The Afterlife Academy Saga

Chapter 6

6

“Sun is setting. You need to go now.” Dagwood’s deep voice broke the silence.

“I told you, I’m not leaving.”

“This is your last chance. Go.”

I clenched my jaw. “I said no.”

The muscles in my arms were shot, frustrated, beyond tired. My clothes were dark with mud and moss, my nails filled with earth, but I wasn’t going to give up. I would dig this man from out of the tree, even if it was the last thing I did.

Sweat poured down my face, staining the ground where I was tirelessly digging to free the young man. He just needed enough wiggle room so I could pull him from under the tree.

“Look at the sun. You will not make it. You must go.”

I peered up through the broken crown of trees. The earthquake had opened up the roof and I could see the sky clearly now. The heavenly canvas was coloured a dark blue, the first flecks of stars already visible. The sun painted a reddish streak through it all as it descended to make way for the night.

Dagwood was right. It wouldn’t be long until it set and our task failed. It was highly unlikely that he’d be okay to walk and even more improbable we’d find the Keeper.

Teasingly slow, the sun moved through the sky. Inching closer and closer towards the horizon where it would disappear and mark the failure of our test.

Dagwood wriggled, his entire body tensed. Sweat stained white trails down his dark skin as he tried to crawl out from the tree.

“I am still stuck,” he announced, the hope falling from his face. “You should leave me.”

“I don’t think so.”

With renewed vigour, I attacked the wet ground like a dog. With every handful, he was a step closer to being freed. And that was all that mattered.

In silent protest, I dug until I was sure my arms would fall off. The sun was nearing the horizon and it wouldn’t be long until time was up.

Shadows inched closer with every moment until they tickled my heels and the last light disappeared.

“Time is up.” Dagwood looked at me, his expression defined by despair. “We are lost forever.”

“Fuck.” I took a moment of respite and sunk against the tree for a moment of rest. “I guess we’re doomed then.”

“Why you stay? Why not go and leave me.”

“What kind of person does that?”

“I am Wood Elf. You are not.”

I frowned. “So?”

“We do not like each other. Our kind do not become friends. Why you not go?”

With a shrug, I reached for the infamous bottle with water. Only this morning, this was worth its weight in gold or souls. It was my ticket out of here and I would’ve done anything to keep it.

But now? It was nothing more than just water.

“Thirsty?” I asked, pulling off the cork and taking a big swig. As soon as the liquid hit my tongue, it immediately refreshed me. “We might as well.”

Dagwood’s shocked face mellowed out and he nodded. “I could drink.”

“Here.”

He glugged down half the flask and sighed in appreciation. “Good water.”

“Agreed.” I pulled my knees up and rested my chin on them. “Now what?”

“Now we wait.”

“For what?”

Silence.

“Dagwood?”

I turned to the man, but he wasn’t replying. In fact, his eyes were closed and he seemed non-responsive.

Shit.

“Dagwood!”

I shook his shoulders, willing him to wake up. He couldn’t pass out and leave me on my own.

“Time is up,” a voice behind me said.

“f**k!” I jumped up, my heartbeat racing a hundred miles an hour.

“You missed sundown.” The Keeper strolled to the fallen tree and sat on the trunk, right next to Dagwood.

“Watch out!”

The old Wood Elf chuckled. “Why?”

“Because you’ll hurt him—” The hole I’d been digging for hours to free my companion was gone and so was he. I rubbed my eyes in disbelief. Was I dreaming? Did I see it wrong? What was going on?

“Where did he go?”

“Dagwood?” The Keeper stroked his long beard. “Oh, he was never really here.”

“What!?”

“He was an illusion.”

A lump formed in my throat. “...What? Are you f*****g with me?”

“It was a test.”

“Ah, right. Your test. Yeah, yeah, I know I failed. But if Dagwood wasn’t real, then you just never intended me to—”

“You passed.”

I blinked slowly. “I passed? But I didn’t bring you your water.”

“That was never the real test.” Without any care in the world, he studied a tiny blossom and added it to his beard.

“Then how did I pass?”

“You didn’t leave Dagwood, not even when he became a liability. You sacrificed yourself to save and care for a Wood Elf.”

“Right… But he doesn’t exist.”

“Oh, he does exist. He was here once, a long time ago. But he’s no longer a prisoner of the Forest.” The Keeper stood up and smoothed out his green robe. “And neither are you, Daughter of the Wind. You’re free to go.”

A frown wrinkled my forehead. “Just like that?”

“Yes, just like that.” He plucked a small leaf from a fallen tree and held it up. “You see this?”

“Yeah.”

The old man chuckled. “It holds the soul of the Forest. And now it’s part of you.”

“What—”

He blew on his fingers and sent the leaf flying, towards me. The green fleck danced on the soft breeze until it fell on my stretched out hand.

