Tales of Eleutheros

Robert sat in silence as Daniel and Katrina explained all they could about their experiences waking up.

“So, no one remembers anything beyond the flash of light?” Daniel asked from across the fire.

Katrina looked into the flame and shook her head, resting her chin on her knees.

Robert took a deep breath and steadied himself. With a grunt, he stood while his knees popped. “I feel… pretty strange.” He wobbled a little. Feeling aches and pains all over his body. “We’ve been going over this crap for hours, and I still have a massive headache. Can we take a few minutes?”

Daniel said nothing in response. There wasn’t much he could do now, and their best bet was to wait and see what morning brought. If there even is a morning here, he thought. Daniel turned to Katrina. “We’ve been through a lot tonight; I think you all should get some rest.”

Katrina looked at Daniel. “You, ok?” she asked.

“I’m fine,” he said. “Listen, you two should get some rest. There’s no sense in everyone wasting energy.”

Robert and Katrina glanced at each other and back to Daniel.

“What about you?” Robert was a little surprised at the offer.

“Don’t worry about me. I’m used to not getting very much sleep.” There was silence as he waited for more of an explanation. Daniel shrugged and pushed his hands into his pockets. “I was in the Marines for a while.”

“Really?” Katrina and Robert asked almost simultaneously.

“Yeah. So, get some rest. I’ll keep watch. We don’t know where we could be. And seeing as how the trees look, I don’t really want to get caught by surprise by any animals.” He lifted his left hand, showing a digital watch. “So, I’ll set an alarm in a few hours. Then we can go from there. Hey, do any of you guys have your phone on you?”

Katrina reached into her back pocket. “I’ve got mine.”

Robert did the same and produced his smartphone. However, as he pressed the button on the side to wake it up, he realized in horror that it was dead.

“What the hell?” Katrina said. “I just charged this thing before the convention.”

“Me too…” Robert eked; it didn’t make any sense. How long was I unconscious? He thought.

Daniel sighed. “Shit. Well, I guess the watch will do.” He pressed some buttons on the side and Robert saw a mirrored look of horror; his digital watch was also dead. “Are you kidding me? How the fuck is this even possible? These are supposed to last years.”

“So, all of our electronics are dead,” Katrina said, hanging her head.

“Looks that way.” Daniel turned to face Robert, who was staring blankly at his mobile phone’s blackened screen. “How are you doing, Robert?”

Robert took several moments to reply, but he finally looked at Daniel, his eyes wild and filled with fear. “I… I guess I’m alright. I just… I can’t believe this is all happening. That we aren’t in some dream.” The situation was so unreal, so far outside of the base of reality that his thoughts moved at a snail’s pace.

Katrina put her arm around Robert and gave him a tight hug. The action brought him out of his stunned state for a moment, and he basked in the slight comfort it brought him.

Daniel took a deep breath and closed his eyes, and Robert studied him for a moment. Any person would crumble under similar circumstances; He felt it himself. But Daniel was right. They needed sleep; it was the only thing left to do. Whether the morning came or not, rest would prepare them for the next step. Whatever that was.

“Alright, guys,” Daniel huffed. You better get some sleep now. I’ll do what I can to stay awake. Also, I’ll make sure the fire doesn’t go out.”

~

Although Robert felt uneasy about letting someone burden himself with all the watch for the night, he did little to dissuade Daniel from his generous offer. Katrina nestled against him as he was preparing to sleep, sitting down. He looked at Daniel from across the fire, his eyes fixed on it, clearly in deep thought. Robert cleared his throat, grabbing Daniel’s attention. “Thanks, man… You know, for taking the watch for the night.”

Daniel gave only a nod in return; with that, Robert put his head down on his forearms, resting across his knees, and tried to fall asleep. He shifted from one awkward position to the other, trying to get as comfortable as possible, but to no avail. His head was still pounding, and he was far too unnerved to relax.

Should I even go to sleep? He thought. I heard you don’t wake up if you sleep too soon after a head injury. The idea made him lift his head with a jerk.

He felt a weight on his shoulder; looking down, he saw Katrina in a deep sleep, responsible for the stiffness in his neck. How can she sleep at a time like this? He thought. This whole situation is really overwhelming… Probably just passed out from sheer exhaustion.

Robert looked again at Daniel, who sat poking the flame with one of the strange hair-like branches. Holding it into the blaze, he pulled it out only to curse at the smoldering tip. The man looked perplexed by the outcome and continued his experiments. Robert rested his head again on his arms and pressed his eyes shut. Listening to the faintly whispered curses from Daniel, he finally managed to force himself to drift to sleep.

