22. Chapter 22:
Chapter 22:
Once I opened my eyes again, I looked around me to see that I was finally back on the island. I looked up at the ladder, in its pseudo-organic majesty, and the sky, still beholden by a dark grey cloud that made me feel feelings of nausea and aversion. I was on my back, and everything hurt. it felt like my insides were being poured out of me, my entrails lining the area around me - I must have sustained quite the fall from the ladder I assumed - but I could see no visible marks of injuy on my body. I tried to get up, but failed terribly, it was as if my bones had turned to liquid, and my will into something hopeless and dejected.
I screamed out, to see if Foxglove could help me, but only the swift winds answered in their ever-present howling. I began to get worried. Foxglove promised me that she would stay near the ladder for me. I suddenly felt betrayed once more. It was almost enjoyable - I enjoyed the feeling of being correct, of not having to rely on others. I felt good that I had been abandoned. it came from a place deep inside of me I never had quite managed to find or describe or understand, but now it felt good. I felt almost as if I had been gifted freedom, as if I was a small Child given the freedom to wander for hours in the woods. The Woods... I looked around me. Bare rock and crags infested with blood-red moss. Abhorrent to look at.
I needed to get back to... wherever I was going, talk to Foxglove, tell her off. Then I was going to come back and end this Witch business once and for all.
I decided that it could not have been that long, and that it was likely Foxglove and the children had set said, and I could ask them to come back towards me. I would surprise them, I thought, by being alive. I would prove them wrong. I would stand on the ship and shout out towards the world that I got back from the island in the middle of the lake as much Stuvlok as had come to it. Foxglove would apologise, and I would be relieved.
I ran over to where the boat was, the island seeming strangely smaller now. Once I got to the edge, I noticed that the boat was still fastened up there. It was empty.
I began to panic. What had happened to them? Had it been my fault? Was it the Witches? Were they still on the island? I began to run to and fro on the island, the pain that racked through me consequently ignored. I ran back to the ladder, looked around in the bushes that I had last seen them. The smell of rotting meat was omnipresent on the island, but I noticed that behind one of the bushes, it was especially strong. I crept up to it, and saw three lumps of rotting meat, left near some old supplies and a small fire that had died long ago, one of the lumps larger than the other.
Witches.
I screamed up into the sky, berating the witches for everything they had subjected me to. I made sure not to ask them any questions. I felt that making me ask more only ever gave them a sense of joy, if they even experienced joy, and I did not want to give them that.
I shouted out again, this time to Foxglove, wherever she was. i told her that I was an imbecile, and I should have listened to her. I should never have doubted her trust. I needed a team, I could not work alone. I promised her that I would never leave anybody in my team behind again. I realised why Foxglove had been so sad to see my go up the ladder. It was not jealously, but she knew that I was betraying her. I knew that nothing good would come of me breaking the team we had. She was right.
I wandered the isle for hours, thinking about what I should do, eventually, I decided that I would Go back to the mainland, get some supplies and help, then return. I would be able to achieve nothing If I went up the ladder alone. I needed others.
I arrived back at the boat. i jumped into it and realised that the Paddle was nowhere to be found. I laughed the laugh of someone who has nothing, and so chooses to mock the cruelty around them to make sure it stings them less. The witches had done this too, I was sure. I decided to use my hands.
I pushed with all my strength through the water. The algae helped make the water so thick that each push helped ot accelerate me even more than it would have done in pure water, but also made the entire ordeal even more tough. The rage inside of me helped me to fuel the entire journey. I went into a sort of daze, pushing for hours and hours, barely registering the changes in light that the passing of time brought, barely noticing the searing pain I felt on my hands, which were being slowly digested by the algae in the water and nibbled on by any creature that managed ot get to them. I forgot about the burning I felt in my back muscles, each push threatening to cause them to crumble into dust. I pushed on.
I made sure to be careful, and focused. I would not let my Hubris take away another person I cared about. A Day passed. I kept on pushing.
The next day, I arrived at the shore, and puled the boat onto land. I took a moment to breathe in the clearer air here, and them ran off towards the only place I could. The Camp. I had not time to waste. If I knew anything about the witches, It was that they were nothing of not efficient, and if they wanted to kill or dismember any of the three, I did not have much time to do it.
I had realised in my daze that the only reason that Wea was still alive was that she was the tool they were using me to lure me in, and I fell for it. I was being led by the fragment inside of me, and I did not want to stop it. I made sure not to listen to it anymore, burt I knew that I needed others to keep me in check - the fragment was a very insidious thing, and could affect me without me even noticing. The only reason the Otter pup hadn't been eaten is because he was also a part of the lure, just a lesser part. I felt so guilty for letting all of this terrible pain inflicted because of my insistence on being alone. I hated myself, but I knew that this would never help, so I pushed it down, and focused only on the concrete thoughts that laid out what I was going to do next.
Once i got to the outskirts of the camp, I noticed that there was a strangely familiar tent near the forest-side part of the Camp.
