“And you never heard from him again?” Humburt asked.
“I have. He comes out of the darkest parts of the Forest occasionally at night, when you all are asleep. But I cannot approach him the way I used to, because he's not the same person.”
“Why didn't you tell us?” Niklas said, betrayed.
“Yeah, and why didn't you show us, if you want me to believe so bad about what you say?” said Augustus.
“Because he's dangerous, evil, and he will destroy you, son. I promise you.”
“I'll take him, especially if he attacks my brother.” Humburt said, getting defensive.
“No you won't, Humby. He'll tear you to shreds without even trying. He's much too powerful. This why I have kept my history as his friend from all of you, in the hopes I could convince you to follow my guidance. And this is also why I don't want you leaving the Forest, because you will suffer the same fate as Zamir. The Daevan God will come for you, if Zamir doesn't first.” Kirbleitz continued rubbing his chin, thinking about how best to deal with the rift that had occurred in the pack. Augustus, in the short time Elsa had watched him interact with the other shifters, seemed the most skeptical and least prone to superstition than the other boys. He loved Kirbleitz, that much was obvious, otherwise he would not fought so hard to get the truth from Kirbleitz. Whether this was a good thing or not remained to be seen.
Elsa panicked when she overheard this conversation, because although the Forbidden Forest initially made her think Theo was somewhere in the vague shadows of the trees, the rest of the pack, including Doctor Kirbleitz, made it clear Theo had voluntarily left the Forest of his own accord. This must have been when Elsa met him at the tavern that day, when she so callously dismissed him as an irrelevant vagabond. But if what the doctor said was true, still, there was a possibility that the Forest drew Theo back during his sleep, into the deeper parts of the woods, where Humburt, Augustus, and Niklas never went and where Kirbleitz never allowed them to go. On the other hand, add to this the fact that Freja Stein had every motive Elsa could think of, and more, to keep Theo alive and healthy in the towns. Otherwise, she would never have taken the time to get Elsa's stone to glow red. And the question of why exactly Freja summoned so much energy to get that stone to glow in the first place, what purpose it served, lingered in Elsa's unconscious mind, continually mulling the mystery over and over again. Consciously, she could formulate many possibilities, all equally valid. But unconsciously she knew in her heart of hearts what that glowing red stone represented: the evil, the brokenness, of her own soul, the cracks through which a wicked witch burrowed and stole her Theo. Yes, there were many questions she had about her current situation, but there was one thing she was most sure of—finding Freja meant finding Theo. Elsa vowed to make right whatever wrongs she had committed against her fiancée.
“I just don't know who to believe anymore, Doc. You have always been so good to us, so protective. I don't think you would hurt us,” Humburt said. “Tell me where you heard of this prophecy you speak about. This girl fits exactly how you described her—brown hair and blue eyes, full of life and kindness. She's exactly what we expected.” Humburt looked in Elsa's direction as she remained still, pretending to be unconscious.
Augustus laughed, crossing his arms over his chest. “It's a lie, I'm telling you. He wants to keep us here in this forsaken place forever,” he said, trying to sway the conversation in his favor.
“Don't talk about Doc like that!” Niklas said. “I got your back, Kirby.” Niklas tapped the doctor on the shoulder, who did not acknowledge the little man. Niklas looked down, a puppy whose master was not pleased with his efforts.
“Zamir told me about the prophecy, as the crystal in that cottage deep in the heart of the forest spoke to him. The hunger to know why the cottage called to him was made clear, he said, in that moment, because he could glimpse a prophecy about when his time would come to an end. The crystal said a young, beautiful, pure woman would come wandering into the Forest, whose corruption would be a sacrifice in exchange for the freedom of all locked within the borders of the Forbidden Forest.”
“Oh, so we have a crystal that talks now,” Augustus said. “This is perfect. Just perfect.”
“Brother,” said Humburt, “Why is it so hard to believe for you? Have you not seen the magical things that have happened to you since were left for dead by our parents?”
