9. Chapter 9
The light of early morning was just barely beginning to cast a glow on the nimids when I heard the sound of horses' hooves pounding on the icy ground.
I had slept little with the howl of the wind and the incessant feeling of the forest watching us, its attention and growing curiosity enough to keep me from fading into sleep.
Already alight with awareness, my body tensed at the sound so close to where we slept.
We were far enough into the Alesi that no one but other Mother Blessed should have been among the trees.
Even so, if it were other Mother Blessed, they would have known to tread the forest quietly, especially at the hours between dusk and dawn, when the nimids were most aware, most active in their defense of the forest.
I listened as the horses drew nearer, preparing myself to wake Malik and flee if needed.
The forest seemed to hush as the sound drew closer, allowing me to hear the low rumbling of voices that rose—all men, from what I could tell—against the sounds of metal armor clinking against itself and the chatter of deep voices, telltale signs that someone unfamiliar with the Alesi currently trekked its paths.
"Malik," I whispered, shaking his sleeping form next to me.
"Allyra?" Malik shook the sleep from him with the ease of a soldier, looking around. "What is it?"
"Shh . . ." I hushed, shifting my head back down to stay hidden. "Look."
Noticing my expression, Malik moved to lay beside me on his stomach, his eyes following mine before landing on the mainland men that approached us, surprise lining his face when he saw we were not as alone out here as we thought.
"The king's men," Malik whispered. "The same ones that came to Uscal."
The men continued to charge up the trail that led deeper into the Alesi, their eyes scanning the brush with hungry fervor. My breath was tight in my chest as I watched them, not for fear of being caught, but for fear of witnessing what the Alesi does to those who are not to be within her bounds.
These men did not seem to know that the Alesi has a mind of its own, acting in favor of its survival.
The nimids served the Yllsora and Rida as loyal soldiers, punishing any of those who are not Mother Blessed who dare enter the forest. Especially those who enter with the intent to harm.
It was a basic fact that all people of Wellea learned in childhood, yet throughout my life, many common men still entered the forest on their own, confident they were immune to the Mother and her magic, thinking they would return home to tell other men what they had seen.
Instead, they often went mad, walking in circles, the woods taking their sanity bit by bit the longer they stayed within the forest's confines.
I had only seen it twice before, men emerging from the thicket, eyes wild and laced with fear, incoherent mumbles the only thing ever leaving their mouths for the rest of their lives. Most were not that lucky, though, as they never made it out of the forest once they entered.
Even with the knowledge that the mainland men were after us for the sake of destroying the Mother Blessed, I did not want to see them come to that end.
There had already been enough death in the world since the Black Shroud, enough death in just the last day.
But I wasn't na?ve. I knew they would never want the same for me—the years of shame, questioning and doubt of the ways of the Mother Blessed enough to make bile rise in my throat as they continued their approach.
Our fire had burned down to just kindling in the night, easily stamped out by Malik’s boot as he stood before ducking back beneath what little cover the winter had left behind.
The men approached where we crouched, and together Malik and I watched with a bated breath as they came closer, the sounds of their armor grating to my ears.
The thudding of hooves slowed again, and I closed my eyes as they stood right before us, none the wiser to our presence.
I held tightly to the ground, wishing to Rida that they would not see us, that they would continue on their way and leave us be. But we were not that lucky.
"Whoa!" one of the men called out, the horses all coming to a stop as they spotted us.
The man in front took us in, his armor gleaming in the early morning light.
“Malik Dures,” he announced, scanning Malik next to me, a smirk painting his face as he took in our dirt-and-soot-covered finery. “I see you found your way to Wellea after all.”
Malik stood from where we were crouched, standing tall in the face of the mainland men.
"Of course I did," Malik responded. "This was my home for a long time."
"You can still join us," the man said. "The king's invitation still stands. And it looks like you've already got what it is we're looking for." His eyes landed on me then, his saccharine smile making my stomach turn.
