Runes: XXV

The Wildfolk

They all turned to face the bridge. The footsteps continued, like a drumbeat, getting louder. Skoo turned round to the runners, calling out something Autumn didn’t quite catch. Three of the runners nodded and set off running back down the path to the wood.

Flickers at the edge of her vision made Autumn look to the side of the path. The people of the Larchwood had all materialised on the right-hand side. They stood there passively, watching the bridge. As Autumn watched, the people of the Greenwood appeared on the left-hand side.

Rose stepped forward, turning her back to the bridge and facing all the assembled people.

“They will try to fight,” she called out, turning her head slowly as she spoke to ensure she could look at them all in turn. “We must only protect. We must not shed blood here or in the woods unless it is as an act of protection and we have no other choice. They have driven us here, as we suspected, on this neutral ground, but we must still respect this place as if it is part of the woods.”

The four leaders bowed their head in acknowledgment and respect.

“We stand to protect,” they called out in unison.

“We stand to protect,” chorused the people of the Greenwood and the Larchwood.

Across the bridge came an army of Wildfolk. They marched together in lines of three or four as they crossed the bridge, only to spread out into longer lines as they reached the bank. Autumn tried to count how many there were, and how they compared to the people gathered to either side of her, but they stretched back over the bridge. She couldn’t see anyone on the other side, they seemed to materialise as they set foot on the bridge. There was no telling how many there were.

The figure at the front, the tallest, raised his arm above his head to signal them to stop. He held a spear, and Autumn could see that, though it was carved as if it was a ceremonial item, the tip glinted in the summer late evening light. It was very much a weapon.

“This may be neutral ground, but you know you should not be here. Go back across the bridge,” called out Rose. She held her staff in her right hand. Autumn hadn’t seen her leaning on it at all since they had discovered Erland had been taken. As Rose spoke, the runes on the staff glowed slightly, and Autumn noticed that the carvings on her dad’s staff were also glowing.

“Take your people and return to your own lands,” Rose continued.

The leader of the Wildfolk ignored her. Instead, he looked at Autumn’s parents, and called out something in a language Autumn didn’t understand.

“What did he say?” whispered Autumn to Skoo.

Skoo didn’t take his eyes off the leader of the Wildfolk. “He says they should never have returned.”

“Go back,” called her dad in reply, his voice steady. “Leave the woods.”

A noise behind Autumn made her turn. The people of the Pinewood had arrived, and had gathered at the rear, behind the runners.

The leader of the Wildfolk narrowed his eyes and smiled. He pointed his spear towards the family.

“Autumn,” said her mum calmly, “get the salt.”

Her mum kissed Erland on the top of his head, and lowered him to the ground, next to Autumn.

The leader shouted something, pointing his spear at Autumn and Erland, and he started walking towards the gathered people, the first few lines of the Wildfolk following.

Autumn pulled out the plastic tube of salt. She realised her hands were shaking, but she flicked open the cap and started to pour it out on the ground in a circle around her and Erland.

The Wildfolk were getting closer, near enough that she could see the looks on the faces of those near the front.

The leader shouted something again when he saw what Autumn was doing, and the Wildfolk started trotting faster. The people of the Greenwood and the people of the Larchwood started moving into formation, creating a barrier between the Wildfolk and where Rose and Autumn’s parents stood, just in front of her.

The circle was nearly finished. Autumn steadied her breathing, trying to make sure she didn’t waste any of the salt. She was just about to pour out the last of the salt, to complete the circle, when something sharp struck her hand, knocking the bottle to the floor. It was a small stone. In panic, Autumn grabbed the bottle, but the last of the salt had scattered onto the packed earth. She tipped it up, trying to find a few more grains of salt to finish the circle, but there wasn’t enough.

She couldn’t see the Wildfolk anymore with the gathered people in front of her, but Autumn heard cruel laughter and a bellowed command from the leader of the Wildfolk. She didn’t need to speak the same language to know he was shouting for his troops to attack.