“It's just ridiculous,” Augustus said. “It's like something out of a fairy tales, made up to put little children at ease. I guarantee you it's bogus.”
“The crystal never talked. I didn't tell you that,” Doctor Kirbleitz said. “I said the whole place spoke to Zamir, the way the Forest speaks to all of us—warns us of all the danger in its corners.”
“Where is this Zamir! Come out Zamir! We're all waiting for you! I'm not afraid. Show yourself, if you're real!” Augustus screamed through the airy pines only to receive dead silence in return.
“I can almost promise you, son, that Zamir knows all about you, but will not oblige you.”
“Oh, really?” said Augustus. “That's a shame isn't it? You're only proof just doesn't want to come out and play because he's too shy.”
“Trust me, Augustus. This wolf does not play. He's nothing but pure danger and power.”
“What makes him so powerful, doc?” Niklas asked.
“His experience near the cottage changed him permanently. And there's no telling what the Daevan God has done to him, as well.”
“Oh right I'm so convinced you're telling the truth, Doc.”
“Maybe we should listen. Everything he says makes sense, brother.”
“I will tell you what makes sense, Humburt. What happened to Theo makes sense. He was the only one of us, besides me, who wanted to leave this place and had the bravery to believe he actually could. And do you know what happened? He stood up on his own two feet and walked straight out of this hell hole. And he's out there, right now, trying to start a new life, and move past Doctor Kirbleitz's bullshit. The Forest never grabbed him by his ankles or held him in a thorny cage. He's working right now as a carpenter or cabinet maker. He's got a new wife, kids, he's probably in love. And look at all of us, right here, wasting away any hope of a normal life, living literally as wolves, eating raw meat in campfires, telling stupid jokes to distract ourselves from the fact that we're lost. We'll never be the same, but at least we can try to make things right.” Augustus looked up into the canopy of the forest, at the crows and other black birds sat perched on a random limbs, spread sporadically through the tree line. A few drops of rain landed on his forehead.
“You know what that girl right there represents? She's a reminder, not of a prophecy, but that our ticket out of this place sits right in our gut. All we need are the balls to act. Just get up and leave the forest.”
“I believe Doc,” said Niklas.
“I do, too,” said Humburt. Kirbleitz forced his expression to remain stone-like, unwilling to exacerbate the already upsetting fight between his clan of wolves. He cared for the boys from such young ages and truly wanted what was best for them. Any fight between them, especially regarding his own abilities to lead or guide, meant their bond had diminished. This broke Kirbleitz's heart.
“Fine. Have it your way. I'm leaving, heading straight for the exit, right there!” Augustus pointed north. “You guys can sit here and rot.” He walked straight past his twin brother.
“Don't go, brother. I'll lose you forever.”
“Then come with me, Humburt. Why can't you just see all this for what it is, a big sham.”
“It's too dangerous, Augustus. You know this. You have had the same dreams I have. Besides, what will we do? Where will we go? All our family died years ago. Who knows what's out there—maybe all the people are gone and were replaced by something else. Maybe they'll eat us alive.”
“You're ridiculous, brother. I'm going.”
Elsa lay there, her eyes half opened, watching the twin boys and young Niklas talk amongst each other. Her body ached in the shoulders and the dirt rubbed its way through the wounds on her knees. The exhaustion funneled all the way down into the marrow of her bones, and she wished to sleep forever on the bed of that forest. But unfortunately she had a long journey ahead, uncertain and perilous, a path she would have to take alone, relying only on her strength of character and abiding love for Theo.
CHAPTER 30
“Let's kill her. I think he's telling the truth.”
“You better not,” Augustus said. “If you think you're corrupted now, just wait until you find out you burned an innocent girl alive at the stake, all because of your precious prophecy, brother.”
“You're giving us no choice, then,” Humburt said. “Maybe if we just go through with it, you'll see the Doctor is telling the truth and you won't destroy yourself trying to go back out into the real world.”
