The Second Moonrise Part 7: Soul Unleashed

"What happened?" I looked back at Bjorn.   He slowly lowered the bow and got off of Ve. He held out a hand towards us. "Stay put." He pulled a long staff from Ve's back. He began to poke things with it. I wasn't sure what I was expecting to see. He poked the trees around us, then began to slowly move towards Soil's resting spot. As he did, he waved the staff back and forth through the blossoms, beheading or pushing them aside. He was about halfway though when I noticed the ground seemed insubstantial. From where we were, it was hard to tell if it was the same haziness I had seen before, but Bjorn stopped once he saw it. He poked it with the stick, and this time the stick slid straight through it. A plume of dust flew up from it... no, not dust, smoke! Bjorn yanked it out and then returned to Ve.   He pulled on the rope the arrow was tied to and it popped back into existence near Soil. As it did so, the arrowhead nicked her hand. She shivered for a moment, then opened her eyes. While they had always been strangely luminescent, now they glowed like twin suns. She lethargically looked around, blinking. When she rolled over and started to standup, she saw us staring at her from across the field of pink blooms.   She froze.   We stared.   "OK this isn't what it looks like."   "So what is it?" Bjorn started coiling up the rope. The arrow slowly began making its way back across the field. Every now and then it would dip below the ground, only to emerge a bit later. Soil's eyes followed its path. As she watched, they began to dim. The hazy outline of the tree next to her started to solidify.   "I'm... not sure? It definitely wasn't me trapping the Lostlings in a cage so I could go off and have a nap." The arrow had fallen through the ground again. Bjorn tugged on the rope, but this time it stayed stuck. Bjorn pulled harder. The rope snapped and a small eruption of dirt sprang up.   Bjorn swore in a language I couldn't identify. "So exactly why did I find the Lostlings you were protecting in a cage?" He stared pointedly at Soil. By this point the coil of rope was almost fully back to him, with only the frayed end out of his reach.   Soil shook her head. She reached up to rub her horns, then pulled her hand away. A light dusting of ice covered her fingertips. She began to stalk through the moonflowers towards us. "We need to keep moving. How far was the Campgrounds when you got here?"   "Don't think you're getting out of this Soil. Explain. What did you come out here to do?" Bjorn was glaring at her. Vili and Ve crunched through the undergrowth to stand behind him.   Soil stopped in her tracks, halfway through the blooms. For the first time she looked at us, still perched on the Vili's back like oversized fleas. I looked at my companions. Ron was impossible to read, but had his hand on Karen's shoulder. Soil's gaze was fixed on him. She looked... scared? Pleading? "Why did I come here? Why did I leave you?"   Ron spoke one word. "Ashvine."   Recognition dawned on Soil's face. She turned back towards where she'd been sleeping. "Have you seen it too Bjorn? The Ashvine?"   Silence met her question. Bjorn turned around and began to climb back up onto Ve's shoulders. The bear rumbled in greeting.   Soil swept her arm over the field. As she did, the moonflower meadow withered, and the gloom of the Dark Forest swept back in. The shadows slithered into the clearing, and the sounds of the Forest resumed. Despite the darkness, the temperature actually rose as the moonflowers shriveled. And yet, Soil shivered and muttered something. I could barely make out the words "fucking dark."   Bjorn stared on and began to talk to Ve. We couldn't understand the words, but as Ve started to move off, Vili began to follow. The bears stepped into a steady pace and Bjorn left Soil behind. I turned around to watch her. As we got farther away, she stared after us. Even in the gloom her eyes glowed defiantly. She crouched down and wrapped her arms around her furry legs. For once, no moonflowers provided any comforting light.