Riding a bicycle was much more fun than walking.
"Yiyip!" Shiro barked excitedly as Colin took advantage of the straight and broad road to go as fast as he dared. The wind blew in their faces until Shiro looked like someone was pressing his fur against his face as Colin cycled west.
Getting the motor, Colin felt, was definitely worth it. The excited humming of the motor seemed to agree with his three Comrades, all of whom looked like they were enjoying the wind.
They passed by a giant mantis and a big yellow lizard with a fin on its back stretching from neck to tail. Those Wilds were on a level with Rock Beetles, creatures that Colin's Comrades had defeated easily before. Colin wasn't bothered about them, although he did wonder if he should stop and let his Comrades train a little.
But before he could think of whether or not to fight them, they were already passed and left far behind. Colin began to think that at these speeds, he just might make it all the way to Forest Village without having to fight anything at all.
It took them less than five minutes to reach the fork in the road that led to Hot Sands along the Forest Edge. It had taken them much longer, last time, but then, they had spent most of that time fighting Wilds.
And then they were past the fork in the road.
"Keep an eye out, you guys!" Colin called to his Comrades. "We're in dangerous territory, now!"
"Yip." Shiro said, barely able to keep his eyes open against the wind. His ears were folded down against the top of his head.
They were at the edge of the forest, thinly scattered trees by the roadside, mostly, but the forest nonetheless.
Colin felt it even as they followed the road through the outermost edge of it. The trees were all around him, the warm brown of their trunks and the rich green of their leaves seeming to whisper to him a secret.
{Welcome.}
For a moment there, a brief moment, Colin wanted to stop. He wanted to stand there among those trees and breathe in their scent, put his hand on their trunks and lean in their shade.
{Welcome.}
"Thank you." He told them softly. The wind snatched his voice away, but he felt certain, somehow, that they heard.
He sped by, using his legs to pedal as fast as he could, going faster and faster, until Shiro and Raiki had to bend down behind the backpack to protect themselves from the wind, until Fireheart kept her head down, until Colin himself had to put on his visor because the force of the wind in his face was too great.
{I wish I could stay…}
But he cycled as fast as he could, because he knew that this area was dangerous.
Above them, the figure of a white flying squirrel with a broad stripe of black down its back hovered for a moment, then fell behind as it was unable to keep up.
{That was close. If the squirrel had attacked, we'd all be in so much trouble…}
The Wilds here, he knew, were several times more powerful than the Wilds in the Sunshine Forest, whether East or South.
A trio of green wolves watched them speed past from atop a craggy hill. Colin barely saw them before they were left behind.
There was a tree in the middle of the road.
Colin blinked for a moment, swerving to avoid it, then jumped when it turned and stretched out a branch towards him.
{Idiot! Of course there would be walking trees! I mean, Nettles is a plant-type, and Rita's Venuspot is a plant-type too. Why wouldn't there be bigger plant-types?!}
But that Wild didn't touch them either. They were going too fast.
"Yip!" Shiro yelped.
Colin frowned, not slowing down. Whatever it was, it wasn't attacking them or anything just yet… was it?
He sneaked a look behind him and saw 'it'.
'It' was a shadow that sped across the ground after them, and it wasn't slowing down.
A bird of some sort. Quite a big one.
"Hang on, guys." Colin said, grunting with effort.
"Mew." Raiki said, keeping her head down.
Colin fixed his eyes on the road, which seemed to stretch all the way to the other end of the world.
With the wind blowing in his face and the motor humming under his feet, at the sheer speeds he was cycling at, the thought of an endless road would have seemed like heaps of fun… if not for that bird following him from behind.
Colin darted a glance back again, only to get a shock.
Where before there was one shadow, now there were two.
And neither of them were being left behind.
"Uhoh." Colin said, even as he started to feel a twinge of tiredness.
And then his watch started beeping.
***
The voice that came over his watch was half drowned out with crackles.
"…lin? Where are…?"
"Katrin? Is that you?" Colin recognized the voice. Or at least, he thought he did.
"Co… I can't hear… something's wrong with the line. Ah! Hello? Hello? Can you hear me?"
Yep. Definitely Katrin.
"Katrin? What's up?" Colin asked.
"Colin, the line is… can't hear… hello? Hello, are you there?" Her voice kept getting cut off.
"Katrin, I'm here, but I can't hear half of what you're saying. There's these fuzzy noises…"
"A lot of static… you… in a… zone…"
Colin sighed. "Kat, I'm sorry, but I can't make sense of what you just said. I'm moving too fast, I think."
"…places where calls can't… because of… so if you're… call back later?"
"Call back later? Yeah. That's a good idea."
"…then. Bye."
The link ended.
***
Colin darted a glance back and saw three shadows following him in V-formation.
