The Dead Forest
The water went still, and Billy went numb.
He stumbled back until he could stand, trying to comprehend what had just happened.
‘You should get out of there, Billy,’ said Dylan. ‘There’s nothing we can do. She’s gone.’ His voice cracked.
Billy stared at the surface of the lake, desperately scanning it for any sign of Charlotte. This couldn’t be it. She couldn’t be gone. Not Charlotte. He felt his heart in his throat. They’d come all this way. They were supposed to look out for each other. Although he had only known Charlotte for a few days, he felt so connected to her already. They should have been able to save her.
‘Billy,’ Dylan said again, tugging on his arm. ‘We have to get out of here.’
The water in front of them began to churn.
‘BILLY, COME ON!’ shouted Dylan. ‘Ling-Fei, quick, let’s get back to shore!’
Suddenly, a mass of wet blonde hair popped up out of the water.
Charlotte.
‘You’re alive!’ cried out Ling-Fei.
‘We need to… get… out… of… here,’ panted Charlotte, coughing and gasping for air.
Billy and Dylan helped her back to shore, where Ling-Fei stood with her arms open. Charlotte stumbled towards her, before collapsing onto the sand, clutching a bulbous black orb that looked like a bowling ball.
‘Charlotte?’ said Ling-Fei tentatively, pushing Charlotte’s hair out of her face.
After a moment, Charlotte held up the black ball. ‘Always go for the eyes if you’re in a pickle,’ Charlotte said with a wan smile. ‘Not allowed in ju-jitsu competitions, of course, but I know how to fight dirty when I need to.’ Then she turned on her side and threw up.
‘Oh, no,’ said Dylan, going green. ‘Whenever I see someone being sick, I…’ He gagged and turned back to the lake.
After Charlotte and Dylan had finished throwing up, Charlotte flopped over on her back.
‘Are you okay?’ said Billy. He was overwhelmed with relief that Charlotte had survived, but he felt a stab of guilt that he hadn’t been able to help keep her above water. He should have been able to. How were they going to defeat the Dragon of Death if they’d almost lost Charlotte to a giant crab?
‘I’m definitely not okay,’ said Dylan, wiping his mouth. ‘What was that?’
‘I think I’m fine,’ Charlotte said. She looked down. ‘That sucker really had a hold of my legs though. Even with my strength, I couldn’t get it off me. Thank goodness for these suits. I thought my legs would be broken for sure, but the suit didn’t even tear.’
‘I’m sorry we let you go,’ Billy blurted. ‘We should have held on.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous. I knew you held on as long as you could,’ said Charlotte.
‘So you don’t feel like we… abandoned you?’ said Billy.
Charlotte shook her head emphatically. ‘Of course not! Now stop making this about you. I’m the one who almost got drowned by a crab.’
Billy smiled. ‘I’m glad you’re okay. Do you think you can walk?’
Charlotte sat up and slowly got to her feet. She shifted her weight between her legs, testing her strength. ‘I’m good, I think. But I could lie down for a bit. Can we find somewhere to rest?’
‘That’s the best idea I’ve heard in a while,’ said Dylan.
Billy looked around to get a better idea of where they were. While they’d been in immediate danger, he hadn’t noticed their surroundings at all. Now he did.
Where the sandy banks of the enormous lake ended, a forest began.
A dead forest.
There were thousands of trees, but not a single leaf or living thing on any of them. Not even any peaches. Up above them, the three full moons still sat in the purple sky.
‘We should get away from the lake,’ said Billy. ‘Who knows what else might be in there? And I don’t think we should stay out in the open tonight. You heard Dimitrius – he’s sending nox-wings to hunt us down.’
‘He was fairly confident we wouldn’t survive the night. I’m guessing he knew about those crab things,’ said Dylan. ‘Horrible, evil dragon.’
‘If we’re going to find shelter, we should at least start going in the direction of the red dome,’ said Billy. ‘Ling-Fei, can you sense where it is from here?’
