Excerpt

For a moment when I stopped again I thought I heard twigs breaking under a heavy foot. I looked up and scanned the trees and I noticed the moon shining full just peaking through some branches in the distance. It was a wonderful sight. I knew now there was a chance I might find a way out of the forest and perhaps to the open country side. But as I reached a clearing I could hear some kind of rumbling like the low reverberation of a race car. It became clearer as I approached the sound until I could see the shadows of two tall monoliths against the brightness of the moon. I hunched down and crept very carefully to the edge of the clearing and stuck my head up over some bushes to see what was going on. Then my heart went up into my throat. There was two of the walking trees standing there talking and one holding Jonathan around the waist. They seemed to be in some kind serious argument. Their voices were absolutely awesome. It sounded like the low hum of a loud speaker or perhaps the voice of a man with an incredibly heavy resonance. I was awestruck and terrified as I listened to their very strange language. As I watched how they seemed to tug over Jonathan I realized that one wanted to kill him and the other wanted to have compassion on him. The one holding him would pull back and say something and the other one would reach for him and tug on his shoulder trying to get the bad one to release him. I watched in terrible fear as they boomed their voices into the warm night air.

“Tach laben ash brams stari!”

“Nas chan hash rawg.!”

“Ku naban grat argol.!”

“Uri bennit opin sawk.!”

They must have argued for a good five minutes pulling him back and fourth like a rag doll. I wondered if he was injured or what I would do if he was injured. I sat up on my knees and waited until they went silent. The good one seemed to win out and the bad one pushed him into its branch arms and walked away in disgust. The good one picked him up and started walking away out into the clearing.

I knew I had to hurry. I jumped out of the bushes and ran as fast as my injuries would take me. But I knew it was no use. The tree took long strides and there was no way I was going to be able to keep up. I finally decided there was only one thing to do. I had to try and get the tree’s attention. I picked up a good size rock and ran as fast as I could and threw it in its direction. The rock landed far to the right and short of its target but the tree stopped and turned around just as I’d hoped. I walked right toward it as it stood looking at me. I figured I had a good chance of being alright since it saved Jonathan’s life and I had no intention of abandoning him.

The tree waited until I got right up to it and it and set Jonathan down and looked at me from some hollow place in its head way up at the top. It looked like it was bewildered that a fragile creature like me would take such a bold step. I stood just about a foot from its woody feet and looked straight up at it.

“Hummmm…” It murmured. “Noctun shadowed.”

Then it reached down and picked me up. I felt myself rising up and the night air rushing past my ears. It put me safe inside its branches up close to its chin or something that resembled its chin. It proceeded on its fast walk striding perhaps ten to fifteen feet with each step. The threat of it doing something to me seemed to fade after some time past and I was secured enough to actually doze off at different intervals. The tree did not stop to rest or attempt any kind of communication. It seemed to be on some sort of mission. A mission that to me was unfathomable. What could it possibly want with us? Where was it taking us? Whatever or wherever it could be it was obviously no use trying to fight it. The tree was infinitely more powerful than us and I would gather surprisingly highly intelligent from what I could tell.

I called out to Jonathan after about an hour or so to see if he was alright.

“I’m alright.” He said flatly.

“How did you get out there with the trees and so far away?”

“One of them grabbed me when you were asleep and dragged me away.”

“Then what happened?”

“It started arguing with this one about what they were going to do with me. I think they thought I was a spy or something like that.”

“Yes, I was hiding in the bushes and saw the argument. I thought for sure you were a dead man.”

Jonathan chuckled a little at this one. “Don’t act so disappointed.”

I just smiled and we became quiet for a while. The tree seemed perfectly contented to continue on in his important mission and we didn’t want to disturb him. It never said another word but it did hum again from time to time as if it were trying to figure out something. We went on through the night and across what became a grassy plain as the sun began to peak over the horizon. The mountains were much closer now and we could see the beautiful white clouds surrounding it majestic peaks as they stuck out and reached for the magnificent blue sky.

Nothing much happened through most of the day and the tree did not ever stop to rest. It continued on through the afternoon and I took to watching the sky and wondering if we were ever going to eat or drink again.