Aurelie kept her eyes closed, waiting for the tree to leave. He hovered around her for what must have been an hour, she could only tell by the rustling of his leaves and the crispy sound of his bark scraping against something as he moved. He was gone now, or so she guessed. Unable to gather the courage to check, she waited a little longer, hoping that he would get bored and restless before she did and reveal by some form of movement that he was still in the room.
The ground was cold and damp beneath her. Her clothes were wet, and so was her hair. Water dripped down from somewhere and seeped into the sodden earth below her. She wondered if perhaps he had taken her to some cave below the waterfall.
One of the leaks was just above her face. A single drop kept landing on the bridge of her nose. She stopped wincing now, knowing the timing of its fall. Aurelie pulled her legs toward her chest, shivering all over. A hot flash of panic ran through her. She just moved. If the tree was in the room with her, he'd know she was conscious. Nothing happened, so she opened her eyes.
Strands of roots, some barely thicker than a hair, covered the ground. The walls were darkened bark. She was at the hollowed base of an enormous tree. There were tunnels all around her, some smaller than others.
Smaller than he'd fit through, she thought hopefully. However small they might have been, it was what happened on the outside that mattered. He had feet the size of her entire body. It'd take her four wide steps to make up for his one. She didn't know how big the area was either. For her, the tunnels looked like a dark maze. No light shone through, telling her that it was either very dark outside or there had been no exit nearby.
Aurelie stood up, pressing her hand against the bark. The bandage stuck to her wound like glue. Even the slightest movements made it pull at the sore. Aurelie took a step toward one of the smaller tunnels. Her vision blurred, and the world around her spun. She braced herself with both hands against the bark wall.
His steps approached from a distance. At first, it was just the sound of his steps, and then his massive body appeared, blurred by her sudden dizziness.
A hole in his face opened and took on a half-moon shape that appeared to be a smile. "You're up!" he said.
Her heart hammered against her ribcage. It felt as if her chest tightened in fright. "Get back," she cried, holding her hands out in front of her. "Don't you come near me!"
The tree blinked twice, looked from her face to her hands, and burst into a fit of laughter. "Or what?" he asked, bracing his hands on his knees.
Aurelie backed up against the wall. "Or. . ." A familiar fire appeared in her eyes, from the severe fear that ran a tremor throughout her body. She hoped that it would be enough to convince the beast. "You won't live long."
The tree laughed louder. "I don't think I've laughed like this in years."
Aurelie glared at the beast. Insulting, that's what he was. A tree laughing at a dragon! Ridiculous!
The tree straightened and made his way closer. Pebbles and clumps of dirt jumped up and down on the ground with each of his steps. Aurelie shut her eyes. He called her bluff and she had nothing else up her sleeve. If she were about to die, she didn't want to see him spread her guts on the wall.
The beast's hand slipped behind her neck and gripped onto her cloak and dress. His bark felt hard as gravel against her soft skin.
"Ah!" she cried and pushed him.
He didn't move an inch. Instead, Aurelie's feet left the ground. She dangled in his grasp, kicking and screaming. Her cloak tightened around her throat. She pried her fingers under her collar and attempted to pull it away.
"Interesting." The beast swung Aurelie closer to examine her eyes.
"Let go." She coughed. "I... can't breathe."
"I've never seen your kind before," he said.
Pressure rose in Aurelie's eyes, her face swelled. "You're going to kill me." She kicked again. Her foot bashed into his leg. Pain erupted through her toes. As she swung back, her bandage ripped right off the wound. It had gotten stuck to a sharp corner of his bark. "OWE!" she cried out. "Let me go!"
"You royals think you can march anywhere you please, don't you? Who said I wanted you in my woods? See a welcome sign anywhere?"
"Why... did you... take me... then?"
"To teach you a thing or two about minding your own business," said the tree. He walked through one of the dark tunnels.
"Please... letâgo," she muttered, struggling for breath. "My... aunt and... uncle â the king," she sucked in as deep a breath as she could, "he took... them," she pleaded.
The tree's grip tightened. A damp earthy smell of moss became prominent in this section of the tree. There was an opening above them, letting light through. Algae covered the walls, the bright light revealing the green and grey. Her fingers felt raw from pulling at the string of her cloak. It did little to ease his grip. Aurelie's head began to pulse from the lack of air.
The tree stopped and dropped Aurelie into a side cave. She landed on her knees, and skid on the moist ground. Tiny pebbles grounded themselves in her skin as she slid across the floor. She coughed, taking heavy breaths. Her lungs burned, and just about every part of her body ached.
She wished she had been prepared for this. Even just a little, so that she could know when she was followed, or at least what sort of creatures lived in the untenanted lands of Highfire. Then, perhaps, she could have avoided this mess altogether.
In the back end of the cave, a heap of human clothing, weapons, toys, and bags lay stacked in a heap. Aurelie's stomach sank. A wave of hot and cold traveled through her. She looked up at the tree, her eyes pleading with him.