~

Robert’s eyes opened slowly, and he groaned while arching his back, which had gone stiff and knotted. However, his body and mind grew numb as he saw the strange forest. Dread bloomed in the pit of his stomach, and the foul taste of copper filled his mouth. God… this… it wasn’t a dream. I’m still here. He frantically looked down and saw Katrina was there too. ‘We’re’ still here.

“Morning,” Daniel said, drawing his attention. “Yeah, it’s not a dream, and no, we’re still not in California anymore.”

Robert attempted to stand, in the process waking Katrina from her slumber. Her reaction was similar to Robert’s but more vocal.

“I’m still here!?” she shouted after several seconds of observation.

A new day had come. The darkness did little to hide the nightmarish sight of the trees and vegetation surrounding them.

Robert stood and gazed in awe at the trees that enclosed them. The mud and vegetation on the forest floor were equally outlandish. The soil shimmered every color of the rainbow as beams of light broke through the canopy. Strange flowers stood on long stems, dancing back and forth in almost a uniform motion. Presenting their petals as if proud of them and eager to show their unnatural colors to all who would behold them.

“Oh, God…” Robert said, bringing his hand up to his head.

“Now, you know,” Daniel said, poking the ashy remnants of the fire with his hair-like stick. “I watched as the morning came. And trust me, I looked just like you do now.”

There was a chill in the air, and the hours spent exposed to the elements had him cold to the bone. Robert saw that Daniel might have stayed awake all night, but he’d been unsuccessful in his mission to keep the fire burning.

Katrina massaged her arms and shoulders for warmth, mumbling disbelief to the two men. “How...? I can’t believe this is actually happening.” She turned to Daniel. “What are we going to do now? We are going to freeze or starve to death out in this weird-ass forest!” There was a fire in her eyes as confusion turned to anger.

“Calm down, Kat,” Robert said, touching her shoulders. “We’ll figure something out; we can’t afford to lose it right now.” Even as he spoke the words, he didn’t believe them himself. He was just a normal guy. He went to college and had a job. He could barely do his own taxes. How the fuck am I going to do anything in this situation? He thought.

“I…” She choked on her words as they came, tears filling her eyes. “I don’t know what we’re going to do, Rob. How did we get here?” she sobbed, her emotions now flowing.

Robert embraced her, and she buried her face in his shoulder. The act was just as much for him as it was for her. His eyes also began to tear, feeling his last grasp on sanity start to wane.

Several minutes passed as the two gathered their emotions, while Daniel sat in silence until finally standing. “Well, either way you guys look at it, we’re alive and therefore have a chance. I don’t know what the hell’s going on here either. But crying about it isn’t going to solve anything.”

Robert shot a glare at Daniel. “We just need a minute to get ourselves under control. This is all a bit much to take in.” He knew he was right. Still… what can prepare someone for something like this?

“I get it,” Daniel said. “Regardless, I need you guys to tighten it up. We don’t know where we are, and there are certain pressing matters we need to attend to.”

“Like, food,” Katrina said, lifting her face from Robert’s shoulder and looking at Daniel with red, swollen eyes. “And water. It might take a while to find our way out of here.”

“Bingo,” Daniel said. “I don’t know how, but we need to find something to eat. Find some fresh water and build some sort of makeshift shelter.” Looking down at the remains of the fire, he sighed. “And figure out how to recreate fire. Who knows how it happened last time.”

“What do you need us to do?” Katrina asked. Her face was now a mask of determination.

“I need you guys to explore the surrounding area on that side,” Daniel said, pointing to the opposite portion of the clearing.

Katrina turned and gazed at the terrifying looking trees for several moments. Then she stood and began to march over to the other side of the clearing.

Robert jumped to his feet and ran to catch up to Katrina.

Daniel sighed, then turned to explore the other side of the clearing.

~

For nearly an hour, Daniel searched his side of the forest. Though it didn’t give him anything, he had a lot of time with his own thoughts. Going over his survival training in his head he ticked off all he could remember. Water, food, supplies, shelter, direction? He thought, or was it? No, water is first, you can die of thirst a lot faster than starving… Fuck. There isn’t anything here! He spat at the ground in frustration. Anywhere else and he could figure something out. Anywhere but in a forest made of skin trees with bad hairdos. He knelt to the muddy soil rubbing his hands in it. There’s water here. How else is it this damp? After several more minutes of searching, He left, disheartened.

Daniel returned to see Katrina and Robert sitting beside each other right where they had been before.

“Find anything?” Daniel asked, approaching with more hair-like sticks from the strange trees. To Daniel’s surprise, as he got closer, he saw they held several fruits and bowls of water.

