Chapter 6The White Forest

  After debating and escaping priests, almost setting loose a horde of undead, and interrupting a street fight, Deney and Marrow finally made out of Noctithnain. They found their travels were sure to be much more noisy now that they had picked up Damon and Zoey as companions — but noisy can be good.

  Although, Deney was currently the main source of that noise, chatting amongst the group energetically as Marrow led their procession.

  "Wait wait wait, no way,"

  Zoey was smiling quite jovially for the amount of dried blood that was still on her face.

  "Your job was... talking to dead pnts? Ha!"

  "Well, no, not really,"

  Deney chuckled along with her new friend.

  "But, sadly that ended up being a lot of the clientele I got. Oh, but sometimes it'd be pets too!"

  As the girls giggled together, Damon smiled and ughed gently along with them. Seeing his sister happy to talk to someone was refreshing, healing even. Yet he still seemed to keep his distance from Deney.

  "I don't remember writing anything about communing with pnts and animals in my grimoire. How did you learn to do that?"

  Despite sounding tired and reluctant, Marrow needed this kind of conversation. Dread was slowly creeping up his spine, amassing to make his bones shiver as the pale sticks of the White Forest slowly came into view.

  "You mean you've never tried it?"

  Delightfully surprised, Deney turned her grin to Marrow.

  "I mean, animals and pnts all have souls, ya know? So the same process of communication from beyond the grave applies to them too. Er...mostly. Pnts are admittedly kinda weird. I don't know if I have a bad connection or if they're just not social…”

  "Or because, y'know, they're pnts."

  Marrow scoffed, turning around to begin lecturing his new apprentice as he stepped backwards.. Surely if something was creeping up on him from behind, the three people he was talking to would warn him, right?

  ...Right?

  "Pnts don't just up and know how to speak a nguage just because they're dead. You'd need to understand how a pnt talks, and most of them talk pretty slow…”

  Though the lot of them looked particurly curious, Zoey was the one who quirked an eyebrow and questioned him.

  "Are ya talking from experience, Willow?”

  "Yes, actually. I once had to seek guidance from a bush of Forget-Me-Nots when I got lost in a... I'm sorry, Willow?"

  Marrow had mixed feelings about the unique nickname. Did she forget his actual name that quickly? Was this some py on him being akin to a Will O' Wisp? It was almost clever…

  Not to mention, he'd never really received a nickname before. Not one free of slurs, anyway.

  "Well, yeah, 'cause you're—"

  Zoey began to expin when Deney's voice cut her short.

  "Marrow, stop! Look out!!"

  The ginger hastily grabbed Marrow's wrist, tugging him towards her and away from whatever danger lurked behind him.

  Marrow, in turn, spun around mid-yank and shot out his rapidly fme-covered palm, ready to bst a hole through...

  A corpse.

  Given the setting, this would be a valid target of concern, but this corpse in particur was:

  A — most certainly, definitely dead, and,

  B — precariously impaled by one of the many slender white trees that now towered before them.

  "Whoa.."

  Zoey mused in surprise and intrigue. Damon had even begun to draw his sword, relinquishing only after he was thoroughly certain the corpse was indeed a corpse.

  "It's… dead... But that definitely was a ghoul, right..?"

  Deney inquired gingerly, releasing Marrow's wrist and slowly rounding him to examine.

  "Crazy... It looks like one of the tree roots just shot out of the ground and skewered the guy like a kebab.”

  Marrow dispelled his fme, in a flourishing manner as to, in his words, intimidate the trees.

  "I told you this forest was nothing to take lightly. If it's prone to impaling ghouls on the spot, then who's to say it won't do the same to us?”

  "Ghouls..."

  Damon furrowed his brow, ears turning outwards in thought.

  "You guys keep calling them that... But what exactly are they? I've never heard of a ghoul before.”

  "Ah, right. This talk..."

  Marrow took a step back from the corpse, now standing beside Damon and the girls. He found this better than turning his back on the White Forest.

  "Ghouls are corpses brought to life by magic. They like long walks on the beach and devouring the flesh of the living in order to feel alive again. Awful stuff, really.”

  "Gross. Did you try to date one??"

  Zoey's inquisitive concern was only mounting after a comment like that, her tail giving a single sharp swish.

  "Okay, well that's a lot to process,"

  Damon rubbed the back of his neck like it ached from the pressure that knowledge just put on his head.

  "So, uh... Why exactly are they suddenly showing up everywhere?"

  Deney suddenly made the most awkward ugh known to man. It was enough to make everyone snap their gaze towards her with arm and concern.

  That did not help the situation.

  "Are you...okay?"

  Damon asked gently.