"Not good." He grunted, starting to breathe heavily. "I can't even call for help in here…"
The three shadows behind him were not slowing down at all. They were, Colin thought, actually catching up.
Either that, or he was slowing because he was tired.
{I knew this was going to happen… I finally entered the Forest of Legends, just the outermost edge of it, and I'm going to die already…}
{But I'm here… I'm really here…}
{At least I made it this far. At least I managed to shelter in the shade of these trees, breathed in the wind of this road, before I die...}
{But I don't want to die… I totally don't want to die…}
Colin panted heavily. He was slowing and the birds were almost on him. He couldn't go on much farther.
{I don't want to die… I have to find a way to keep going… to go faster… but…}
{But… I'm so tired… so tired… easier just to die my way back to town and take the other way.}
{Yet… I don't want to die… I don't want to leave this place like this!}
There was another tree on the road ahead. This one swung towards him, even as Colin felt his legs slowing, unable to keep up his speeds.
{The tree… the birds… I'm going to get caught in between …}
Colin screamed in his own mind. [I don't want to die…!]
And unexpectedly, he heard a reply.
[Colin…?]
***
[Lynn…? Is that you?] Colin gasped, trying to avoid the tree.
[This is the second time you've contacted my psi-phone out of the blue.]
[Lynn… I… I'm sorry, I'm just… trying to…]
[What's this about dying…?]
Colin was almost at the tree. [I'm… an idiot… but…]
Words failed him. The memories of entering the forest in spite of its danger, the ride, the shadows, the tree… everything crashed together in Colin's head all at once.
[I see.] Lynn's psionic voice sounded soft.
The tree moved. Colin tried to move too, but didn't quite manage it. His bike tripped over a 'root' and spun around wildly, the wheels actually skidding over the road for a few moments before coming to a complete stop.
Colin turned and at last saw the birds that were chasing him. They were regal birds, with broad wings arched high, and deep, piercing eyes. Their feathers shone a shiny black, tipped with purple. Their claws gleamed silver.
[Cheer up, Colin. You will not die here.]
"Yip." Shiro poked his head out of the sidecar, seeing as they had stopped completely and were facing the wrong way.
"Keep down…" Colin said, bracing himself for white light and the scene of the town square…
And that sick feeling. Colin hated that sick feeling.
The three birds came right for him…
[I'm so dead…]
And passed over without touching him.
[You will not die] Lynn said again. [I am here.]
And from behind Colin came a great cry.
***
Its wings covered the sky, its shout made the air shake. The three regal birds that flew overhead did not touch it; they landed and bowed down in respect.
Colin turned and saw the biggest bird he'd ever seen in his life. It was the same type as the three chasing him, but this one was HUGE. Its claws were gold, and there was gold along the feathers as well as purple. Its head feathers had the shape of a crown on it.
This was, Colin felt, the {king} of those birds.
And then the bird lowered its head, and Colin saw something even more amazing.
Sitting on the bird was a girl. She was fair, with wispery hair like sunshine, and brilliant blue eyes. For someone so skinny, sitting on a bird like that had to be intense, but she smiled at him and shook her head like it was him who was queer, not herself.
"Colin." She greeted him, and he knew her voice at once.
"Lynn…" Colin stared.
Lynn nodded as the tree and the three smaller birds went away. Then, she glanced briefly at his wolfcat cub, his kitten, and red panther.
"I see." She said again. "Be safe, Colin."
And with a gust of wind that nearly bowled him over, her king among birds leapt into the sky and vanished beyond the treetops.
***
Lynn, Colin felt, was a lot like his older sister, Kate.
Maybe it was because they seemed to be about the same age, four years older than himself.
They both had an air of superiority around them.
They both had a way of making him feel embarrassed.
They both had a way of saving him when he least expected (but really needed) it, whether or not he asked them to.
They both had a way of ordering him around and disappearing all of a sudden.
Not to mention being rather fussy about phone calls.
Yep. Lynn might look quite different, but in many ways, she was a lot like Kate.
"Yip." Shiro looked up at Colin and wagged his tail. He seemed to like Lynn.
"Well, she did save us." Colin said. "We better get going."
"Yip." Shiro said, leaning forward in the sidecar. He really liked riding at high speeds.
***
The rest of the road through the forest's south edge was suspiciously clear. Colin didn't see so much as a moving tree. He sure didn't see any more regal shadow birds.
He didn't go as fast as before, but he kept a brisk pace. It took half an hour before he reached the big crossroads and made the turning to Forest Village.
The roads here didn't have anything dangerous… just a few hand-sized beetles, grass shrews and Common Lynxmice.
"I'm definitely taking the safe way back." Colin said, sweating heavily.
"Yip." Shiro laughed.