Ling-Fei paused, sort of sniffing the air. ‘It’s south,’ she said. ‘Through these trees.’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘It smells like death. I’m not sure if it is the forest or the red dome itself.’ She tilted her head to the side. ‘And, if we’re going to find shelter, we should hurry.’
‘Why? Are those horrible nox-wings back?’ asked Dylan, looking up at the sky.
‘No, I don’t think so,’ said Ling-Fei. ‘But it is going to rain.’ As she spoke, a huge raindrop, large enough to drench a whole person, fell from the sky. They all leaped back as the drop hit the earth, splashing everywhere.
‘Into the forest we go then,’ said Billy. ‘There has to be somewhere we can rest.’
‘And get out of this rain,’ added Charlotte. ‘With our luck, it’s probably acid rain or something awful.’
‘Everything in that forest is dead!’ sputtered Dylan. ‘There aren’t even any immortal peach trees! And you heard Ling-Fei – it smells like death. How do we know we won’t die as soon as we enter?’
‘I’d rather take my chances with some dead trees than giant crabs,’ said Charlotte. ‘I never want to see a crab again unless it’s on my plate and smothered in butter,’ she added with a shudder.
‘The forest feels… empty,’ said Ling-Fei. ‘Dead, but empty. I think Billy is right. This is the way to go.’
‘Let’s stay together and stay alert,’ said Billy. ‘Hopefully the trees will also give us a little bit of cover from any nox-wings flying overhead.’
Despite Ling-Fei’s reassurances, Billy couldn’t help looking over his shoulder with almost every step he took. It was creepy being amongst the spindly dead trees. Branches clawed at his hair and dead twigs snapped underfoot. The moonlight cast strange purple-tinted shadows. Billy hoped he’d made the right decision by leading them into the forest.
They walked in silence, saving their energy, and staying focused in case of any surprises. The giant raindrops began to fall with more regularity, one almost soaking Dylan. Finally, after what felt like hours, they emerged from the forest.
And stood at the edge of a mountain range.
‘There is no way we’re going into those mountains tonight,’ said Dylan.
‘But look!’ said Ling-Fei, pointing. Just ahead of them, at the base of the nearest mountain, was a small cave.
‘How do we know that isn’t something else’s shelter?’ said Dylan.
‘I can’t sense anything,’ said Ling-Fei. ‘Come on, follow me.’
‘You’d better be right,’ said Charlotte.
The cave was empty.
‘I told you,’ said Ling-Fei with a smile. ‘I think it’s cosy!’
‘Cosy is one word for it,’ said Charlotte, glancing around the barren cave.
The four collapsed on the cave floor. Now that they had a safe place to hide, Billy realized how tired he was, how much his whole body ached. He leaned back, putting his hands out behind him to support his weight.
‘Tomorrow, we keep going towards the red dome,’ he said.
‘That’s if we make it until tomorrow,’ said Dylan, throwing his hands up into the air. ‘I mean, anything could pop in here and eat us.’
‘Dylan,’ said Ling-Fei in a soothing voice. She moved to face Dylan and took his hands in hers. ‘Everything is going to be okay. Here, look me in the eyes.’ Ling-Fei paused and waited for Dylan to follow her instructions. ‘Take a deep breath, and repeat after me.’ Dylan breathed in deeply with Ling-Fei. Then she said very slowly, ‘Everything. Is. Going. To. Be. Okay.’
‘Everything. Is. Going. To. Be. Okay,’ repeated Dylan, emphasizing each word like Ling-Fei. ‘Everything is going to be okay,’ he said again. He took another deep breath. ‘You’re right. We’re all in one piece, we have each other, we’re not out in the open… I guess we’re as safe as we’re going to be.’ Dylan sat down and slipped his backpack off his shoulders before pulling out a couple of peaches. ‘And we’ve got some food.’
Billy smiled at Dylan. ‘You sure love those peaches.’ He shuffled closer to Dylan and took a peach from his hand.
‘Who wouldn’t?’ said Dylan. ‘If we eat enough of these, we might find one that makes you immortal. Maybe then I’d be more keen to take on that dragon that swallows stars or even the Dragon of Death.’ He took a bite, spraying peach juice everywhere. ‘Plus, they’re the best peaches I’ve ever had.’
