Chapter Six
CHAPTER SIX
The fire was lit in the hideaway when Iona arrived. The others had gathered to play dice games as they often did in the evenings, wholly unaware of the horrors that lie beyond their small slice of the world. She burst in, causing them all to whirl around, the alarm clear on their faces.
“I was right,” she announced. “Those men were up to something.”
“Where have you been all day? We were worried.” Eli rose to meet her in the doorway.
“I have been investigating what troubled me, when you all doubted my instincts.” She crossed her arms across her chest.
“What have you seen, sister?” Vall asked.
Iona attempted a smile, but it turned sour as she answered. “Fallen trees. A few acres of them, just to the east of here. And others, closer to us that are marked the same as those that have been felled. Those men I saw the other day were scouting out the timber, their future targets. I believe they aim to go deeper into our valley, harm more of our trees—and it’s our duty to protect them.”
Eli, to his credit, looked apologetic. “I did not mean to doubt you, Iona. Only to urge caution, to keep you out of trouble. In the time I have stood watch we have not faced such a threat. Please forgive my skepticism.”
Iona swelled slightly at his apology and the recognition that she had been right all along, though in this instance she had not wanted to be right.
Orla stood, joining the others now gathered around the doorway, her expression grave. “Tell us, Iona. Tell us everything.”
Iona recounted her discovery, the carnage left in the wake of the loggers work. She swallowed back the shame that it had taken them this long to find it, since the oldest scars in the stumps appeared to be months old. She described the pained echo of life in the clearcut, the residual agony that pulsed in the air.
Then, she told them of the run-in she had observed in the clearing.
Predictably, they seemed uncomfortable with her involvement, but it wasn’t until she confessed the rest of it they were truly disappointed. “I… told the boy about us. Liam,” she said. The words were not louder than a whisper. “He promised to help us.”
“You what?!” Orla exclaimed, whirling around. Even in the dim light, Iona could see the fear in her expression, and raised her hands in a placating motion. The response was entirely expected, and Iona had prepared to defend her decision. After all, she’d been rationalizing to herself about it for hours.
“I know this human—I have watched him since he was small. I know he cares for our forests as we do, and trust that he can help. He knows the human way of things, how they enforce their laws. We needed his help.”
Orla’s expression remained skeptical, unmoved. “Tove discourages such things. You know her stance on interaction with the humans. She’ll not be happy with you.”
“Well, never mind what Tove would say. She’s ancient, and doesn’t understand. There are many who would help us defend the ancient wilds of this valley. This boy is one of them.” Iona’s convictions were strong in her words, but the moment they’d left her lips, doubt plagued her.
He was leaving, he’d said so. He thought himself a coward, too scared to fight—maybe she had been wrong to place such faith in him. At least, in this instance, she did not need him to fight physically for her forest, only to use what tools he found at his disposal—tools she herself was incapable of using. Though he had faltered before, in the clearing, he had shown a great bravery that perhaps others would not. A bullet wound to the leg, threats to his dog’s life, and still he offered to help. Iona tried to brush her doubts aside.
Vall approached and laid a gentle hand on Iona’s shoulder in support. “This is a tragedy, we should seek aid where we can find it.”
“You only side with Iona because you always side with Iona,” Orla spat at Vall. She still looked unhappy, and Iona knew she would be the most difficult to win over. Orla was among the most stubborn of Iona’s friends.
“The trees already affected do not belong to us. They are outside our bounds,” Eli mused, though the words were not as heartless as Iona feared. His face was pained as he spoke. “But you say they are moving inwards?”
“Yes. They stumbled into my clearing just hours ago,” Iona answered.
“Then we should take this to Tove and the Elders. They would want to be warned of a threat of this scale. It’s bigger than any of us here.” Then Eli hesitated, glancing at Iona uncertainly. “Perhaps we may leave out the details of your human, for now.”
“You think it wise, Eli?” Orla asked, her protestation beginning to waiver.
Eli tilted his crowned head in thought, his long hair shifting from his shoulder with the gesture. “If what Iona says is true, than it’s unlikely the boy poses any threat to us, greater than that which has already been unleashed in these forests. He may prove to be a valuable asset, after all.”
Orla considered his words for a moment, wrapping her arms tight around herself. She wore a long and heavy knit shawl, the pale pink complimenting her verdant tones. She looked like a spring bloom, even while battling her distrust. The fire dwindled, and the room had chilled. The autumn season brought with it cold nights, and even the Acernae were not impervious to them.