“Dan!” Katrina called, waving a fruit that looked oddly similar to an ordinary apple. The familiar object was in stark contrast to their current surroundings. “Look at what we got!”

Daniel hurried to stand by their side. To his astonishment, he saw they had accumulated an impressive bounty of fruit and a few nuts.

“This is fantastic, guys,” Daniel said, grinning. He looked at the three large stone bowls filled to the brim with clear water, kneeling to inspect them further. The water looked completely clean and clear, but it was the bowls themselves that caught his attention. They were smooth stone, with lines carved around the rim. An indication that they were clearly created by someone or something with intelligence. Daniel picked one up, inspecting it further. “Where did you find all this stuff?”

“We were just walking back,” Katrina said, “After a while, when it was clear we weren’t going to find anything, we turned to head back to the clearing.” She paused for a moment, looking back across the clearing. “They were lined up right over there.” She pointed. “The fruit was piled next to the bowls. We didn’t know what to think about it, so we just carried everything over here and wanted to wait for you.”

“Strange…” Daniel said, scanning the tree line. “Well, one thing’s for sure, we’re not alone in this place. The question is…” He looked again at the water in the bowl. “What are their intentions?”

“Well, I think we should just go look for some fresh water from a stream or something,” Robert chimed in. “I’m not going to risk whatever this is. Could be poisoned for all we know.”

Daniel took a deep breath and brought the bowl’s rim to his lips.

“Seriously?” Robert said.

Daniel sipped the cool water first, letting it rest in his mouth for a moment before swallowing it. His parched lips sang in silent thanks, as the refreshing liquid brought instant relief. Katrina and Robert held their breath as he waited for any sign it was unsafe.

“Hmm,” Daniel grunted, satisfied that there was nothing to worry about, and started drinking earnestly.

Katrina licked her dried lips, grabbed another bowl from the ground, and started drinking too. Not long after, Robert did the same. There were several minutes of quietly consuming the meal until Daniel finally stood.

“Well, it doesn’t make much sense to me, but there you go.” Robert grunted, standing to join him.

“There’s no such thing as a free meal,” Daniel stretched, feeling satisfied.

“Well, that didn’t stop you from eating or drinking it,” Katrina said.

“Priorities,” Daniel smiled. “I was thirsty, and it didn’t look like any of us could find anything. So, I took a chance to fill my belly before we went looking for a way out of here.”

“So, where do we start?” Katrina asked,

“Probably best to head in the direction you guys went,” Daniel looked to the other side of the clearing.

“So, we just pick a random direction and go? That’s it?” Robert seemed perplexed, “How do we know that’s even the right direction?”

“Well, we don’t have any way to find direction, you know? North, South, East, and West? We don’t have any stars at night that would be useful either. So, with that, we don’t even know if the sun up ‘there’,” Daniel pointed upward, “can help us. So we head in whatever direction we might find something, and so far, that’s the only one.”

Robert shrugged and knelt, putting the remains of their meal and the stone bowl to the side. “Lead the way, then.”

Katrina stood as well, taking care to stack her bowl on Robert’s in a strange attempt to tidy up. “I’m ready. Hopefully, we run into a village or something. These bowls look like they were crafted with machinery of some kind. We could—”

Her mouth froze, and her eyes widened. Daniel noticed she was looking just past his right shoulder into the tree line. He turned to see a strange creature perched on a low-hanging branch several yards from where they were standing. Its eyes were a dismal yellow with a dull glow. The beast was clearly twice the size of an average person, with arms and legs and a long tail dangling below the branch. It also had large wings pressed close to its back and a monstrous face with dozens of sharp teeth exposed from its lips. The creature had short grey fur covering its body and clearly visible muscles sculpted beneath it.

“What the hell...?” Daniel managed to say. His mind struggling to process what was before them.

Katrina was still frozen, and Daniel moved before her, facing the creature. It remained still, studying them for several minutes until it turned its back and spread its massive wings to fly. There was a great gust of wind as it ascended through the forest’s canopy into the sky.

“Oh my God,” Robert said. “I thought…” He gagged, “I thought it was gonna rip us apart.” His eyes moved to Daniel.

“We have to start moving, guys,” Daniel regained his composure. “We don’t know what that thing was, and I don’t want to stick around to find out.”

Not that it would have taken any convincing to persuade the others that it was time to move. The three gathered what little they had left of the fruit and headed for their chosen direction.

As they moved, the sun made its way across the sky. Hours had passed, and there was no sign of any village or people of any kind. Daniel couldn’t help but think of the creature in the tree; its mere existence meant they weren’t in any place they knew. With another glance around the alien trees, he sighed. Either we’re on another planet, or we’re all dead. Or… none of this is real, and I’m in a coma or something.

