Nzarel: The Horned Forest: Chapter 4

Chapter ~ 4 ~ (5555)

The spirit looked like he had simply materialized from the mist he had created. He was ghostly white and a step below opaque. There was something pearly about him, as though if the light hit him just right, he would start glowing, right in front of her as plain as day, though he could just as easily disappear in the relative brilliance.

He looked like a bear with very long front legs, making his body tilt as though he were somewhere between four legs and two. He was covered in what looked like coarse fur, the hairs on his back and shoulders looking more like bristles than anything else. His body was shaped like a bear's, but had a monkey's leanness. The fur on his front legs faded away half way down, revealing cracked, pebbly skin. All four paws had long appendages and a smooth texture, each toe armed with a claw at least six inches long which, even on a beast four times her height, was an impressive measurement.

His shoulders were sloped, and he swayed back and forth with each step. He had a long neck set low on his chest, a thick ruff hanging down from his throat. Closest to her was a thin face with gaunt cheekbones, wolf's ears, and a long, hairless snout, at the end of which was a set of gleaming, pointed teeth. It was a predator's face, and Chase wondered for a moment if spirits ate actual meat.

For spirit it most certainly was. Even though the eyes in his face were as a dead white as the rest of him was, but there was an odd spark of life somewhere in them. The source of whatever was giving fog animation and sentience and, apparently, voice.

“Come now, there's no need to be shy.” His voice was thick, raspy and muddled in the way a whisper is, but was perfectly clear and audible. It was also sly, suggesting that in fact there was every reason in the world to be shy, if not full out frightened.

Chase drew back against the tree, eyeing the spirit suspiciously. She refrained from using the word ghost to describe it; most of the spirits in the forest had never been alive in the conventional sense, and were a life form of their own sort, mysterious even to Nzarel. Looking at the massive form of this one, she could understand why the Outsiders might be so deathly afraid of the Nzera in the first place. One glance at something like him would have sent her away screaming when she was young and ignorant, Nzarel or otherwise.

As things stood, she remained where she was, but backed away, feeling the wood and bark firm against her back. This thing wasn't a mindless monster from the deep, but it had also spelled her in to laughing herself out cold, and tied her up with those wickedly long talons of his. She was mildly surprised to still have both feet attached at the ankle. Trust would be withheld for the time being.

“Little human child, I know you for what you are. You have no need to be afraid here.” Despite the whispering quality to that voice, there was something sweet and slick about it, like his throat had been coated with honey and oil.

Chase lifted her chin up defiantly, daring herself to stare straight in to the cataract eyes. “I have heard people say the same thing to a deer just before they slaughter it. Why am I tied down?” She hoped he didn't assume her stupid enough to take him at his word while she couldn't escape.

“You are tied down because I wished to talk to you, little man. I did not want you to walk away if you awoke before I returned, which seems to have happened.” He walked in to the grove, standing across the pool from her, and looking quite smug. He didn't leave a breath's worth of a print in his wake. He didn't say anything, but looked at her intently as though he were waiting. So she broke the silence.

“I'm not a man.”

The spirit looked taken aback. “Excuse me?”

“I said I am not a man. You're mistaken.”

“You seem like a man to me. But perhaps I am mistaken. I suppose you could be and elf.”

So this was where his confusion came from. Humans and elvens could be easily confused by something not familiar with either. They were two incredibly close species, if not just variations of the same. To other beings, particularly a spirit in the Naticar Nzera who had little to no experience with either, the two were identical. With her slight, petite build and angled face, it would be even easier. She wasn't sure why, but she gave herself a second of internal glory for not being completely inferior to the thing standing before her.

“I am human, it's true, so perhaps you could say I'm a part of what you call Man. But man is the male human. I'm a female, so I'm a woman. Didn't you call me a girl just a second ago?” The spirit was deeply pleased.

“Oh, good. I get to learn something new from the, human, yes? I'm most pleased.” It sat down, letting his hind legs fall to the side so he sat comfortably on his rump. Was it just her, or did the clover around him not even budge? He truly was a ghost. Not corporeal, not substantial, hardly even real, at least not any more than the mist was real and present. Yet there he sat before her, perfectly, frighteningly real. Her goose pimples returned anew.

