Kingdoms of Gold

3 | It Wasn't My Fault

At first I thought I was hallucinating. Maybe I was recalling someone's nightmare or having one of my own. As I squinted my eyes and leaned out to touch the forest floor, I knew it was none of those things.

"Hey, wake up." I nudged Malachi, who was closest to me. I was only an hour into my watch, the night beginning.

Both Malachi and Brynjar were up, grabbing what weapons laid closest to them. When they saw and heard nothing they glanced at me but didn't ease. They knew not to drop their guard, how not all dangers could be seen or heard.

"We have to go." I was already packing what little stuff was scattered, urging them up and out of the cave. There was something very wrong.

"Are you crazy. It's the middle of the night. Do you have any idea what kind of monsters are lurking out there? Haven't you been listening to them during your shift?" Malachi groaned.

I frowned and kicked him to try and get him up. "I have. Which is why we need to go now."

Brynjar was silent, his bag already packed. He crouched in the back of the cave, realizing what I had. "Malachi, get up. We need to go."

Malachi grumbled again, muttering about how we were all crazy and wanting to get ourselves killed. It was typical morning behavior for Malachi, even if he knew the severity of the situation.

"Listen." I hissed at him.

He paused, listened. His face tightened and he hurried to gather our shit. "Fuck. How long has this been going on?"

The entire forest was completely silent. Not even the small whistling of a breeze passing through was audible. It was so similar to the encounter with the Wendigo, all the smaller creatures scurrying out of its path. Only a Wendigo here would be a blessing compared to what else lay in the fae realm, especially if it meant no fae walked out alive.

"Not long. If we hurry, we can beat the high tides." I stepped to the edge of the cave and gripping the top, hauling myself up on the rocky ledge.

It all made sense now, why all the fae buildings were elevated so high. With three moons, tides were more dramatic here than on Earth. No fae wanted to be submerged in the water, or at the mercy of what swam in it.

The cave we'd been staying in tonight was several feet above ground level. From when I'd woken them the waters had already raised half that height. The water only kept rising, muting the iridescent glow of the mushrooms and small plants on the floor.

Malachi began to haul himself up next, grabbing my extended arm.

None of us seemed to know the moon cycles here, let alone the gravitational pull. Finding out how long high tide or low tide lasted was nearly impossible. It could last days, possibly weeks before the forest floor cleared again. 

Our pace would slow immensely, taking at least twice as long as before trying to stay out of the waters. We didn't have time for that.

The forest was too dense for Brynjar to shift. Malachi couldn't carry both of us if he shifted into something small enough to fly here. I was the only one who would be able to comfortably climb and jump across the trees. The fastest way would be to split up, but I didn't even consider that.

There had to be a pattern, another way. The creatures who couldn't climb or swim had to have some way to escape, survive. I was sure most creatures in this forest were larger than us.

"The terrain. We've only been on level land this whole time?" I asked Brynjar as Malachi helped him up.

"Yes. There's almost no elevation. No mountains. There are very few lakes and ponds scattered, most of it is marshy. The highest we should ever be is a few 100 feet above the village we stopped by. That's not for a while and it's a steep rise, where the waterfall is." Brynjar dusted his pants off.