“Can we stop here and take a rest? We’ve been walking for a while, and I could use a break.” Katrina pointed down at her slip-on flats. “These weren’t made for foraging or hiking.”

Daniel nodded and turned to rest against a tree. “Let’s take twenty.”

Robert was further ahead and stopped when Katrina called to him. “I don’t know why, but I have so much energy now, I don’t understand it; I’ve never felt this alive before.” Robert sat down beside Katrina, fidgeting.

She frowned at him, looking annoyed. “You must have finally done some damage to that thick skull of yours. Why do you have so much damn energy now?” After several moments of silence, Katrina continued, “There doesn’t seem to be an end to this forest,”

“We need to find more food and water,” Daniel strained as he adjusted himself to a more comfortable position. As he groaned, his eyes caught a glimpse of a familiar shape hanging in the trees. The Gargoyle-like creature from earlier that morning was perched on another branch, its same stoic stare piercing the soul. Their eyes locked, and a terrible fear came over Daniel. Not this thing again, he thought. Its eyes were small and squinted but clearly intelligent, studying them very carefully.

Robert and Katrina were still bickering about the direction and what they would do about food. But as Daniel peered into what he feared to be a dark and evil soul, their voices faded, becoming muffled and slow, until there was silence.

“You…” A harsh and raspy voice echoed in his mind. “What are you?”

A sharp pain flared in Daniel’s temples. He winced and put his hands over them.

“Why have you come here?” it asked.

Daniel glared at the creature, as this was clearly it’s doing. Fear began to turn into anger as the pain continued, but he could not look away. Some outside force kept his eyes locked with the creature until suddenly Katrina’s shriek broke the connection. Screw this bullshit! He thought.

Daniel stood immediately and grabbed Katrina by the sweater, lifting her to her feet.

“Let’s get the hell out of here!” Robert yelled, trying to get up.

The three scrambled to escape the imposing creature. They ran as far and fast as they could, into a part of the forest that was thicker and darker than before. Now only small streams of sunlight pierced the canopy above, and even the air had a heavy feel. They panted amid this new scenery, gasping and sucking in air.

“What…?” Katrina said between breaths. “What the hell is going on here? That thing is just following us around!” She looked down at her sweater, now torn and stretched. “Great, my sweater is destroyed now.”

“Sorry about that,” Daniel said, wincing as he leaned against a tree to catch his breath. “I just grabbed you and started running.”

Robert said nothing. He stood facing the direction they had come from, scanning the forest for any signs of the creature. They then stood silently for several minutes, the adrenaline starting to fade.

“It… spoke to me,” Daniel finally said. “I heard it in my head. It asked me what I was. Like it had never seen a human being before.”

Katrina looked at him, her face puzzled and twisted. “What does that mean?” she asked, a quiver in her voice. “What are you talking about?”

Robert finally sat next to her with an expression of worry. “Where the hell are we?”

Daniel shook his head, again rubbing at his aching temples. “Listen, there are lots of questions we have, but I don’t think that creature is going to harm us. It didn’t sound hostile to me… just curious. We might be able to speak with it, and find out more about where we are.”

Robert looked at the ground, fear clear in his features. “Well, I’m not going anywhere near that thing. You can try if you want.”

Daniel started standing, but stopped suddenly as a deep rumble shook him to his core. All seemed to shake as a booming voice shattered the chaos into silence.

“Stop,” it said, echoing again in Daniel’s mind.

The three humans were frozen, and again, there was a sharp pain in Daniel’s head. This time based on their reaction, shared by his two companions. He looked back to see if the creature was perched again, but it was gone.

“You wish to leave my forest?” the booming voice continued, each word bringing forth another wave of pain.

Katrina looked at Robert, then at Daniel in confusion, her head clearly in pain. “What is happening?” she screamed.

“Yes!” Daniel finally shouted, after mustering his courage. “We need to find food and water!” he called out to the forest, not knowing exactly who or what he was talking to.

“Forget that!” Robert said in a panic. “Where the hell are we? And how did we get here?”

Katrina quickly put her hand over his mouth, silencing him. “Shush, you want to piss this thing off?”

There were several seconds of silence, each ticked by as an eternity. Daniel held his breath, continuing to scan the surrounding area. A faint rumble broke the silence; first just the sound, then the ground shook.

Katrina clung to Robert and started to scream as shaking turned into violent thrashing. Daniel braced himself against a tree as best he could but lost his balance when it became more intense. He stumbled to the ground only to see hundreds of the strange alien trees before him uproot themselves and clear a path. Roots pulled from the soft soil like dozens of legs and relocated to the side. His eyes widened in awe and terror; he had never seen anything like this before, but the shaking ceased almost as quickly as it began.

