It had been almost a week since Daniel had fallen asleep and would not awake, despite Sam's best efforts.
‘Well, this is just grand,’ she’d said to Freddie. ‘I can’t sleep, and he can’t wake up. Aren’t we a pair?’
To her dismay, Freddie could not explain this any more than she could. All they knew was that Daniel's heart was still beating, and his breathing appeared normal. Yet, that would not last long, if he did not wake up soon.
After the first couple of days, Sam had begun to seriously worry. If Daniel did not get any nourishment in his system, his body would soon start to shut down and give up. She couldn’t even entertain the thought of losing him like this. She had anticipated everything, from a siege on the little house in Sotira, to a running pursuit or fight, and she could accept anything that might happen during a possible fend off, but losing him like this was just wrong.
Doing a quick research on the Internet on how to help keep Daniel alive, they concluded their best chance was to tube-feed him regularly. Freddie went to Gramsh to buy all that was necessary from the small town’s hospital and returned the same day with enough material to last for at least two weeks. The people in Gramsh seemed to be more than happy to provide him with anything he needed, provided he flashed that green paper, of course.
Once back in Sotira, they fitted Daniel with the tube through his nose, and eventually managed to get some food into his stomach. It was a very delicate process and they had to be very careful while setting everything up, but once again Wikipedia, along with instructions Freddie was given in Gramsh, proved most useful.
After that, it had been mostly a matter of keeping Daniel clean and in shape. They took turns watching over him, but of course, Sam was the one who spent the most time with him. She would sit beside him for hours and hours, talking to him or exercising his arms and legs, so that he did not get stiff and limp from lying in bed for so long.
As she sat with him, it struck her just how much he had come to mean to her in these past few months, and for the first time in a long time, she began to feel uneasy. She looked at his handsome face, still relatively strange to her, and played with his longish black hair as he slept peacefully. And all the time she wondered what was it about this one that had managed to touch her the way no one else ever had. She could think of nothing, and Daniel remained silent, refusing to contribute to that conversation.
As she tried to sort out her feelings for him, she remembered the day at the waterfall and rebuked herself for not kissing him. If he never woke up, she wouldn’t get that chance again. Right then and there, she decided that the moment he woke up and spoke to her, she would do it. Yet somehow, it was not the prospect of him never waking up that frightened her, but of him not kissing her back. She didn’t care though, she would do what her heart demanded, and whatever happened, at least she would have peace knowing that she tried.
On the eighth evening of Daniel’s sleep marathon, Freddie walked into the room where they all slept, and asked if she needed anything before he turned in for the night. Half aware of him even being in the room, Sam replied that she was alright, and then went back to her own thoughts. Without even commanding them, her eyes settled back on Daniel, who was breathing slowly on the mattress before her.
Earlier that day, his breathing had grown arduous and he kept tossing and turning as if he was having a nightmare. She had tried to calm him down, but had almost broken down into tears when she had failed. She hated seeing him like that, but refused to leave his side anyway. She only took a few personal minutes, whenever nature called, or she had to go outside and check on the lasers and traps. Not once did she allow her guard to fall down; if they ever managed to get Daniel a second time, it would not be because of any mistake of hers.
‘He’ll be alright,’ she heard Freddie talking to her from his bed, ‘you’ll see. He’s not alone in there, you know, and they won’t be able to keep him for long.’
‘But why take him in the first place? Why stop him from coming back? He couldn’t stay away even if he wanted to.’
‘Actually, that’s not true. There are drugs that can induce a dreamless sleep; it wouldn’t be that difficult, I imagine.’
‘Yes, but why would he want that? He loves it there.’
‘I’m not saying he would,’ Freddie answered, ‘I’m just saying … Oh, forget about it; I don’t know what I’m saying either. Things are clearly changing in Endërland and everything I ever knew about it could be as good as gone.’
Neither of them said anything for a little while, until Sam spoke again.
‘Have you had any more of those dreams about him?’ She referred to the dream Freddie had before Daniel was first kidnapped.
‘No, none,’ Freddie replied. She didn’t know if that meant anything, but it changed nothing.
‘Well, you know what they say; no news is good news.’
They spoke no more after that. Freddie dozed off and she went back to observing Daniel while he slept, memorizing each and every line on his beautiful face, and sinking once more into her thoughts of him.
A couple of hours into the night, while she was having one of those few precious moments when she was neither awake, nor asleep; a loud and continuous beep went off from her laptop speakers. She got up immediately and went at the nearest window that looked to the east. Even without reaching there, she heard someone scream out loud in pain, only feet outside the little house. One of her traps had apparently worked.