She could almost see them, those that suffered here. See their feet fit the old, battered shoes in the heap, and tiny hands playing with the carved toy animals.
"How do you think this will end for you?" he asked, with a sadistic smirk lining his face. Roots broke through the ground, and vined until the entrance of the cave was sealed.
"I just want to save my family. Please." Aurelie started to cry. "The King has them. I'm all that's left. You won't just have my blood on your hands if you kill me."
"And how does a runaway princess plan on saving her family from the King?"
"I don't know yet, but someone told me there's a witch who might be able to help me." Aurelie did not want to give out more information. There was no knowing who this creature called master. Perhaps, it was no one. Perhaps, it was the King. She wasn't even sure about going to the witch. Though, she supposed, she had nothing else to lose.
The roots slowly sunk back into the ground, opening the doorway again. "Who?" He took two quick steps toward her and glared as if she had just committed murder. His eyes narrowed. "I asked you a question."
"I think her name is Marianne Darkem," Aurelie said. "Why?" She shouldn't have answered, but he frightened her so much that she panicked and just let it slip.
"That is none of your concern," said the tree, his voice raised.
"Are you going to kill me?" She wanted to know so that she could prepare. All this waiting and wondering was doing her head in. She was scared all the time, now she was cold and hungry, to top it off. She had forgotten all about her hunger while he stared her down and carried her around like a rag doll, but now her stomach felt hollow and her mouth dry.
He said nothing.
Her stomach grunted loud enough for the sound to echo up.
"Will you shut it? I'm trying to think!"
"About killing me?"
His expression changed to something between confusion and irritability. Though, he was, after all, a tree and so she wasn't really sure what it was exactly he wanted to show her with his twisted and crinkled expression.
Again he said nothing, but there was something going on in that giant head of his. The tap, tap, tap of his stumpy fingers against his knee showed that quite clearly.
"I'm hungry. I can't help the sounds."
He grunted something under his breath and walked out. "Stay there."
It wasn't long before he returned with a cluster of red berries and threw it into her lap. "There."
Aurelie's mouth watered, but the berries brought nothing but disappointment. "I can't eat these," she said.
"Oh, I'm sorry, would you like me to cook up a chicken and perhaps some potatoes for you, princess? I'll must get going them, I wouldn't want to keep you waiting." He sat down right where he stood and shook his head.
"I can't eat them because they're poisonous," she said.
"Nonsense."
"Look," she said picking up the vine, "the vine is red and the berries are a cluster. That's a bad sign. I'm not being picky. It's justâ"
A branch grew out of the tree's hand and shot out toward Aurelie. She ducked attempting to dodge his blow and felt the berries being lifted from her hand.
He dropped the berries into his mouth, vine and all, and chewed. Juice squirted out of his mouth and colored his bark. "We'll see."
Aurelie sighed, shaking her head. "Even if they don't kill you, I don't know how it's the same. I'm not a tree."
"I wasn't always one either."
But you are one now, Aurelie thought irritably. Her stomach sounded another hungry alarm. If she didn't get something to eat soon, he wouldn't even have to kill her himself.
"I don't suppose you can grow fruits like you grow branches?" she asked.
The tree didn't respond. When she looked at him, his lips were pursed, the bark forming a tight round circle and threatening to crack.
"What is it?" she asked. "Are your lips tingling?"
"No." He straightened his mouth and looked away from her.
"Don't be stupid," she said and stood to take a better look at him. "If they're tingling, you've poisoned yourself."
"They're not. I'm perfectly fine."
He chewed on his lip, caught himself, and quickly stopped.
"Alright, well," Aurelie proceeded with caution, "I don't know how your stomach works, but if humans ingest poison, it can help to drink a lot of water. Maybe if you're thirsty . . . you could just have a drink just in case."
He put a hand on his stomach.
Cramps, Aurelie thought, biting down on her tongue to not say anything. "Also, it helps to throw up."
"And how do you know?" he grunted.
Beads of sweat gathered on his forehead. Aurelie walked over to him and took his hand. The moisture, on closer inspection, was sap. It made her hand feel sticky. "My friend's father liked to teach us about survival. He taught us what not to eat."
"Drinking helps?" he asked, not looking at her.
"That's what he said."
He moved his hand and settled it flat on the ground, then brought his legs up to his chest so that his feet were flat. Roots spread from all his limbs. She felt them digging beneath her, searching for water. There would be plenty underneath them with the river so close.
Aurelie laughed. She couldn't help it. The turn of events and her constant anxiety had her hysteric. She laughed louder, her head bowing forward.
"What?" he asked, pushing her away from him.
"Nothing. I'm sorry. It's nothing." She tried to stop but she couldn't.
"Tell me!"
"Well, it's just, a moment ago I thought you were going to kill me, and you ended up nearly killing yourself."
He stiffened. "Well, the day's not over yet."
Aurelie stopped laughing and sat down opposite him. "No, it certainly isn't."