For Seth the forest was a gentle reprieve from the existence that was his family. It laid behind the mansion, never attended, and allowed to grow as wild as it wished.
Despite his father's warnings and Jonathan's insistence that he listen, it remained Seth's favorite place to be. Here, amidst the countless trees of grey and black and brown, veiled from the sun by the canopies of green and dying brown leaves, Seth felt complete. He was no longer Seth, third son of House Darnesh, or a boy with two soul mages for older brothers. He was simply a boy.
Unfortunately, today he was a boy with a girl.
Natalie walked beside him in a gown of deep blue, torn horribly at the waist so that the hem that once cascaded down to cover her feet stopped just above her knees. The rest of her legs were covered in trousers of brown leather. Which was rebellious of her since her parents would throw a fit if they knew she wore trousers.
She walked beside him, eyes kept on the ground so that she didn't trip over a pebble or some stray root grown too big to be held down by the soil. In her confused outfit, she remained beautiful. And while Seth knew it was likely his crush on her speaking, the fact that she was the attention of almost every boy in his father's territory gave a certain level of credence to it. It was a buttress to an opinion that could easily have been no more than that; an opinion.
Today she wore her earth brown hair in a long, loose single braid that came all the way down to the center of her back, swishing and swaying with every step she took. Unlike his own hair, under the touch of light it often looked as if it was lined with touches of silver. Beside her, he was no more than a simple boy in a simple cotton shirt, plain trouser, and a pack slung over his shoulder so that it rested against his chest. Uninteresting as it sounded, there were times when he picked up things that simply caught his attention while he was here. Those things always found their way into his pack.
He stepped over a fallen branch that came up to his knee and turned to offer Natalie his hand only to find her making her way over it herself, struggling in her attempt. While he was displeased at being unable to play the gentle man to the damsel, the sight brought a smile to his face.
Everytime they were together he'd watched her manipulate and control countless boys with the act of a damsel in distress. She would complain over the heat of the sun, or an unwillingness to go through the stress of crossing a distance to purchase a fruit. He'd even seen her complain over the sturdiness of a stone. He hadn't been sure which amused him most at the time; that she was willing to play the role so beautifully that she believed a human existed that would indulge the insanity of a girl complaining that a stone she picked was too hard, or the fool of a fifteen-year-old boy who willingly—without being asked—went in search of a softer stone.
Still, it was a touch of pride to know that she kept her true self only in his presence. Knowing she only allowed herself to be real with him, to discard all the pretenses when they were alone, brought a warmth to his heart. This was also the reason being around her was so confusing. Because while he was proud to know she was most comfortable only with him, it was disheartening not being given the type of attention she gave other boys. Sometimes he wanted her to remember he was also a boy and not just a friend.
"What's with your face, dwarf?"
Natalie's words brought him from his confusion and he scowled. "What do you mean?"
"You look like you ate a fruit that's sweet and sour." She paused to look around as if realizing something. "Is that what the fruits here taste like?" she asked, then turned an accusatory glare at him. "Are you eating without sharing right now?"
Seth's scowl eased into a mild frown. "I've been walking with you. Did you see me pick up any fruit?"
"It's your forest," she shrugged. "You could've done it and I wouldn't know."
"Sure." Seth turned away from her. He let the sarcasm in his words rear its head, knowing it would irk her, and continued on his morning stroll.
Even now, as he had earlier in the morning when he'd met her waiting for him, he wondered how she'd known to find him just before he'd gone into the forest.
He'd been somewhere between the house and the forest when she'd found him. Being in no mood to return home, he'd taken her with him. But while he continued to assure himself he'd been the one to take her of his own accord, he couldn't ignore the truth that she'd threatened him with her very presence. She knew of his father's warnings and his decision to ignore them and was always insistent that he take her on one of his forest strolls one day. In her luck, she'd found him today.
"So what happened next?" she asked with interest, pulling him back to a story he was telling her about his brothers.
"Well," he said, not really vested in the story, "Derek chose that moment to be a dick about it and tried to fight him."
"But he's just a silver," she gasped.
"Yup."
"And he still tried to face John."
"Another yup."
"Did he stand a chance?"
Seth turned to look at her as if she was somehow retarded. "I'm sorry," he said in mock confusion. "Am I telling you a story of real events or does this sound like some fairy tale of a knight in shining armor who slays the dragon and saves the princess?"
"It's soul magic," Natalie huffed, folding her arms, lips puckered in annoyance. "Anything can happen when it comes to soul magic."
Seth turned away from her and kept moving forward. "Keep telling yourself that," he muttered.
Natalie followed after him, her trumped up annoyance gone as she pestered him for more on the story. "So what happened?" she asked. "If he didn't stand a chance, how did he survive?"
Seth felt his annoyance growing, but while she was the catalyst that ignited it, he knew it was his jealousy that spurred it. Her recent constant fawning over Derek continued to irk him every day. Something about her liking Derek, his least favorite brother, never could sit right with him.
