Autumn grabbed Erland’s hand and squeezed it tightly. His eyes were wide, his face was pale, and he looked more scared than Autumn had ever seen him. Autumn realised how strange it was to see him looking like that, how rare it was for him to be anything other than fun, laughter, and mischief.
Skoo, stood directly in front of the broken circle, crouched down near the ground and hunched over. He was holding something in his cupped hands and whispering feverishly. Autumn tried to get a glimpse of what it was, but it was too small. She thought she saw flashes of a deep, amber glow, but she couldn’t be sure. She strained her ears to try and hear what Skoo was saying, but she could still hear the urgent whispering, that background drone, and she couldn’t quite catch any words. Skoo’s chanting got louder and louder until, with a loud cry, he leapt up, throwing his arms up above his head.
Tiny strands of glowing chestnut light seemed to hover above Skoo’s head for a moment. It looked like they were gently fluttering in a breeze, though the stifling summer night air was still. After only a second or so, they spun in a tiny whirlwind, and blew away in the direction of the woods.
Skoo watched them disappear into the night, then, with his face set in a grim expression, he positioned himself between the children and the Wildfolk. Autumn couldn’t see what was happening in front of the gathered people of the Greenwood and Larchwood, but there was a sudden sound of steel on steel, and the sharp thud of wood on wood, and Autumn knew that the fighting had begun. The leaders, just in front of her parents and Rose, were shouting orders, and the ground vibrated with running feet as more of the people of the wood moved into position. Her parents and Rose were stood just in front of Skoo. Both Autumn’s dad and Rose were holding their staffs like clubs in case they needed to use them to fight, and Autumn’s mum had pulled out a long knife that Autumn had never seen before.
Autumn heard Erland give a tiny sob, and he clutched her hand tightly. Just as he did, from behind them, back in the woods, came a snarl, a deep and vicious snarl that was too loud to make sense. It seemed to echo around the scattered trees and the undergrowth just off the path around them, and Autumn heard the sound of fighting in front falter for a moment. Several of the Wildfolk let out loud moans or cries of fear.
Her parents spun round when they heard the snarl. Autumn was surprised to see her dad’s eyes wet with tears. She watched her mum pass the knife from her right hand to her left, and reach out and squeeze his hand. Then she passed her knife back again and turned back to face the direction of the Wildfolk. Autumn could hear the sounds of fighting, but not as loudly as before, as if some of the Wildfolk were more hesitant than they had been. She could hear their leader, sounding furious, his voice reaching a fever-pitch, screaming at them.
Autumn looked around in fear at whatever had made the noise, whatever it was that had so scared the Wildfolk. She tried to pull Erland towards her, to comfort him, but she was surprised to see his eyes were shining with excitement and recognition. He pushed her gently away and pointed to the trees to their left.
There was another snarl and out of the trees burst Osa.
*gasp*
This, this is the story. I'm in the circle.