Tension filled my body at the man's words and their meaning. That the king did in fact have a want for me, and they had tried to recruit Malik for the cause.
I looked to Malik, questions filling my mind. Why did they want him? Why did they ask him? Did they know of our past, or was it just coincidence?
"Tell the king my answer still stands and that I will not be joining your troop," Malik answered.
"A pity," the man said. "And to think we traveled through this forest all night, hoping that this journey would not take as long as the one to Uscal did."
I tensed at the man's confession, at the knowledge that they had been in the Alesi all night. The nimids above began to droop over the men, confirming that it wouldn't be long now until the forest did their work on them.
The men at the back of the party had begun to twitch, their heads knocking to their shoulders, hands dropping the reigns of their horses. It wasn't long before the animals began to snort and step in place, whinnying as they realized that something was wrong.
"Control your horses," the leader in front of us commanded, before turning back to us. "If you cannot hand her over, then I'm afraid I will have to make this harder on all of us."
There was no time to fear his threat, as one of horses began bucking, throwing the rider off its back before scampering off in circles, its head shaking and twitching in confusion as it became more and more disoriented.
The men clamored at the behavior, surrounding the animal, desperate to calm it.
Their efforts were all for naught, and it wasn't long before the other horses followed suit, their cries sending haunting echoes through the trees.
"What is this? What's happening? Go get them!" the leader ordered, watching as his men ran after the animals, the hoofbeats of their horses reverberating behind them as they disappeared into the forest.
The man turned back to face Malik and I, his eyes jumping between us before settling on Malik.
"As I was saying, you already have—"
It happened faster than I could make sense of it.
A piercing scream filled the forest. The man at the back of the party now kneeled on the forest floor, the roots wrapping around his wrists and ankles, pinning him to the ground. Within seconds, they covered every inch of him, no skin or armor to be seen.
Malik and I stumbled back, my body going cold at the realization of what I was witnessing.
Whenever I had seen a man affected by the Alesi, it had always been after the fact, when he was too far gone to even know his name or where he was.
Never before had I seen the corruption play out, how the Alesi depleted a man of his senses, torturing him in the process.
The leader of the mainland men stumbled back at the sight, withdrawing his sword, as if he could fight off the invisible force that was the magic of the Alesi.
But it wasn't long before he too dropped to his knees, clutching his head as cries from deep within escaped him.
The rest of his men quickly followed suit, the Alesi bringing them all to their knees.
I watched as their eyes rolled back in their heads, inhumane groans overtaking the quiet of the forest as their bodies began to convulse, collapsing to the ground.
And then, much like their comrade, the roots of the Alesi inching their way towards them, wrapping around their wrists and ankles, finding a home in their mouths, eyes, and noses.
We could do nothing but watch as it began to consume.
The leader, the one who lead the charge of these men, looked at me as he was buried by the roots, his eyes wild with fear, and I couldn't help but wonder what he thought in those final moments.
Maybe it was that they never thought their death would be at the hands of something as simple as trees and vines and roots, that because they were stronger than those things, smarter than them, that they were never a threat.
Yet, even the simplest things can kill men when they least expect it, as it is not man that decides who is favored by the Divine, as they are not gods, even as much as they wish to be.
If the forest teaches us anything, it is this.
Malik and I began backing away from the men while the forest consumed them, watching where we stepped as surrounding roots now made their way towards the feast that had been laid out before them.
The men quieted as the roots filled their mouths, consuming them from the inside out, the silence of the forest now no longer serene, but sinister.
"Allyra?" Malik asked, voice low, his hand landing on my shoulder and pulling my attention away from the men and back to him. "Are you okay?"
I nodded, terrified yet relieved for at the forest's aid.
Malik held his hand out to me, beckoning me to him.
"Come on, let's get out of here," he said softly, taking my hand and leading me around the man who now lay prone on the ground, his eyes glassy and staring endlessly into the sky.