Epic Fanfiction: Nod x MK

Chapter 3 - Like Riding A Bike

MK
Dying? How could the forest be dying? We defeated Mandrake.....right?

"It is true that Mandrake was defeated but he is not the only one who would wish harm upon the forest," gesturing for me to follow, we moved towards the table where a bowl of water sat.

Waving her hand over the bowl of water, an image began to form in its reflection. Squinting down at the bowl I flinched back when I realised what I was looking at, the once great trees were now black shrivelled sticks, the ground was covered in branches and dead leaves, a grey fog smothered the land and in the distance was a black figure standing in the middle of it all.

"This vision came to me 2 weeks ago and soon after the trees began to cry out," she swept her hand over the bowl again and this time it showed an aerial view of the forest. Between the usual browns and greens of the trees were now patches of black appearing randomly throughout the woods.

"I am a spirit of the forest, Mary Katherine. I watch over the trees and animals of this place from any and all natural threats, I cannot do anything towards enemies like Mandrake and the one you see here."

I look back up at her only to find that she is already looking at me. Despite her appearance, the look on her face is not that of child. She was an ancient and powerful force, definitely not someone you wanted to mess with and yet I felt no ill will from her. She genuinely wanted my help.

"I still don't understand why you need my help though, isn't this something the Queen should handle? Or the leaf men?" I ask in confusion.

"The power of those who live in the forest is not enough to defeat this new threat, much like it was not enough to defeat Mandrake," she said sternly. "Wether or not you believe that you can help does not change the fact that we need you too, you're our only hope."

In her eyes is a desperate plea for me to say I'll help. While last year was some of the greatest times of my life, it was also the most dangerous. Was I willing to throw myself back into that? I could still back out if I wanted to, go back home and hope Nod and the others could figure it out by themselves.

Flashes of Nod and all of my friends appeared in my mind, I knew that if our positions were reversed then they wouldn't even hesitate to come and help me out, that is what friends do after all.

"Alright, I'll do it. Just tell me what to do," I say.

Melody looks slightly surprised at my declaration but then immediately returns to her bubbly self from before.

"Oh I knew you'd say yes! Let's get you going then!" She squealed as she flew back towards Carl.

"Alright so by the time you get to Wrathwood, Nod and Ronin should be on their way out, once you spot them just follow them through the trees until they lose the boggans, that way you can meet up with them without running into too much trouble."

I'm barely keeping up with what she's saying as I clamber onto Carl's back, he's a lot bigger then the hummingbirds that the leaf men use but he's also a lot sturdier so I shouldn't have any trouble flying him, however.....

"How am I supposed to get to Wrathwood though? I don't know the way, not to mention it has been a while since I've ridden a bird" I say as I settle into the saddle.

"Oh don't worry about that, Carl knows the way, and what's that saying you stompers use? Like riding a bicycle or something?" She questions as she gives a light pat to Carl's shoulder and he begins to get ready for flight.

"Good luck Mary Katherine! I wish you the best!" She waves, a big smile on her face.

I wave back only to quickly grab onto Carl's feathers as he leaps out of the tree that held Melody's house. I barely manage to hold back a scream as he dives towards the ground, wings tucked into his sides and beak facing downward.

My stomach drops as he pulls out of the dive just before we hit the ground and glides above the forest floor. I slightly loosen my grip on his feathers and roll my shoulders in an attempt to relax a bit, I had a feeling that this was gonna take a while.

***

I was right. The whole ride took nearly an hour, having to go around quite a few things due to Carl's size. The world flew past in a green blur as he twisted and turned through the trees until finally coming to rest on a branch.

The branch sat right on the border of Wrathwood, on one side was the lush and vibrant colours of the forest, on the other was nothing but a dead wasteland.

Now what? Melody said that Nod and Ronin should be making there escape now but I don't see the-

The sound of a battle cuts through my chain of thought making me raise my head to look at what's happening. A flurry of black obscures my vision but it's easy to spot the familiar wings of the hummingbirds.

They're here!

It was hard to tell exactly what was going on from where I was seated but it was clear that Nod and Ronin were engaged in a fierce battle with the boggans that were chasing them, the sight of the two leaf men warmed my heart but also made me extremely nervous as I watched them fight off the boggans.

They were still a fair ways off from my position so I decided to stay where I was before moving. Ronin and Nod were just as skilled as I remembered, knocking boggans off their birds while dodging the arrows from their companions.

They were a lot closer now, only two boggans left. Ronin takes a swipe at one with his sword making it careen into the other one who was fighting Nod. My heart lurched as one of the boggans tackled Nod and they both began to fall.

The now riderless crow was attacking Nod's hummingbird and Ronan was still trying to get rid of his own boggan. My heart raced as I realised that unless I did something, Nod was going to fall to his death.

Steeling my resolve I kick Carl in the side and hang tight as he takes off.

Like riding a bike like riding a bike like ridi-

My body shakes with adrenaline as I will Carl to go faster while also willing myself not to fall off. Nod has managed to shake the boggan off and was now free falling through the air but he was also getting dangerously close to the treetops.

I was leaning out towards him now, hand stretched out, heart still racing as I stared at the familiar mop of brown hair.

Nod!