“I'm glad for you.” Sarcasm dripped and dribbled from every syllable, but judging from his proud stature, she doubted he had noticed. “Why exactly were you so eager to talk to me, and hold me here until then?”

“I am eager to learn, which I do best by speaking with humans. It is good that there are enough of you coming through here in these days. It makes you easier to trap. Then I can take you to this place and speak with you.”

“What do you want to talk to me about, then?”

“Oh, not just you. I do hope you understand this. I am pleased to talk with any who cross through here. But I was most pleased when I smelled you crossing through my territory. You have the scents of things other than the forest on you. They are faint, but present. Oh, yes, they are present. You cross the border, and not merely once or twice. You were headed there, were you not? To the Outside?”

For wanting to talk to her, the spirit did a lot of talking himself. But he was civil, at the least. He made her incredibly nervous, and she'd nearly sung with relief when he sat down instead of coming towards her, but he hadn't made any mentions of eating her or harming her in any other way. That fact did a lot for her fear's sake.

“Yes, I was. I wasn't aware that the scent was so strong on me that it remains after months.”

“Oh, human girl, you must not know much about me. To a wolf, your nose is nearly useless, and to me, a wolf's nose is obsolete. Even now, I could tell you the name of every bird for miles and miles, even beyond my territory, because I can smell if on them.

“I can smell your name as well. It is Chase, a fitting name for a hunter, is it not? I also smell that it is your own name, and not given one. I can not smell your given name, because it is not so fresh upon you, but I can do with Chase. Chase. So, why is it that you are trying to leave the Nzera, Chase, when it is clear that you return after such journeys?”

She didn't even catch his question. She was glued to what he had said a breath before that. He could smell her name. He could smell her name from miles away. How is it that anything, even a spirit, can smell a name? What would a name smell like? She thought of a thousand questions about it, but she pushed them aside to keep her fear company for the time being.

“What was that, again?”

“Your purpose, Chase. Your purpose for trying to cross the border today. Or at all, for that matter. Why would a Nzarel leave their territory, their home? For clearly it is your home, for you return, and you smell strongest of trees.” He clearly had a fondness for the concept of a territory. For a moment, he reminded her of Kisa, and even her nervousness vanished at that pathetic thought.

“I will tell you, if you tell me your name. I have little sense of smell, and I can't be expected to guess it, or go through this obligatory conversation if I don't know your name and you know mine.”

“Well, I am not sure what an `obligatory' is, but I suppose it is only right that you be able to call me by something. But it will be an even trade. I do not know your whole, true name, so you will not know mine. I may call me Narukethal.”

“Narukethal… that's long.” Chase wondered for a moment if it was merely her imagination, or if she really was speaking in his blunt, simplistic manner. “It will be easier if I could call you something shorter.”

Narukethal threw back his head and made a guttural noise that she supposed could be a laugh. “Oh, no! That is quite shortened, and not so tiresome to the tongue, especially one so well formed to the words as you. Besides all, I do not expect to be allowed to call you Ch, so I expect to be called by the whole name I have given you as well. Narukethal.”

“I didn't give you my name.” Chase's brows furrowed, and she felt like it could be easier to try and walk off with the whole tree still attached to her ankles than to try and endure this… thing.

“Oh, yes you did. You use it often, and so you live up to it, and so I can smell it on you. By using it, you have as good as given it to me. Surely you must have known that,” he scoffed, in a tone that gave her the impression that she was one of a select, stupid few who in fact had not known this.

No. Narukethal had gotten to her once already by getting inside her head and making her laugh herself out cold. She would remain in control of her own thoughts. He sat still, regarding her with his still, white eyes, and she could have sworn he looked proud. He still looked only half-real.

“Well, thank you in any case for the name.” Even if it does me no good and is a pain to force out when your lips are trembling.

“Now that you have it, you will tell me what you are doing in the Outside.” Chase had to wonder for a breath what the consequences would be for not maintaining an agreement with a specter several times her size with claws longer than her hand. Not worth her silence, whatever they would be.