“Yeah, or maybe I'll leave anyway, and you'll be stuck with knowing you're a murderer. An EVIL murderer.”
Elsa figured that, because she needed to leave the forest as quickly as possible, and because she would be able to convince Augustus to help her get to the edge of the forest, she would need to back up his argument that Theo was alive and well in the real world. The truth was that she had no idea where Theo was, but she did have a hunch Freja kept him locked away. Regardless, he was almost certainly not in the Forbidden Forest. If she didn't say something now, Augustus would leave her here in this terrible place to burn at the stake.
“Augustus, don't go. Please stay with us,” Niklas said, as Augustus walked off into the distance. Now was Elsa's chance. She raised her head, mustering all the energy she could.
“He's right,” she said, over the commotion of the wolves. They all stopped and looked in her direction.
“She's awake,” Humburt said. Even Doctor Kirbleitz looked up, somewhat surprised. “What did you say, ma'am?”
“I said,” Elsa continued, “your brother is right. I came from the towns. Theo lives in a shack on the shore of a lake. He's fine. Lives a normal life.”
“It can't be,” Kirbleitz said, his mouth agape. “How do you know? Did you see him for yourself?”
“I didn't just see him. I am in love with him. I will be his wife.” All three men looked at each other in shock and disbelief, unable to entertain the idea that the prophecy was a complete sham. “This Prophecy of yours doesn't exist. It can't because Theo is fine. He left the woods of his own accord and never had any trouble.” The lie dripped from Elsa's mouth like poison. She could not help but feel a stab of betrayal from her own heart, even if it was for a greater good. There was no doubt in her mind that she, and the whole wolf pack, would be fine outside the borders of the forest, and she needed to get to Theo as soon as possible to save him from whatever Freja had in store for him. A white lie never hurt anyone.
“See! I knew it,” they all heard Augustus yell from behind them. “Doctor Kirbleitz's story was made up.”
Niklas and Humburt looked over to the doctor, who frowned because he had no energy left to fight. “I never made it up. Perhaps—” He stopped.
“Perhaps what?” Niklas asked.
“Perhaps I misinterpreted the prophecy. I don't think Zamir would lie to me deliberately, even if he were in a manic state of mind due to his experiences near the cottage.”
“You mean all this time you were not as sure as you said you were?” Humburt looked over at his brother, and without saying word, apologized to him for all his doubts.
“Look I'm going, done with this limbo. Are you all coming with me?” Augustus said.
“The girl says she knows where Theo is, maybe she should lead the way,” Kirbleitz said, skeptical. They looked to Elsa.
“Um, yes. I do know where he is, but I don't know how to get out of this forest. This is not my place, it's completely foreign to me.”
“OK, just follow Augustus then. Right?” Kierbleitz said.
“Let's do it,” Niklas said, gung-ho for the adventure, yet unaware of his abrupt change of stance on the existence of the prophecy. Burning innocent girls at the stake amounted to little more than a small opportunity for some excitement in his otherwise languorous days in the forest.
“Do you know how to get out of here, Augustus?” Elsa asked. She forced her face to betray none of her fear or self-doubt, and crossed her arms to protect herself.
“I do. We all do.” Augustus said.
“Well then show us the way,” Elsa said, laughing. She wanted to keep all of the boys convinced she knew what she was doing and where to find Theo after escaping the forest. The truth was that she didn't know what waited for them in the towns, as a good great amount of time had almost invariably passed. Elsa wondered what was in store for them when they left. Even though she didn't know where Theo was, she knew he had in fact left the forest intact without the repercussions which this Zamir character had apparently suffered. She looked around her again. “Let's be clear, boys. You get me to the edge of the forest, I'll show you Theo myself, in his new life, proof that he's all right.”
“Yeah,” Humburt said, “but that means we need to cross the edge of the forest first. How will we know you're telling the truth before we leave this place?”