  "That noise is seriously going to haunt my dreams,"

  Zoey decred as Deney turned an unsettling mixture of red and grey, fiddling with the strap of her messenger bag.

  "Ah... Uhm... Well... Y-you see... Hehehe—"

  "Please— Don't ugh like that again,"

  Damon interjected urgently, halting Deney before she could grace their ears with that sound once more.

  "She did it."

  Marrow put a cold hand on Deney's shoulder with supportive pride. Though the feeling of suddenly being under a spotlight made the ginger want to puke.

  "And I won't have any criticisms; she already condemned her hometown to an apocalypse.”

  "What?"

  Damon's eyes widened as he looked at Deney, taking a step farther away from her than he was already maintaining.

  "Sorry— why the hell would you do that!?"

  "It was an accident! I promise!"

  Deney insisted, balling her fists at her side due to nerves.

  "Accident or not, that's pretty impressive,"

  Zoey may just never be fazed by anything.

  "Yeah, but, how—how do you mess up that badly?"

  Damon persisted, albeit he didn't exactly sound angry or judgmental. Just...very fbbergasted.

  "I don't know!"

  Deney replied earnestly.

  "I was trying to resurrect some guy's mentor, and next thing I knew Marrow showed up and ghouls were overrunning my home."

  Zoey whistled in awe.

  "Well, as I've always said, better to be a whole-ass than a half-ass."

  "You've never once said that, Zoey."

  Damon chided.

  "And I hope you never say that again,” added Marrow, recovering from the psychic damage that was done to him.

  “What even is a whole-ass?"

  "Not whatever you've got, Willow,”

  Dejected, Zoey stuck her tongue out at the phantom.

  "Sorry, I can't hear you over all that projection,” he retorted, holding his open hand out to Zoey as if telling her to stop her… well, honestly, everything she was doing.

  “Anyways, it's better to have the potential and not the training than the other way around,"

  Marrow then continued.

  "I can teach control, but I can't teach potential.”

  Deney actually felt a bit better having Marrow's support like that, however the look she found on Damon's face still brought some guilt. He looked a bit like he was trying to process and accept this new information at the same time, pinching the bridge of his nose.

  "Right, okay. Totally normal answer, yep."

  He exhaled before motioning to the expanse of trees before them.

  "Let's just... Get going into the creepy murder forest. My brain will catch up.”

  "Are you sure you don't want to hear more about the undead? I've been studying them for... years..."

  Marrow watched as Damon, Zoey, and Deney walked ahead of him into the White Forest. He grumbled, but ultimately followed the group.

  "Caves don't have murder trees... Why couldn't there be a famous cave for us to hide in?”

  As the band of unlikely miscreants entered the forest, each examined its grandeur. Every trunk was tall and slender, resembling birch trees with their ashy-white bark bearing eye-like markings.

  Yet... something about them was immensely unnerving, and distinctly unlike any birch tree they had witnessed in their lives.

  Perhaps it was the way that the almost perfectly straight trees were unusually densely packed, but the canopy of their leaves blotted out the sunlight, bathing the forest in an ethereal glow.

  "Is it just me, or does the air suddenly feel a lot...heavier in here..?"

  Deney asked after only a few paces into the forest.

  "Y’know, like it's harder to breathe?"

  "Yeah, I'm noticing it too,"

  Damon's nostrils fred in the effort to acclimate his breathing. He was the new leader of their procession, his keen gaze scanning their surroundings.

  "Just how big is this pce? All I can see are trees…”

  "Yes, Damon, it's a city of trees. That's what forests are."

  More tense than usual, Marrow snapped his response sharply. His eyes kept darting around the pce, just waiting for one of the trees to spontaneously impale one of them.

  "Is there a power button for his snark?"

  Damon retorted, although his gaze id briefly on Deney, directing the question towards her.

  "Like...if he's some resurrection you did, can't you make him... I dunno... Be nicer??"

  Deney shook her head.

  "Do you wanna look for a button on him? I'm pretty sure he was just born this way.”

  "Hey! I'm the only one here actually concerned about our safety! These trees obviously aren't normal. You know they aren't normal. Their eyes are following us, I can feel it."

  Marrow made no comment on Damon's mind-altering question; his mind was too full of birch and anxiety.

  "He's got a point,” said Zoey. “I've never felt like I was being watched by so many eyes before. Creepy..."

  One would hope that she was behaving somewhat normally; maybe looking about warily, or gripping her sickles at the ready.

  But, no— when the gang all looked back at the cat girl, she was staring directly into the eyes of one of the trees, as if having a contest with it.

  "Can we just... find some kind of spot without a lot of trees and set up for the night?"

  Marrow felt that walking around too much would anger the forest, whose roots y under the dirt they tread upon.

