The wood store had been Sosa`s favourite hiding place since she was little and once relieved of her penitent vigil she fled to it once more, a place to hide her shame. No one dared go close enough to the forest to fell darktrees, but a handful of strays were allowed to grow within village boundary. The timber was strong. With no huts needing repair and no trees due for harvest Sosa could remain unfound and undisturbed with the stored wood. Once cut down it was perfectly safe, it was only the living trees that attracted the dark.

　　She listened. The sounds of people waned, while the creatures and insects intensified as dusk faded. But there were sounds beyond all that. There were sounds that came from the trees, sounds that grew louder the closer night drew.

　　The sounds of the bodaki.

　　For sixteen years she had grown and lived and slept with it, but never before had she actually sat and listened to it. Now she flinched with every noise. Any one of the screeches, croaks, crunches or screams, any one of them could be the triumphant cry of the thing that took Ego. She owed it to him to listen, to listen to his death. It was her fault he was there.

　　She cried a little, but found the tears came more from anger and shame. She wanted to be angry with her father, but in reality she just wanted to have him hug her and tell her it was okay. She wanted to make the sounds stop.

　　Had it always been so loud? How had she ever slept? Was it just tonight, now that the things in the trees had sport? A hundred sounds all strained to be heard and every one of them was death. She`d never considered before how safe she felt in the village and how tender that balance was. How fragile it was. Elder Jode had spoken the truth.

　　She understood, now, why the villagers were so afraid. The village had always felt safe for Sosa, her parents saw to that. But it wasn`t safe, was it? Only a strip of wild grass separated the village and its fields from the darktrees. The forest pressed in from every side. It was endless and it was everywhere and her village was just a blip, just an anomaly in the middle of it all. It was all around them.

　　Everywhere.

　　If the blip were to be gone and the forest were to become truly endless, who would be left to even notice?

　　Her mind put images to the sounds she could hear and she sobbed to think of Ego facing them alone. She fantasised about becoming a soldier, a guardian like the one Ego had spoken of, and charging out into the forest to save him. She imagined being a woman who was not so afraid, who was brave enough to walk out into the forest, into that cacophony of death, and bring Ego home. And no one, not even an Elder, would dare to challenge her.

　　It was a childish fantasy and it collapsed under the weight of her tears.

　　There were stories of ancient people, of soldiers and battles and heroes passed around the children. They were exciting for young children, but they were not true. What need would there be for armies and wars? Who would they fight?

　　There was nothing, nothing other than this minuscule clearing in an endless forest of darkness and screaming monsters.

　　Except that`s not true any more, is it?

　　No armies, perhaps, but a single soldier trained to protect them against the horrors of the forest? Sosa wiped her eyes. There might be a soldier out there, Ego`s guardian. They might exist, but who would teach Sosa this? Who was there to show her? Besides, it would still not save Ego now, when he needed her. She had failed him and let him walk to his death. The fantasy only mocked her failure.

　　She could stand the sounds no longer and, shaking, crying, she crawled from the small wooden storage shed. Nothing moved. Only the sound of night insects came from within the village. Perhaps it was the contrast of that silence that made the forest noise seem like a relentless scream.

　　With her hands clamped to the sides of her head, she ran and the noises followed her to a hut that was not her home. She would have to face her family, but not yet. Sosa shot inside, ran to the far wall and felt in the darkness for the cots that Grammawe and Grampawe had once slept in and now lay empty awaiting a new family. She curled onto one of them, her knees up to her breasts, arms wrapped around them so she was as small as she could be. The night was hot, every night was hot, but still Sosa shivered.

　　This hut was not home, but was familiar enough to offer comfort.

　　The sounds found her even here. She could feel the weight of the darkness, the bodaki writhing between trunks. They were looking for her. Their screeches and calls triumphant and taunting. They had taken Ego, digested her failure and mocked her, but that wasn`t enough. They wanted her too. She wrapped her hands around her head to shut it out.

　　It wasn`t a screech.

　　When the darkness called her name, it was a whisper.

　　Sosa

　　No. No. No. No! No! NO!` she cried out, rocking, but it whispered to her again. She opened her eyes and stared into the total black of the hut. It was no good. She could not hide from it. It was everywhere.

　　Everywhere.

　　They knew she had failed. They knew, and the ki wanted to punish her. There was nowhere to hide from it. It would not stop. They would not leave her alone until she went to it.

