Read Hollow by Caroline Peckham Chapter 4 – The trees here weren’t like any trees I’d ever known beyond the limits of the forest. They watched us. They whispered too, their boughs creaking as they leaned close to one another, their trunks splitting into grins, sharp with hidden thorns.
There were animals here as well. Not that I’d laid eyes on a single one, but a chorus of chittering and twisted birdsong filled the space between the leaves. There was a mocking tone to it, like the things that watched us were sniggering and bickering, placing bets on which of us might survive this hellish place. I doubted any were weighing me with much promise. But that was just fine by me. I was used to being underestimated.
I shifted the pack on my back. It was bulkier than the one I’d brought with me and I’d packed it in a hurry, clearly having done a poor job of it. The largest of the two books I carried with me didn’t sit right inside this new vessel. Sharp corners dug into my spine, the metal which tipped them proving itself to be a vicious travelling companion. Not that I’d voice a complaint on it or even think of leaving it behind, but I would attempt to reposition it whenever we took a moment to rest.
The Champions stalked through the trees around me, hacking aside swathes of trailing green and white moss with their swords to clear a path, carving a trail into existence where there hadn’t been one before.
Everything beneath the trees felt alien, familiar and yet utterly unknown at once. I recognised the little white flowers which had grown in our back yard, but these were larger, their petals shimmering and moving in a breeze I couldn’t feel. This place was alive in a way that defied the common laws of nature, magic imbuing it. Every intake of breath was laced with an undercurrent of power, every exhale a disturbance to the serene habitat we were invading.
My eyes shifted to the right of our route where a narrow passage between the undergrowth beckoned. My steps faltered, my mouth watering as I noted a delicious scent coiling around me. Something awaited me at the end of that trail. Something I wanted to find.
“This way,” I called as I turned towards the path, but another of the Champions beat me to it.
Tyson shouldered me aside, my feet stumbling over one another at the collision with his bulk before he strode down the narrow opening which had beckoned me so enticingly.
I made to follow him but Emmy knocked me aside next, a mocking smile on her lips as she took the lead. “Champions first, runt. Stay in your lane at the back of the group and maybe start thinking about what you’re going to rustle us up for dinner – you’re going to need to earn your keep after all.”
“My cooking skills are about as refined as your manners, I’m afraid. So you’ll have to make your own meals,” I called after her.
“Is that so?” she sneered over her shoulder. “Then perhaps you’ll have to find your own way through the-” Her words cut off with a shriek of alarm, and she fell to the forest floor with a heavy smack.
I stared at her in surprise, her dark eyes widening in fear as she reached for me with a desperation which made me lurch forward despite her disagreeable personality.
She screamed as she was yanked backwards, Tyson’s cries coming from within the foliage ahead, and my fingertips grazed hers as I made a grab for her hand.
My fist closed on nothing, and I threw myself forward again, my knees striking the mud, my free hand flying out to brace myself as I landed in front of her and managed to grab her fingers.
“Don’t let go,” she begged, her brown eyes locking with mine, pure terror sparking in their depths.
The other Champions were yelling around me, boots hitting the ground as they ran for us, but Emmy’s hand was slipping from my grip, my own body being dragged a few inches through the mud as whatever had hold of her tugged harder.
“I’ve got you,” I swore, digging the toes of my boots into the mud, heaving on her hand with all my strength.
The leaves of the surrounding trees closed in around us, rustling and whispering, hiding her legs from view, making it impossible for me to tell what was trying to drag her from my grasp.
Something yanked on her so hard I almost lost my hold and I was forced down onto my front, my pulse spiking. I was dragged through the mud, the bracken lining the edge of the trail scratching at my exposed skin with thorny fingers.
“Help us!” I yelled, her fingers slipping in mine again, my hold on her fracturing piece by piece.
“In the trees!” Colton yelled from somewhere behind me, and despite all of my instincts screaming at me not to look, I arced my neck and peered up into the branches which loomed overhead.
A flash of something dark sped between the outstretched boughs, shadows trailing through the leaves in coiling whisps of darkness.
My lips parted on words which never formed, the movement above me so fast that it appeared as little more than a flash of deeper darkness speeding above our heads.
Emmy screamed, her free hand clamping down on my arm, fingernails tearing into my skin as she was hauled backwards again and I was dragged along after her.
Tyson’s screams were echoing between the trees, raw agony colouring them, and my eyes met with Emmy’s as she was yanked back once more, our hands almost parting from the force of the pull.
