The Trees Up North

Chapter XI

I was out of breath when I slowly entered my room at the inn. I didn't exactly know what to think. Pine was gentle, caring, and human, right?

Pine's head peeked around the corner of the entrance, a smile growing on his face. There was no way the townspeople were talking about him. I shoved my boots into the corner of the closet. Pine was sitting at the desk that sat across from the bed, and he had a quill in his hands. In front of him was a notebook and a novel of some sort. Pine was writing in the notebook. I sat on the bed in the spot right behind Pine.

"Pine Rivus." I spoke. Pine's head raised a little, but he kept facing the wall. "You grew up here." I pulled the folded paper out of my bag and threw it on the desk. Pine picked up the paper that landed beside him, not looking back at me once.

I watched as Pine unfolded the paper rather quickly. It was a map of the West Forest and parts of town. It was clearly old, as the paper was brown and the color was fading from it. Near the middle of the map was a red circle surrounding a small house in the woods.

Pine's head whipped around to face me. He held the map in his hands. He stared at me, not blinking. The smile he had worn earlier was now gone. A small cry left his throat as he quickly went to grab the notebook that sat on the desk. He dipped his quill in ink and wrote something on the pages. Pine then proceeded to throw the book at me.

"Where did you get this?" The writing was messy and looked panicked.

"A townsman gave it to me." I tossed the notebook back at Pine. Pine wrote something in the book. I could see tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

Pine threw the book back at me. "He told you to kill me, didn't he?"

I rose and nodded at Pine. I approached Pine, and he jumped in his chair. He was visibly terrified. I left the journal in his line of sight. Pine was fixated on me. So the townspeople were discussing Pine.

"He told me about your parents too." I spoke. I stood beside Pine in his chair. "Witches?"

Pine shook his head, quickly picking up his quill again. "No, no," he wrote. "The townspeople feared my parents because my dad and mom liked herbs, were friendly with fairies, and happened to be good healers." I heard a sob come from Pine. "My parents were not witches."

His hand was shaking, making his writing all messy. Ink was smearing across the page. I heard a few more sobs come from Pine. I looked up from the paper to find tears rolling down his cheeks. I could tell he was trying to compose himself, but the emotion was too much for him.

"The townspeople also told me about what happened to your parents." I spoke. "They said they were accused of being mystical and were unjustly executed," I continued, my voice filled with sympathy. Pine nodded, his tears still flowing uncontrollably.

Pine picked up his quill again.

"If you are going to kill me, do so now." He wrote. Pine kept his head facing the desk, not bothering to look up at me.

His hands trembled as he set his pen to the paper, ink spilling over the edges of the paper. He meant too much to me for me to ever have thought about killing him. I shook my head. I couldn't believe what he had just written. The words pierced through my heart, leaving me speechless.

"No, I'm not going to kill you, and I never planned on it." I got down on my knees, so I was sitting lower than him. "I just wanted information, but instead I got all of this." I kept my eyes on Pine, watching as he rubbed his eyes. Pine grabbed his notebook one last time.

"Can you tell me what he told you?" He wrote. I nodded.

I put my bag back in the closet. The map lay on the desk, and Pine had moved, so he was resting against the headboard of the bed. Tears were drying on his cheeks. He was wrapped in the blankets that once laid nicely on the bed. I sat beside the mountain of blankets on the bed. Pine coughed a little to get my attention. He was passing some of his blankets over to me. I gladly took them and wrapped them around me. The blanket was warm, and I could feel Pine's body heat next to me.

"Eight years ago, correct?" I started. Pine nodded his head, keeping his eyes on his hands that sat in his lap. I wrapped my arm around his shoulder to provide some comfort. He slowly tilted his head so it rested on my shoulder. I did the same, letting my head rest on his.

"They told me you were mystical." My voice hummed. Yellow lights painted the wall, making the room all warm. Pinne sighed against my arm. He grabbed my other hand, gently tracing my palm.

"Enchanters. That's what we were called." Pine wrote, "Medicus was what my family was, medicus enchanters."

"So, you have magic?" I asked. Pine shifted against me, and he shrugged his shoulders.

"Mhm, I haven't used them since my parents died." Pine let out a shaky breath. "I guess I shouldn't tell this to a hunter, huh?" He let out a deep , shaky laugh.

I laughed with him and said, "Maybe, but I've trusted you before, so I'll trust you now."

We stayed like that as I spoke about the townspeople. We stayed like that until the both of us fell asleep.

❄❄❄

The morning was a blur. Both Pine and I were rushing to get our weapons ready. Today was the day we were going to stalk the werewolf. I carefully helped Pine wrap scarves around his face to hide his patches. He wore long sleeves and gloves to hide the rest. We exited the room. Pine had his sword by his side, and I had the map in my hands.

I wished the women at the desk a good day before leaving. Pine followed closely behind. The door chimed behind us, and we started up the stone road. There was a swarm of children kicking a ball around in the street. As we walked by, the children waved at us. Pine waved his hand slowly. Although I couldn't see it, I knew he was smiling. Pine pushed his scarf up higher on his face.

The West Forest got closer and closer. The dark green leaves swayed with the wind in the distance. People rushed past on the roads, making their way to the market or work. It was nice to be around so many others, as much as I liked being alone.

It wasn't long until the dark forest stood in front of us. The trees seemed to be calling our names. I pulled the map out of my bag.

"Are you ready, Pine?" I turned to face him. He looked down at me, his eyes glowing with a smile. He brought up a fist, nodding at it as he nodded his head.

With that, I took a step forward into the dark, whispering trees.