ate.

The three assassins planned their attack on the village. It had to be tonight, because there was to be a big bonfire, and people would all leave their houses. It was the perfect plan. All they had left to do was wait…

The afternoon in The Forest Of Life was uneventful. Altomia wove blankets out of lemongrass, and Emerando spent the better part of the day chasing a goat that bit him all the time.

After all of this was done and Elmerita was in bed, Altomia and Emerando sat at the edge of the cave to talk. It was twilight, and even at a distance Emerando could see the bonfire in his village. He looked at it longingly, as if a small part of him wanted to be next to it, laughing and telling stories. Altomia seemed to sense this and reached her arm out to encircle his shoulders. He didn’t stop her.