“Hold on,” I commanded ferociously, the panic in her face haunting me. “They’re coming. Just hold on.”
Boots pounded the forest floor around me, the other Champions finally reaching us, swords swinging above our prone bodies as they hacked at the bracken so they could reach for Emmy too.
Colton dropped down over me, straddling my back with his knees pressing into the mud on either side of me, then he reached over my head and grasped Emmy’s wrist.
Relief spilled through her eyes as he tightened his hold and hauled on her arm and I pulled too, both of us fighting to release her from whatever foul creation was holding onto her.
Tyson’s screams of agony cut off sharply and a blast of strong wind crashed into my face, sending dust and debris flying all around us and forcing me to close my eyes.
The scent which had seemed so delicious just moments before turned pungent in its sweetness, the weight of it heavy on the back of my tongue, a sickening rot to it which I hadn’t noticed at first.
Emmy clawed at my fingers, and I hauled her backwards with Colton’s help, relief finding me as we managed to shift several inches. But it was short lived.
A shrieking cry went up like the curse of a raven, but filled with vitriol and fury that made the sound cut me to my core.
Emmy was ripped backwards with such force that I was dragged several feet after her, Colton still straddling my spine as he was hauled forward too, before we lost our hold on her entirely.
With a harrowing scream, Emmy was consumed by the bracken that lined the trail, her terrified gaze spearing me to my core as I shouted her name, my hands still outstretched for her as if I might catch her yet.
Shock jarred my bones, my lips trembling over ragged breaths as I stared at the place where she had been. I only moved when Colton stood and dragged me upright with him.
“We have to go!” he barked, whirling me around and shoving me towards the path the Champions had been carving through the trees.
“But Emmy–” I protested as her screams raced through the forest, painting it with terror.
Another flash of darkness tore through the canopy above us, and I spied a flicker of ebony wings trailing shadows in their wake.
“The Raven!” Gunther called, recognising the spirit while my brain worked to process the horror that had befallen us.
Gunther took off in pursuit of the mass of darkness in the trees above, and Colton gave me a shove to make me run too.
I looked back over my shoulder, my lips parting on a protest just as Emmy’s screams cut off with a sickening gurgle which could only have signalled her demise.
The eight remaining Champions were aiming bows and spears towards the treetops, loosing arrows after the rush of darkness which kept swooping between the canopy overhead.
I broke into a run as they raced into the depths of the trees in their pursuit, no further mention of Tyson and Emmy’s fate passing between us.
Horror clung to my bones like a second skin but I fought it away, reaching into the pocket of my cloak and claiming the slingshot I kept there.
The wooden shaft was carved with tiny effigies of the spirits of the forest, my own little reminder as to what lived between these trees.
The Raven.
The Rat.
The Wolf.
The Tiger.
The Stag.
The Unicorn.
The Phoenix.
The Bear.
The Boar.
The Serpent.
The Carp.
The Fox.
The Dragon.
Thirteen spirits. Thirteen Amulets to claim when taming them. One curse to break once they were all united. A boon to the one who did the most to return harmony to the wayward wants of the forest.
A fatal stillness crept through me as we broke into a sprint in pursuit of the Raven. This was why I was here. It was the reason I’d braved these damned woods and laid my life on the line to enter them. I needed to seize the Raven and many more besides. I needed the boon of the forest.
I snatched a stone from the collection in my pocket, testing its weight in my fingers and painting an invisible X over the smoothness of its shell before loading it into my slingshot.
With my eyes on the branches overhead, my boots kept snagging in the roots and brambles that littered the forest floor, but through some miracle, I managed to remain upright.
Gunther released a battle cry and hurled his spear at the roiling darkness overhead, but it sailed through nothing except shadow as the Raven disappeared into the canopy.
The spirit cawed mockingly, the sound reverberating through the trees, making the leaves quiver and rattle like an applauding audience.
I aimed a shot which disappeared pointlessly into the canopy, then fired off another and another. Each stone struck a little closer to our quarry, but the Raven moved so quickly that I could barely take aim before it had gone again.
We burst into a clearing where an old stone well with a thatched roof stood innocently at its centre. The thatch was ripe with mould, clumps of it having fallen to the ground beside the mossy stone of the well’s base, and the bucket lay broken beside it.
My focus lingered on the strangeness of finding such a thing in these woods for a moment too long, and Colton yelled a warning at me as a flood of darkness swept out of the trees at my back.
I twisted around, loosing the stone from my slingshot, but my aim went wide and the stone sailed into the trees a breath before a massive weight collided with me and sent me flying back towards the well.
