Shades of Grey

L’ÎLE DU DIABLE— FEBRUARY 1843

It took fifteen minutes of trudging through the humid forest (while unwillingly listening to Claire’s endless stories) before we finally arrived at the camp. Claire stopped talking abruptly and turned to us with a proud grin so wide that my own face felt sore.

“Here we are! The Terre Sprite village!”

Forma and I both looked around, failing to see anything.

“Urm, where?” Forma asked bluntly, sweating heavily.

Claire giggled, clearly finding our foreign intolerance to the tropical heat hilarious.

“I hope you are alright with climbing.”

Claire flew straight upwards through the dense canopy of trees, disappearing without so much as a breath of instruction. I cast a glance at Forma.

“How can it possibly be this hot at night?!” she complained.

“I’ve no idea. Perhaps later they can direct us to a spring or something. Why don’t you transform into an animal that lives in humid places? I’m sure you’ll feel better.”

“That’s true…why didn’t I think of that?”

Forma leapt on my shoulder and changed into a small rainforest frog and leapt onto the tree, jumping upwards with a sudden renewed vigor. I swore inwardly before leaping to grip the lowest hanging branch. This was one of the many times I envied Forma’s extensive transformative powers. Much to my annoyance, the Pallitus could only go so far.

I had to climb for a while. The canopy was incredibly thick and somehow it felt even hotter than down below on the ground.

“Come on, Grey! You have to see this place!”

I rolled my eyes.

“Forma, if I go any faster I might pass out…”

My last word faded as I broke through the canopy. What lay before me was the Terre Sprite city, housed discreetly between two layers of thick tree brush. How brilliant: a virtual pocket of safety high in the trees.

The virtually Lilliputian hamlet stretched over several miles of forest canopy, linked together by tiny bridges and lit with small torches. I watched the Sprites go about their business, flitting actively from one branch to the next, almost like a smaller more magical version of Ville de Mer. The small, flickering torches created an almost star-like effect across the dark forest. I smiled at its charm, despite my near heat exhaustion.

I daubed my sweating brow as I waited for Claire, who was speaking with a well-adorned male I took to be their chief. After several moments of intense discussion, he turned to me and flew down to my eye level, studying me with solemn eyes.

“You rescued one of our own from a Nemorosa attack?” he asked directly, examining my face with clandestine curiosity.

“I did,” I replied, not having the energy to say any more.

“What is your name?”

“Grey Echo.”

“And you are a Creature Hunter?”

“I am.”

The Chief flew backwards a few inches and his eyes swept my physique, studying my figure and my power. I felt it necessary to reassure his perceptible scepticism: he doubted if I was up to the challenge and I could not argue his logic. I was young, I had only one tooth on my necklace; how strong could I be, especially if I was this uncomfortable in the humidity of the forest? I said nothing, however, and removed my coat, which helped to combat the effect that the dense air had on my energy.

“How long have you lived in fear of the Nemorosa?” I asked cautiously as my body slowly began to acclimate. “Please, I can help. I have skills that could prove useful in the reacquisition of your island.”

The Chief flew back down to my eye level, pleased at my interest in their plight.

“It has been almost fifty years. We used to freely roam the island but we are now confined to the trees, hiding as the Nemorosa run amok below along with all of the monsters they carried over upon their arrival: Black Trolls that infest the forests, the Ifectass that linger in the rivers and the Wood Nymphs who hunt us for our magic. It is dangerous for a Hunter of your inexperience and clear lack of physical endurance, especially with only a Maisling for protection. Are you sure you wish to help us?”

I nodded.

“If I have any hope of getting off of this island, I need to face the Creatures head on.”

The listening Sprites above erupted into cheers and applause. The chief appeared defeated.

“Very well. Three of my best soldiers will accompany you as you traverse the island. It is dangerous for those unfamiliar with its many secrets.”

I did not see how three one foot tall Terre Sprite males could protect me any more than Forma could, but I accepted his terms and tried to contain my anticipation. The quantity of teeth on my necklace would soon be increasing.