Once at the window, she looked outside and saw shadows of men moving in their direction. Freddie was at once by her side.
‘They found us,’ she said, hurrying towards Daniel. ‘Help me with him.’
They wrapped him up in his blanket and dragged him downstairs and outside the back door. There they loaded him unto the raft that was tied fast in the canal behind the house. Holding only her gun, Sam jumped into the raft, placing Daniel's head on her lap and cut loose the rope that held the raft to an old plum tree.
‘You know what to do,’ she called to Freddie, while the raft was taken away by the current. ‘See you soon.’
‘Good luck,’ he called after her and turned hastily in the opposite direction. His job was to mislead the men and make them follow him, instead of Sam and Daniel.
As the water led the raft carrying the two of them down northward, Sam prayed that no one was coming from that direction, or they wouldn’t be able to get far unnoticed. But it seemed they had not completely run out of luck. They reached the river in a little over a minute without anyone spotting them, and from there, the stronger current of Tomorrica took them farther away with greater speed, first east and then turning westward towards Gramsh.
About five minutes passed and Sam was beginning to believe that they made it, when a loud and dry crack pierced through the night, leaving behind a feeble echo. It appeared to come from the area around the little house they had just abandoned, and she knew exactly what it was. She immediately thought of Freddie, and fear for his life brought upon the urge to stop the raft and run back to the house to make sure he had not been captured, or worse. But she couldn’t; she was supposed to get Daniel away from there at any cost. Freddie would have done the same.
Uncontrollable anger came over her, as she realized she might have seen the last of the young prophet. She had grown quite fond of the guy, even though she never allowed him to see it. She hated that she was unable to do anything about him now and that frustrated her even more. She would have screamed out loud, if she wasn’t afraid of alerting the kidnappers to their whereabouts, so she did the only thing she could do; she focused on Daniel and getting him to safety.
As the night wore on, the smaller stream of Tomorrica joined the bigger river of Devoll, and their ride grew less bumpy and slightly slower as the river grew wider and deeper. There wasn’t much for Sam to do in the meantime, except make sure Daniel was all covered and comfortable. The feeding tube was still attached to him, though she had not managed to take anything to feed him with and didn??
?t know when she would be able to find something else.
Looking at his peaceful face, she envied him; he had no idea what was going on with them and didn’t have to worry. But then she remembered his troubled sleep earlier that day and realized that she had no idea what he was going through either. It was all one big crazy situation, which she never in a million years imagined she would find herself in.
If only Nan could see her now, she would surely have something to say about this.
The little canoe-like raft rode the bountiful waters of Devoll all through the night, always heading west. At places the river was so shallow, that she was forced to get off and push the raft herself, but other than that it was mostly easy sailing.
When a group of night-lights floated by to her far right, she figured she was now passing Gramsh. She still had a while to go; the plan was to go as far down as Elbasan, a bigger town next to Gramsh, and wait there for Freddie to meet them. But that had been before Daniel had fallen asleep and they hadn’t been able to come up with a better one since. It sure would be tricky to go unnoticed, while dragging around an unconscious person with a feeding tube coming out of his nose. Still, it was the only plan she had to go by and she had to find a way to make it work.
Busy as she was trying to figure out a solution, and aided by the darkness of the late night, she failed to notice something approaching fast in front of them and blocking their way. Before she had a chance to react, their raft crashed violently against a large dead trunk that had fallen into the river, throwing them overboard. The last thing she remembered was landing headfirst on hard rocks and then it all went dark.
It was hard to believe it was barely midday. The silent group made their way between giant trees so close to each other, that their tops joined high above their heads to create an impenetrable ceiling. The lack of sunlight, which was powerless to pierce through the thick intertwined branches, made for a cold and uninviting place, unlike any he had seen so far in Endërland. This was such a dark place, and were it not for the silver bracelet ever present on his wrist, Daniel would not believe that he was still inside his dreamworld.
It had been a little more than an hour since they entered the Shadow Forest, and he was beginning to think that this wasn’t the smartest decision he had ever made. Leading the way through the dark maze, following nothing but his sense of orientation, was Séraphin, on foot this time. His keen eyes could see farther than any of them, and despite deviating here and there to choose the easiest path, he maintained their course northeast towards Dard'h.
Lightning followed, trotting in his footsteps, with Nathaniel secured fast on his back. The wounded wingman remained unconscious despite their efforts to bring him out of his slumber. Daniel, Hëna and Nemo followed behind on foot. The two horses that Ari had given them had been too frightened to enter the forest, so they had set them free.