“I will trust your judgment on this, Eli. You and Iona should speak with the Elders tomorrow. Iona, I will not stop you working with your human to find a solution, but be careful. We cannot trust him as we do each other. If you have even the slightest hesitation, come to Eli or myself immediately. Do you understand?”
Iona hated to be spoken to in this way, as if she were a child—but she nodded her confirmation regardless. They had trusted her on this, and were willing to keep her secret for now. Perhaps if they met Liam, and knew him as she did, they would understand.
“Good, we’ll speak more on this tomorrow. Until then, we should all rest,” Eli said, dismissing them for the evening.
One by one, the others vanished into the night, leaving Iona alone with her thoughts.
It was certainly not the day she’d expected to have. Reflecting on everything that had happened, she felt a strange mix of emotions—anxiety over the coming conflict, and elation that she’d spoken to the boy she watched all those years ago in her clearing. He’d been exactly as she’d expected, yet still managed to surprise her.
Yes, the other Acernae were her friends—but they were like her, their lives much the same as her own. She had known them for decades, her entire existence. But Liam—he was fascinating. What little she’d seen of his world, the items collected in his family home… He knew so much about the world of the humans, a world Iona was desperate to learn more about.
Iona let herself imagine what a true friendship with Liam might look like. Not one where she simply observed him from the upper branches of her tree, but one where she got to know him. To count him among her small list of friends. To understand the curious way that he viewed the world.
The idea both thrilled and terrified her.
***
There was a time when Iona might have considered Tove something of a mentor. Or perhaps something closer than that.
When Iona had been new to this world, it was Tove who guided her, taught her the way of things in the valley. Tove was among the oldest of her kin and was also of the autumn season, a fact which had formed a delicate understanding between them.
The Acernae, divided into their respective seasons, often grouped together accordingly. Though her kin considered all to be like family, Iona knew it was not the same as it was for the humans, who drew tight-knit bonds to one another. Among her kin, there were many who kept mostly to themselves, finding their home in the valley and remaining in their own quiet company.
Iona and her small group were outliers, being much closer to one another. Eli, for instance, was like an elder brother. He was stubborn and patronizing at times, but their relationship was one she cherished. Iona often thought of Vall, Orla and Eli like siblings. Though they were not bound by blood, she shared affection with them and spent much of her time with them.
Tove was different.
She was cold and uncaring, not fond of expressing such familiar sentiments. As the decades ticked by, Tove withdrew, spending less and less time among the others. Iona had heard that Tove had not always been this way, but the Acernae were prone to such changes as the years took their toll, so Iona had thought little of it. Still, she worried. It had been years since they’d seen each other.
In the morning, she met Eli to summon the Elders and ask for aid. There were four Acernae that made up the informal leadership of her kin. One represented each season, the eldest and wisest of them. Truthfully, there was little for them to do most years, though sometimes when fires or floods wrecked havoc on the valley they would orchestrate some action. Other times they would settle disputes, or guide the newest Acernae. The Elders were considered their leaders and garnering their support would be important to Iona in fighting for the trees.
Iona had never had cause to summon them before, and found herself buzzing with nerves. She couldn’t help wringing her hands together as they waited.
Eli took her hands gently in his as the Elders assembled.
They stood in a small clearing, in the heart of the valley where humans had never tread. The misty morning was damp, and moss dripped from the branches above them. Four sturdy logs lie in a semi-circle around the hushed clearing, designated for such occasions.
There were no meeting chambers among her kind .
The older Acernae were not interested in human comforts, like books or tea. Iona thought they were missing out, eschewing such joyous things.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Innil, who was first to appear. His lithe form leaned back against one of the fallen logs Eli and Iona. He represented the summer season, which was obvious from the tittering birds that circled him, and the gray squirrel that perched itself expectantly in his lap. He was the youngest of the leadership, though Iona knew his existence spanned at least a century.
Innil nodded mutely at them, and the birds orbiting him took off into the trees.
Rae stepped into the clearing next.
As the Elder of the spring Acernae, they looked much like Eli and Orla. Long, boney antlers grew regally, stretching outwards past the width of their shoulders. The antlers only served to highlight their stern facial features. Though Eli and Orla knew Rae well, Iona did not, save for the harshness of their demeanor.
“Elias,” Rae said with a nod, then stood, waiting stoically for the other Elders to arrive. They sat upon one of the unoccupied logs, and Iona noticed a heaviness in the movement, not otherwise obvious from their appearance. If Eli noticed this, he did not acknowledge it.
