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The BloodVaine EpicChapter 36: Into The Inferno
The forest was burning, and Green Fox was stuck in it. A burning tree crashed to the ground, blocking the sight of the Forestmen digging. Looking up amid the smoke, he could just make out the silhouette of Drullen Bell Keep. Thinking quickly, he dived into a nearby stream. The stream carried on to a larger river, and Green Fox floated down it at a leisurely pace. Looking up at the smoky sky, he congratulated his quick thinking.
After all, he thought, soon I’ll reach the sea, and a boat will pick me up and then I’ll…
A pain shot through his head. He stood up and turned round. He had reached one of the Drullen Bell Keep walls, and this particular section had a large hole in it covered by an iron grate. The river flowed through it. He did not wish to go in, but he reasoned anything was better than being caught in a flaming forest. Green Fox took out his knife and hacked at the grate. The impact shot up his arm and he almost dropped his knife in the river. Trying again, he noticed that one of the screws holding the grate in was loose. He pulled it off. Using his knife, he twisted another screw out. Suddenly, a flaming tree crashed down one foot behind him. He twisted out the third screw quickly. When he removed the fourth, another tree fell down and struck him on the back as he was pulling the grate off. His unconscious body flew down the river into the Keep…
Green Fox lay in a puddle, unconscious, for many hours. The water from the river slowly dripped onto his head. Suddenly, a large surge of water flowed in and crashed on him. Instinctively, he reached for his knife. It was gone, lost in the river. He cursed.
Standing up, he surveyed his surroundings. There was a small bucket, presumably to catch the water. He tipped it over when he crashed inside. The room was otherwise bare. Then, a huge pain seared through his back. It was heavily bleeding. He was about to tear a strip off his green jerkin when he remembered, I’m a Forestman! Or at least dressed as one...
He staggered out of the room into a hallway. Two Forestmen were walking towards him, talking about something to do with planting trees.
He staggered over to them.
“‘Ello, mates. Could you direct me to the in... infe....infirmary?”
They looked him over. A Forestman with a beard and a torn uniform. One of them asked, “And how did you...get in this...state?”
“Oh, that’s definitely a two-pint-of-ale story.”
They tightened their grip on their swords.
“We have plenty of time.”
“Alright then. Y’see, there was this Forestman, a young ‘un, he was scared and he ran off from diggin’ duty. I chased him and I found him, dressed in peasant's clothes, prob'ly ready to desert. ‘Oi told ‘im to run back, and ‘e did. Then, I realized I was quite lost and…”
“All Forestmen know the forest like the backs of their hands.”
“Well, I was a bit scared myself, I confess. I was confused by the smoke. I dived into a stream for safety. A falling tree knocked me out and when I woke up, I was in that room over there. Must’a been carried by that there stream.”
The two Forestmen whispered to each other for a little while. Then one of them spoke, “I’m going to check the infirmary for this young Forestman. Stay here.”
The guard rushed down the corridor and up a flight of stairs. He walked along another corridor and he came to a large white door. He knocked on it.
“Hello? Who is it?”
The door opened and a Forestman stepped out. He looked about 50, and was missing an arm.
“Oh, it’s you. Come right in.”
“I’m looking for a certain patient. A young Forestman, found unconscious in the forest.”
“Yes, I know him. Come right this way.”
They walked past a row of beds and cabinets. A patient in one of the beds, missing an eye, smiled at the guard. He nervously smiled back. They came to the bed with the young Forestman. His skin was almost white, and his eyes were wide.
“He’s still traumatized by his incident in the forest. You may talk to him, though.”
The guard leant over to the Young Forestman and told Green Fox’s made-up story. The Forestman just stared at him and nodded slightly.
The guard went back to Green Fox.
“Right, your story checks out. Come right this way, then…”
Walf was stuck! His flatboat had run aground on a large boulder sticking out of the swap. The boy heaved and pushed and strained until he sweat but the boat wouldn’t move. He was sweating for a good reason though. The fire was almost on top of him. Already he could feel the heat, curling the tips his hair. He hadn’t seen the fire when he first started out but it was too late to turn back now. The river ran west to east and the fire was coming from the north. This meant that he would be trapped by the river if he couldn’t get the flatboat free.
“Oh why didn't I listen to Alex?”
“I have no idea kid, but you can thank your stars that I caught you disobeying me.”
“Alex!” Walf cried as the man came dripping out of the river and onto the raft.
“Quick Walf, help me push!”
The two pushed together and suddenly were free. But they weren’t out of the woods yet. And what's more, the woods were on fire. Before they could decide which way to go the fire had reached them. The trees on the north side of the river turned red in the burning inferno. Walf and Alex were blown down by the wave of heat.
Pole. We have to pole forward... Alex thought. He pushed the raft down the river. The fire had spread to the other side of the river now. Trees were alight on both sides. It was like floating though a tunnel of flames. Alex heard the sounds of trees falling behind him.
He heard them but he couldn’t look. He was face down on top of Walf. Covering the boy from the heat. No longer did he have control of the flatboat. It was the river propelling them now. The heat was unbearable. Alex could feel his cloak, which had been water logged minutes ago, starting to dry. The water was evaporating right out of the fabric. Once it was dry, the cloak would burn. It wouldn’t even need to touch the fire. The heat would be enough.
There was a sudden thud. The flatboat had run aground again. Alex looked up, searing his face in the process. He didn’t see the snag though, what he saw was a flaming oak tree toppling down on them. There wasn’t time to undo the raft and push it forward. There wasn’t even time to jump out of the way. But there was time. Time enough for Alex to see his life flash before his burning eyes.
The entire populace of Drullen Bell Keep, Forestmen, Wolfpack members, Dark Foresters and the occasional person of no faction breathed a sigh of relief, even though the air was still filled with choking smoke and ash. The giant wildfire that had been spawned by the breath of the god-dragon Eroth Gamus had passed the ancient Forestman fortress and gone on to bombard other victims. The entire northern expanse of trees that were occupied by the three factions had been decimated, but the majority of it’s population had survived.
Later, it was assessed that the wildfire, in addition to incinerating the Forestdweller Faction's land, had burnt a Crusader village that neighbored the forest (the same one that the Misfits had stolen the Shadow from, in fact), damaged many Royals crops and had destroyed a Classic LEGO border outpost. The Black Falcons, the only remained faction bordering the Forestdweller Factions, had no damage what so ever.
This information, however, was irrelevant to the survivors of the fire; there only goal was to restart a life that had nearly been snuffed out.
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