Tree of Life Book III

Part III - Chapter 07

TREE OF LIFE BOOK III - PART III

CHAPTER 07

In the distance, the Queen was on her knees. Her face was to the ground. Her fingers were in her hair-hair that was once a glowing flow of blood red waves and tresses.

As Nicole and Julian and Wendy gazed on, this river of crimson ran gray. All of it. All of her hair. All of the red had gone. In an instant, it was gray and worn, like the cloak of Gandalf and thinned out.

The Queen lifted her face.

They stared into it.

And an old woman's eyes stared back.

She appeared ancient. A hag. A crone. A harpy.

No one had a right to be that old!

She peeled her head back. She squealed.

They all winced at the sound.

The Queen got to her feet. She stumbled backward.

She was smaller. Like she had shrunk. Her legs were still showing like before, but now they were bleached out and thin little sticks, not swollen anymore, just so much skin, with not a whit of flesh on them at all.

A strange, wizened, old nut of a woman and she stood wavering upon the field. Her eyes were white. Her mouth was open. Drool ran down the side of her mouth.

She shot up her hands.

She grimaced.

The cavern began to quake.

The whole thing. Everywhere.

Not just the spot where they were standing, but the whole, entire bubble in the mountain and it shook and it rumbled all over. All around them, past the fields, all the way to the walls on every side.

The ground cracked open beneath their feet. Julian and Nicole had to step to the side and then again to keep from falling in. High above them, at the very top of the cavern, the ceiling began busting apart into pieces. Chunks of it, the size of cars, began tumbling onto the fields and forests.

The ground shook. It was hard to stay standing. Julian and Nicole reached out and held on to each other.

Nicole shouted against the noise. "We have to go! It's all coming down!"

She took Julian and began leading him out. Wendy took his other arm and flew along beside him. They made for the exit, where the river led out, the same route they had seen the villagers take before.

Over her shoulder, Wendy waved to the Sword.

It yanked itself from the ground. It flew toward her, as it shrank. It continued to do so, until it was the size of a small dagger, a shiny blue one, and then it made itself secure by tucking itself into the belt that was sashed around Wendy's waist.

Wendy smiled and gave it a pat with her hand.

From behind them, the Queen screamed again and it was a thin screech, like an ice pick, gouging its way into your ear and your brain and then tunneling out through the other side.

Julian stopped. He spun around.

The Queen was on the ground, rolling over and again in the dirt. She was a filthy old woman, with her hair nearly all fallen out. One eye was swollen shut. She was bleeding from a dozen cuts and bruises. And she had no teeth. Those had fallen out too.

She stopped rolling. She tucked herself into a ball and put her back to them. She was murmuring something. "...Baba...Baba..."

Julian's eyes went wide. "Baba...!" The colour drained from his face.