The Thing in The Forest

Chapter Nine- 1831

I am in a field. The corn crop nearly reaches chest level to me and there are rows upon rows of them. The edge butts up against The Forest. I look around for why I was called here.

There she is. A dark-haired woman with tanned skin and dark features, caked with mud. The only colors from her are the colorful beading that is woven into her hair and the intense red from her beaten face. She is muttering something, but I cannot understand it. She does not speak my language. I have seen her people before, when I was younger, but our community shunned interactions with them.

I step through a row of corn and see a man, partially torn apart, lying in the walkway. I step through again and see another man, also dead. Two of them and only one woman.

It is dark and the stars and moon provide little light tonight. There are two snuffed torches near the men that were obviously put out to conceal their dreadful deed with this woman, who has now rolled over to her belly and is crawling away from me and the men. Her leg dangles at an odd angle, but she continues moving away from me without any indication of pain besides not using the limb.

I look at where she is crawling to and notice some small campfires. I can now hear some voices coming from that area and see many people, groups of them huddled together. I look closer and see that the huddled people are like her, but there are several singular people patrolling around, holding firearms. I see this for what this is now. This is a capture and potential massacre of native people. I had heard of this happening hundreds of years ago, when my people first arrived in their lands. I am surprised that this interaction has not ended in complete annihilation from either side.

If this woman manages to crawl back to her people and their captors, she could be blamed for these two men's deaths. They would brutally kill her to make a point to the others. I cannot let that happen. I was called to help her and this cannot be the last interaction that I have with her.

I see her crawling to the edge of the campfire's flickering light and know that I have to act quickly, either before they punish her or before I lose control of myself again.

Two men look up from what they were doing and start to look towards her. Before they can react, I leap at them, easily clearing the woman and slamming into both of them. I cannot kill them, since I have not heard the broken cries of a woman, but I can scare them while I am lucid.

As they yell out and try to crawl out from under me, several other men rise up from their seats and grab their firearms. They take aim and fire, many of them screaming in horror as the fire's light illuminates me, a creature these men have never seen. They should be frightened.

Almost all of the bullets miss me, but there are a few that actually pierce my barked flesh. These wounds seep, but The Forest will heal me, creating scabbed knots like any tree does with its wounds. I am not afraid of superficial wounds such as these. The pain will pass.

I leap and slam into more of them, flinging my arms towards them and knocking them down. I try to avoid putting myself in between the aimed weapons and the huddled masses of people here. They cover their eyes and throw their arms around the younger ones, protecting them from danger.

After throwing these captors around and disarming them, they finally yell out to retreat and scatter. They move into my Forest. It is up to her if they are able to leave.

I am left standing at the edge of the light. Several of these native people have already started to free their bindings. The woman, now propped up and standing with two children, is holding them tight as they keep her upright. I look around, seeing how many there are that are wounded and beaten. I am thankful that I was able to keep lucidity long enough to have freed them from their captors. It is now up to them to survive.

I can feel The Forest calling to me now. Her song is strong and lulls me into her embrace. As I make my way to her, I turn to look at these people once more. Most of the natives will not look at me, but one older woman, who now comforts the woman I saved, makes eye contact with me. She calls me a name that I do not understand and my body shivers. Her eyes are fierce, but thankful. I nod and disappear.