The Colorless Land

Chapter 12: Fog and Flame

"Back. Back," Jolette whispered, pushing Edmian backwards on the dock. "We can't get back into that forest. Let's hide!"

Edmian looked round and round, searching for the tiniest nook, the smallest cranny where they could hide from the rising shapes. Nothing. The only places where they wouldn't be in plain sight were the woods and the water of the lake.

"Let's jump in there," Edmian whispered, making towards the water. His face was drawn with foreboding terror.

Jolette yanked him back. "No! Didn't you hear what Saryana said? It's too cold, we'd die!"

"It can't be that bad."

"I'm not trying that out!" she hissed, staring in fear at the deceptively quiet surface. "And you aren't either– what's that?"

Her eyes had spotted something on the water. Too distant to make out for sure, but there was definitely a dark spot there, moving slowly in the middle of the lake. And it was coming towards them.

"What is it?" Edmian asked. "I can't see anything, it's too dark."

"Over there! I think it's a boat or something. Put on your hood!" Jolette pulled the kitchen-knife out of her pocket. "We can still get outta here!"

She squinted into the darkness, but the boat was moving slowly, and the lake, though narrower here, was still wide. How long until they got here? And how long until the white shapes spotted and captured them?

And where in the world were Aithal and Saryana?

"The adults!" Jolette blurted out loud, searching for an opening in the path, some way for them to still make it into the forest—or out. "I left them sleeping in there! Crap, what do we do now?"

Edmian's hands were shaking. "I hope they woke up."

"I'm sure they did," Jolette said, faking confidence to calm him down even though she, too, was panicking. "But how will they find us? They're gonna go looking for us if they see we're missing!"

They looked at each other. Only now did the full implication of their actions dawn on them.

"They might think we're captured," Jolette muttered.

"Or somewhere in the town," Edmian added.

A way back in. Some way, any way. There had to be one.

The white shapes grew larger. They might have been fog before, but now there was no doubt about it. They were people. People who looked like they had been made of the very fog the Colorless carried everywhere with them.

The street was blocked. The undergrowth was blocked. They had not yet noticed Jolette and Edmian standing on the dock, but the mist was steadily spreading. Soon it would reach them, and they would be trapped.

The only part still untouched was...

"Trees," Jolette whispered. "Can you climb a tree?"

Edmian shook his head. She gritted her teeth. "Dammit," she said. "No time to teach you now. Just follow me, all right? Do everything I do."

He nodded, and Jolette darted off, dodging the wisps of fog as her eyes ran across the trees, picking out the right place to climb. Then she darted straight towards a tree and pulled herself up its stem like she had done a thousand times.

The fir-needles pricked her hands. She ignored it. The branches hit her in her face, but she did not care. It held her. It was easy to climb. And most importantly, it was easy to get from this tree to the next without descending.