Hodari's Story

Hodari (15) city arc 4

Dae had never been more happy to see the fire spring to life in the small burn pit. Najuma and Hodari worked side by side getting it going and slowly building it up till it was a proper campfire. They worked in silence with practiced ease from starting up and banking the forge in Najuma's workshop. As dark fell however the small fire seemed to get smaller and smaller as the weight of the darkness pushed down on the small group huddled around the campfire. A fog seemed to settle just inside the trees and it rolled and curled in on itself easily playing tricks on the eye. Dae decided to just focus on the campfire. No one seemed to want to talk about what happened at the stream and the wall Hodari had dropped into place seemed to isolate everyone even more. No one moved to cook or eat. Najuma suddenly yawned.
     Hodari looked up from poking the fire with a green stick. "Why don't you head to bed Juma. I will take first watch tonight."
Immediately DaeCara's and Najuma's eyes snapped to each other.
     "I think we need to stick to your original plan and stay together. If you're planning on staying by the fire then I am too. I will bring my blankets out here." Dae wasn't going to let him stare her down.
    "Me too." Najuma cut in without hesitation. Hodari frowned at them both across the fire. He looked like he wanted to argue when he suddenly turned to look over his shoulder into the woods like he had heard something. He paused before turning back to the two females.
     "Fine, I'm too tired to argue."
What could Hodari say? If he told the girls what he had been hearing, it would scare the hell out of them. Frankly it scared the hell out of him. He knew in his rational brain what he had been hearing couldn't be real. The voice that had gotten stronger the deeper into Elderwoods they traveled was without a doubt Leta's. It had called to him. Whispered softly in his ear old nicknames. Called for Najuma. Once or twice now he had seen a flicker of a long red braid disappearing behind a tree or a rock. He swore he smelled her. Felt her nearby. He shuddered poking hard at the fire again. He also knew it wasn't real because no one else heard her. Something else was happening though. The last few times he had heard her clearly he had lost time. When he popped back into himself he found Dae and Najuma staring at him confused and even worse scared. The memories had poured into him with the first sound of her voice. He had been trapped up in his head reliving all the good times with Leta. Building the house and workshop together. Traveling. Najuma. Her smile. Her laugh.  He suddenly snapped back again realizing he was staring off into the darkness again. As much as he wanted the girls to be safely in the cabin he also didn't trust himself anymore.

    The two women settled into their sleeping bags huddled next to the fire. Although a million questions seemed to swirl in the air above the fire no one wanted to be the one to bring them up. Instead the small group sat in silence watching the dancing light burn up the kindling. The disconcertingly quiet woods was only interrupted by the occasional pop or crackle of the fire. Hodari stayed outside of his sleeping bag which still lay rolled up nearby. Instead he perched on the fallen log on the other side of the fire continuing to poke and feed the flames. Dae and Najuma sat huddled in their bags next to each other, their backs against a log on the other side of the fire. The silence of the woods was oppressive and the lack of sound or distraction seemed to dull the senses and it wasn't long before Najuma was nodding off her head slipping onto Dae's shoulder. Najuma fought it for a while desperately trying to stay awake for watch but the warmth and quiet finally lowered her lids. Dae took this time to study Hodari. Throughout the trip Hodari had been increasingly obsessed with the dark tree line. At first she had thought it may be just him being cautious and protective but as the woods grew deeper she had noticed far more concerning signs. He started reacting like he was hearing something and was frequently getting lost in thought, or at least she had thought that was what was happening but after the event at the river she was beginning to think otherwise. His eyes had seemed to haze over. Almost going dark like there was no life in them. It was obvious he was unwilling to discuss what was happening and she had resigned herself to just looking out for him. Hodari would always be stubborn and suck at asking for help, she decided. The night wore on. As Dae began to get tired she would occasionally think she saw a flicker of light out in the trees but if she turned her head she would see nothing so she again decided to just focus on the fire and the silent miner across from her. The whole trip he had seemed unable to pull his gaze from the woods but now he seemed to be refusing to look away from the fire. It might have been relieving but she could see the twitch of a muscle in his jaw from him clenching his teeth so tight and the nervous tick in his shoulders like he was tempted to turn every now and again but fighting it.