For a moment, nothing happened. It was just a tiny leaf.

As I held it to examine it closer, it caught fire. Small flames licked the curved edges, turning the green flesh into grey ash. The smouldering dust fell on the palm of my hand, tracing the former skeleton of the leaf.

The Keeper gestured at the burned flecks. “Mark your skin with the ashes and the Forest will remember.”

“Oookay. Just anywhere?”

He nodded. “Anywhere.”

“Alright then…”

Clumsily, I pulled my shirt up and pressed my hand on my hip. The ashes sizzled and burned hot as they touched my skin, but it didn’t hurt.

“Now what?” I asked, turning to the old man.

“Now you leave.”

“Yes, but how?”

He gestured around him. “Wherever you want to go. If you can think it, the forest will bring you there. But only you, always only you.”

“So I can go home?”

“Yes.”

My promise with Var flashed through my mind.

“And can I return here?”

The Keeper nodded. “If you can find a forest, you can find the Forest of Illusions.”

As he spoke, trees groaned and leafs rustled. When I turned back around, any signs of the earthquake and destruction were erased, as if they never happened.

“Was any of this real?” I asked, gesturing to the pristine forest.

“What does real mean?” he replied cryptically. He threaded another flower in his long beard and tightened his robes. “Remember. Everything is an illusion.”

“Yeah, so, that’s not really an answer. Actually— Great. You’re gone.” I threw my hands up in exasperation. “Things just keep disappearing then, huh? And now I’m talking to myself. Again. Brilliant.”

With a grumble, I brushed clumps of dried mud off my shirt. Maybe the earthquake was an illusion, maybe it wasn’t. In any case, my clothes were still ruined. Couldn’t he have taken care of that?

And I still wasn’t entirely sure how I was supposed to leave the woods. I had a shirt full of mud, muscles that cried out in exhaustion, and the memory of a leaf carved in the soft flesh of my hip.

As I traced the edges of the mark, a strange sensation came over me. The thin lines lit up with a green hue, not unlike the Wind Children marks I’d seen on adults. Except that this was a lot more elegant and curly than any of our carvings.

With the mark glowing faintly, the odd feeling intensified. It urged me to walk, even if I wasn’t sure where I was going. But then, it didn’t matter.

I let it guide me to wherever it wanted to bring me. If I was lucky, maybe it would bring me home or to the Academy. Either would be a splendid outcome. Even finding Var wouldn’t be the worst. At least then, I’d know where I was instead of alone in an undefined part of the forest. At least I thought I had company when Dagwood was with me.

I still wasn’t sure what part of the past days was real and what wasn’t. Did the Keeper make it all up to trick me? Or was I the creator of the illusions? Could I even make my own apparitions?

And if that was the case… Could I bring Ryoko here? Or at least, a projection of her?

Surely, she’d know what to do. And even if she wouldn’t, she’d have fun not knowing. She’d call it an adventure and smile with the warmth of the sun.

When I found the Academy, I really should talk to her and make up. I wanted her in my life, someway, somehow.

For that, I needed to find my way out of here. But how? What did the Keeper say again?

Something about if I could think it, the forest would do it?

What did that mean? That I had to think about the Academy and it would show up?

Yeah, sure. If that was the case, I’d rather find Ryoko. So… I should keep thinking about her. The depth in her dark eyes, the melody in her voice. The ripples of Dragon scales on her arms when she was kissed by the sun. The way our room smelled of freshly cooked rice and soup in the morning and how she’d make enough for me.

The playful tone in her voice when she teased me. The twinkle in her eyes when she joked. The creases in the bridge of her nose when she was deep in thought and the dimples in her cheek when she laughed.

The more I thought about Ryoko, the warmer it became, as if I carried the sun with me. The mere idea of her brightened the world around me.

No, wait. It wasn’t just in my head. Silver light cast long shadows on the ground and illuminated the rough bark of the trees.

In front of me, through the rows of trunks, there was light. Was it the edge of the forest, the end of the illusion?

Hope quickened my heartbeat and my pace. My walk turned into a hesitant stumble, until I saw a stone wall through the trees. A building?

Whatever it was, it was something. And that was a whole lot better than nothing.

Faster, I pushed through the bushes and low-hanging branches. Faster, faster, just so I could get out of here.

Branches slapped me as I raced through them. A stray root caught my foot and I fell into the dirt, but I clawed myself back up.

Faster, faster. Out of the forest, away from the illusions. Faster, as fast as my legs could carry me, as if the night was chasing me, as if the wind was carrying me.

With a gasp, I broke through the last line of trees onto an open patch of grass. Coloured silver by the overhanging moon, there was no doubt about it. The forest had ended.

Relief flooded me and erased the worry and panic in my heart because beyond the soft greenery, a proud building rose from the ground, one I’d recognise in my sleep.

The Afterlife Academy.

I made it. I was back.