The night was hell.

These woods, that just a few hours ago seemed so peaceful, now lurked with unseen menace.

The forest loomed above them, the cossi trees eerie and silent as they marched, desperate and bloody, through the still night.

Senu reached up and caught Sakka’s attention, whispering something to the man. Then the spearman cursed and tore out another leaf than had grown from his elbow.

Ripping out the growth left a small open wound behind, that slowly wept blood, refusing to clot.

Each of them already sported a dozen small wounds . Even as they tried desperately to make haste, the injuries and blood loss were already starting to slow them down.

At first, Elrik was filled with a deep bodily horror of where the next growth might come. He kept touching his eyes and face feeling for the wretched growths.

That was before Agrisu assured them this terror upon them was the very, very least of the Grove’s attention.

Agrisu hurried them constantly - “Move! We need to be away! Away! This is a warning, you understand? A warning! The grove will not be so gentle past dawn.”

Suddenly Senu gave a loud rumbling bellow of pain and fell, curled over himself. His hands were scratching, clawing at his ear.

In the utter silence of the night forest, the yell seemed to echo for miles.

For a heartbeat the lot of them just stared at thrashing man on the ground, unsure what to do next, before Yena stepped forward and knelt over him, examining him.

"Sikkaci rissiki yissiae!..."

The stream of low curses was beyond Elrik’s vocabulary but he could hear the terror in her voice.

Then Yena tensed, wrapped her fingers around the slim green tendril that grew from Senu’s ear and wrenched.

The long high pitched shriek the giant gave seem to go on and on and on.

…

The river roared in their ears.

The Yitka was at it's fiercest and narrowest here - the mighty river squeezed through a span barely a hundred feet across. The water ran fast and deep.

Finally, they were away from the suffocating cover of the woods, and the stars were in the sky again.

They were all in rough shape. Tired, out of breath, bleeding from dozens of little open wounds. The others were close to their limits, and Elrik was well beyond his, in that hellish march through the dark forest. But now they were at the Yitka, while dawn was still far from sight.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Senu lay, draped on over a boulder. The giant had soldiered on all night, after they'd taken that thing out of his ear. He'd been silent, forcing himself to shamble on behind them, with Sakka urging him on from behind. When they'd finally made it to sight of the Yitka, he'd thrown himself on the rock - passed out or asleep - Elrik couldn't tell.

"What now?", Sakka sat, squatting on his haunches. HIs pack lay by him where he dropped it.

Agrisu, stood, hands on his knees, observing the river.

A sad wooden post stood, close to where they sat. It was the what remained of a bridge that once spanned the river. Now all that was left was a pair of posts on either side of the raging river.

"Now? Now we cross", Agrisu, the leader of their little warband, panted out.

None of them questioned it. As dangerous as the river was, the worst it offered was a quick death. They didn't want to see what might come their way at dawn - when the Grove gave them it's full attention.

Agrisu gestured across the river with his eyes, "Can you get a line across?"

Yena nodded, squinting in the dark, "Give me a minute"

She held out a hand, "Hand me your spare bowstring", Elrik did, and watched - curious.

First, Yena set aside her pack and took out a recurved bow. She took a minute to restring the bow, curving back the stave to set the tension taught.

Then she tied a length of fine line to the tips of two arrows in a careful arrangement. She took time, making sure she had the length she needed, counting twice. Then she looked up at Agrisu, nodding. She was ready.

When she stood she did something strange. Elrik could have sworn - as she stood there, aiming across the river, that she was whispering something to herself. For a moment her eyes glimmered, like a cat's eyes in the dark.

She drew back on her bow, two arrows notched at once on the string, as she sighted at the other end - at a post - the other end of the broken bridge. Then she drew her aim higher.

Yena loosed - and two arrows flew high into the air. They flew higher and higher, flying further than they should. Behind them trailed fine lines, unspooling as the arrows gained height. Then they curved, drawling two perfect parabolas in the air, and landed, on either side of the post.

"First try", Agrisu smiled, watching, "Good. Cinch it"

Yena start winding in the line. The line was tied to length of rope on one end, so that when she wound it back, it drew the rope along it's path.

When she was done they had two lengths of rope in a loop between the two bridge posts. It was a rope bridge, of a kind.

Agrisu sat up with a grunt, "Now we cross"

...

Yena was first across.

They all left their packs behind. Those would follow, tied to another length of rope, dragged back across when they were through.

Yena jumped up and onto the rope bridge. For a second she stood, teetering on the tightrope, her arms out to either side. Then she walking smoothly, almost skipping across the lengths of rope, crossing the river faster than Elrik could believe.

Agrisu and Sakka took Senu with them, sandwiching the larger man between them. The three waded into the river, the rope line clutched tight. The river current was furious, but the line held. For minutes that lasted hours, they dragged themselves and the barely conscious Senu across the river - handhold by painful handhold - until finally they were finally across and to the other side.

Agrisu waved to Elrik to start, "Now, Kassi. Be slow. Be patient, yes?"

Elrik checked the line to the packs, then made his way to the rope.

He grabbed the rope, hooking his elbows over it. For a beat, the river threatened to overwhelm him - the current's pull was strong. Then he had his knees hooked over and he was crawling along the length of the rope bridge, upside down - like a sloth.

It was painfully slow, but felt safer than risking the current. The others watched patiently, as they lay on their side of the river.

When Elrik was almost to the other side, Agrisu held an arm out to him.

"Almost there Kassi. Almost done."

Elrik was just reaching out his hand - when the arrow flew at his face.