the Forest of Emmitaenu

Epilogue

[art by Valeria Bogado]

The gateway between the mortal world and the mystical one glossed over before the eyes of one nomad, one demon, and two witches. The vision of a green eyed mother, a redheaded father, and their beautiful daughter wavered in front of them like a mirage.  

"Lara!" shouted Lienkin, the heir of the witches, suddenly fearful of her disappearance.  He wasn't prepared to see her go.  What about the prophecy? What about the Immortal Moon Queen's promise? What about me? What about... us? He thought.

The daughter in the portal panicked, shouting back to them all, "I will return, I promise!" Immediately afterward the trio evaporated into thin air. A great cracking sound, like the flick of a whip, echoed as the tall and eerie rainforest trees snapped back into their original shapes.  Everyone left behind flinched at the sound, the sudden envelopment of darkness starker then before.  The four misfits were left huddling in the dark together now that the trees were no longer bending even a fraction to allow the moonlight to seep through. 

"Great, just great," Lienkin muttered. He closed his eyes and, using magic, worked quickly to construct a mental map of their surroundings. Everything he couldn't see in the dark he could find on his map.  It only marginally helped to calm him down, considering how very dense the forest was out here to the west.  More of a jungle really, which probably meant they also at risk from indigenous jungle predators.  Just another reason for them to make haste and head back east where the wilderness was less wild.

Closest to him was the other witch from his coven, Tres. Her frilly yellow dress was damp and dirty from crawling around in the dirt.  There were tears that, despite her parents being expert tailors, couldn't be mended.  Even the straps of her pretty yellow sandals were damaged beyond repair, they weren't the right kind of shoes for where her day had taken her and they had suffered greatly in the struggle.  His own clothing was probably no better off.

Tres was hugging herself fiercely and peering around frantically in the dark. Just behind her Lienkin could identify the old nomad woman and the tall and infuriating demon.  Though they had all come here for the same reason, and fought side by side against a mutual threat, they weren't friends. They were and had always been enemies, and as far as Lienkin was concerned, their temporary alliance expired the moment Lara left.  

Despite his feelings for Lara, he didn't trust her other companions.  From the beginning he couldn't understand why she would associate with them in the first place.  There was a long and terrible history between his kind and theirs, and as such, it was reasonable to suspect their current proximity put Tres the most at risk. She wasn't powerful enough to construct a magic map in her own mind, nor could she see in the dark. Demons however, could, and there was a demon standing right behind her. They were one of few creatures able to, along with vampires, werewolves, and gargoyles. Supposedly demons were the best at it, it was one of the advantages they had in the war with the witches seven years ago. 

"Tres!" He hissed as he charged forward and seized her arm. Without hesitating he jerked her off her feet and pulled her ten strides up the path, away from the demon's reach.  Her shoes snagged on the overgrowths and he practically had to lifted her over some of the obstacles in their way just to create some distance between themselves and the other two.

"He could still reach you, boy, if he wanted to," the nomad goaded him, seemingly reading his mind. 

Lienkin didn't usually dislike nomads. In fact, he'd always found them agreeable when they came through the village to barter goods. Nevertheless, this one was definitely on his bad side.  He didn't know how exactly, but he was pretty sure she and her demon companion were somehow to blame for Lara's departure.  They must have done something to chase her away. He felt angsty, anger and injustice churned inside him and the general sense that there was nothing he could do about it made him feel bitter.  Just when he came up with a smart retort to the nomads goading, a wolfish howl sliced through the darkness and raked their eardrums.  

"Werewolves," Lienkin and the demon spoke in unison, and it irritated him just enough to overcome the amount of fear being on werewolf hunting grounds deserved.

"What?!" Tres squeaked, even more frightened than she was earlier. She squeezed his arm, digging her nails into the jacket she had given him just a few years ago.  The first howl was echo'd by a series of others, making them all feel small as their thoughts expanded again to see the bigger picture. Lienkin needed to clear his head.  He needed to make their survival his top priority tonight.

"Follow me," he spoke in unison with the demon again, and Lienkin flashed his enemy a dirty look which he was genuinely glad to know the demon could see. Instead of responding back, the demon grabbed the nomad's hand and lead her forward, brushing past Lienkin's shoulder.  Lienkin gritted his teeth.  

How many times now had he kept quiet and given them the benefit of the doubt, just to watch them lose Lara for all of them?  It irked him that their survival depended on extending their temporary alliance long enough to make it out of the woods alive, but he refused to follow their leadership.  If anyone here could be trusted to save them it was him. Tres' was easy to lead since she was clinging to his arm with a painful, almost unbreakable grip, so he chased the heels of the demon in a rush to take back the lead with Tres running by his side.