Nemo and Daniel were both carrying lit torches improvised on the spot, without which they would have been unable to see farther than their own nose. Their flame gave little light and comfort in this dreadful place, but Daniel was glad to have them. He had never been very fond of the dark; ever since he was little, he would insist that his father leave a light on at night, in order for him to fall asleep. And even as he grew up, he always felt uneasy in dark places and would always carry a small flashlight with him, whenever he could. Not being able to see around him made him nervous and this place brought the feeling back tenfold. He kept his right hand rested on the hilt of his sword, which hung at his waist. This, somehow made him feel safer, braver.
Their first few hours inside the forest went by completely uneventful. They kept on heading northeast, travelling mainly within the southern part of the huge forest. Very soon they found that cold and darkness were not the only things that set this place apart from the rest of the kingdom. As far as they could see, there was no sign of life anywhere around them; no birds flying, no squirrels going up and down the trees, no animals whatsoever. In fact, there was no sound beside that of their feet rustling through the fallen leaves and broken branches, or the occasional wind blowing here and there. Other than that, an eerie silence surrounded them, adding to the ghastliness of it all.
By the fourth hour they were well inside the forest and knew there was no turning back now. Hëna kept looking after Nathaniel as best as she could; the young wingman had developed a high fever and his bigger wounds still kept bleeding from underneath the wraps and bandages. He would soon die, if they didn’t reach Dard'h in time.
Lined up behind Séraphin, walking carefully on the path he chose for them, Daniel suddenly felt Nemo tagging at his elbow. He turned and saw his friend looking somewhat frightened.
‘What is it, Nemo?’
‘Maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me, but I think the shadows of the trees are moving.’
‘Moving?’ asked Daniel.
‘Yeah, it’s like they’re trying to get away from the light and hide behind their trees.’
Daniel looked in the distance, where the light of their torches met the trees around them. He saw nothing strange.
‘It’s an illusion, Nemo; the shadows move as we walk past the trees.’
‘Yeah, well they’re moving a bit too fast if you ask me. I don’t like this.’
Daniel smiled.
‘None of us like this, Nemo, it’s a creepy place; but I wouldn’t worry too much about shadows.’
He hadn’t even finished speaking, when they felt a gush of wind blast past them, and just like that, the torches went out and darkness engulfed them. As if scared to death, Lightning released a high-pitched cry and sprinted off as fast as he could. Séraphin called after him, and without waiting for the others, rose up in the air and flew behind him, skillfully maneuvering between trees and branches.
Left on their own, the three stopped right where they were. They moved closer to each other, waiting for their eyes to slowly adjust to the dark, and expecting the worse. They were not disappointed. They sensed movement on all sides and heard noises and sounds suggesting that a large number of people were gathering all around them. Invisible cold hands grabbed them, and using some sort of rope that felt too cold to the skin, their arms were tied to their bodies and they to each other.
This all happened in a matter of seconds. Before they could react, a single fearsome voice of what appeared to be a person standing before their very eyes, spoke one single word.
‘Walk.’
Without waiting for them to comply with the command, whoever had captured them, began to drag them forward, forcing them to put one foot in front of the other.
‘Let’s do as they say for now,’ Hëna whispered, as if they actually had a choice. ‘We need to find out what we’re dealing with.’
Neither Daniel, nor Nemo had a better idea, so they allowed themselves to be dragged by their invisible captors. About half an hour passed as they walked deeper into the forest, when they eventually arrived into what looked like an open court among the trees. Just enough daylight was allowed to enter from high above, that it was easier now for them to see one another, and most importantly their captors. And that’s when Daniel wished it was dark again.
More than twenty creatures that had the shape and form of men, but seemed to be made of nothing but air, walked around them, some pulling on the ropes they had used to tie the three of them together. The ropes seemed to be made of the same substance as the creatures themselves, and it seemed to Daniel to be nothing else but shadow.
As they entered the court, heading towards the biggest redwood tree he had ever seen in his life, more shadows, seemingly belonging to the trees around them, detached and joined their friends. In no time, they found themselves surrounded by a vast multitude of shadowy creatures that kept on making dreadful sounds like whispers.
When they finally stopped before the tall tree, the shadow that belonged to it, glided upward from the ground, taking on the shape of a big man, who seemed strangely as if dressed in a military uniform. All the
other shadows fell silent at once, while another chill went through Daniel's body.
The large shadow stood up tall before them, and in a whispery, yet booming voice spoke.
‘So, what have we here? Tourists, I see. It’s been a very long time since last I’ve had the pleasure. Welcome, my friends; I am the General.’
At the mention of his title, all the other shadows bowed down towards him. He then moved closer to the three friends, as if trying to see them better with his hollow eyes. His face had a big round shape, but other than that, Daniel could not make out anything else; it was all just dark mist.