The thatched roof crumbled to nothing as I struck it, clumps of sodden thatch falling into the murky water below as the beam which had supported them split in two.
I shrieked in alarm as I fell backwards, my arms splaying and striking the stone just in time to stop me from tumbling straight down into the well itself.
The Raven’s feathers brushed my cheeks, soft as spider’s silk and threaded with a darkness so complete that it was as if the world itself fell away to nothing.
The weight of the enormous bird almost dislodged my grip on the mossy stones, and I slipped several inches into the mouth of the well, the weight of my pack urging me downwards while I hooked my knees over the stone and fought to hold on with all my might.
As fast as the Raven had appeared, it was gone, and I cried out in alarm as a volley of arrows and two spears all hissed through the air inches above my face in pursuit of it. The Champions clearly valued the prize of the spirit far more highly than my life.
The cries of the group rushed around me, their footfalls thundering by, and I caught a glimpse of Helga’s back as they charged past, consumed by the hunt and unwilling to waste a moment on helping me.
“Oh, fuck you!” I shouted after them as they sprinted into the trees.
I cursed as my grip on the slick stones slipped, my fingernails tearing on the roughness of them before I managed to halt my fall once more.
My dress had ripped along the side of my leg, the cold stone pressing to my calf as I lay there like a damned fool, the dank well whispering my name in welcome from below.
With a grunt of exertion and a determined snarl, I threw my weight to the side, my arm flying out in a desperate grab which seemed all too likely to fail but somehow, miraculously, I managed to seize the wooden beam which had once held up the well’s roof.
I wrenched myself free of the well, tumbling to my hands and knees in the dirt, panting wildly through my relief.
My slingshot lay in the mud before me, and I crawled a few paces to snatch it into my grip, needing the security of being armed in this maze of hellish design.
I scrambled to my feet, adjusting the strap of my pack and looking towards the far side of the clearing where the Champions had all disappeared into the trees once more without me.
I cursed at the bastards before breaking into a run to pursue them. They were my best bet at the moment, and though I wasn’t particularly fond of their company, I had decided that remaining with them was the better option than going it alone.
I managed three steps before a rush of darkness burst from the trees, and I barely managed to skid to a halt before colliding with it.
The Raven landed ahead of me, its talons made of shadow given form, coils of darkness rising around the sharpened silver tips. This was no normal creature, its size alone rivalling mine, its head barely a foot lower than my own as it studied me with eyes the colour of a wandering storm.
Its feathers were slick with darkness, an oil spill over cobwebs, and as it outstretched its wings, I found tethers of night pooling between them. There was nothing normal about this bird. Its entire being was crafted with magic so ancient it made me feel utterly insignificant in its presence, like a flea before a god.
The Raven’s beak was gleaming gold, embossed with twisting patterns which ached for the brush of my fingertips across their ridges. I had no desire to lose my arm to the sharpness of its beak, so I made no move to attempt that, but I couldn’t deny that I was enraptured by the ethereal, other-worldly beauty of this spirit.
My fingers trembled where they still gripped my slingshot, but I raised it all the same, loading my last stone into the hold and drawing the rubber taut as I prepared my shot.
The Raven released a tremendous caw, the sound piercing my chest and making my heart tremble to the chord it struck.
There was a haunting beauty to that cry, a pain so ancient that it brought a prickle of tears to my eyes.
The stone burst from my slingshot but the Raven was already gone. I could only watch as it sped into the trees, the darkness swallowing it as its shadows coiled into all the empty places between the branches and claimed them for its own.
It was lost.
I stood staring after it with my breaths coming in laboured pants, my hope dropping to the pit of my stomach just as surely as every stone I’d launched after my prey had dropped to the forest floor.
I’d been such a fool to believe the spirits of the cursed forest would be a challenge that a lowly human like me could rise to.
The Raven had been toying with us, and not a single one of our group had come close to securing its amulet.
The Champions returned with heavy steps and grumbled curses, though none seemed to know what had become of Devlan. Already our number had fallen to eight.
“It’s getting dark,” Colton said, his tone gruff and filled with the disappointment consuming us all. “We need to find shelter before night falls.”
I nodded along with the others. He was right of course. The forest hadn’t warned us about the night for mere theatrics. None of us wanted to risk so much as a moment between these trees once the moon had risen and darkness cloaked this cursed place.
So, with a heaviness in my chest which I couldn’t loosen, we trudged on into the trees, hunting for a place to take shelter while the Raven’s cry still echoed in my ears.