Gael was one of only three winter Acernae. His visage was a tall and heavily muscled man, with a wiry beard and long dark hair knotted at the back of his head. His arms were broad—the kind that would swallow you up—and his smile was warm. He gave Iona a conspiratorial wink, before sitting next to Innil on his own moss-covered log. Like Vall, there was little that distinguished him from the humans, aside from the strangeness of his attire. Iona smiled back at him, happy to see a friendly face. He spent much of his time with Vall, and by extension, Iona as well.
Tove herself was last to arrive.
She stood with a power greater than her physical presence, and the silence that settled over them in the clearing grew heavy. Her hair was dark auburn, like the leaves in the late fall. Thin branches grew between the strands, with small maple leaves of the same color growing from them. Imposing, barklike horns erupted from her crown, reaching back and upwards and coming to a sharp point several inches back. She looked around at each of them before speaking.
“You have summoned us, Iona.” Her voice rang clear and loud. “Why?”
Iona swallowed hard. She did not think of herself as being shy, but here before the oldest and strongest of her kin, she felt it. Beside her, Eli squeezed her arm, encouraging her to speak.
“I only wished to bring a disturbance to your attention,” Iona said. Her voice solidified as she continued to describe what she’d seen in the clearing. Of course, she left out her encounter with Liam, but tried to stress the vicious nature of the intruders as best she could. The Elders listened carefully as she spoke, and a quiet fell among them after she’d finished.
Birds tittered in the branches overhead, the only sound echoing in the clearing. As the silence stretched on, Iona grew nervous again, and worried her lip between her teeth.
It was Gael who spoke first. “This is troubling, Iona. Thank you for alerting us,” he said kindly.
The others did not seem to echo this sentiment, however.
Innil only pursed his lips, and Tove remained wholly unreadable.
“How many trees have they stolen?” Rae asked.
“Several dozen, so far,” Eli answered them. Iona was grateful for it, having lost her words under the Elders’ scrutiny. “But there are others we believe are in danger.”
“Only a few dozen?” They asked sharply, and exchanged a look with the other Elders. “Surely we must not be stirred by the loss of so few trees. It is the way of things.”
“Has it not been many seasons since trees in this valley were harmed by human hands? Surely the novelty of this theft should be cause for alarm,” Gael chimed in. “Further, the fact that their wood does not stay in this forest to feed the land is a trouble for us all.”
“It would require a much greater loss to cause lasting harm. Our forests are resilient, we make sure of this. Do we not?” Rae shot back.
Tove remained quiet as the deliberation continued for several tense moments. Though Gael was clearly in support of Iona, the others were not so easy to read .
“Innil, what do you think?” Gael asked, when it was clear Rae would not be swayed.
Innil was pensive for a moment, all eyes focused on him.
He did not speak, but used sign language to communicate with the Acernae. Sometimes he spoke to them through the animals, but it was difficult with this many in the audience. So he signed his thoughts on the matter. " Trees will grow back, it’s not enough to cause lasting harm, as Rae has said. ”
Iona felt herself deflate. Before Tove even spoke her judgment, Iona knew she had not succeeded.
“You are young, and do not yet know the way of things, Iona. This is not a matter we shall interfere with, and I encourage you to heed this advice. Do not let the actions of humans affect you, child. The scars of this forest will heal with time. You will see,” Tove said with an air of finality.
Not waiting to hear Iona’s response, Tove vanished, followed by Innil and Rae.
Only Gael remained, approaching Iona with a compassionate expression. He placed a large hand on Iona’s shoulder. “I did try to support you, though I am not surprised at this decision. You did well, Iona, but do try to let your suspicions rest. They are heavy on the soul,” he told her, then vanished along with the others.
Eli and Iona were left standing in the quiet, and the weight of her failure sunk in. She released a loud, malformed sound to vent her frustration. The birds perched in the trees above scattered. Beside her, Eli sighed, and turned with patronizing sympathy in his eyes.
“Don’t—I do not wish to hear it, whatever you plan to say,” she cut him off, a bit harsher than she’d intended. He hesitated, maintaining the space between them. There was nothing he could say that would comfort her frustration, but there was no sense in diverting it to him. “I am sorry, it was wrong to lash out at you like that. I only wish they saw the danger, as I have.”
“It is alright. Perhaps your human will be the answer you seek. And we will help, in any way we are able, Vall and Orla and I. You know we will.”
“You have my thanks,” she told him .
With a bow of his head, he left as well, leaving Iona to sit with her frustration. It was beginning to look as if Liam was the only hope she had left.