　　Her stomach felt sick. No, she could not do this. She could not. If the trees wanted her then so be it, but she wanted her mother. Shame and fear was nothing now. She wanted her mother more than ever.

　　Sosa crawled from the cot, but too late, she realised she was not alone. There was something in the empty hut with her. The monsters had waited long enough. They had come for her. Something moved and Sosa stared blindly into the dark, unable to move, unable to think. It reached out of the darkness and grabbed her trembling arm.

　　Sosa`s scream was lost among the rising cries of the forest.

　　#

　　Talon came to Sosa where she kneeled before the great tree. Ale-ki had offered her no leaf. Other villagers kept their distance from her. Talon ignored their whispers and glances. He scowled at them, but Sosa ignored them, deep in her reflections. Her fingers fidgeted, knotting and unknotting. As soon as Talon`s knees touched the earth, a breeze rippled the very top of the trees and a single red leaf drifted down and landed in front of him. He took it gently and pressed it to his naked breast. His daughter did not move, unaware anyone knelt beside her.

　　He didn`t risk talking to her, the council`s wrath was not to be tempted. Instead he let his anger flow out and Ale-ki listened. It wasn`t Sosa`s fault, any of this, but she was here being punished, who knew how long for? Elder Jode had promised to protect them, and yet here he knelt with his daughter in penance. It probably did not do to show anger to the Elders in front of Ale-ki, but Talon felt honesty and openness the purer option.

　　Talon stayed with Sosa. He hoped through Ale-ki she knew she was not alone. He opened his thoughts to the tree and let Ale-ki see his plan. No point hiding it now. It might anger the anki but lies and deception were worse. He wondered if Ale-ki would reveal his plan to Sosa. It certainly never suggested to him what he was about to do was wrong. In fact when Talon opened his eyes, he felt more determined than ever. Ale-ki approved.

　　He scraped a layer of dry soil aside and placed the leaf in the depression, but stopped, looking across at Sosa, still tangling her fingers. He lifted the leaf instead of burying it and let it drift down onto her hands.

　　She took the leaf in her shaking hands and a tear trickle down her cheek. Her fingers grew still and she lifted the leaf to her own heart as Talon had done. He fought the urge to hold her. Instead he knelt in silence as the sun edged across the sky and let Ale-ki see all his thoughts and share his love for the young woman at his side.

　　Dusk was well underway when he stood to find Elder Jode waiting behind. Without speaking the old man took Talon`s hands and closed his eyes. After a moment he smiled. Talon expected anger but Ale-ki had taken it from him. The old man was here to release Sosa from her penance. He dearly wanted to be here for her, but if he stayed he would not be able to leave her side. What he was about, he did for her. She would have to be alone a while longer.

　　Away from the tree, he felt his fear return and risked a detour to his own hut where Kala waited with Halo. Talon wrapped them both in his arms, but as soon as he let go, Halo went back to his cot. The boy sat, his back turned to his family, but Talon knew he was the object of Halo`s resentment. Well, perhaps he could change all that.

　　Kala held him more tightly and looked into his eyes. He stroked the back of her head, kissed her hair and eased her from him. He laid a gentle hand on Halo who did not move, then kissed his fingers and placed them lightly on his sleeping mother so as to not wake her.

　　He kissed Kala once more and left.

　　Villagers had been subdued all day. There was no laughter to be heard as the sky darkened and families gatherer around their cooking fires for light. The night air was heavy and hot.

　　His mouth dry, Talon worked his way through the shadows of the huts towards the edge of the village nearest the funeral clearing. He heard footsteps, a quiet conversation, and ducked down behind a wall. The sounds drifted by but no one passed him.

　　Finally he crept out, peeping up the path, but there was nothing there. The fear pressed in on him. What could have made those footsteps inside the village if not a villager? Perhaps the sound had carried from the trees.

　　He pushed himself forwards, more aware than usual of the noise from the forest. The creatures, insects and bodaki were deafening. Did they get louder at night? Was he just finally noticing it? Or were they louder because they knew&?

　　Talon tried not to think of the clicking noise that had pursued him from the funeral clearing. It was very dark now, he had not dared bring a light. No one could know what he was about. On trembling legs, barely strong enough for him to stand, he made his way along the path.

　　The funeral clearing was a between place, not in the village but not quite in the forest. The trees were unsafe, but was this? Certainly something came for the bodies they laid out here.

