When I came to the vast cavernous bright room was almost unrecognisable from before. The brilliantly painted walls were now splashed with splatters of blood and small chunks of flesh. From the walls, a few branches grew with horrid fruits of either full or partial human corpses.
Some fruits from those nightmare branches were not dead. The fruits whimpered or sobbed or breathed out foamy bubbles of blood.
All the long plank tables, and benches were now broken. Only a large tree branch and iron wrapped strong box sitting near the door Treeman burst in was left intact. The box was huge and almost as long as Lucia was tall.
There was a vast difference between the room that Treeman entered earlier with the laughing and proud members of the South Wharf Gang safe in their headquarters to the nightmarish scene where those same people were dead. except for a few stubborn souls who were still hanging onto life, but I knew they were not long for life.
Other than me, there was only one man still alive.
One man, and one Demi-Human girl.
Treeman had trapped him spreadeagled on the flagstone floor with four long branches growing from the walls.
The man's once immaculate regal clothes were now in disarray, torn, and stained with blood and piss and shit. The pungent scent of piss and shit told the story that it was he who had stained his clothes with shit. His face was puffy with tears and he was sobbing away quietly. Around his wrists and ankles, where the branches were gripping him tightly, he had rubbed his skin raw from where he tried in vain to escape the imprisonment of Treeman.
The girl was probably no more than eight, and short and painfully slender for her age. She was wearing what could only be generously called rags. She wrapped herself around my muscular leg, looking up at me with wide, slightly glowing green eyes which held a mixture of emotions. The almost broken innocent way she looked up at me reminding me of the girl I had abandoned all those years ago. The one who still haunted me in my nightmares.
Unlike the girl of my nightmares, this girl had vivid glowing green highlights amongst her wildly wavey hair. Her skin was flawless and had a silver sheen to it, almost like a pearl. On her forehead was a single reptile scale-like glowing green patch.
From what I could see, there was only a single wound, a faint scratch running up her neck.
I couldn ’t see the memories of what had happened. I never could when I lost control of Treeman. But something had brought me out of my Treeman rage form quicker than expected. And beyond that, something had also enraged Treeman, beyond what he knew what was happening in that cell.
Please hear me, a voice echoed in my head loudly as if was shouting and almost screaming.
‘Is that you?’ I asked at the girl clinging to my leg.
She didn ’t move any part of her body beyond a slight nod. It is, she said, they never touched me. Just separated me. Locked me in small crate. Because I mind screamed one of them. The other you freed me from crate and restraint.
That would possibly explain the strangeness with Treeman. One hand of hers briefly let go of my muscular thighs and rubbed the scratch on her neck. Heavy tension within my shoulders, tension I didn ’t know I had, faded away. With the heavy tension gone, I realised I was tired, tired beyond what I should’ve been.
It okay, she comforted me.
I gave her a grim smile and patted her lovely green hair. ‘It’s never okay for people to trade people like this.’
‘How can you stand there next to one of them ? Let one of them cling to you like that? ’ The man shouted with false bravado.
‘I believe I’m one of them.’ I said in a quiet voice. ‘Don’t you find my blue eyes unnaturally bright or vivid?‘
He shook his head, looking up at my face.
‘I was born with green eyes. I have memories they were the same colour as the forest canopy. Was eight when got these vivid blue eyes.’
‘That true?’ Lucia asked from the side.
I froze for a moment and then turned to look at her. She stood looking smaller than normal amongst the oversized ruins of the destroyed door. In the brightness of the cavernous room, her pale grey skin didn ’t glow. Her black, formfitting sleeveless outfit helped her blend in with the fading darkness beyond the destroyed door. Lucia obviously wasn’t really invested in the answer as she looked around the room with a slightly gleeful look on her face.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Yes, the girl said in my head, and I guessed Lucia ’s too as she turned to look at the girl.
‘You scary, Berwyn.’ Lucia said, after looking around the room, before fixing me with a calculating look and pride in her voice. ‘It good.’
The desperate Lucia was gone. She was back to normal. I was not sure how to treat her now.
‘Most fled when freed. Few remained.’
Damn it, more problems. And this girl—
I am Nolicia. I help you. I not a problem. She begged me, her eyes slightly watering.
I patted her glowing green highlighted hair, then placed my hand on the back of her head and hugged her close to my leg. Just how was I going to explain to Sara that I had adopted a child …
No, I couldn ’t let her know. Not now. Not after this. I was pretty sure someone would chase up this chaos, and I couldn't get her involved in this mess.
You love her, Nolicia said.
I gave a half-shrug and half-nodded.
‘What happen to that?’ Lucia asked.
I was just about to answer that I would kill him when once again Nolicia spoke to us both. I deal with him. He has secrets you need.
‘No, no, you can’t.’ The man screamed at the three of us. ‘They’ll kill my family.’
‘How many families have you killed or ripped apart?’ I asked calmly.
He didn't like my answer and started sobbing, begging us for us to save his wife and children.
I ignored his begging as his men had probably ignored many such like begging in the past. Nolicia didn ’t need any visible sign of my acceptance. She likely felt the hardening of my heart against him.
She looked at him.
For a while his begging intensified, then it stopped, and he looked blankly at Nolicia. I could see his chest still rising and falling with each breath. The man was still alive, so it was time for me to finish things.
No, Dad, leave him. I heard her say with a bit of trepidation. His mind dead. His body not know he dead.
I didn ’t know if she was messing with my brain—
It hard to talk to you Dad. Again there was that slight hesitation. I barely sense you surface thoughts. There no way I do more than that. I love you quiet mind. Don ’t get rid of me.
From the earnest way she was speaking, I knew, or at least hoped that, she was telling the truth. In that, it was time to leave.
‘Is there anywhere safe we can put that,’ I nodded to the chest, ‘and somewhere safe for Nolicia to stay?’
‘Those who no want to go free are nearby.’ Lucia said. ‘We leave her with them.’
Tell him the truth, Nolicia said. There was a slight pause. No. Another pause. Tell him, now. There was a dangerous edge to Nolicia ’s mental speech.
‘Safe place near dorm. She stay there. Satisfied?’
Be nice to Daddy, he found your coin.
‘Where is it?’ She said, her face and voice full of desperate emotion once more.
In there.
‘I’ll take the chest with us.’ I said.
Lucia looked at me in disbelief. I knew she was a slight lass and Nolicia was smaller still. But I didn ’t need them to move that large, strong box. Still, I was strong even without the extra boost Treeman gave me.
Nolicia let go of me with slight reluctance.
I walked over to the large strong box, which was almost as big as Lucia, and with a single hand picked it up and held it over my shoulder. It was heavy, dug into my back uncomfortably, and strained my muscles slightly.
Normally I would use two hands, but I needed my other hand for something else. Maybe something far more important. So with my empty hand, I reached out towards Nolicia. ‘Come on, let’s go to your new home. Daughter.’
She gave me a bright smile, one which rivaled the brightness of her beautiful glowing green eyes and the glowing highlights in her wildly wavy hair.