“I go to speak with the Outsiders. To see what goes on in the world beyond the Nzera, because it's encroaching more than is natural, and ignoring it is fatal.” That was straightforward enough. Narukethal should be pleased.

Instead, he leaned back, lifting his odd head higher, and let out a hiss that made her traitorous spine tremble, despite her attempts at maintaining her reserve. Four long fangs hung from his top jaw, all gleaming right down to their points. His jowls and hackles went up, and for a moment, all of his teeth were clearly visible and his eyes turned to glowing silver slits. He seemed to be like a demon, nothing less, and Chase quaked shamelessly where she sat, like a coward. She refused to let him get the better of her, and looked him full on, as though she couldn't understand why on earth he would have such an aversion to the Outsiders (though she often had to fight back a similar reaction).

“You can't expect me to assume you go out there and associate with those beasts? They are mindless, dear girl. Mindless and savage, and want nothing more than to gain as much and give as little as they can manage. If that is what you venture for, I can not imagine that you are one of the Nzarel, yet I smell it so strongly on you. It is a very particular scent, you see; more so than that of a name. So what do you hope to gain?”

He seemed more and more like Kisa every moment. Chase gave a mighty eye roll, and crossed her arms over her chest. “Listen here, Narekuthing.” She chose to blatantly ignore his offended reaction to her mutilation of his name. “I'm not going to talk to you about things you don't know, and I'm certainly not going to do it while I'm tethered like a goat. So, either you stop being stupidly ignorant on things you clearly don't know about and cut me loose so I don't feel like a damn prisoner, or I'll cut myself loose and walk off without a word. I ran out of my old life so I wouldn't have to deal with being treated like a worthless subordinate, and I'm not going to take it from anyone, or anything, much less you!”

Narukethal leaned back in shock. His jaw wavered as he tried to find words, and his ghostly white eyes narrowed in interest. He was analyzing her, trying to take her apart with his strange senses, Well, let him. The only thing he ought to find is that I'm not kidding. Chase watched as he moved from one side to the next, as though he were about to stand. He moved hesitantly, looking back at her every few moments with his intense gaze. He rubbed his nose against the fur on his shoulder, turning around awkwardly to reach it, then looked back at her, lowering his head to move his point of view closer to hers. That face of his was massive.

“You- you can't cut that rope,” he whispered uncertainly. He clearly wasn't used to being stood up to.

“But I'll try anyways. If that fails, and I won't give up easy, I'll sit here until you change your mind or I dehydrate. In either case, I'll be as silent as that pond of yours,” she motioned with her chin to the reflecting pool between then, “and I'll be worse company, I can assure you.”

“Chase, you can't cut that tie, I tell you truth. Why should you try to do what is impossible? And--”

“ `And' nothing. I would try because it's foolish to sit and accept your fate when there could be something to do about it. I don't trust you anyways, because I know you are wrong about some things.”

“I am not wrong, Chase.”

“Ah, but you are, you bigoted wart-faced ape. I know it, and so I'm not going to trust you when you say this tether you're forcing on me is unbreakable.”

“Many have tried to break it, and all have failed, so I know it to be true, Chase.”

“Stop calling me that!”

“Isn't it your name? What else should I be expected to call you?”

She didn't have an immediate answer for that. “Well, you were wrong about Outsiders, so who knows what else you're wrong about?”

“I am not wrong about Outsiders, Chase.”

“I said stop calling me that!”

“It's your name!”

“Well, you don't have to use it over and over again. I know who you're talking to. Do you?”

“Yes, I do. And I am not wrong about the Outsiders. They are mindless savages, just as I have told you. They are killers and cruel, and not worth protecting, so I can't see why you are.”

“You ever talked to one, Narukething?” Again, he flinched as though he'd been struck. She ignored it again, with pleasure. “They are humans and elvens, the same as I am. They just choose to live among each other instead of in the Nzera or some other forest. Essentially, the differences are slight.”

