to indicate where they had gone.
"Arrrgh, dammit, dammit, dammit!" She raged as much from misery as wrath.
"Eile!"
She turned and saw Shadow standing on a farther mound.
"I know where they took Sunny. Follow me!"
She didn't argue. She charged off the mound and across a ridge, and followed the cat as it crossed the rest of the hollow and dashed into the woods. Eile ran as fast as she could push herself, relying on instinct to avoid roots and branches, and luck to avoid what her senses couldn't detect. The scenery around her passed in a blur as her sight focused into tunnel vision and she became oblivious to everything except the chase and her desperate desire to find Sunny.
God, whoever or whatever you are in this place, please let her be safe. I can't live without her; I can't stand to lose her. Please, I beg of you, let me find her alive.
As fast as she ran, Shadow traveled faster, and she almost lost her a few times in the dense woods. The last time she couldn't find her, and she panicked, thinking the cat had turned somewhere and she missed it. She dashed about in a frantic manner, trying to pick up her trail, and getting nowhere. But finally she burst through a tangle of shrubs and found herself in a clearing. She slammed to a halt, and saw Shadow in front of her. Sunny stood there too, further in, unharmed.
"Sunny!" She ran towards her.
"Eile!" Sunny rushed to meet her. They threw themselves into each other's arms and clung to each other with bear hugs as they kissed hard and passionate.
"This reunion is touching, but We have important matters to discuss."
The deep stentorian voice rumbled and echoed like thunder. Still wrapped in their mutual embrace, they stared in the direction it came from. Eile could feel Sunny's heart pounding in trepidation, and it matched the beat of her own.
A monstrous chair, almost like a throne, dominated the far end of the clearing, but its equally monstrous occupant overpowered it. It resembled a human, with a block-shaped head and massive body and limbs, but it had the legs of a goat, including cloven hoofs. The skin was slate-gray, covered with short, curly fur the color of forest green. Its facial features appeared human, but with a bestial cast. Goat's ears stuck out from the sides of its head, and from the corners of its forehead sprouted two structures. Eile couldn't decide if they were horns or antlers; they seemed to resemble both. Tree-creatures flanked it on either side, but while they stood at least four times her height, they only came up to the top of the seated being's head.
She stepped away from Sunny and looked around the clearing for a possible escape route. It soon became apparent, however, that it looked like no clearing she had ever seen. The trees that enclosed the perimeter formed a near perfect circle. They stood as straight and smooth as stone pillars, and their canopies merged and spread over the clearing, creating a domed roof. Only the center had a patch of open sky, and a shaft of sunlight fell straight down onto a gigantic stump planed flat and smooth like a stage. The most disturbing aspect was the dozen or so tree-monsters stationed at regular intervals around the perimeter. As such, while there were many places through which she and Sunny could make a break for the woods, none were close enough that a tree-thing couldn't intercept them before they escaped.
"Step into the light," the being rumbled.
They exchanged glances. Sunny looked as nervous as she felt, but she also felt mad as heck. They nodded to each other and walked over to the stage stump. It stood some three feet tall. She hopped up and sat on its edge as she helped Sunny up beside her. Then they both stood and moved to the center.
Shadow appeared between them from behind, and sauntered out ahead of them before sitting. "If it pleases My Lord?"
"And You are?"
"Shadow-stalker, a Huntress."
"And Your request?"
"I wish to introduce you to my charges. They do not know who you are."
"Very well. You may proceed."
She looked back at them both. "Sunny, Eile, this is The Horned One, the Lord of the Dark Wood. His power here is absolute; not even the Great Ones can challenge it."
She felt chills run up and down her spine. "Understood."
"Yeaaahhh," Sunny said in awe.
Shadow looked back at the being and nodded her head. "Thank you, My Lord." But she kept her place.
"Who are You?" the Horned Lord asked.
Sunny looked at her. She was the more diplomatic of them, and Eile nodded.
Sunny took a step forward. "Mr. Horned Lord--"
"'My Lord' will suffice."
Sunny gave a nervous giggle. "Umm, okay. Ah, we're Team Girl! I'm White-Lion, this is my partner, Braveheart, and Shadow is our friend."
"Why have You come to Our Wood?"
"We were commissioned by Mephitis, the Apothecary of Ulthar, to collect ingredients for her potions and medicines."
