CHAPTER 6: BACK ON LAND

Another week passed by, with no further weevil attack nor sign of Karl. He hadn't called out in what seemed like ages. I thought for a time that he was lost, and we wouldn't find him, until one night when he called out, his voice sounding more desperate and pain-filled than ever. "Sela... You're so close.... I can feel you... Please hurry, I can't do this much longer." I heard his voice, clear as day. No longer the high-pitched little voice he had when last I saw him, but that of a weakened man, whose life was hanging by a thread. "I'm coming, Karl." I quickly replied to him. Something told me we needed to get to the shore. Karl's voice, it seemed somewhat closer than ever. I felt him calling from somewhere beyond the left riverbank.

"Chester, Tula!" I called, "Get us to the west side! I can feel him nearby!" Almost immediately, Chester and Tula turned the boat and sailed to the east. As we neared the shore, I saw a thick dark tangle of trees at the edge of a large forest, its treetops covered in a fresh sheet of snow. Somewhere in that forest, my brother was waiting for me.

Chester and Matt pulled leapt into the icy, shallow water and hoisted the canoe onto the shore, tied it to the large trunk of a nearby tree, then we began heading towards the forest, the snow beneath our feet cackling with every step.

"Can you feel him?" Chester asked. I shook my head, my speeding heart feeling heavy and my eyes welling up. "If you can't feel him, does that mean he's..." Matt trailed off, unable to finish his sentence. I didn't reply for I didn't know, but I had been thinking the same thing.

"Karl, please," I said in my head, "If you're alive, tell me. Give me a sign. I'm so close."

All of a sudden, Tula and Morgan, who were a few feet ahead of us, came to a halt. I made my way towards them and as soon as I saw what made them stop, I cried out my brother's name. Morgan and Tula had stopped because they found footprints and a brown walking stick with the markings of our tribe engraved on the handle. Karl had been there. I examined the footprints and looked in the direction to which they were leading. "What are we waiting for?" I asked, looking back at my companions, "These tracks will lead us to my brother! Let's go!"

I picked up Karl's stick and I lead the group deeper into the unknown depths of the Dark Forest.

We had been following the tracks for hours when what little light that had managed to penetrate the thick treetops, seemed to be slipping away. Sharp winds began biting at our ears, and the deeper into the forest we went, the thicker the snow was getting, and the harder it became to make our way. This had been the first time in years that I hadn't received a single message or call from Karl all day. I tried and tried, pleaded and pleaded, but still, I found no answer.

Thick snowflakes began gliding down the ancient trees. The wind howled past us, blowing the snowflakes into our eyes. To our horror, the footprints had almost disappeared; the lack of light made it exceedingly difficult to see and a new layer of snow was beginning to form, completely covering the tracks.

We had almost given up hope when suddenly, I heard him again. "Sela... You're so close..." he croaked, weakly. His voice had gotten very quiet, too quiet. That's when I realized that Karl was in his final few days, maybe even hours, he would die if we didn't find him soon. "Guys, we have to keep going," I said when Chester suggested a rest stop, "My brother is fading. If we don't find him soon, he will surely die." Everyone nodded and despite the heavy fatigue pulling on our shoulders and legs, we kept going. The tracks led us to a small cave. "Lucky we found this cave," whispered Matt, "we just happen to need someplace to set camp and rest for the night." I nodded, deep in thought. Matt was right; the fact that we somehow stumbled upon this cave just as our legs were about to crumble in need of rest, seemed like too big a coincidence. I had heard stories about the magic that lingered deep within the darkest parts of the Dark Forest, perhaps this was part of it?

I was pulled out of my thoughts when I heard a loud crack on the ground ahead. I shook my head and spun around; my gaze fixed on the direction from which the cracking noise came. I took a few steps forward and let out a huge sigh of relief; it was just Tula breaking small branches off the nearby trees, collecting it for firewood.

"The others are waiting inside the cave," Tula said quietly. She took my hand and lead me into the mouth of the cave. We had stepped into total darkness. All of a sudden, Tula's hand let go of mine, and my heart began to race. "Tula?!" I shouted, my loud voice almost instantly greeting me with an echo. Then, I saw a small spark of light, from which a fire then erupted. As my eyes adjusted, I could just about see the large shapes of my 4 companions, each one sat around the small fire. "That's better isn't it?" asked Tula with a grin. Chester handed out the blankets, and as we huddled close, I could see that everyone else was already lying down. Wrapped in my blanket, I lay down, my cheek brushing against the ice-cold floor. Minutes later, I could hear some light snoring. Strange, everyone had fallen asleep already, without even eating anything!

All of a sudden, I felt a wave of fatigue rush over me. My heavy eyelids fell over my eyes, and I sunk into a long, dreamless sleep.