“Surely you jest, human child. Every human I have ever set my eyes upon have been cruel and brutish. They hunt or sport and are loud and raucous, and set fire to the Nzera as though this living place is one of their bellows.”

Chase pulled away from Narukethal, a silent, inward part of her crying out in pain. She knew this far too well to be lectured on it. The spirit seemed to be taking her hesitative silence as submission, and had regained his smug, collected composure. She had a delicious thought of dragging him in to one of those bellows and letting him evaporate forever.

“Narukethal, have you ever left the Nzera?”

“I wouldn't dare. I do not see why you humans feel the need to rove.”

“And I don't see why you feel the need to hold me captive. But only the warriors come in here. They've got their hearts in some of the right places, but their blame in all the wrong ones. I don't like them any more than you do, I can swear that to you.” For once, she seemed to have Narukethal's full attention. “But most of the world is Outsiders, and you can't lump them all together because they don't live in your world.” She stared down at the lush clover beneath her. She was crushing it, while the giant form so near to her didn't bend a stem. “Many of them are far kinder than you, and hardly savage or mindless.”

“What is it you see in them? All that I have seen in them has proven that theory incorrect.”

“All you have seen is equivalent to this grove when you're looking at the whole of the Nzera. And I told you, I wasn't going to keep going on that conversation until you untie me.”

Narukethal sat back again, settling himself comfortable as he pondered. At least, Chase thought he looked as though he may be pondering. In reality, his face was as still as his puddle of water, and not half as interesting to look at.

“I could refuse your demand, and simply create a different conversation.”

“I won't take part in that one, either.” He did more possible pondering, then shrugged his sharp, bony shoulders.

“We shall see. Perhaps I will ask you where you came from before you were a Nzarel. Surely you could not have been…”

Does the ape honestly think I'm pulling his leg? He must be dumber than he looks. At least it'll be easier to ignore him if I don't care about the conversation. Her right hand instinctively found a handle on her belt. She slid the knife from its scabbard, testing the edge with her thumb. The blade was broad and fairly short. Its blunt edge was a thin file, and the lower half of its sharp edge was serrated. The rest was smooth, curved, razor edge with a hole in the metal near its point like a butcher's blade. It was beautifully crafted, one of the first she'd ever made, and was one useful thing. Satisfied, she turned to hacking at the slick, hard rope just near her ankles.

“—what with all I've seen, I can't imagine that… Wha- what are you doing there?” Narukethal paused in his long questioning prose, jowls lifted in annoyance. Chase didn't look at the visible fangs.

“I said,” chop “that I would” chop “cut through” chop “the rope.” She took the knife away, running her hand over the surface to see if her efforts had had any effect. She huffed in annoyance, and shifted her grip on the knife's handle slightly, moving to saw at the rope with the serrated edge of her knife. Her lips bent in to a crooked smile as she saw the smooth, top layer of the rope, or vine, or whatever in the hells it was give way and begin to unravel. “And that's what I plan to do.”

Narukethal was all atwitter in a second, seeing that she was actually going to have some success after all. “Oh, dear, there's no need for that. Stop that, girl. I will undo the line, no please stop!” Getting that reaction from him was satisfying enough to make chase tolerate all of the “oh dears” he could possible throw at her. He could even use her name every other word.

Maybe for a few breaths, at least.

The spirit hauled himself on to his feet with a visible effort, and moved towards her to untie her. Now that she was neither shocked nor terrified, Chase noticed the way he walked. Though it was clearly a pain for him to get to his feet, just moving around seemed almost fluid, perfectly efficient and almost so smooth as to make him seem like he was floating. His shoulders alternated drastically up and down, and his whole body swayed from one side to the other.

He sat down again once he was beside her to free his front paws, which really were like long-boned hands. Though this was what Chase wanted, he was disturbingly close. The bare skin on his legs was thick and mottled, covered in wrinkles and callous with thin, bristly hairs all throughout. She was far from squeamish, but something about him revolted her. Fighting down nausea, she waited patiently for him to finish.

