Chapitre 25: Chapter 25 Forest Troll

They were up early the next morning, making their way to the stream before they had even rolled up the tent. Gia's parents were sleepy and Tom kept stumbling over roots.

"I don't understand why we have to be in such a hurry if everyone is sleeping in after their party last night," he grumbled as they came up to the river.

"The satyr last night said that the other satyrs won't like the fact we didn't go to the festival, and that they might come after us today. After Vonn almost died, I don't want to take any chances," said Gia, shaking her head as they all looked over the water.

"I don't like the idea of listening to a satyr after the incident with Vonn," said Carla. "How do you know he wasn't lying to us? What if he's just trying to get us into the water so his girlfriend can eat us?"

Gia glanced at Vonn. Her mom had a point.

"Let's travel upstream a way and see if there's a better spot to cross. I don't want to get the tent too wet before I can roll it up," said Vonn.

Gia helped him roll it into a tighter ball, so it wouldn't snag on so many branches and then they headed further north.

"I wish we could just do what the tree said," grumbled Mikey as they looked over the river. The banks had gotten deeper and the distance between the two had gotten smaller but it was still nothing they could cross.

"What did the tree say?" asked Gia, tired and annoyed.

"It said to look for a dead tree and cross it," he sighed. "But I don't see any dead trees."

"It is odd how there doesn't seem to be much dead brush around," said Vonn, resting the heavy tent on the ground as he looked around.

"It's almost like someone has been clearing the brush away," nodded Carla.

"There's a nice clearing here, maybe we can roll the tent up better, and then keep looking for a way to get across?" asked Gia, looking around them.

"If we're careful not to get the edge in the water, I think it will work here," agreed Vonn.

Tom and Mikey stood out of the way, as they spread the tent out flat. Gia was standing by the water, making sure the tent didn't fall in and get wet, while Vonn explained to them all how he had figured out how to roll the tent up. She heard a soft splashing noise and turned just as the fish girl, Nixie, lunged at her. Gia fell on her butt avoiding her wet grasp.

"You told them about us! I'm going to drown you!" she gurgled, her face twisted in rage.

As she reached for Gia's foot, there was a sudden rustle from the bushes by Tom and Mikey. The howl that broke out over the area was so deafening, they all fell to the ground clutching their ears. Nixie beat a hasty retreat into the water, fear and horror written plainly on her face.

The creature jumped over the tent, splashing into the water, and grabbed up Nixie by her tail.

"Mmm, fish," it drawled, opening its wide toothy maw and shoving her in, tail first.

"AHH!" she screamed, beating at its hairy face, but it didn't stop until she was all gone.

Everyone stayed frozen in place on the ground, too terrified and shocked to move.

Turning to look at them, it smiled a wide, toothy smile and said, "I love to eat fish! But humans are even better. You come back tomorrow and I'll eat you then."

It waded into the water and began to swim downstream. Gia wasted no time jumping to her feet to check on her dad and brother while Vonn helped her mom to her feet.

"We have to get away from here!" whispered Carla.

"Let's get this tent rolled up quickly," agreed Vonn, as Gia helped her dad up.

Tom had a scratch across his face, but it would heal up quickly. Mikey was disgusted with himself as he straightened his axe.

"I didn't even think to attack it!" he grumbled.

"Don't you worry about that!" said Tom, grabbing the boy's shoulder. "That thing sounded far bigger than even Vonn. I doubt your little axe would have done more than make it angry."

Mikey nodded grudgingly and helped finish rolling up the tent with Gia and Vonn.

"What do you think that thing was?" Carla asked.

"I think it was the forest troll the satyr told us about last night," said Vonn, shoving the tent into the bag. It wasn't a perfect fit, but it was enough for him to tie to his backpack.

They all hurried further upstream, looking for a sight to cross the water, until they went around a bend and saw a tree that had fallen across the river.

"We're going to try and cross that, aren't we?" moaned Carla.

"You can stay here and visit with the troll tomorrow," said Gia, making a beeline for the huge oak.

"It's fine, Mom," said Mikey, grabbing her hand. "I'll help you across, and besides, the water's not that deep! You can see the little fish swimming in it."

Vonn went across the tree first, to test it out and make sure it was stable. Judging from the mud on it, plenty of other creatures used it as a bridge, too.

Gia and Mikey got their parents up on the log, and the four of them made their way across, inch by inch. It creaked once, when they were in the very middle, but didn't move again. Carla was breathing so hard by the time she reached the other side; she had to sit down or pass out.

"We need to get as far from here as possible," said Vonn, taking out one of his rations.

Everyone else followed suit, preparing to eat while they walked. The morning had already been long and they all agreed this wasn't a place they wanted to stay in.

"I hope the elves are nicer than anything we've encountered in this forest," grumbled Carla.

"The tree was really nice!" exclaimed Mikey.

"It was," said Tom, nodding his agreement and missing a branch to the face.

"You talked to a tree?" piped up a soft voice, off to their right.

Gia and Vonn turned to see what looked like a little girl peeking out from under a pile of vines and leaves. The more they looked, though, the more they came to realize she wasn't under the pile of foliage, she was the foliage!

"Yes, we've spoken to several trees," said Gia politely. "It's a pleasure speaking with you, but I'm afraid we're in a bit of a hurry. There's angry satyrs behind us, and a rather large creature, we think is a troll, near the river back there."

"The satyrs won't cross the river, but the troll will. His name is Benjamin, but he goes by Ben. He shouldn't bother you, since he only eats fish and humans. The satyrs are too fast for him to catch," explained the girl.

"But we are humans," said Gia.

"Oh, then you do have a problem. But, if you're human, how can you talk to trees?"

"Well, the first one we met in the Forbidden Forest on the other side of the mountain. The second was on the other side of the river. They were both very nice," said Mikey, with a wide grin.

"Wait, do you have amulets from the old one?" asked the girl, her green eyes going wide. "You must be very special! Let me take you to the elders, so you can travel through the forest safely. Are you heading to visit the elves? They're on the other side of our forest."

"Yes, we're heading to the elves, but we're honestly only planning on passing through. Eventually we would like to find a place to settle down with other humans," said Vonn.

"If you're looking for other humans, then why are you all the way over here? There aren't humans for miles and miles!"

"We got directed through the Mushroom Forest by some well-meaning individuals," said Tom.

"Ohh, that place is really dangerous. How did you get out without being infected by the spores?"

"Luck, I guess," said Gia, glancing at Vonn.

"Your elders don't eat people, do they?" asked Carla fearfully.

"No, they're called the tree folk by the elves. I'm a youngling that travels in search of berries and nuts to eat. You're lucky I found you before Ben did. He loves to eat humans. That's why we don't have any for miles and miles. You must have run across him when his belly was full of fish, to have gotten away from him."

"I believe he had just eaten a rather large fish," said Vonn, nodding thoughtfully.

Gia glanced in the direction they were heading and paused. The trees were moving as if in a huge wind. It took her several minutes to realize what she was seeing.

"The trees really are walking!" exclaimed Mikey in delight.