  "It's been a long day, and I don't fancy encountering anything else without some rest first.”

  Deney opened her mouth to reply, only for a troubled growl to emit from her stomach. Making an awkward noise, she rubbed her upper arm.

  "Yeah, he's got a point... If I'm hungry, we all probably are. Let's set up camp somewhere for the night."

  Damon nodded in agreement, and Zoey broke her staring contest with the tree and trotted closer.

  "Right. We need to find somewhere clear enough to sleep. Do you think there's anything we could hunt in this forest?"

  "No need! Marrow should still have some smoked venison from this morning!"

  Deney answered cheerfully.

  The group continued to press forward through the White Forest, looking for a suitable space to camp, however Zoey chose to hang towards the back of the procession. Her ears were turning and twitching about, scanning the surroundings.

  She could have sworn she'd heard a faint, eerie sort of creaking sound at the mention of hunting…

  ~~~

  As the night bore over the canopy, enshrouding the forest in more darkness than before, the quartet had gathered around a Marrow-made fire. The Phantom in mention had licked his thumb then pressed it to the book's center, prompting one of the four runes on its face to glow. He then opened its cover, revealing a small stash of venison jerky within the now hollowed out tome.

  "No idea how sanitary this book is if it requires saliva to activate one of the runes, so eat with caution."

  Marrow took a piece for himself before passing the Jerky Tome around.

  "Believe me, I've probably had far worse,"

  Damon accepted the food gratefully, taking the tome after Zoey passed it to him. He then passed it to Deney, very gingerly, avoiding eye contact.

  Deney found this a bit odd. Did she do something to make the cat-boy uncomfortable somehow? Damon had been avoiding her ever since they grouped together, albeit nonchantly. She wanted to question him terribly, but that felt a bit too rude. So, instead she tried to engage in small talk.

  "We're really lucky that Marrow was able to bag this earlier. It might not have been much, but any weird book capable of storing a few day's worth of meals is worth taking a chance on to me.”

  "It's... weird," said Marrow, having received the tome again as it went full circle.

  "From what I've gathered, the runes on the front activate when touched with different types of fluids. The only one of the four I've been able to activate is the rune for storage, which responds to saliva. I'm also surprised that I can salivate, being half-dead and all…”

  "Well… those ghoul things are definitely capable of salivating, so why wouldn't you be?"

  Damon chimed a bit curiously.

  "Jeeze, I mean I did materialize at least a half living body for you. You're not that dead and withered,"

  Deney's reaction was more educated and less amused, fixing Marrow with a grimace.

  "I'm not entirely incompetent..."

  "Wha' mak'sh ya sho dif'ren' fr'ma gh'ul, ani-whay??"

  Zoey's special full-mouth dialect drew everyone's attention — which was mostly quizzical looks, followed by a disappointed facepalm from Damon.

  "Zoey... Please... Chew first and speak ter…”

  "No no, it's fine," said Marrow. "Let her choke to death for her rudeness."

  The phantom collected his thoughts on the matter before answering.

  "For starters, I'm sapient. I can think and communicate and understand like a fully living human does. Ghouls can't do that unless there's fuckery afoot. Second, and I can't believe I have to point this out, but I haven't tried to eat any of you?"

  Marrow would gesture to Damon and Zoey (mostly Zoey), with a confused look on his face.

  "Like, I thought that was an obvious difference. Did you think I just didn't consider eating you yet?”

  "....Maybe...."

  The Lucifee replied in unison, which made Deney start to snicker.

  "Hey— stop it. This is not... Heheh..."

  Marrow couldn't keep a straight face. Whether it was the exhausting events of today, or the fact that “maybe” wasn't the answer he was expecting, the deadman gave a little chuckle as well.

  "Okay, okay. Pleasantries are over. You should all get some rest while I keep watch.”

  Despite the "pleasantries" being decred over, the four of them continued to be in much greater spirits that night. Deney insisted that they take turns keeping watch so that Marrow could rest too, meanwhile Damon insisted that the girls remain sleeping while he and Marrow took shifts.

  Seeing as this was apparently quite important to Damon, and it lined up well enough with Deney's concern for her mentor potentially turning them into a midnight snack, this was the system they all agreed upon.

  Most of their camp went smoothly through the night, albeit a bit cramped. The Lucifee were apparently used to sleeping wherever they could find and traveling light, meaning they had no bedding to speak of. Luckily, Deney's magic pop-up tent was just enough room for three of them to squeeze into — provided they didn't mind getting cozy with each other, which Zoey embraced resolutely.

  Marrow even managed to dig around his Tome Chamber and find a couple of old bnkets and mismatched cushions. All things considered, they couldn't have asked for a better campsite.