I bolted towards it and rammed through the entrance curtains. Inside, I saw a menagerie of small mammals, as I had expected, as well as larger animals I had never seen before - wolves, deer, a large grey bear. In the distance, A large Raven sat on a small table, making a pot of broth.
Pushing my way past all of the mice, rats and sparrows, (and carefully avoiding the larger creatures) I went up to Fa Raven, and tried to get their attention.
"Hello Stuvlok, it is only two I see." Fa Raven said, examining me with those clouded eyes of theirs. "Yes, need some sort of help. Foxglove and two children have been taken by the Witches. I cannot do it alone." i said, rushing so that I could convey my point as clearly as possible. Fa Raven looked quizzically for a second. "You have seen the Witches then?" They asked. "Yes." I replied, not wanting to expand. "You have been to their abode." They asked. "Yes."
Fa Raven was silent for a moment. "I have no Real power," Fa Raven said, and for a moment my heart dropped into that seemingly endless pit of hopelessness, "But I will come with you. You may ask the other animals, though I doubt any will be willing. I would like to talk to the Witches once more." Fa raven hopped onto the table, then onto my shoulder. Their weight was very great, but I managed to hold the weight up comfortably after some readjusting of my pack.
"Who are you going to ask?" Fa Raven asked me. I did not know. I thought about anybody I may have known in the tent or in the camp, and only came up with one name. "Hejj."
I rushed towards the small cage at the edge of the tent, and saw Hejj the fox reclining against the railings, with a coat over his face. He was asleep. I walked up to him and shook him awake.
"What is it?" The fox said, looking at both of us annoyed. "You lot won't even let me sleep." He looked at me, and I saw a tinge of recognition flash into his eyes. "Hejj, We would like to ask you a favour." I said, carefully trying not ot further annoy him. "I don't do favours." He said, and pretended to go back to sleep, though his ears being sharp out of his coat told me otherwise. "I will give you anything you want, just please help me." I pleaded. "Get me out of here. They seem to have forgotten to starve me fully, so now I live in a purgatory of almost death. I want to die, or leave. Get me out." He said. I was stunned. I looked towards Fa Raven, who nodded, then looked at Hejj. "I will let you go." Fa Raven said. A smile spread across the foxes face, and he stood up. Fa Raven went over, pulled out a key from one of the rotten areas on his wing, and unlocked the door. Hejj stumbled out, knocking his head on the top of the door, but otherwise just a bit frail.
"What do you want?" he asked. "We need you come with us to the island in the lake, Foxglove, who you may rememeber being with me, and two children have been taken by the witches. We need your help to go back and get them." I explained, hoping he would agree. he looked stunned for a moment. "Is this a joke?" he asked. I shook my head. He thought about the conundrum for a minute, likely pondering whether an eternity of imprisonment would be worse than whatever horrors he would see on the island.
"I'm up for it. I won't be hunting any more mice, That's for sure." His jovial tune very badly hid his underlying terror. I was relieved, both because we finally had somebody to help us, but also because he was afraid, and that fear showed me that he was cautious.
"You know what? I used to be a pilferer. I used to be the 'Chief Distracter', so if you need me to pull the Witches' attentions to one side, you know who to ask." He walked with us, often looking around at different thing, almost trying to get a feel for the world after a long time being separated from it. "Hey, What happened to your hands" Hejj asked, looking down by my waists.
I looked down at them, and saw them essentially rotting away gradually before me. There were pustules and blisters everywhere I looked, and every finger had a large sore on it in different places, sometimes twice, that showed the bone. I had not noticed my injuries, because I could barely feel anything with my hands. I had to stop for a moment just to look at my hands, before gritting my teeth, and looking for anyone else who could help us.
I asked a few larger animals too. A bear blatantly refused, saying that He was forbidden from getting anywhere close to the Witches because of the faction he was in. I did not quite understand why, but There was no time for speculation. A few badgers and another fox all gave the same answer, and I was beginning to feel dejected as the day was coming to a close.
In the distance, however, we heard a sudden and clear trumpet.
A group of mice ran up to me, and I almost ran away, but I soon learnt that they needed ot tell Fa Raven something. One of the tan ones climbed up my leg, then up onto my shoulder, and whispered something to Fa Raven.
"There is a band of Weasels and Otters coming this way. They seem to say that they do not want a battle." Fa raven announced to us. "They are looking for anybody who knows anything about one of their fellow Otter Warriors, named Foxglove." I stood frozen for a second. I was shocked. I asked Fa Raven to tell me where they were, and rushed over to them as fast as I could, Hejj trailing behind me.
I eventually reached a large barrack-house where they had been placed for the night, with guard of various species being used ot make sure that they did not escape or get up to any kind of mischief in the night. We were, after all, in the Western Conglomerate's territory.
