"Dark Leaves Fall"
The Battle of Naroom, Part 3
by Edward Bolme
Why is the Core attacking? Read Part 2 "The Axe Rises"
Why is Marella in Naroom? Read The Prodigal Daughter, Part 1

Marella reclined in her howdah, a large woven riding box perched atop her jungertrug. The great beast moved with long, rolling strides through the Naroom woodlands, and she leaned back upon her padded seat and watched the light dappling through the great forest canopy over her head.

Smudges of tarry shadowstuff still clung here and there in the woodlands, and the light from the sun peeked through holes burned in the leaves above, but over all, she mused, the forest was coming along nicely. Even if it wasn't as beautiful as the long, winding, moving, ever-so-helpful blades of grass in The Weave.

She missed being there. The rocking gait of her beast reminded her of the swaying grass of home, and how it felt to be lazing away in a hammock in the warm breeze. The motion, the peaceful forest canopy, and the occasional fird song lulled her into a light snooze.

Thus she passed the hazy afternoon hours as her junjertrug ambled on its way, and she did not notice that it turned to follow the path to Vash Naroom, rather than the path leading back to her home in the Weave.

While Marella was a powerful Magi, her intellectual prowess was something less than awe-inspiring. Thus, as the days passed, she remained happily oblivious to the fact that she was going the wrong way. True, none of the trees looked familiar, but she'd expected that. She could tell where she was in the Weave at all times, for she was familiar with every blade of grass-well, at least the bigger and more important ones-but to her, a tree was a tree was a tree. They all looked the same to her.

Needless to say, she was rather surprised to find herself entering Vash Naroom. But then again, much of her life was a continuous chain of surprises, so in a sense, her surprise was no surprise at all...

* * *

"Wow," said Marella, gushing. "What's in that tree?"

"That's the council's reclusive chamber," said Eidon. "The leaders of Naroom come here to get away from the bustle of Vash Naroom proper and discuss important issues."

"Can I go there? Can I see it? Huh? Can I?" pestered Marella.

"I showed you that yesterday, my dear," said Eidon as gently as his temper allowed.

Somehow, just because he had retired from his position as Keeper, it had fallen to him to escort this bubble-headed grass-weaver all around Vash Naroom and the surrounding areas. "You're retired," they had all said, "you don't have anything to do." And so he'd gotten stuck playing tour guide to this insufferable young woman. Surely there was a better reward for having served your region faithfully for well over one hundred years. Like being able to rest...

Still, try as he might, Eidon couldn't quite bring himself to dislike Marella. She was too energetic, too cute, too happy, too pleased just to be with him. And she gave great hugs when she got really excited about something.

"Ooooh!" squealed the young Magi, dashing off again. "Look at this!"

Eidon wearily shook his head and urged his aching feet forward to follow her.

"There's nothing particularly interesting over there," Eidon called after her. "It's just an old clearing, and not a very pretty one."

He saw her stop in the center of the clearing and heard her gasp in amazement.

"It's nothing special," Eidon yelled, a little louder, in case she hadn't heard him the first time. He puffed a bit, breaking into a slow, painful trot to try to catch up with her. "Unless you count the Shadow Geyser erupting there," he muttered under his breath. "Nah, I can't tell such an innocent young lass about that," he added, looking up at the scorched and wilted trees that surrounded the area.

"Keen!" he heard Marella say. She looked back at him as he drew closer. "What a totally cool pit! How deep is this?"

"Pit?" asked Eidon with great concern. "There's no pit in that glade..." He broke into a wheezing run, unnerved by her tone. He hoped she was kidding...

"Sure there is, silly," said Marella brightly. "Good thing I found it, or someone might have fallen in and stuff."

Eidon jogged up and stopped next to Marella, and stared with surprise and fear at the gaping maw that had opened in the ground. Right in the middle of the clearing. Right where the Shadow Geyser had been.

"Boy," said Marella, "that sure looks deep. It looks like it could swallow you... hole! Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha!" She glanced over at Eidon, who was studying the hole. "Sheesh," she grumbled. "No sense of humor. Just like Iyori."

"It does look deep, indeed," said Eidon. "Too deep to be a sinkhole. It may--I hope not, but it may go all the way to the Core."

"Let's find out," said Marella cheerily. She picked up a rock and dropped it down the hole. It fell, striking back and forth on the walls of the pit. Clack, crack... crack thunk... crack...

Eidon turned and looked at his companion. "I wish you hadn't done that," he said quietly.

... crack... crik kadunk...

"Why?" asked Marella innocently.

... crunk... kathoom... thoom... kadooom...

"Wow," added Marella. "That's kind of creepy. I would have thought the sound would have gotten smaller and stuff, not all kinds of deep and booming and like that."

... kadooom... kadooom... katooomb...

"Um, can we, like, go now?" said Marella, the smile fading from her face.

"I think it's too late," said Eidon, looking down the hole. Deep and dark as the pit was, he could see an even darker shadow at the bottom, growing closer with frightening speed. He reached out with one arm and took hold of Marella's elbow, and steered the young Magi away from the lip of the pit. "Get ready," he said, gritting his teeth.

"Yeah, this is like all kinds of not good and stuff, isn't it?"

"You could say that," said Eidon, "though I'd rather you didn't say it in quite those terms."

With a crazed howl, a huge, blackened twisted creature erupted out of the pit and glared at the two Magi. It spread its great wings, and darkness seemed to fill the glade.

Marella gestured with her hands, and abruptly the wilted grass that stood at the rim of the hole grew, rising ten, a hundred, one thousand times its height, growing thick and lush and strong in little more than the blink of an eye. Then Marella waved her hands, wriggling her fingers in complex patterns, and the towering grass weaved itself into a thick interlocked sheath of green blades, entirely surrounding the pit and the creature it had spat forth.

"I win," said Marella, with no small amount of self-satisfaction.

Then the sheath began to swell, as if a great many creatures inside were struggling to get out. Blades of grass began to split under the strain, others began to turn black as they withered, the very life sucked out of them by some evil touch. A dark and foul paw with vicious, dirty claws thrust itself out through a small gap in the woven grass.

"Uh oh," said Marella.

"Yeah," agreed Eidon. "I think we need to warn the others." He dreamed up a hyren, two furoks, and a passel of eebits to fight against the creatures that struggled to free themselves from the sheath of grass. Marella added her own junjertrug and a lascinth to the force.

Then the two of them turned tail and began to run back towards Vash Naroom. They heard the woven sheath tear apart from the inside, and then they heard the frightful sounds of powerful dream creatures fighting tooth, claw, and tail.

The sounds of battle did not last long.

Eidon and Marella shared a worried glance with each other as they ran, but neither dared to hazard a glance back at the pit.

��

Read Part 4 "War of the Woods"