Forma and I spent the rest of the night in a nearby cave with the three soldiers guarding the entrance while we grew used to the intense humidity. I despised the Terre Sprite chief for sending them with me, to guard me — it was a blow to my pride. I felt like an object, not my own person with my own power.

“Are we going to have to take them along?” Forma said, nodding to the soldiers, neither of whom had said a word to Forma or me since leaving the village.

“I don’t know how to lose them. Do you?” I questioned.

“No, not unless we let them die at the hands of a Black Troll.”

I stared at Forma, appalled by her candour.

“It was a joke! A mild-mannered jape! I swear!”

I looked up to the cave entrance and saw that the three soldiers were no longer hovering around it as they had been for the last several hours.

“Forma, they’ve gone!” I whispered.

“Maybe they did get eaten!”

I gave Forma another frustrated glare, to which she gave me another defensive laugh.

“Again, simple waggery!”

“It’s not amusing,” I sneered. “It’s in very poor taste.”

“You need to recognise humour when you hear it. You’re too ser—”

At that moment, a dark roar rattled the cave. Forma and I looked at each other in panicked confusion when an object suddenly flew through the air and hit the back wall of the cave: a small skeleton with large brown wings.

Forma and I shrank back in horror as I searched my memory for the name of a creature that devoured the insides of its prey, leaving only the skeleton. When I remembered, my breath caught in my throat.

“Forma, it’s a Coeur Troll!”

I had studied these only briefly during year ten with Lord Caydor. Deadly and near impossible to beat, Coeurs were classified as Level Twenty: no one other than extremely experienced Hunters should attempt to eradicate them. They were large, fast, and powerful; so powerful in fact that no one knew for sure what a Coeur even looked like — no one who had ever gotten close enough to know survived.

“Don’t move yet,” Forma cautioned. “We need to plan.”

I was only too happy to oblige her for I found that fear had paralysed me; I could only sit dumbly and wait for the Coeur to walk past the cave entrance. When it did, the paralysis lifted and I shrank back in terrified nausea.

It was exponentially uglier than the Gargouille had been; carrions had spread over the entire breadth of its massive Mimirian body, making the troll appear as though it wore a layer of hideous secondary armour. Foul green, snakelike eyes looked around with ruthless hunger and three large, uneven horns stuck out of its horrendous lizard head.

“You know, there are other Hunters out there; you do not need to attempt this! You should not attempt this!” Forma amended quickly.

I deliberated for a long moment, watching the Coeur jerk its head rather inanely in each direction as it blindly searched for its next meal. Forma was right — I was young, I had many years left to tackle huge Creatures such as a Coeur. However if I retreated now I would regret it forever, I knew I would.

I withdrew my Flamesword.

“What?!” Forma flew in front of me, changed into a Blacklight Dragon and blocked my way with her large wings as she chastised me.

“Have you lost your mind? Coeurs have been known to eat entire villages! How do you expect to defeat just one all by yourself?!”

I looked deep into her Dragon eyes with a smile of sly malevolence.

“With my secret weapon.”

It took a moment for her to grasp the concept, and when she did, her eyes widened in horror.

“No! I can’t!” Forma changed back to herself and flew after me, complaning with the vehement pessimism of Heraclitus. “I can only morph once! It won’t work!”

“Trolls are obtuse,” I whispered as I looked out of the cave opening towards the lumbering troll while it ate every living thing within its reach. “If we move quickly, it will think there is more than two.”

“Grey, I really must—”

I grabbed her tiny form roughly, forcing her to look me in the eye.

“I don’t care if you approve or not. Just do it.”

I released her and she rolled her eyes in frustration. Reluctantly, she transformed into me, complete with my current irritated expression. I gave her a simpering glare and turned to the Coeur.