　　Once in the clearing, his foot cracked something that might have been a brittle tree root. It might have been something else.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

　　He hadn`t told Kala. Sosa would return from her penance without him and she would worry, but if he`d told her the truth she would either try to stop him or come with him and he could not risk her life on this foolery.

　　Like I am, he thought.

　　No, that was not true. Here he had the same purpose he`d had since Ego had first shown up, crumpled in his daughter`s arms. He wanted to try and save the boy. It felt wrong not to try.

　　In the centre of the funeral clearing, he felt the press of the darkness but also something else. This was not the place where their dead remained, he knew that, but in this place the ki felt close. He felt watched. Perhaps even judged.

　　The night heat and humidity sat heavily on him. The darkness here was different from the village. Night time in the village was a simple absence of light, easily dispelled with a flame. Here it seeped from the trees, flowing out like inky fog, smothering the light. It felt too thick to move through, too thick to breathe. It felt like even a flame might struggle to penetrate it.

　　Talon turned to judge his position and realised the dark had quenched what little light still drifted from the village. His muscles tensed, his chest tightened, and he found he could not get air into his body as if someone had hands on his throat and was squeezing. His lungs ached from the strain.

　　He could feel the presence of his ancestors, of their ki, not because he was here with them, but because he was so close to joining them. His dribble of courage dissolved. He was beyond the safety of the village here, far from his field and its anki, far from Ale-ki, far from his family. He finally felt air break into his throat, but it was only so that he could scream. He managed to catch it, but it didn`t matter. The ki were here. They wanted him, they wanted his flesh, his body, perhaps even his own ki. He felt the dead all around him. He felt the dark all around him.

　　And there was no Ego.

　　He`d told the boy to come here, to hug the tree line and stay out of the dark, to hide here in this eternal twilight between the village and the darktrees and wait. He`d told the boy, hoped he had heard, but clearly Ego had been too frightened.

　　Now he was alone, here to rescue a boy who was long dead. Only the ki were here to welcome him as the dark seeped out of the trees. He felt all life drain out of him leaving only panic and hopelessness.

　　Something came at him from the darkness, moving in ragged steps. It did not click, it moved more upright and it was reaching for him.

　　The bodaki had come.

　　The night noises of the forest grew louder, triumphant in their claim on his flesh, on his own ki. They would strip the skin from his bones then his bones would be broken leaving only his naked and weak spirit. Then they would pull that into the dark and not even his ancestors ki could save him. Frozen, the scream still trapped in his throat, he stared at the figure that lurched for him.

　　Ale-ki, protect me,he thought, but the tree-ki was too far away to hear his foolish prayer.

　　Something like fingers clamped on his flesh and pushed him down to the ground where more of those brittle sticks that were not roots, snapped. Wet, hot air froze in the cloying blackness and the scream that had been trapped broke free.

　　It didn`t matter. The things in the trees were screaming so loudly, not one person in the village would have heard him.

　　#

　　What reached for Sosa clamped over her mouth, stifling her scream. Someone else`s hair brushed her face as a warm body pressed against her own and arms enveloped her, squeezing out her breath.

　　It wasn`t the darktrees that had been calling her name, it was this.

　　Sosa! It`s me, it`s me, please be quiet.` Another hand found the back of her head and her mouth was sealed completely. The scream died. She struggled against the hands and in the fight they slipped up until her nostrils were blocked.

　　It was little relief to find her murderer was a person not a ki, but she slapped and clawed at the hands of her more tangible foe.

　　Her attacker kept whispering, Stop, please stop, please be quiet, it`s me, don`t you understand? It`s me.`

　　Sosa forced her brain to turn, forced the panic to calm. It was too dark to see, so she reached out. Unable to break the grip, unable to take a breath, she slid her hands up the arms until she found a body. Somewhere between the arms, her hands found a chest. It was flat, not a woman, and while muscular it was not yet fully formed. The body smelled musky. Definitely a boy or young man.

　　Good, she thought, and her knee shot out. Her skirt tore again, she`d had to repair it already this week. The grip let go and there was a gasping.

　　She took a lungful of air, breathed out and took a second, this one to scream. She felt a hand on her again, but this wasn`t grasping, it was placating.

　　A now husky voice said, It`s me, it`s me.`

　　The initial terror subsiding now she had won back control over her own body, Sosa realised there was something familiar about the voice, the accent.