‘I can’t believe you and Xing lifted an entire lake out of the ground,’ said Charlotte, biting into a peach. ‘And I thought I was strong.’
‘Hopefully our dragons are safe,’ said Billy. A thread of unease unspooled itself through him. He hated thinking about Spark having her life force drained or being in any kind of pain. He didn’t know how long it would take to fully take a dragon’s life force; he just hoped they would arrive in time.
They were silent for a long moment.
‘What are we going to do?’ Dylan asked.
‘Same thing we were always going to do here in the Dragon Realm,’ said Billy. ‘Stop the Dragon of Death. And save our dragons along the way.’
‘Ah, well, yes, that’s an excellent big-picture plan, but I’m a bit of a details guy.’
‘I have no idea!’ Billy burst out. ‘How can I know what we’re supposed to do when we don’t know anything?’
‘Exactly!’ said Dylan. ‘That’s what I’m trying to say.’
‘What are our other options?’ said Charlotte. ‘It isn’t as if we can just go home.’
‘Do you guys wish we could?’ said Dylan, looking at them with wide eyes. ‘Go home? Pretend this all never happened?’
‘I’m scared,’ admitted Billy. ‘But I don’t want to abandon our dragons. And I don’t want to give up. Dylan, we have a chance to save… everything. We’ve got to keep going.’
‘I’d feel better about that if we knew what we were going to do.’
‘I agree with Dylan,’ said Ling-Fei softly. ‘We need some sort of plan.’
‘Okay, what about this?’ said Billy, thinking quickly. ‘We get to the red dome, scope it out, figure out what we’re dealing with and then make a plan of action. At the very least, we can find our dragons. Once we’re reunited, we’ll be more prepared. And they’ll know more than us.’
‘If they haven’t had all their life force sucked out of them,’ said Charlotte darkly.
‘We’d know if that happened,’ said Billy. ‘We’d feel it.’ At least he hoped they would. He could just barely feel the bond between him and Spark now, but he told himself that, as long as he could feel something, that meant she was still alive. When they’d first been separated from the dragons, the pain had been piercing. But slowly it had numbed to more of a dull, persistent ache. It almost felt as if his heart had gone to sleep the way his arm would when he slept on it.
‘As far as plans go, that one is pretty shaky,’ said Dylan. ‘But it’s better than nothing.’ He yawned. ‘And maybe one of us will have a genius idea after we get some sleep.’
Billy smiled, glad to have Dylan feeling hopeful again. ‘That’s the kind of attitude we need. I’m sure one of us will come up with something.’ Then he looked at the others. ‘You all get some rest – I’ll stay up and keep watch.’
‘It’s a good idea to have a lookout,’ said Charlotte. ‘We should take turns. Are you sure you want to take the first watch?’
‘Yeah, of course,’ said Billy. Even though he was exhausted, he didn’t think he’d be able to sleep. Despite what he’d told his friends, he was terrified of all the unknowns, about what might happen when they reached the red dome. If they ever reached it. He might as well make himself useful and keep watch.
‘All right,’ said Charlotte. ‘Wake me up when you want to sleep. I’ll take the second watch.’
She went further into the cave with Dylan and Ling-Fei, and the three of them lay down on the cave floor.
There was a long silence.
‘Goodnight, y’all,’ said Charlotte.
‘Goodnight,’ said Dylan.
‘Goodnight,’ said Billy.
‘Wan-an,’ said Ling-Fei, using the Mandarin phrase for goodnight. She patted the floor of the cave. ‘Goodnight to you too. Please protect us. You seem like a good cave. I think we’ll be safe here.’
‘I don’t think the cave can understand you,’ said Dylan with a yawn.
‘I just want it to know we appreciate it,’ said Ling-Fei sleepily.
Billy sat by the cave opening, gazing up at the three full moons. He let out a long, deep breath and rolled his shoulders back. Now that it was just him, and him alone, he didn’t have to act brave. ‘I hope you’re okay, Spark,’ he whispered.
There was no reply.