It was squatting, eating something with vexatiously loud fervour. I lithely leapt up to a thick tree branch hanging overhead, trying to avoid looking at the beast. Once there, I began crawling silently from branch to branch, quickly advancing on the great creature. Forma ran below, equally silent and agile.

Once I was positioned over the crouching troll, I stole a glance at Forma as she stood behind a nearby tree, waiting for my signal to begin her part of the attack.

I nodded and she withdrew a perfect copy of my Flamesword. She then made a smooth leap several yards up and landed on the hulking back of the Coeur, jamming the sword into its right shoulder. The Coeur roared in pain.

Seconds after Forma had dealt her blow, I saw my opportunity to appear and I dove from the tree, landing squarely on its neck. Forma saw me and took her chance to leap from the Coeur’s back and hide in the forest canopy, waiting until it was time for her to take over again. The plan was to confuse the troll using multiple attacks from multiple angles until it collapsed in disorientation and was weak enough to defeat. It was not the greatest plan, but it was the only plan either of us had come up with.

The troll felt me plant my feet on its neck and, having learned from before, turned quickly to the left and used its momentum to propel me through the air into a nearby tree.

Forma saw her chance and began taunting the Coeur from behind, keeping its attention on her and giving me time to recover.

I gave myself a quick examination and surmised that while I hadn’t quite broken anything, it certainly felt as though I had bruised several bones, possibly punctured something but I wasn’t sure. I felt exhaustion beginning to take hold.

I forced myself to get up, drinking a small amount of analgesic to speed healing and eradicate most of the pain. After a few seconds, it worked and I was ready for another attack.

Forma and I made eye contact again and I ran to the other side of the Coeur, driving a burning Flamesword into the creature’s leg.

It turned to me with vengeful rage and slowly reached down to envelope me in its great hands. I reacted quickly, racing around the troll with the speed of Mercury himself. After several minutes, I had created a large circular ditch around the troll and, sensing my plan, Forma had filled it with dry wood and any other flammable materials she could find.

However, the Coeur was learning. It moved quickly, sweeping me up in the blink of an eye and tossing me into the air with ease and amusement.

Forma made a great leap upward towards the Coeur’s shoulder, but it saw her coming and blocked her, sending her across the clearing and skidding to a stop on the ground several feet away, unconscious.

“Forma!”

The troll threw me up into the air one more time and kicked me, sending me into the ground inches away from her.

“Forma, wake up!”

I choked and spat out blood before fruitlessly attempting to wake her. This allotted the Coeur a chance to stretch its large hands towards me. In my weakened state, my reflexes were not as sharp and before I could react, the troll’s hand was around my ankle. It lifted me into the air, carelessly swinging me around like child swinging a ragdoll.

I struggled against the centrifugal force to pull out my Flamesword for one last attack, but the Coeur recognised the burning sword and it began spinning faster and faster in a circle until everything around me became one massive blur. The Flamesword slipped from my limp hands, piercing the ground near Forma’s lifeless body.

“NOO!” I cried uselessly. The Coeur released his hold on me, suddenly crying out in pain and I flew through the air again, landing hard on a large boulder and crumpling to the ground in a heap of mangled flesh and broken bones.

I listened over the pained cries of the Troll as I suddenly heard determined footsteps approaching my vegetative body. I felt two fingers on my neck as the unknown rescuer tracked my pulse. The person then lifted my broken figure with strong, gentle arms. I moaned like a child at the sharp pain that shot through me and I slowly lifted my head to look at my Lancelot.

His jaw was strong and his large, deep brown eyes were softly secretive as though he carried the weight of some unknown mystery he was just aching to divulge. His brow was gentle and perfectly matched to the unique shade of the long, black locks that hung around his face. His determined expression carried undertones of paternal concern that would have made me nervous if I had been able to process any of my thoughts.

“Who...who...”

It hurt to speak. All I managed to utter were weak breaths.

“Don’t speak. You need to rest.”

There was a dark attractiveness in the rich tonality of his voice which I took comfort in, until I passed out from the pain.