  But it was during Damon's shift as night watch that things became rather strange…

  Lying on the ground outside the tent, separated from the hard soil by only a thin bnket, Damon gazed up at the sky.

  Or, it would have been sky, if the White Forest wasn't so dense. Not that Damon minded one bit. In a way, he preferred seeing the tree canopy over the glittering stars. Looking up at the sky on a clear night, watching the stars twinkle serenely... To most people it would be a sight of bliss, but to Damon it brought nothing but painful memories.

  At least here he could feel some relief from their stressful situation. He could breathe softly and listen to the wind rustle through the trees.

  Wind has a funny sound. Sometimes it's a woosh, and sometimes it's a whistle. Other times it sounds like you can hear words coming from it. Full sentences, even.

  "Find Me At The Heart..."

  Damon's ears twitched. The wind couldn't possibly be speaking to him. He wasn't that crazy...was he?

  No, no... He was just too stressed. It was a long day, after all. Being faced with one's mortality will easily drain the mind.

  "Find Me At The Heart..."

  The sound was... breathy, as wind should be if it could ever talk. Though, as Damon's feline senses tuned in, he could hear it more distinctly... separated from the wind. It was a voice.

  "Find Me At The Heart... Past My Roots And Stems And Further Into The Tree...You Are Meant To Be Here..."

  Was it the wind that was speaking, or the trees themselves?

  Either way, it made Damon sit up urgently, considering neither wind nor trees should be talking to him. Now fully alert, his perked ears tried to zero in on the soft voice. Meanwhile, his sapphire eyes scanned the area.

  "What...did you say..?"

  The Lucifee asked seemingly no one, his voice remaining quiet. He didn't want to wake the others.

  "Who's there..?”

  The voice did not seem to answer him, at least not right away. It was like a message in a bottle, cast out to be heard, not to be responded to.

  "Delve Further Into The Forest. I Hold The Answers You Seek... Wait Until Sunrise And Find Me At The Heart..."

  This response was strikingly louder than the others, and filled with an eerie sort of purpose and urgency. More importantly, it wasn't a single voice but a choir of voices — the same voice, pyed on several tracks, all riding the wind at different speeds so that their sound didn't quite sync with each other. Yet, they were all very light, unnerving, and a little raspy. Like the voice of a spectral… woman…

  A lightning fork of nerves shot up Damon's spine, making his muscles tighten like a vice.

  "Well, that...definitely sounds like a trap..."

  His ears began to prone and twitch as he contempted the voices. It made him uneasy, like a ball of anxiety was swirling around in his stomach, building and building until it formed a small mass.

  "Who the hell is that..? Maybe I... Just need to rest a bit more..."

  The cat shook his head as if trying to clear away dust. When nothing replied and the forest remained quiet for a bit longer, Damon was able to convince himself that he had — just maybe — imagined the voices. After all, he was quite rattled from the day, and had yet to rest properly. Maybe the shadowy thoughts in the recesses of his mind were merely catching up to him a little…

  "Find Me At The Heart..."

  But there it was again. The voices seemed to follow him into his slumber.

  "Find Me At The Heart... Damon..."

  Wait... Did it know his name? No… How could it know his name?

  "Damon... Damon!"

  Snap! Snap! Snap!

  Damon's eyes fluttered open to the somewhat boney snapping of Marrow's fingers.

  "Couldn't wait a few more minutes?"

  The Phantom crossed his arms. While half dead on the outside (and feeling it on the inside), he also appeared fully rested after only four hours of sleep.

  "Huh... What?"

  Damon quickly, and clumsily, scrambled to sit up. He couldn't even remember when he'd dozed off, yet it felt like he was trying to remove sticky cobwebs from his mind.

  "S-sorry! Agh... What time is it? I should've been more careful…”

  "It's dawn, and yes you should've,"

  Marrow nodded over to a patch of sun beaming from the canopy. It was warm, and it made the forest very picturesque as the thin trees made shadow sticks on the ground.

  "Everyone should be up in about... Two hours? So go inside and take a nap.”

  "Right... Thanks,"

  Damon nodded before entering the tent, where he was met with a rather adorable sight. He couldn't help but grin, seeing Deney and Zoey cuddled up together. His sister hadn't possessed a good female influence in her life in so long... She probably needed it. She definitely deserved it.

  Committing the image to memory, Damon id himself down on the other side of Zoey, keeping his distance from Deney. What an odd dream he'd been having... This whole pce was making him uneasy.

  As he began to drift off back to sleep, the thought occurred that perhaps he should tell the others about what happened when they all reconvened in the morning. After all, what if they were in danger?

  Damon had an obligation to say something, or so he believed. It very well could save all of their lives…