On more than one occasion he'd fought down the urge to make her promise she would not involve herself with Derek. To make her promise she would not attempt a place at friendship with him. He tried to rationalize it to the fact that he knew his older brother well enough to know the boy wanted nothing platonic with girls at his age, and that anything other than platonic with her would be considered wrong, but he knew he was wrong. He simply didn't want her having anything with a brother he didn't like.
"You're quiet again," Natalie said.
Seth's response was simple. "Thinking."
"Is it because I called you a dwarf again?" she asked with a touch of remorse. "You know I didn't mean it like that."
Seth nodded once. It had bothered him, then, but he was over it now.
"I mean," she continued, then stepped close enough to measure their height. "It's kinda cute that you're shorter than me. It's like having a little brother."
Seth's frown returned to his lips and he said, "You're short, too. And I'm older than you."
"Four weeks doesn't really count. And, for a girl my age, I'm not short. But for a boy your age…" she whistled dramatically, "you have a lot to grow. I mean, it's like your brothers took the height and left you with…" she paused, searching for a substitute. In the end, she settled for: "Me… I guess."
"I'm not that short," Seth mumbled, knowing it was a lie. All his life he was always the shortest amongst his peers, always the smallest. He wasn't necessarily short, but comparison was what made him short.
"I'm taller than you, Seth," she chuckled. "You're short."
He stepped away from her, refusing to let his anger show. "You know, for someone who's sorry, you don't sound very sorry."
"That's because you're keeping the rest of the story from me."
Willing to change the subject, he sighed. "Where did I stop?"
"You were so generously about to tell me how Derek survived."
"That's easy. He survived because he's a Darnesh, and Jonathan had no intentions of killing his brother. It's the oldest plot armor in the book."
"And you know this from your place passed out on the floor."
Seth shrugged, unwilling to argue with her. He knew this because while Jonathan hadn't had a single scratch on him when he'd woken up, Derek had had enough burns, bruises, and bleeds revealed beneath torn clothes to make him panic.
They lulled into a comfortable silence after that, walking on a while. Seth led them around a large grotesque tree, taking a turn left, and she followed.
They basked in the rich air of the forest. The smell of earth filled their lungs and the breeze calmed their minds. At least it did for him. And considering the way she continued to look around in fascination, he was compelled to believe the place did something similar for her.
It was a while, the sun reaching higher into the sky, when they came across another large tree. It was a dark brow with countless wrinkles. It had enough grooves and holes to stand testament to constant attacks from different pests and rodents and its refusal to give in. Each groove or hole was healed up quite thoroughly but remained as scars that would forever mar it.
But where he saw a tree that had stood against adversaries, Natalie saw something different.
"I like this tree," she said.
"And why is that?"
"Can't you see it," she pointed dramatically as children their age tend to. "It was made to be climbed."
She tucked a hand into one of the grooves and tugged. The tree stayed firm, unsurprisingly, and she looked at him as though she'd found gold. All she'd found was a hand hold and the look in her eyes showed she was adamant on exploring where it would take her.
Seth looked up at the tree, trailed its height all the way to the top and realized two things. One, a fall from the top would do worse than break some bones. Second, they'd somehow ventured into a part of the forest he'd never been in.
"I'd rather we not do that," he replied, with a touch of caution.
"Scared?" she mocked.
"Not really."
"Then I'm sure you won't mind climbing it."
"And I'm sure you won't mind falling."
His words struck a note and she stared at the top of the tree as if just noticing how tall it was.
"We don't have to go that high if you don't want to," she replied, bravely.
Seth saw through the empty shell of her bravado to the hesitation in her voice quite easily. He could tell she hoped he would refuse to climb now that he'd pointed out the risk.
Because of it, a part of him wanted to punish her for it; to make her swallow the weight of her bravado until she begged away from the task. He had already climbed a number of trees in the forest. Some of them had allowed him make his way to their top, others had proven too daunting a task to advance more than half way. On different occasions his weak arm had given out on him, fallen into its sudden slumber so that he fell when he shouldn't have. It was the thought of his left arm giving out on him while climbing that kept him from deciding they climb.
For all his urge to see her squirm, he feared the possible humiliation of falling more than the chance of watching her eat her own words. So he declined her offer.
"How about we don't climb, and continue walking. Preferably back home," he answered.
"You want to go back now?" she asked, surprised.
"Not really. But we're in a part of the forest I haven't been to before."
"So?" she asked, letting go and stepping away from the tree.
"So it's not very safe anymore. We can't be sure what's out here."
"Probably the same things that are in the parts you've been to."
"I don't think so."
"That's cause you're just scared. Most boys don't get scared off because they don't know something."
"That's because most boys are fools. And I'm not scared. I'm logical."
"You sure?"
"Yes."
"Alright, then," Natalie turned so that she faced him and walked backwards, and he was forced to follow. "Here's a little logic for you. Apart from the fact that you haven't been here before, what makes this part of the forest different from the other parts? And I mean logically not speculatively."
Seth opened his mouth to reply and paused. He frowned at the absence of a supportive response before answering. "Nothing."
"And what is the difference between this part of this forest, now, and the entire forest before you ever entered it?"
Again, the answer stood in opposition of him. "Nothing."