Fa Raven got us through to the inside, where a saw a dozen or so unfamiliar faces, and two intensely familiar ones. Nettle and Hawthorn lay at the very edge of the room, the only two otters in an otherwise all-weasel warrior band. I ran up to them. "Nettle, Hawthorn. Foxglove is in terrible danger." I said, hoping that they would understand how grave the situation actually was. "We know," Nettle said, his voice dominating the room, "She sent up her flair sometime yesterday. we came as quickly as we could. Bloodroot is even here, but he was set up in the local inn, due to his age. Where is she, what's happened ot her?" I was relieved, they knew what had happened to her, and they knew us. I was convinced that they would agree to come to the island. "She and two children were taken by the Witches. They are on the island, and I know where they were taken. There is no time to lose. We must go now." I told them, watching them jump up and gather up their supplies. They motioned for the ir Weasel compatriots to do the same.
"The largest boat I have at the camp will only be able to take five or six." Fa Raven said, and the weasels began to rummage through their bags instead, bringing out useful supplies, and handing them to either Nettle or Hawthorn.
Hawthorn looked at one of the weasels, "Go get Bloodroot. tell him ot meet us at the pier." she ordered, and the young weasel went running off out of the barracks and towards the little inn in the centre of the camp.
"What are we going to do?" Nettle asked, his natural penchant for leadership making him the default leader of the group. I might have minded before, but now I was satisfied with my position. I knew the stakes were too high to let my ego affect what I did. "On the island is a ladder, which leads up to wherever it is the witches live. There is a tree, and inside is where the witches keep their victims. That is where they are. I think it might be a trap to lure me in, but I will sacrifice myself if it means that Foxglove and the children can live." I told them as we rushed towards the port. The two otters and Hejj soon achieved some sort of rapport, their previous initial animosities towards one another lost in the ferocious heat of the moment.
We got to the pier, saw the fox I had taken the boat from sleeping in one of his boats. It was smaller than the one we had taken, but I saw larger ship anywhere. Fa Raven hopped off my shoulder, and went over to him. Something was whispered into the fox's ear, and he nodded. He walked over to a large bush near the other boats, and lifted a lever somewhere inside of it. Near us, on the land a large area of land suddenly collapsed, revealing a deep pit, the sides rich with some kind of moss, reminding me of the moss I had seen in the Harvestmen mound. Inside the pit, a small sailship was clearly visible.
"We keep one of these here, in case the Conglomerate ever decides they do not like us." Fa Raven said, grim in his tone. They hopped inside, and began throwing off layers of dead leaves and mud. The rest of saw this and joined in. We helped clear the boat completely, and saw that it was in very decent shape. Then we all pilled ourselves out again. Nettle fastened ropes to attatchment points around the ship. Hawthorn counted down, and all of us braced ourselves in the soil, pulling the ship up with all of our might. The ship raised itself very slowly, the rope taught and stable. I pulled it slightly over o my side, and then with one large tug, it had been pushed onto the ground. The team then came up behind it, and pushed it into the lake, careful not to let any of the water splash on us. Fa Raven and Nettle jumped inside, checking it for leaks or damage. Luckily, it was relatively undamaged, and the rest of us were hauled into the hull. It was largely bare, apart from one short mast in the centre, to which a small sail was quickly applied.
All of us began waiting for Bloodroot to arrive, the air still with anticipation.
"I'm scared." Nettle said quietly. It was disarming to see someone who I had looked up to as a stoic - as a unmovable representation of bravery to crumble in front of my eyes. I had never expected a warrior to cry, but I soon found the openness comforting. I was not alone in my fear.
"What will I see?" He asked, "I don't want to lose somebody else to the Witches." His voice echoes my regrets, and I began to cry. Hawthorn came over to me and stoked my back to try and comfort me.
"We just need to stay hopeful," she told us, "Commiserating will do nothing." She walked over to the edge, and pointed out the fact that Bloodroot was hobbling towards us with a tremendous speed.
Once he got close enough, I hauled him into the boat, feeling it sink lower as the weight was added. Fa Raven hopped over to him. "Hello Bloodroot." He said. "Hello Fa Raven. How do you come to be here?" Bloodroot asked. I was surprised that they even knew each other, but now was not the time for questions and i focused on balancing out the boat using supplies placed tactically in different places, as Nettle had ordered me to. Hawthorn came with me, telling me where I should place the bags. "She was like a sister to me," Hawthorn told me while the others were discussing something in the distance, "She filled the place of my twin. I hope I do not see her when we go up there. I do not want to be confronted with whatever those Witches have made her into. She may have died, but I believe we can save Foxglove." She told me this confidently. I wondered whether she was correct.
Once I finished, I walked over to where bloodroot and Fa Raven were conversing. I waited for a moment where their conversation had quietened to interject. "Do you two know each other?" I asked.
"I think I told you, when I first met you, that I lost my tail and part of my paw in a war against the Corvids, " Bloodroot explained, looking to Fa Raven often, "This is the bird who bit off my Tail." He laughed a deep laugh. I was shocked. I wondered how Bloodroot and Fa Raven were on amicable terms. "Fa Raven humbled me. He saved my life in a way. You came to visit me once didn't you, Fa Raven? I remember learning so much." Bloodroot offered to clear my obvious confusion up.
As this was being discussed, I heard a horn go off behind me. It was Nettle sounding the signal to say that we were departing.
The rope tying us to the mainland was loosened, then released, and we made our way swiftly towards our final goal.