"And who gave You permission to collect these ingredients?"
Sunny glanced at Eile with look of mixed confusion and alarm. She had no idea how to answer that question and she shrugged, but she didn't like the way the interview was going.
Sunny faced him again. "Uhh, nobody, My Lord. We just assumed that, since they were growing wild, they were free for anyone to take."
"You assumed wrong. Everything in the Wood belongs to Us, and may not be taken without Our permission."
Butterflies began dive-bombing her stomach as Sunny said, "We didn't know! We're sorry; we promise never to do it again."
"Ignorance is no excuse, and Your apology is insufficient. The penalty for trespassing in Our Wood and despoiling It is death,"
A jolt ran through her nerves. "Whoa!" She jumped beside Sunny. "Now wait just a damn minute! That's pretty harsh for picking a few weeds and such."
"Would you not do the same to any intruder who broke into Your Home and tried to steal what belonged to You?"
"No! We'd call the police, let them haul his ass off ta jail."
"Your words mean nothing. Nonetheless, the principle is the same. The Wood is Our Home; everything in It is Our Property."
"Dammit, it's not the same! Geezus, this is so retarded!"
"Eile," Shadow said, "let me handle this."
She fumed, but she did not object.
"My Lord, if I may?"
"Proceed, Huntress."
"My Lord, these Girls are under the patronage of Her Most Serene Feline Majesty, the High Queen of All Cats. She would be greatly displeased if any harm came to them."
"Her Majesty has no authority within Our Wood."
"True, but can you afford an open break with my people? If we declared war, we would be prepared to field as many legions as needed to defeat you."
"That is but the first reason We had decided not to interfere with Your activity. However, the Golden Mushroom may not be taken. To but touch it invites swift death."
"These girls are also friends and proteges of Mayv Hair-rayn. She would consider it an insult if you harmed either of them in even the slightest way, and she never fails to address personal wrongs."
"That is but the second reason We have decided to forgive Your trespass and Your attempted defilement of the Golden Mushroom. Furthermore, You may keep what You have gathered, provided You never return to Our Wood. You may now leave."
Eile almost couldn't believe she heard right. She breathed a sigh of relief as she felt her legs turn to jelly; the urge to collapse felt almost too strong to resist.
"But we won't get paid without the mushroom!" Sunny said.
Mortified, she almost jumped out of her armor from shock. "Sunnyyy!? Jesus!"
"That is not Our concern. You have two choices: You may either leave with what You have--"
"So we'd fail!" Sunny whined.
"Or, You may take a commission from Us, in which case, if You succeed, We shall give You the Golden Mushroom."
"Really?!"
"Yes."
"Alright! Woo hoo!" And she danced a jig around Eile and Shadow.
"We take it You agree?"
&nb
sp; "Yes! Yes, yes, yes!"
"No!" Eile reached out, grabbed Sunny by the arm, and pulled her close, seizing her in a headlock.
"Settle down, ya spaz! For once, let's think before we leap, okay?"
"Okay, hon," Sunny gasped.
"Alright." She released her, and Sunny coughed a couple of times trying to catch her breath. She patted her on the shoulder. "Let's focus."
Sunny nodded and gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry."
She turned towards the Horned Lord. "What did you have in mind?"
"We have been part of the Dreamworld since the beginning, when It formed from the imagination of Nyarlathotep. We ruled over It entirely, when forest and wilderness covered every land surface. But as the countless millennia rolled by We watched, helpless, as Newcomers cut and burned the Trees and plowed the Wilds to make way for farmland, pastures, and cities, creating deserts, swamps, and barren wastes wherever They went. In time, all that was left to Us was this small Wood, yet This We shall keep. We will not allow Anyone to take It from Us, as so much has been taken already.
"But now One comes to challenge Our claim. We have contested with Him, but cannot destroy Him or drive Him out. So long as He remains, He threatens Our hegemony, and so long as He remains, He grows stronger as We grow weaker. Therefore, Our commission to you is to force Him to depart and prevent His return."
"Oh, is that all!" she said in a sarcastic tone. "As simple as that, huh? Yeah, right. If you couldn't defeat him, what makes you think we can?"
"There is Power even We cannot control, or understand. Such Power may succeed where Ours has failed."
"And you think we have that kind of power? Sweet Jesus! Just what do you think we are, demigods or something?"
"We do not know; do