“This path will lead you out of this forest,” the voice boomed. “Now go.”

It was silent again; the forest floor was still, and Daniel regained his bearings in the minutes following the strange event.

He stood slowly, keeping his eyes on his surroundings. They made their way down the cleared path and out of the forest. First, at a slow walk, then as they progressed, they started to pick up speed. Daniel soon began dashing as fast as he could, pushing the fear aside. He could see it now; the light from ahead bleeding through the opening of the trees, welcoming them.

Daniel was the first to break through the edge of the forest. To his amazement, he saw rolling hills covered in plain grass, shining with greens, blues, and reds blending perfectly into one another. The companions emerged in a small valley surrounded by mountains and patches of normal-looking trees; it was unbelievably beautiful. As Robert and Katrina left the forest, their jaws gaped with astonishment. However, as they scanned the hills surrounding them, astonishment turned to horror.

A small group of creatures raced over the hump of a hill. They were large reptilian creatures, twice the size of an ostrich. They were hunched over with two powerful legs tearing chunks of dirt up as they hurtled toward them. The beings that sat upon them were even more alarming, bobbing up and down with each stride, billowing long crimson cloaks behind them.

Daniel glanced back at the forest, weighing their options heavily. The steady thumping of talons on the rolling hills grew louder and louder with each passing second. His mind slowed as adrenaline pumped through his body. He needed to make a decision. Crap, fight or flight? He thought, looking at Robert and Katrina. Fighting isn’t an option. “Back into the forest!” he shouted, turning back to the alien forest. However, the rumbling returned before he stepped one foot further; Daniel’s mind darkened with despair as the trees uprooted themselves again, blocking their path.

“Daniel!” Katrina cried as the giant creatures skidded to a halt behind them.

Daniel turned to face them; now standing before them were six large and fearsome steeds. Up close, he could see the detail of the creatures’ scaled bodies. Large hind legs thick with muscles, still pulsing from the exertion. A lengthy body with small human-sized arms hanging from the chest, all leading to a slender neck, and bulky, muscled heads with wide and fearsome jaws. Sitting on the creatures’ backs and wearing smooth white helmets, face masks, and crimson cloaks, were riders of some kind. They each had an elaborate spear in hand and bone-like armor covering their chests.

Moments passed painfully slow as Daniel, Robert, and Katrina stared.

What do I do? Daniel thought, looking from rider to rider and at their mounts and weapons. He swallowed, and stepped forward.

“Hello,” he managed to say. “I… uh… we are lost here in this strange land.” Daniel looked back to Robert and Katrina for support but only saw faces frozen with fear. “We need food and water. We mean you no harm.” Great. If they decide to attack us, we’re screwed. He thought,

The riders before him seemed unwavering, staring at him from behind their pale masks. The dreadful silence stretched out, letting fear and uncertainty take hold.

“They don’t understand me,” Daniel concluded, stiffening his posture.

“We need help!” Robert finally called out.

All six of the riders’ heads looked at him in unison.

“We woke up in this forest and have no idea where we are or how we got here!”

Silence again fell.

“Vudarr gue mangurath espiritos,” said one of the crimson riders, who advanced with his mount, its feet thumping the ground with each step.

Robert and Katrina stepped back as he approached. Daniel stood where he was, not sensing hostility but curiosity in the rider’s voice.

“Vudarr gue satomo mangurath espiritos?” he said again, slightly louder, now clearly looking straight past Daniel to Robert.

Robert’s eyes blinked as he glanced at Daniel, “Uh, yeah… like I said, we need food and water, and beds, and, uh….”

The rider leaned forward on his mount and looked into Robert’s eyes. “Vudarr… gue satomo mangurath espiritos?” it said again, this time with a slow and stern tone.

Robert paused, and Daniel picked up some annoyance in the rider’s voice.

“Uh….” Robert said, glancing again at Daniel and Katrina. “Yes...?”

The riders in the back began to chuckle amongst each other, speaking in their strange language. But the one that had stepped forward still stared at Robert, only grunting as if acknowledging his words. The rider turned its body upon the creature they rode, hooking its spear into a clip on the side of its saddle, which held it in place. Then it removed its mask to reveal its alien features. Its skin was a brick red, with long silver hair pulled back into a ponytail. It had a stern brow and thin eyebrows that relaxed as a friendly smile crossed its face, revealing four sharp canine teeth. “Coumeck gue vieta espiritos.” The strange creature chuckled.