Storms of the Forest Read online

  STORMS OF

  THE FOREST

  Dele Daniel

  © Copyright 2017 Dele Daniel

  This is a work of fiction. Any names or characters, businesses or places, events or incidents, are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

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  Contents

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  CHAPTER 24

  CHAPTER 25

  CHAPTER 26

  CHAPTER 27

  CHAPTER 28

  CHAPTER 29

  CHAPTER 30

  CHAPTER 1

  My father and I had inevitably had our differences over the years, but nothing ever changed the fact that he had always been a dedicated family man. Everyone throughout Black Forest knew that Mika Romunda was the kind of man who put his family above everything, even his own life, if necessary.

  When I thought of it that way, it really shouldn’t have been a surprise that he’d joined the Hawks and their rebellion. The Hawks were determined to bring an end to the king’s corruption because it threatened the well-being of the Arnazuri community. Hence, it threatened us. That’s why my father had decided to join the fight.

  I understood that now, and it was that understanding had led me to take a position right alongside the Hawks. Considering my father and I had both been driven away from our families because of the king’s corruption, the rebellion had become personal for us. Consequently, it turned out that we had more in common than I ever realized.

  The Hawks and I had been on the road for quite some time already, on a journey to reunite with my father after he’d been missing in action for what felt like entirely too long. When Zane, a fellow Hawk, had shown up to our second safehouse with the news that my father was hiding out in River Binen, it had almost seemed too good to be true, especially since I had desperately been in the need of good news in the aftermath of Jason’s death—not to mention the fact that King Henry had declared me responsible for Jason’s death . . .

  “Almost there,” Zane announced from several paces ahead.

  I twisted around on Max, Jason’s horse that I had more or less taken ownership of, and glanced back at my mother and brother. They were riding my horse, Dolly.

  As they rode, Prince wore an expression of quiet skepticism. He had matured so much over the past year; it was still taking me some time to get used to how much he had grown. I knew he was trying not to get his hopes up too high. Like me, Prince understood that times were so uncertain that there was always a chance our father had been forced to move—or worse—before we got to him.

  Our mother appeared to be experiencing a similar struggle. Initially, she had openly rejoiced at the news of Father’s whereabouts. Now, however, she tried desperately to hold that joy in, looking close to bursting into tears at any given second. The news that her husband was reportedly alive and well proved to be a joy so immense that she was afraid to let herself fully experience it in the event that things suddenly went wrong at the last second.

  All three of us knew that premature celebration might jinx the whole thing.

  So lost in my thoughts, it took me a moment to realize Max had come to a full stop even though I hadn’t commanded him to. Confused, I glanced around and then realized everyone else had come to a stop as well.

  Farthest ahead, Zane turned around on his horse to look at me. He grinned, the sunlight glinting off the long, jagged scar running down the side of his face. “We’re here,” he announced, and then hopped down from his horse.

  I looked beyond him, my heart pounding as I made out the shabby wooden enclosure just barely visible through the vines and trees ahead of us.

  Beside me, Remington hopped down from his horse, his gaze firmly planted ahead of him as he took in the enclosure as well. He carefully moved toward Zane, cautious of not making too much noise. “Does he know we’re coming?” he asked, his whisper traveling through the air.

  Zane gave some sort of response, but I couldn’t make out what he said. I watched with bated breath as they both turned around to look at the rest of us. Remington held up a single finger, telling us to wait a moment. He then nodded to someone, and I intuitively knew he must have been looking at Mother. From somewhere behind me, I could practically feel her anxiety.

  We all watched as Zane and Remington disappeared into the forest, heading to the cabin and then disappearing inside after a few hurried knocks on the door.

  My eyes stayed glued on the scene, only vaguely aware that Mother and Prince had dismounted Dolly to come stand beside me and Max. Mother reached for my hand, and I simply held on to her for a moment before realizing she meant to help me dismount. When my two feet were on the ground, I absentmindedly rubbed Max’s side as I continued to stare at the cabin, waiting.