His long fingers worked deftly over the complicated knot in a way that made it impossible for her to follow its track. Somehow, he managed to keep his long claws out of the way, only using them to squeeze between two tight coils. Unlike most of his skin, his hands were fairly normal, certainly not as wrinkled as an old man's. The undersides were padded, the same as any mammalian paw, though it made him look like he wore gloves on only one side of his hands.

“I thought you said no one ever cut this thing.”

“No one has, Chase. You are quite surprising.”

She remembered hacking being completely ineffective. What, no one ever thought of a saw when making their weapons? Then again, she'd been pretty spoiled when it came to the availability of tools, especially blades. She decided not to mention that little morsel of information to Narukethal for the time being. Anything to help him see her at an even footing could only help her at this point.

“So, what exactly happens to the ones who don't convince you to untie them?”

“I speak with them until I tire of them, then I let them go.”

“How long do these sessions of yours last, normally?”

“Oh, perhaps two, perhaps three days. It's such a bother for me to keep record when I'm in the midst of such stimulating company, really.” Chase's jaw dropped.

“You don't expect me to stay so long, do you?”

He gazed seriously at her. “Of course I do. It is not so very long.”

“Well, it's a good thing I can get up and move around then. I can get some water whenever I need it, and get to my food stores easier. What do all the rest do?”

“They talk.”

Really, now.

“I mean, for food and water? I know most aren't as well packed as I am.”

“Yes, I have noticed that as well. You certainly are a strange one, compared with most I speak with. Well, they take a break from their regular habits so that I may speak with them.”

“You don't let them even have water.”

“Why, no. It's such a short time, after all.”

“For three days.”

“Yes, that's right.”

“Gods almighty above, you fiend! How many of them are still functioning after all of this? I suppose you don't let them sleep, either? Just keep shaking them awake with those claws of yours until they keep talkin' with ya. Forget functioning. How many are alive after you get done with `talking'?”

“Most of them, actually. I'm not so cruel. Some of them just drop of their own accord. It could very well be because they are frightened. The Nzarel almost all make it. It's the Outsiders I catch around here that often are so weak.”

“You idiot!” She was shouting at a translucent creature several times her size, and all she could think about was what she would do if she could string her bow in time. Or if an arrow would do any good against a thing made of mist. “You actually expect a human to be able to withstand that? And of course the Outsiders would do worse. As mindless as you seem to make them out to be, you're probably growling at them the whole time.”

“They are mindless, Chase. Most just babble incoherently. I'm not even sure if they have much of a language at all.”

Words failed her for a moment, and all she could do was shriek, several high-pitched screams that shredded her vocal chords and she didn't care a wit of it. She glared up at the spirit with a new found disgust in its ignorance and audacity.

“I do hope,” she said slowly, her voice shaking, “that you are aware that humans need sleep, water, and normally food. Daily. And that men already afraid of a place they have been warned against their whole lives through will not cope well when a spirit is growling and hissing with all fangs bared. You expect them to be able to speak in the face of that kind of nightmare?” She added empathy to the list of things this creature was dreadfully lacking in.

Narukethal didn't seem put off at all. Instead, he scratched thoughtfully at the matted ruff hanging from his neck, humming to himself and staring up at the canopy. “I can't imagine that even Nzarel would be so weak as to need all that to simply survive, but it is possible that I have overestimated humans in this case. I shall have to take this information in to consideration with the next being that comes within reach of my territory. “

Chase dug her nails in to the clover covering the ground, ravishing the plant beneath her fingers. She'd never had much tolerance for stupid beings, specifically ones which acted otherwise, and especially ones which acted superior. She wondered if storming away from Narukethal would do any good, or if he would simply come reclaim her and refuse to untie her again.

Either way, she had to stand. Her legs felt feeble beneath her weight. She walked experimentally, making her keeper hum nervously. When she was sure she wouldn't collapse, she pulled herself up to her full height. Granted, even compared to many humans it wasn't much, and against him, well, it was a bit of a wasted try, but she wasn't willing to be pushed around. And she wanted to let him know that.

“How long did you have me out for, anyways? I feel like I've been asleep all day.”