　　Ego?` She still swatted the hand away that grasped for her and rolled away.

　　Yes,` he grunted trying to kneel up while holding himself. I said that.`

　　No you didn`t, you stupid boy.` Sosa slapped him about the head with both hands repeatedly and then tried to knee him again. He fought her off and backed away.

　　Who did you think it was!?`

　　You`re an idiot,` she came after him again. She slapped not because she didn`t know how to punch, but because she would save that for when she actually wanted to hurt him. What did you think you were doing, grabbing me like that? Who did I think it was? To the rotten roots with you.`

　　Then she let the emotion come and keeled over taking deep gasps between sobs that eased the pressure in her head.

　　Ego tried to reach for her, more gently this time, comforting. This time she closed her fist and punched him in the chest as hard as she could. He fell back quickly enough.

　　What in the name of Ale-ki are you doing here?`

　　Ask your father,` Ego said, a little sulkily. It was his idea.`

　　#

　　Talon crept back to his own hut.

　　Kala was awake, waiting for him. They embraced. Halo had dozed off sitting up and Talon`s mother snored gently. She slept far more soundly these days. It was some trade for what age had taken from her, he supposed.

　　Is he okay?` Talon asked.

　　Kala rolled her eyes. He`s angry about Ego and still about Gris hurting Sosa.`

　　Was that it? Talon hadn`t realised it was still the Gris incident too. He was fuming about that, and had not had chance to really think about it. They`d spent days in fear waiting for the Elders to come and take Ego away and everything since had been even more dramatic. That Halo blamed Gris for all this, and likely him as well, Talon was not really surprised. He suspected from his breathing that Halo was only pretending to be asleep now Talon had returned.

　　Where is Sosa?` Kala asked.

　　Talon swallowed. She isn`t here? She was at the tree, but Elder Jode came to relieve her, at least I thought.`

　　You didn`t stay with her?`

　　No, I& never mind now. I`ll go back to Ale-ki and look for her.`

　　Kala looked more knowing. Jode did drop by and say he`d let her go at sunset. She should be here. I just thought maybe the two of you were together. I`ll go and check a few places.`

　　You think she`s hiding?`

　　Kala looked at him. What do you think?`

　　We`ll both go. Ah, I`ll check my father`s hut,` he said, perhaps too quickly. After I check with Ale-ki.`

　　What about Halo? Your mother?`

　　Talon looked at them. His mother would be fine if she woke early, which was unlikely. Halo was clearly awake and listening, his eyes squeezed shut.

　　Halo is a good boy, he will know to stay put if he wakes and we`re gone.` Talon threw Kala a wink. He won`t panic. He`s a brave boy.` Talon smiled as Halo squirmed slightly and they both ran into the night to look for Sosa.

　　Sosa was not by Ale-ki so he headed for the unused hut where Ego was hidden. He hoped to find her there, but at the same time&

　　He leaned inside the doorway and whispered, Sosa?`

　　Something flew out of the dark and wrapped its arms around him.

　　He stepped in, half carrying his daughter and replaced the cover over the door.

　　You saved him.`

　　And you`ll get us all executed if you don`t shut up,` he hissed at her, but hugged her back just the same. I`m so sorry I wasn`t there for you when Jode let you go, but&`

　　And I`m sorry. I should not have let any of this happen. It`s all my fault.` They held each other tightly.

　　Did you bring any water?` came a voice out of the dark.

　　Shut up, Ego,` they said together and released each other.

　　I`ll get him some,` Sosa said.

　　No, you go straight home and you wait outside the door where your mother can see that you`re back. You don`t move until she finds you. I`ll get him water. And don`t tell her anything, just smother her with hugs until I`m back.`

　　Sosa hugged him again.

　　I mean it. Don`t tell her a thing or she will kill me. And Sosa?` His daughter stopped. None of this is your fault.`

　　Sosa ran to the door, then she looked back at Ego, or the dark part of the hut where Ego was last. I`m sorry I hit you. Although, if you ever grab me in the dark again I will beat you to death. Other than that, I`m glad you`re alive.` With that she was gone.

　　Talon fetched some water, making sure no one saw him return to his parent`s old hut. One visit to retrieve a hiding daughter was explainable. Taking water to a disused hut in the middle of the night was not.

　　Sosa was dutifully waiting at the door when he returned. Talon bobbed inside, and gently called to Halo to say he was back. The hut was in darkness now and he couldn`t make Halo out well enough to see if he was asleep or pretending.