The General continued with a cunning kindness in his whispery voice.
‘So, tell me, what business brings you into my forest? I don’t usually get people coming so deep within my domain, not unless they’ve lost their way.’
Before any of the other two could answer, Hëna spoke first. She chose her words carefully, hoping her reply might discourage whatever sinister intentions the creature most certainly seemed to have.
‘We are on a mission from the High Council of the Lords; we were sent to find the Great Lord; his presence is needed in the kingdom.’
‘Are you now?’ the General asked, feigning interest and curiosity. ‘Well, look no more my dears; you have found him.’ The General raised his ghostly arms open wide as if to present himself. This prompted his troops to cheer for him again, which made for a strange chilling noise.
‘You’re the Great Lord?’ Daniel asked, unable to hide his shock and disbelief. The General’s face took on a shape that could be interpreted as a smile.
‘I am, or rather used to be. Before we ever came into this world, the Great Lord and I were both one and the same. We lived for over forty years in the other world, your world, Visitor. Yes, I can smell it on you; it’s still, oh, so fresh and tasty.’ The General made a slurping sound that both frightened and disgusted Daniel. He then continued. ‘We had a different life back then. It wasn’t bad; we were the head of an entire army, large and fierce. We had enough riches to live comfortably, and women to keep us company every night. Thousands of men worshiped and feared us, and our word was law. But, for some reason, he was never content with all that, and always resented and blamed me for it. When we finally came here, he decided he wanted to build a world of his own, a world where he could be happy, without me. So he separated himself from me and imprisoned me within the borders of this accursed forest.’
‘And how did he do that?’ Daniel asked, not sure if he should believe a word from this creature. The General drew closer to him, and stared at him intently.
‘You haven’t been in this world that long, have you, Visitor? With time, you find out that things are possible here that you never thought could happen. I certainly didn’t think this could happen; not until I found myself torn from him in a single heartbeat and abandoned here, alone and terrified. The trees have been my only friends throughout this whole time; they grew tall and dense, clothing the forest in darkness, so that I can move freely and without the light bothering me. They’ve taken good care of me for I don’t even know how long.
‘While he built an entire kingdom for himself out there, I built my own little one in here. I put whatever magic I had, into this forest and gave it its own life. There were only a handful of trees and bushes back then; now look at it, it’s magnificent and endless. And it’s all mine.
‘With time,’ he continued, ‘I also learned how to multiply myself and make more of me, to keep me company. While this forest grew bigger by the day, so did the number of my young ones. It still does. And soon, there will be enough of us.’
‘Enough for what?’ Daniel could not help but ask.
It was impossible, but Daniel could swear he saw those hollow eyes light up for a single moment.
‘Enough for my own little revolution,’ the General answered, now raising his voice like he was giving a speech. ‘You see, the day is coming for me to have my revenge for being imprisoned in this dark hell, cursed never to see the light of the sun, or feel its warmth. This world will soon know the real face of its Great Lord, right before I tear it down to pieces and send it back to the abyss where it came from.’
The General yelled the last words with great anger, making even his children tremble in fear. Only Hëna seemed unperturbed.
‘And how do you intend to do that?’ she asked. She was hoping to buy some time, while she came up with an escape plan, an idea already forming in her head. ‘This forest will never grow fast enough, nor big enough; and if light bothers you as you say, you will never be able to leave it.’
‘Oh, but we will, sweet girl, we will. Haven’t you noticed out there? Times are changing; I know the Great Lord is no longer around. You see, even though we’ve been separated for ages, I have this special connection with him and I can always feel his presence. But it’s been too long since I’ve last felt it and that’s how I know he has left this world. He’s probably moved on to a new one, or gone back to his old one. Better yet, he might have even died, and that means that no one can stop me from doing whatever I want to with this world. Soon, there won’t be enough light left out there to bother me and mine, and that’s when my moment will come.’
‘What do you mean there won’t be enough light?’
‘Let’s just say I have friends in very high places,’ the General said. ‘My plan is already working, and actually even faster that I had predicted. All I have to do is wait just a little longer, and soon all the pieces will fall into place.’
Daniel had no doubt he was talking about Winter. They clearly had a deal together; Winter had the power to darken the days by blocking Heli’s light, maybe that’s what the General meant.
Hëna had heard all she needed to hear and decided time had come for them to leave. She whispered to Daniel standing on her right.
‘When I tell you, close your eyes and don’t open them until I say so.’ She then turned to the General again and smiled.
‘Well, we wish you good luck with your plan and take our leave; we still have a long way to go.’