    Dae was having trouble keeping her eyes open. She knew it was well into the night, maybe early morning by now. Before she knew it her eyes dropped closed too. A cry of alarm jolted her from sleep. Groggily she struggled to stand from her sleeping bag and get her blurry eyes to focus. When they did, she found Hodari standing on the far side of the clearing way too close to the trees and Najuma frozen half way to her father. Hovering just inside the tree line was a ball of light shimmering and pulsing with the colors of flow but staticky and fuzzy. It bothered Dae's eyes to even focus on it.
    "Dad!? Stop what are you doing?!" Najuma cried out moving slowly closer to her father who seemed to not even know she was there. The ball of light pulsed a few times and Hodari let out a soft chuckle. "Dad!? Stop scaring me...Don't go near that thing please!" She finally closed the gap and grabbed his sleeve tugging at it. "C'mon back to the fire please!" She begged. Finally seeming to notice the pleading girl Hodari half turned to her an eerie smile on his face.
    "Look Leta, It's Juma! Can you believe how big she's gotten?" He half mumbled. Instantly Najuma recoiled.
    "That thing is not mom..Do you hear me? Just stop and come back to the fire." She tugged again at Hodari but he was a mountain and hardly moved. Instead he took another step forward like she wasn't even trying. "No! Don't you dare! We stay together!" The young woman scrambled to Hodari's pack and with amazing speed had the rope and tied it around his waist. Dae finally got her body moving and sprinted to her aid just as she saw Najuma loop the other end of the rope around herself.
    "Stop! Najuma, that's a bad idea! He's not thinking straight!" As if to confirm it Hodari began slowly walking towards the wood line and the light receded further back. Najuma was jolted forward behind him as her attempt to dig her heels in did nothing. The girl scrambled around to his front and placed both hands on his chest and pushed. Dae grabbed the rope around his waist and began to pull but nothing seemed to stop Hodari's forward momentum. He picked Najuma up gently without looking at her and set her to the side moving into the tree line following the light. Najuma now found herself dragged behind her father as Dae pulled desperately at the rope.
    "Hold on!" Dae screamed and turned running back into the clearing she grabbed a knife thrusting it into her boot and the bow and arrow from Hassian she charged back into the trees screaming for Najuma. They had already made it several yards in and Najuma was still fighting to no avail as she got back to her. "Najuma I need to cut you loose!" Dae pulled the knife but Najuma slapped her hand away.
"If we lose him out here he is gone! Leave it!" She screamed. However with dread beginning to numb her legs Dae felt the ground beneath her begin to sink. In terror she watched as the mud began oozing around Hodari's boots. Their only light source being from the glowing orb. Tears began pouring from Najuma as she noticed the mud too. "Stop Please! You're going to die! Stop!"She heaved her whole body onto the rope pulling fruitlessly backwards with Dae's help. The mud was already up to Hodari's shins and squelching sucking noises each step he made would haunt Dae's nightmares. Hodari stopped suddenly. His back still to the women he spoke again.
"Juma, Your mom is here...We will be a family again she wants us to follow her.."
"Noooo!" Najuma screamed and threw herself forward, sinking herself up to her knees as she hugged her fathers waist. "It's not mom! You know it's not mom! You were the one that found us. You found her. You know she is gone!? Mom would never want to hurt us. I don't know what that dragon damned thing is but it's not mom! Please!?" She sobbed into his back. "Please I miss her too..but that's not mom!"  Hodari lurched another step forward and Najuma cried out in fear but held tight. Dae moved. She pulled the knife dove into the mud, sliced the rope and with all of her strength pulled the sobbing girl from the mud and tossed her closer to firm land.
"I'm sorry Hodari, I don't know what you think you're seeing but you can't go to Leta yet." She struggled drawing the bow and notching the arrow with muddy hands, letting loose an arrow she was devastated to see it pass right through the orb and disappear into the blackness. All it did was make the orb move back a little further. Hodari stepped forward reaching for the light Dae clinging to his waist. Najuma tried to scramble to her feet as a shadow exploded from the trees and slammed into Hodari's chest with a howl that sent chills through Das's body and caused the orb to flicker and vanish. Hodari toppled backwards the weight of the Plume hound squarely on his chest. Dae and Najuma screamed as his body hit the mud and they both scrambled to grab his arms and between them, Tau and Hodari feebly kicking they made it to firmer land. Najuma collapsed onto Hodari's chest, the sobs racking her body, sounding painful. Hodari stared up into the canopy, tears silently streaking his muddy cheeks.