　　He sat down outside with Sosa to await Kala. Going off to look for her was a game that could go on all night. Sosa sat beside him, leaning on his shoulder like she used to when she was his little girl.

　　Are you okay?` he asked her, an arm snaking around her shoulder.

　　Yes. No. I feel like I messed everything up.`

　　You didn`t. What happened at the market was not your fault, it was mine. I underestimated how stupid the boy was. It would have happened sooner or later anyway, but it is my fault I left him in your care. That is my fault, and it is only unfair that the Elders punished you. It should have been me.`

　　When I was talking to Ale-ki he gave me a leaf.` Sosa said. It showed me all the thoughts you`d had. I saw how angry you were about what they`d done. And I know you were with me. Thank you.`

　　You still ran away after.` Talon didn`t want to scold her tonight. Don`t do that again. I promise that whatever happens, if you`re right, or if you`re wrong, telling me, talking to me, will never be the worst thing you can do.`

　　Sosa wiped a hand on her eyes. I know, Pawe. I`m sorry. When it gave me the leaf, it also showed me what you saw that day in the market. With Gris.` Sosa continued. You wanted to hurt him. Like Ego tried to.`

　　When I saw you in the dirt, I thought& I thought it was Ego that had done it. I didn`t see Gris at first. Then when I realised what had happened& Yes I wanted to hurt him.`

　　But you didn`t,`

　　No. I know better.`

　　Pawe?`

　　Talon waited.

　　I`m worried. Halo keeps talking about why you didn`t do something. Why you didn`t attack Gris. He keeps saying that Grampawe was a warrior, that Grampawe would have done something.`

　　Your grandfather was a fielder, just like us. He just has a stupid spear. He probably gambled for it or traded something for it years ago.`

　　I know, I know Pawe. I don`t mean it like that. But Halo does. You should talk to him.`

　　The thing was that Talon had tried. He knew what his son thought, but there was no getting through. Halo was very much the child still and in his head, Talon had disappointed him as a father. The boy wanted a hero, a warrior for a father, but all he had got was a subservient fieldsman. It hurt Talon more than he`d care to admit.

　　What was worse is that he did want to hurt Gris. As much as it had been Ego`s impulsive stupidity that had started all this, that had put them in this position, it was Gris` fault just as much. The old man had hurt his daughter and in his rash and impetuous way, Ego had only done what Talon had wanted to.

　　He kept telling himself it was because he knew it was the right thing to do. The reality was that he was afraid to confront Gris. It was that simple. It was a truth he had hidden from, but not any longer.

　　Why? Why now was he being brave enough to admit this failure to himself?

　　He`d just defied the council and gone into the forest at night to rescue a boy. A boy who barely deserved it at that. If he was brave enough to go into the funeral clearing at night, brave enough to admit his own failings, maybe he needed to look at what else he was capable of.

　　Okay, enough of this.` Talon could feel his own exhaustion gathering, Sosa must be suffering far worse. I will go look for Mmawe. Light a little fire in the pit so that she can see you`re here if she comes home before I find her and then get to your cot.`

　　He helped Sosa start a small fire that would burn for a short while as a marker to Kala if he missed her. Sosa went indoors and he struck off to look for his wife.

　　Pawe, Pawe!` Sosa`s voice cut through the night after him. He ran back, dreading more surprises. He didn`t have the strength. Sosa stood by her cot, illuminated by the small fire that shone through the doorway. It took a moment to realise what was wrong.

　　Talon`s mother was snoring happily, but the cot Sosa stood over, the cot where his son slept, that cot was empty except for a rolled blanket he had mistaken for the sleeping outline of his son.

　　He`s gone.` Sosa said.

　　Don`t worry,` Talon said the words, but didn`t feel them. He`s probably just&` but Sosa was already shaking her head.

　　No. He`s taken it. We found the spear again hidden behind a box and we`d been looking at it. We put it here.` Sosa looked a little sheepish as she indicated a hiding spot. It`s gone and so are his zori.`

　　Talon looked and saw that the straw soled sandals he made Halo wear to protect his young soles in the fields were missing. There was no way he would take them if he were only going to walk around the huts.

　　Pawe, what if he`s gone to try and rescue Ego from the forest?`

　　No. No, he wouldn`t be that stupid.`

　　No. No-one would be that stupid.` Sosa eyed him.