Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Ellery
As the smoke dissipated, the stench of it remained, as did the charred remnants of the trees and bodies the fire devoured. Arms stretched through the smoke still hanging low over the ground; they looked to be pleading for someone to save them.
And through the hazy fog, ghosts were all starting to rise. The specters hovered over their bodies before floating aimlessly away.
But more than ghosts were rising, as a few poltergeists also emerged from the dead. They bobbed up and down, their red eyes gleaming as they stared at all of us before turning and zipping away into the forest.
Unlike the ghosts, who couldn’t communicate and seemed not to retain any knowledge of their former selves, but still resembled them, those poltergeists were sentient and aware of what created them.
“They could be an issue,” Ianto said.
“We’ll keep them away from you,” Farley said.
“Can you do that?” I asked.
Farley gave a semblance of a shrug. “We’ll figure something out. We certainly don’t want any aristocrat sympathizers in our woods.”
“So true,” Ryker agreed.
I hugged myself as I surveyed the wreckage. Despite having arrived here later than the other fires, not as much of the woods had burned as I’d anticipated. I suspected the creatures had helped keep the flames and guards at bay.
For all I knew, the trees themselves had worked to keep the fire suppressed until we arrived. Those strange, intertwined trees that protected the gargoyles had brought us to them, most likely in the hope we’d free them.
Frightened that, once we freed the gargoyles, they’d come alive to slaughter us all, we decided it was best to keep them trapped beneath the earth. My heart still battled my guilt over that choice every day, but intellectually, I knew it was the right one.
I’d spent a lot of time in these woods throughout my life, but I’d never encountered those trees until recently. The rest of the woods was full of what I’d assumed were normal trees, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t something more to them too.
The whole forest was something more. It was mystical, trapped the dead, housed gargoyles, as well as other monstrous creatures, and kept its secrets.
The forest would protect itself, no matter the cost, and it knew we were also trying to defend it… as well as ourselves. That’s why those monsters had all retreated instead of turning on us too.
Tomorrow, we’d be fair game again, but tonight, we were a team.
As if sensing my thoughts, the few remaining leaves in the trees rustled. We’d relinquished our rain and wind, and I didn’t feel a breeze, but they continued to move.
I studied the trees as I waited for some other sign they’d sensed my musings. There was nothing, but I knew I hadn’t imagined it.
These woods welcomed us because, while we killed the creatures who attacked us and ate some of the others, the forest understood survival. If anyone tried to harm it, it would find a way to defend itself.
“We should go,” Ryker said. “We all deserve a rest.”
“How long do you think your father will give us before he attacks again?” Ianto inquired.
Ryker ran a hand through his ash-covered hair as he studied the giant from bloodshot eyes. “Not long.”