The General made a noise like laughter, joined by the hordes of shadows all around them. It was a nerve wrecking sound that made Daniel and Nemo tremble, but apparently not Hëna. She kept on smiling as the General spoke again.
‘I’m afraid you’re going nowhere, sweet girl. Desperate as your mission may be, I cannot let you run even after the slightest hope. No, you’re staying here; my young ones have not feasted on human flesh for a very long time. Tonight, they party. Nice knowing you!’
The General saluted them in a military fashion and then went back to being the shadow of the massive tree. And just like that, the multitudes of shadows surrounding them, began to close in on them with incredible speed. Hëna wasted no time and shouted at Daniel and Nemo.
‘Now.’
As the two boys shut their eyes tight, Hëna’s skin began to glow bright, and blinding light began to pour out from underneath her clothes and all of her body. In a matter of seconds, she was shining like a burning star, spreading powerful light all around her. The open court now looked like a well-lit stadium. The shadows that were the closest to her, disintegrated at the first touch of light; the rest of them moved quickly, and hid away behind trees in the deep of the forest.
The ropes that had been keeping them tied to each other disintegrated as well, and they were free to move again. Daniel and Nemo kept their eyes shut. From behind their eyelids, however, they could still sense the strong light, and realized what she was doing. They stayed put for another few moments, until eventually the brightness around them dimmed, and Hëna told them they could now open their eyes again.
When they did, they found they needed a moment for their eyes to adjust. When eventually Daniel was able to see again, his jaw dropped. Hëna was standing before him, light still oozing out of her every pore. Her eyes were sparkling like little candle flames, her pitch-black hair looked even darker and her skin shone like a white neon bulb. She ke
pt on shining enough light to keep the shadows away, but not enough to be of discomfort to either of them.
‘Wow,’ Nemo exclaimed first, sounding clearly excited. ‘That is so cool; I didn’t know you could do that.’
‘Stick around, Nemo,’ Hëna replied, smiling and winking at him. Her gaze then shifted on Daniel, who was still staring at her, completely awestruck.
‘You’re beautiful!’ he finally heard the words leaving his mouth before he could stop them. Hëna smiled even more and then replied, ‘Why, thank you; you’re not too bad yourself’. She then burst into a sweet delightful laughter, such as Daniel had never before heard from her. Nemo laughed too.
Realizing what he had just said, Daniel became red all over. He felt mortified; he’d never allowed his mouth to run away from him before. Soon enough, however, he decided it was best to join the laughter and downplay the whole thing. Somewhere in the back of his mind though, her words kept repeating over and over again, ‘you’re not too bad yourself.’ Maybe she had meant nothing by it, but what if she had?
For the remainder of the day, he was able to think of nothing else but those words, and her playful eyes as she had spoken them.
With some luck, they soon found their way back to the path they were initially following, and from there they continued their way through the forest towards Dard'h, tracing Lightning’s footsteps. That proved easier than they feared, for the great stallion had almost deliberately left his trail behind, and aside from it, the forest was completely void of any sign of life and activity.
Hëna continued to release enough light throughout the day, even though this began to drain her energy as the day went by. But she could not afford to stop; the shadows kept on following them from a safe distance, never giving up their chase.
Once evening came, Heli took over leading Daniel and Nemo on their way out of the forest. Walking before them like a tall pillar of fire, he shone with a much stronger and brighter light than his sister’s. His presence forced the shadows to completely disappear out of sight, so that they never saw any sign of them again.
In the early hours of the night, Hëna informed them that Lightning had already left the forest with the two wingmen, and they were now climbing their way up the hills towards Dard'h. They were about a day’s walk ahead of them. Daniel and Nemo were beginning to feel quite tired, but agreed not to stop until they left the Shadow Forest and were back out in the open air. So they kept on walking without a break for the rest of the night and for the best part of the following day.
When the sun began his ascent to the skies on the third day since they’d entered the forest, they finally stepped out of the dense woods, happy like never before to see the light of day again. Before them rose tall and proud the Northern Mountains, their top covered in snow and dark grey clouds. They stretched down east for as long as the eye could see. Like most of Endërland, this was truly a sight to behold, though Daniel was just a bit too tired to appreciate it properly.
They didn’t walk long once out of the Shadow Forest; they found a small meadow that seemed perfect for them, just far enough, and set up camp to rest. It already felt like winter on this part of the kingdom, so they lit a small fire to keep warm, and then wrapped themselves in their blankets and slept.
Drained as she was of her energy, Hëna lay herself down next to the fire, and she too closed her eyes and went to sleep. Cold wind blew all around them, bringing down from the mountains more than just icy air, but the three were just too tired to notice or care.
Dard’h