“You've been slumbering in this place for over two days. It is midway through the third. You slept much longer than most. In truth, I was beginning to wonder if perhaps you had been too frail for me to catch you, and I feared I would not have the opportunity to speak with you. My fear was for naught however, and now here we both are. And I must say, you are quite intriguing company.”

“I'm so glad for that,” she muttered beneath her breath, rolling her eyes behind closed lids. She wasn't sure how much more of this she would be able to withstand before her bow just became too tempting, or that tender-looking foot of his got within reach again. If he was going to insist she stay until he was finished with her, though, it could make things difficult for her and probably painful for him. It was time to strike another deal. Apparently, that was the only way to deal with him.

“You know what, you wanted me to talk, so I'm gong to get some food out, and I'm going to talk with you until I'm good and ready to leave, and then I'm going to stand up and walk away and continue on my merry way. And you won't stop me.”

“You aren't trying to bargain with me again, are you? You have offered me nothing in return.”

“Well, it was worth a try. Fine. In return, I am going to give you news of the Outside world, which you don't seem to get much of.”

“I assumed you would talk of that anyways, as you seem so very adamant about it.” He sat stoically, looking off in to the fog around his grove with wandering interest. Clear lids slid halfway across his eyes, clouding the solid white of them.

“Yes, I am.” Well, again, it was worth a try. Let's see if this wets his pallet. That thought got her wondering again if he ate any of his victims. Perhaps if they proved to be bad conversationalists? “I suppose that would be where the discussion would eventually lead. But Narukethal, if you give me the power to walk away when I feel I through with you, I swear to you that I will return, and perhaps have more to speak of. Does that sound like a fair deal?”

Narukethal scratched the scruffy, ragged hair beneath his chin which served as a goat's beard, humming in thought again. “That might do, young Chase.”

“Good, because I'm not really looking forward to spending more time here than I have to and I need to get mo—“

“I said that might do, little one. I did not agree. You have proven true to your word, but I am wondering how deeply you would swear this thing.” He waved a hand as her mouth fell open in protest. He was doubting her? She was certainly trustworthy, and as far as she could tell, he was the dangerous one between them, and the ignorant trickster, but he stopped her before the words came out. “Do no fret, Chase. I trust you. I am merely interested in what you would swear.”

Strangely, Chase could identify with that. There was much to tell about a soul, based on how they swore their oaths, and how those oaths were kept. The idea that she agreed with Narukethal about something, even a thing so simple as this, was not a little unsettling, but she obliged.

“Very well. I swear on my honor as a Nzarel that I will return to continue this lovely chat of ours.” Sweet, short, and enough to satisfy. Or so she thought.

“Oh, dear, that won't do. I have already told you, I believe, that for a Nzarel, you have some questionable habits. No worries, of course, for I smell that kind of spicy sweet musk about you that all of the forest dwellers have, even the humans. But there must be some greater oath you can swear by. Don't worry. If that is the best you can do, I will accept it. I am merely interested, you understand?” The funny thing was that he seemed sincere about the entire ordeal. She would be glad to turn her back to him forever, but she doubted he'd let her get too far.

She chewed the inside of her cheek, running ideas through her mind with the mechanical tic of a mill wheel. She had a sudden mental image of swearing by her left shoe, but unless he was exactly as backwards as she suspected (which may not even be possible in the natural world), that would be dismissed as well and she would have to think of yet another. She bypassed a few of those steps, and went back to racking her brain.

Of course.

She turned seriously to Narukethal, holding her chin high and staring him straight in the eyes, all sarcasm gone from her face. “I swear on the life and soul of a brave sword smith whom I once loved dearly, I'll return again, unless death should take me first.”

The spirit nodded gravely, bowing his long neck to her. “That was very fine, child. It shall do.” Relieved, Chase went to find a place to sit down—against a different tree with no ties on the roots. She arranged herself comfortably, setting her carrier behind her back and crossing her legs at the ankle straight in front of her, fingers laced neatly in her lap. “Though you know, of course, we could still talk were you to die before returning.” Surprisingly, that statement of his really wasn't in the least bit comforting.