"I came here for a reason. I heard something, and the creatures came running. They're scared of something in the woods," Cam said, and now that I took a better look, it did kind of look as if they were using Cam as cover. It was incredible to see how some immortal creatures could show such familiar emotions; maybe he’d felt bad for them.
I listened for something else out there—crashing footsteps, other creatures’ sounds—but there was nothing but Bryce's heavy breathing as he caught up. Then a pained screeching erupted from the depths of the forest. It sounded like a single creature. Dorian's breath hitched beside me. His fangs didn't appear, but his face tensed as he stared into the distance.
"Scanner," I told Sike, who was already tugging it out of his bag and tuning it. He inhaled sharply, shaking his head.
"There's definitely something out there. It's big. I don't know why it didn't appear on the scanner before.”
Again, a strangled scream from one of the rodent creatures echoed in the distance. My stomach clenched with dread as Sike muttered to himself, scrolling through the scanner. "Whatever it is, based off the energy levels I’m getting, we should assume it’s a threat."
"The screams told us that," Dorian said dryly. "Is it moving toward us?"
Sike shook his head. "The image keeps glitching. Maybe fifty yards away? It looks like it’s moving north, into the forest."
Fifty yards away we could work with. I turned to Cam. Bryce had already reprimanded him enough; there had to be a reason this serious young man would break rank.
“We should prepare to investigate,” I said. "Sike, let me know if that presence gets any closer to us. Cam, what brought you here exactly? The sound of the animals?"
Cam winced, as if expecting another rebuke—Bryce didn't look far off from it—but his voice held steady. “I thought I heard a human voice, shouting in the forest."
My eyebrows shot up with interest. "What did the voice sound like, to you?" We’d warned him that sounds and sensations in this area could be misleading. I wanted to make sure it wasn’t in his head.
Cam paused in recollection. "Scared. Like they were surprised or hurt." His answer sounded sure. It was hard to tell if he’d experienced Immortal Plane trickery, or not. "I thought I heard someone crying for help, but then these guys came rushing up screeching. I haven't heard anything since."
The group stilled for a moment, all listening. Besides the typical muttering and eerie groaning that had been happening the whole time, and the continuous rodent screaming, it was hard to tell. "I don't hear anything,” I said, “but if you're right, Cam, this could be big."
"If it's real," Dorian countered. Bryce grimaced. We all remembered the effect the redwood trees had had on the humans during his first visit. Vanim, the vampires’ destroyed city, held dark memories within its remaining walls that still made me shiver to think about. Some of the nearby trees had spoken, and never about anything pleasant.
Cam looked disappointed. "It's no offense to you, Cam,” I told him. “But we need to consider every option."
"It is offense to you," Bryce countered with flared nostrils. "Don't run off again. You might find yourself running around a tree shouting at the top of your lungs about people who don’t exist." He knew, because it had happened to him. I noticed Bryce didn’t choose to share that part of the story. Foolhardy bravery must have been a family trait.
On the other hand, if there was even a chance of a human survivor… I made a decision. We needed to act as if the monster was close, even if it was retreating.
"Let's move in," I said. "If someone is out here, we need to try our best to rescue them." I glanced at Sike's scanner, where the image continued to flicker and glitch uncertainly. “We have a general direction, and we can follow the sound of those blue rodents, so we should be able to find this creature quickly.”
"I'm game, but let's not kill ourselves to save a phantom," Bryce said. One of the blue rats darted around Cam's leg and scampered into the underbrush. "You'll have to leave your friends behind, Cam." That sounded more like his usual boisterous teasing, perhaps a peace offering. Despite his composed face, a hint of red came to Cam's face. He turned away from us slightly. Oh goodness, I'm not sure if I can handle Bryce family dynamics in the field.
"Let's move," I pressed. "Follow the terrifying screeches."
Sike chuckled. "You really know how to motivate people, Lyra." I bit back a dry grin, settling into mission mode. My focus was one hundred percent on my team and the forest around me: the looming trees, twitching vines and faint cries. It was disturbing, but we had no choice. If there really was a person here, they’d been waiting months for rescue. We had a duty to them.
We headed into the underbrush, moving swiftly but quietly, leaving the clearing around the buildings behind. The sunlight overhead was quickly choked out by shadows; the vines wove a net across the upper branches of the trees, but we could move through the trunks, in between unfamiliar shrubs and more mushrooms. I rarely brushed a tree trunk; it was almost as if they were flinching from my touch.
I did my best to avoid the crunchy leaves that seemed to have fallen from some of the vines. Everywhere in the Immortal Plane I’d been had been mild to warm; maybe the immortal plants had showed up during the meld and then reacted to the Mortal Plane's crisp, late winter air. I kept my gaze ahead, scanning the shadows, though I stopped to let one of the rodents dart across my path. I didn't want to punt it forward into the mouth of a monster.
The pained screams got louder as
