The Time Capsule

Chapter 6: Secret Etchings

Chapter 6: Secret Etchings 

The clock hands in Angelica's bedroom on her old, rusting mantel clock moved to eleven fifteen at night. Angelica was already fast asleep under the covers, having them pulled up around her head for safety, just in case. The moonlight was streaming through her window, and down below her, another midnight meeting was taking place. A dark shadow emerged from the trees, and folded its enormous wings to reveal the elfish form of Nightwing, in her battle dress this time. Black armor that could cut through metal itself adorned her body, and she was carrying a large, silver spear to complete the picture of a warrior. 

A blonde head soon joined her, followed by a mysterious figure in a leather jacket. 

"I've always said eleven fifteen was-" Levi's voice rang out. 

"The mysterious yet perfect time for a date, yes, I know," Jillian rolled her eyes. "This isn't a date, Levi. We've been called here on a very important and serious business, direct orders from the Shadowstream crown." 

"So?" Levi tilted his head.

"So, you might want to try acting that way for once in your stupid life," Jillian snapped. "Nightwing? I've brought the boy. Do you want me to-" 

Nightwing indicated that she be silent, and she obeyed. She barely inclined her head to Levi before smirking. She circled him like a hawk to prey, looking him over and deducing his weakness. Her eyes drifted over to Jillian, but she shook her head, nodding in confirmation when she saw the pocket watch glow green in Levi's jacket. 

"Not interested in you in the slightest, dearest," Nighting said. "Perhaps a slight romantic attachment in the past, but that's clearly faded away, I'd say you spare yourself the pain. The real monster is in these trees." 

"What...you're not going to punish us?" Jillian pointed to herself and Levi, confused. "But we've broken the rules. We've...I've disappointed you." 

Nightwing raised an eyebrow in confusion as she turned back to Jillian and Levi, seeing for the first time that they looked as though they'd gone home guilty from a crime scene, heads bent low, shuffling their feet. Had they really taken that much of a toll from the quest? Nightwing felt a twinge of guilt; they were still children in her eyes. 

"Unless you want to be taken to the throne and promptly executed, I think there's a much more exciting and dangerous adventure waiting inside these trees." 

Nightwing moved the canopy of leaves aside, motioning for them to go first. 

"Shall we?" 

Jillian and Levi looked at each other and shrugged, Jillian taking the lead. Avoiding punishment was preferable at any rate, but Jillian couldn't help but think Nightwing was using them for her own purposes. As she stepped through the canopy, purple spots appeared everywhere in the corners of her eyes and her ordinary sleep clothes changed into her dress of autumn leaves. Levi's jacket remained the same, but his clothing changed to a black suit of subdued fall colors.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Levi questioned. "Is this why you called us here, a walk through the forest? Which, by the way, is just as lonely and lovely as I last remember."

"Might do to check in now and again, Crown Prince of The Forest of Shadowstream," Nightwing said, but froze, and the three looked terrified as they heard a low growl, followed by several others, growing in intensity. "Least we avoid problems like this. Stick to the path, Jillian Curie and Levi Jones. The darkness has fangs."

A black cloak seemed to wash over the trees as yellow eyes started to appear all around them in the dark. Jillian's breath caught in her throat, Levi for once in his life froze in fea r and Nightwing's wings extended in their full length in a manner of protection. She moved slightly forward to another canopy of leaves, this time hanging between two trees with odd symbols carved into them. Jillian took more interest in the symbols as Nightwing as slowly and quietly as she could, pulled open the curtain to reveal...

"My god, this goes on forever," Levi trembled in fear now.

A heard of the dark gargoyles were spotted occasionally among the dark canopy of trees, the pitch black of the forest perfect protection for the occasional gleam of a golden eye, the beating of a wing or the snarl and snapping of talons as the creatures attacked themselves out of boredom.

"This is why you brought us here, isn't it?" Jillian had instinctively taken Levi's hand, but this time, she kept it there.

"This is turning into an infestation," Nightwing said, clutching her spear. "Do not take Angelica anywhere near the forest. Not now, not with who she is. She will be hunted down and killed where she stands. I'm giving you time to find the source of these dark ones. If you can locate it before the next full moon, your sentence will be lifted."

"Consider it done," Levi nodded, but noticed Jillian looking at the writing on the tree. "Jill? What's wrong?"

Jillian shook her head, mystified by the code. She ran a finger over it and blinked to make sure she saw it correctly, numbers for words. Dashes and symbols. This was the code she and Angelica had playfully used as children.

"It's a message, I think it's for me," Jillian lifted her smart phone and turned the flash off to take a picture. "It's a code, the code me and Angie invented when we were children. Braille mixed with numbers. Stupidly, we thought no one would recognize it but us. But someone's cracked it."

"What does it say?" Levi asked as he took the phone to look. "Let me guess...every dash is a one, the numbers correspond to the letters of the alphabet? It says...dying. Send help. Do not try to find me. Beware unumn tenebris. And it's signed...A. Just A. Hang on, there's a location stamp. Library of Secrets."

Nightwing lifted her head and took the phone from Levi, tucking it in her wing pockets. Jillian exclaimed and reached for it.

"Oi, that's mine!" she tried to grab it but her wings snapped shut. "You can't do that, that phone is my property!"

"And until we decide to give it back to you, it's property of the Forest of Shadowstream," Nightwing turned her heels abruptly. "This meeting is now adjourned. I will call you again if I see any more signs of trouble."

"What, we're supposed to jut sit here, knowing there's a hoard of unumn tenebris in the forest waiting and ready to kill us!?" Jillian burst out, as Nightwing rounded on her, wings extended.

"Yes...you...are," her tone was sharp and commanding, with a low growl, and Jillian knew better than to argue. "The writing on those trees from your childhood can only be discovered by very few people, people who knew you closely. Or possibly just the two of you. We're wandering into deep trenches here. I don't like the sound of any of this. Stay in Shadowstream. For now, you are banned from the forest. Don't let me catch you back here again. You're worried about Morgan? This is something far, far worse."

"The police have it handled, do they?" Jillian snapped.

"More than you two do," Nightwing bit back.

Levi opened his mouth to protest, and Nightwing's eyes flashed as if she expected him to argue. Jillian shook her head and took his arm, mouthing for them to leave. She knew what would happen If she double crossed Nightwing, and it didn't end well for anyone. She had the feeling the spear would be through either of their bodies if they stayed.

And so, they left the mysterious woman shrouded in darkness, the gargoyles peeking from the shadows and the most curious of messages scratched on the trees, waiting to be discovered. But Jillian couldn't shake one thing from her mind. Who had gotten access to her childhood memories? It was only Jillian and Angelica who knew that code. And why, just why, did they call themselves...A? 

.....