{ELEMENTISTS OF WILLOW FOREST BOOK IV} The Day of Death

Newmill

13:  Newmill

 

  

 

 

I couldn't recognise even the little bit of the high street I'd been in, as everything was so incredibly overgrown.  I figured that eventually if I kept running in the same direction, I'd reach the edge of the town.

Thankfully, it worked, and I found a main road covered in daisies and followed it out.

Then, the weird bit happened.  I mean, the other bits were weird, but this was by far the weirdest. 

The moment I'd passed the sign saying 'Thank you for visiting —-bury', the whole forest vanished.  Literally.  All the plants that had grown between when the pigeon started cawing and sunrise just disappeared.

I was tempted to quickly go back and see what had happened, but the medallion said I had to keep running, so I did.  That way, if I kept doing what Hephzibah said and another Death Wolf appeared, I could just blame it on Hephzibah and hope she'd produce some more laser death rays.

The highway seemed to go on forever and ever, just an endless grey strip of tarmac stretching through endless fields.  Occasionally, a car or two passed, and I just stepped off the road up a bank or into a hedge.  I could tell when I car was coming easily.  My life in the forest, listening out for each individual birdsong had given me sharper hearing than most.

I'm not going to pretend I was some super-star athlete.  I had to stop every five minutes to walk for another ten.  When I finally saw another sign, saying 'Welcome to Newmill, Please drive carefully' I nearly fainted with relief.

The slight issue with fainting was that a car came along, and I had to jump to the side of the road.

Newmill didn't look like a nice, rural town that I'd imagine Hephzibah would lead me to.  It was big, very big, actually, and also very grey.  I stepped past the sign, hoping I'd feel something, like a tingle, to signify I'd entered my newfound home.  Nope.  Nothing.

I walked further in.  The streets were lined with houses, and signs, and more streets branching off.  I wasn't sure what I was looking for.  A big, blaring sign saying 'LOST CHILDREN WITH NOWHERE TO GO COME HERE' would be good.

I saw a school, and a post box, and lots of other roads leading in different directions.  But I still wasn't sure where to go.  I found a tree, in case that invoked something in the medallion.  The last incident had happened in a tree, right?

It was a very small tree, and it might have belonged to somebody, so I didn't climb it, just stood next to it.  I took the medallion out and shook it.  "Hephzibah?  Hephzibah?  Please?  I need help."  I did, didn't I?  I had nowhere to go, and the Death Wolves could still be following me.