Before the Sky Fell

[ 4 ] Circumference of a Tree

-4- 

Circumference of a Tree

On any normal day, the scent of pine and callanwood leaves would overwhelm Whik's nose. But today, he couldn't smell anything besides smoke and he couldn't think of anything except the way Sonora looked at him before those monsters carried her off.

The journey out of the forest seemed much longer on the way back, alone, without Sonora. He had walked cautiously at first, stopping every so often to listen to the sounds of the rustling leaves, unsure of whether he wanted to run into those monsters again.

What were they? Whik had never heard of barbarians that looked like that. There were feral creatures beyond the mountains, but these monsters carried axes. Were they Larks?

Whik had heard of the Larks only in bedtime stories. He heard they were ravenous dogs and rabid wolves that stalked the north. He heard they were shapeshifters that could fly through the air, or ghouls that could freeze their victims by looking at them. Some said they carried blades of fire and ate the men they slayed. Whik wasn't sure what to believe.

When he walked out of the forest, it was as if a jester had opened a curtain to the commotion of a large audience. Screams and crackling pops sounded through the forest. A swift breeze created a clear pocket of air in the veil of smoke. Whik peered out over the town.

The scene was a spectacle of chaos. His arms hung to his side and he surveyed the landscape. Windows from the schoolhouse burst from their frames. The claws of the flames followed, engulfing the structure in a billowing inferno before collapsing the roof inward. Corpses were strewn across the lawn and dozens of bodies lay in the pathways. Whik ran towards his house. The shrubs clawed at his arms, leaving their signatures in red.

When he reached his house, Whik spotted his mother's head peeping outside of the back door. She waved her hands frantically and signaled for him to run to her. When he reached the stoop, his mother pulled him into the small foyer. She ran her hands along Whik's body.

"Where are you hurt?"

"Sonora," Whik said. His shoulders felt heavy all of the sudden. He couldn't hold the tears back any longer. He buried his head into his mother's chest and shouted, "Sonora, Sonora. She's gone. They took her."

His mother pulled his head from her chest, holding his wet cheeks in her hands. "Who took her?"

"The monsters."

Whik struggled to maintain balance when his mother tugged him into the hallway. "We will find her. You have to be strong for me. We have to leave," she said, her lips trembling and hands shaking. He had never seen her face like that.

His mother led Whik through the house. The atmosphere was dark and eerily silent, a stark contrast to its normal unruly character. Whik's brother, Thomas, was peering through the back window. He turned when Whik entered. His eyes widened as an earsplitting scream came from outside.

"Thomas," his mother said, crouching beside him, "hold Whik's hand and don't let go. We're following the path to the forest. You remember what I told you to do if they came?"

Thomas nodded. "The docks. Carmine." His green eyes were bigger than Whik had ever seen them. He's scared. I've never seen him scared. Whik nudged himself so close to his mother that he felt goose bumps on her thighs.

"It's going to be fine," she said. "We need to be very quiet. Not a word. There are bad men out there that can't find us, understand? Just like hide and find."

Whik grabbed her tighter, moving his feet as close as he could to hers. I hate hide and find. I'll lose.

His mother stood. The only noise to fill the house was tiptoeing feet on the floor. The shutters flew inward. A torch fell onto the oak table beside Whik. Smoke filled the room. In a matter of seconds the conflagration was spreading to the uneven table in the kitchen.