He hated that she knew how he thought. It allowed her play him at his own game, use his own thought process against him. Even now, she knew what she was doing. The smirk on her pink lips was evidence of it.
With a resigned sigh, he followed after her, quickening his steps so that he caught up. When he did, her smirk became a grin.
"I hate it when you do that?" he grumbled.
"When I do what?" she asked, feigning innocence.
"That."
"No you don't," she smiled, fondly. "You love it… And you love me, too. Now, why don't you be a big strong man and continue to lead the way."
Seth obeyed, not because he wanted to be a big, strong man but because he'd spent more time than her in the forest, the role of leader was logically his.
As they walked on, going deeper into the forests, traversing paths he'd never stepped foot on and parts he'd never been, he continued to wonder if Natalie was truly going to be able to return home before her parents returned.
While her parents where Lord and Lady of their own territory, like his, they visited the Darnesh territory very often because they had business to attend to.
Natalie had informed him earlier in their stroll that she would return home before her parents returned and that they would be visiting as a family after that, much later in the day.
Her plan, thus, was to be gone by afternoon. So he made sure he always knew a possible way out of the forest, or at least a suspected one.
Soon, without plan or intent, they came to a clearing without a canopy of leaves to veil the sky to nothing but peeks of sun rays, nor trees to curtail the breeze and keep it cool and gentle.
Seth was a few steps ahead of Natalie so that when he saw something that caught his attention, he was the only one present to see it. Guided by a curiosity and an unwillingness to share it just yet, he moved and reached for the object.
Laying it the grass, uncared for and unattended, was an orb as large as his father's hand. He picked it with a hurried caution, fast enough so that he had it before Natalie arrived, but gently enough so that it didn't slip from his hold.
The sound of hurried footsteps behind him gave him no time to study the object, so he unzipped his pack and snuck it into its confines, hiding it away from the world as he zipped the pack shut.
Hurried steps came to a halt behind him and a trembling hand took him by the shoulder.
He turned slowly, wondering what had Natalie so worked up only to find her face pale with terror, her eyes fixed ahead on something that was not him, wide as two saucers. When he followed her gaze, her terror proved contagious and he froze.
Ahead of them was a boulder over ten feet tall. It was peppered with the colors green and brown. There was vedigris on it and things that could so easily be algae. But none of these held their attention. What held them transfixed and in the hands of fear was the single green orb with a line of black cutting a line through it. They stared at it and it seemed to stare back.
Seth felt, more than saw, Natalie open her mouth and beat her to it.
"No," he whispered, glad that it sufficed to silence her. "Now, here's what's going to happen."
He kept his eye on the single green orb as he continued to guide her.
"That way." He raised his hand slowly and pointed to his left. "If you run as fast as you can that way, you'll see a tree that's green and yellow… remember, green and yellow." He felt her nod, and glad that she was listening, he continued. "When you get there, go…" he paused, trying to remember which part of him the sun touched through all his fear. When he found it, he whispered on. "Go in whichever direction puts the sun behind you. Do you understand?"
Again, she nodded.
"Good. If you keep going that way, you'll come out at the east gate. I'm sure you can find your way from there. Now this is another important part," he added, thinking more about the orb in his pack than the problem of their situation. If his suspicions of it were correct, he had something men were willing to kill for. "Whatever happens, both of us will say nothing of what happened today. Not to anyone, and not to each other. Agreed?"
She nodded again. "And what about you?" she asked.
Me? He thought. I know this forest like the back of my hand, I'll find a way out before whatever that is gets me.
The thought crawled in his mind but he said, "I'll stay here and keep its attention on me. Whatever it is, it doesn't seem to care about you."
"Well I'm not going to leave you here."
Her words were harsh and a tone above a whisper that he was forced to fight the urge to look at her. Her stubbornness was peeking out of her fear even in such a situation. It reminded him that even if she didn't like him the way he wanted, she still appreciated their friendship.
"Calm down," he placated. "It's not like I won't be fine."
"How the hell will you be fine?!"
"I never told you this, but Jonathan knows I never listen to my father." His eyes never left the orb that remained focused on him as they spoke, and he was convinced nothing had happened because he hadn't moved from where he was.
"And?" Natalie urged.
"And because of that, he always looks out for me whenever I come in here. As we speak, he knows exactly where I am."
"Is that some kind of gold thing?"
Seth nodded once, unwilling to go further in explanation. "It's a gold thing."
"Are you sure?"
His nod was hopefully believable. "I promise. He's watching, and I'll be fine."
"I won't forgive you if you die."
"I'm sure you won't," he smiled softly. "Now go."
Natalie turned, hesitant. As she did, they both watched the massive boulder and were equally pleased and displeased to find it's attention never left Seth.
Then Natalie was gone.
Alone with his demon, Seth's mind ran through the countless possibilities of survival. He would be lying if he said he didn't fear death. But as terrifying as the situation was, there was hope of survival, constant and throbbing, like his headache.
If it was there, then he refused to give up.
All he had to do now was find a way out, because there was no way the boulder was going to believe the same lie he'd just told Natalie.
There was no gold coming for him.
He rose to stand, slowly, and the green orb moved.
The creature blinked.