Setting fire to the Revenant Woods had been tried in the past, and it had failed to destroy the forest. We hadn’t expected this, but what better way to flush out your enemies than to burn them out?
We could open portals out of the forest, but there was nowhere else for us to hide in Tempest, and we couldn’t abandon the woods when it had given us a home, food, and security, even if many of the things living here would gladly eat us. Still, the forest had protected us from our enemies, and because of that, those enemies were seeking to destroy it.
I wouldn’t let that happen.
This was our home, but it was also the home of countless other living creatures who didn’t deserve to pay for our sins. Not to mention the ghosts and poltergeists; I didn’t know what would happen to them if the woods burned down, but they couldn’t leave the boundaries of these trees.
The Revenant Woods covered miles upon miles of land in Tempest; their fires had a ways to go before they completely devoured the forest. We had to stop them before then.
The shouted words of the poltergeists jabbering over top of each other became a jumbled mess. The dancers crept closer as the poltergeists waved their hands frantically and bobbed up and down like angry marionettes.
They were still trying to prove that their fire was more dire when Farley entered the clearing. He spun in circles as he zoomed toward us.
Fixated on getting to me and Ryker, Farley flew through two of his brethren. Tendrils of whatever created them flowed outward, as did some pieces of Farley. They slowly knitted themselves back together.
The poltergeists he’d gone through stopped yelling to give Farley disgruntled looks. “Asshole!” the female shouted.
Farley didn’t pay any attention to her as he came to a flying halt only inches from me and Ryker. Poltergeists didn’t have faces in the normal sense, but Farley’s expression was one of pure shock.
“We know there’s fires in the forest,” Ryker said before Farley could speak. “We’re going to take care of them.”
Farley’s vivid red eyes burned as he bobbed up and down. His crooked teeth were on full display when he spoke. “Well, good for you, Pretty Boy, but did you know there’s also guards in the woods? Lots of them.”
Ryker’s irritation over Farley calling him Pretty Boy vanished when Farley continued speaking. “They’re moving through the woods, setting more fires ahead of the ones already burning. They’re staying far enough away to keep from being crisp fried, but they’re waiting for your arrival.”
“Shit,” Ryker muttered as he ran a hand through his hair. “Thatfuckingbastard.”
“Your father’s a tricky prick,” Ianto said.
“He’s a monster,” Ryker said. “And he’ll stop at nothing to crush anyone who stands in his way.”
“What do we do?” I asked.
“We have to put those fires out; we don’t have a choice.”
“We can help with the soldiers,” Farley said.
The other poltergeists, two of whom still looked disgruntled over Farley flying through them, started bobbing up and down in the way poltergeists did when trying to nod.
“We’ll need more of you,” Tucker said.
“We can get them,” the female said. “What do you want us to do after that?”
“What you do best,” Ryker said. “Terrorize and scare them. Most of those guards aren’t used to these woods and have minimal experience with them. While I’m sure they’ve heard what poltergeists do to travelers, they’ve never experienced it, and many won’t handle it well.”
“I’ll make them shit themselves,” Farley said, and the grins of the others revealed their crooked teeth too. “For the first time since dying, I’m glad I can’t smell anymore.”
“We should be armed,” another poltergeist said. “Sticks and rocks won’t be enough for this mission.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Ellery
I didn’t knowwhat was scarier… guards in the woods, creeping further into the forest as the fire progressed, or armed poltergeists.
Sometimes the specters managed to get a hold of knives and swords, but for the most part, sticks and stones were their common armaments. While they could kill with them, they usually didn’t. I had no doubt they’d use any weapons we gave them to slaughter.
“We have some weapons to spare,” Ianto said. “But not many.”