  Prince slipped his hand into mine, whether to reassure me or himself, I couldn’t tell. And we waited . . .

  And waited . . .

  And waited some more.

  The quiet and stillness around us was unnatural, considering there were about a dozen of us who’d come on this journey. Even the horses seemed to sense the jumbled feelings floating among us.

  After what felt like an eternity, footsteps began to sound through the forest. Twigs snapped under several pairs of feet, and I began to see flashes of Remington as he made his way back toward us. Behind him was Zane, and behind Zane was someone else . . .

  It didn’t seem plausible that my ears could bypass the sounds of Remington’s and Zane’s footsteps to hear the pattern of the gait behind them, yet I could. I would recognize the rhythm of that particular walk anywhere, for I had listened to it virtually every morning for seventeen years. I had spent many mornings lying in bed, wishing I could sleep longer when it was time to start getting ready for school. Being able to distinguish my father’s footsteps from my mother’s, I always knew that when I heard him walking down the hall toward the kitchen, my mother would be knocking on my door approximately five minutes later to tell me to get up.

  Father had a distinct brisk and heavy-footed walk that somehow sounded like confidence in motion. The hunter in me had always found his heavy footsteps irksome, but now, they were music to my ears. I listened to the rhythm of the twigs snapping under his feet for a moment longer, and then he appeared right before my very eyes.

  An involuntary and inarticulate noise sprang from my mouth—part laugh, part scream, part cry. At the same time, my mother yelled out.

  “Mika!” she cried.

  I’m not sure who took off first—me, Mother, or Prince—but in a flash, Father was knocked to the ground under the force of all three of us. His joyous laughter rang through the a
ir, and we became a tangle of hugs, kisses, and jumbled words.

  Father looked worse for the wear—his clothing dirty and unkept, his face unshaven, and his hair a thick, matted, untrimmed mess. But it didn’t matter, because he had never looked better as far as I was concerned.

  Behind us, Remington spoke to the rest of the group. “Let’s head out for a bit. It’s been a while since Mr. Romunda has seen his family. Let’s give them some time together.”

  “Wait,” my father said, momentarily parting from us. He clasped Zane’s hand, and then Remington’s. “Thank you so much for bringing my family to me,” he said.

  “You’re more than welcome, sir,” Zane said.

  “We’ll return later,” Remington said. “I think we should have a meeting, and I’d love for you and your family joined us.”

  “You can use our cabin then. It may be a tight squeeze, but it’ll suffice.”

  Remington nodded. “All right. Thank you,” he said, before mounting his horse and heading out with the rest of the Hawks.

  Father turned toward me. “Genesis,” he said, cupping my face with his cold hands and kissing my forehead.

  “I-I’ve missed you so much. I’m so sorry, Dad. I . . . You were right. You were right all along . . . I didn’t know now, but . . .” I rambled, unable to coherently form my words. I had hoped to be more eloquent when I was finally face-to-face with my father again, but I was having no such luck.

  “Shh, Genesis,” he said, wrapping me into another hug. It was at that moment that I knew all had already been forgiven. He didn’t need to hear my apology. He already knew. “Come inside,” he said. “We have a lot to catch up on.”

  ***

  While my father’s hideout could hardly be described as cozy, it had at least served its crucial function in keeping him safe, for it was easy to overlook if one didn’t know to look for it. It consisted of three tiny rooms and small dingy windows. He reported that he’d been staying there for a few weeks. Prior to that, he and the other Hawks with him had been staying on the move to avoid getting captured.

  Despite his frequent traveling, he had been keeping track of news throughout the kingdom as best as he could and therefore knew how serious things had gotten from the second I left for Promenade.

  “The royals are firing back. I know that much,” he said. “I get a feeling that something tipped them off though. Something sent them over the edge, making them take things up a notch.” He locked eyes with me. “I’ve been hearing your name muttered around a lot, Genesis. What’s happened? How bad is it?”

  Mother gripped my hand for support, and I took a deep breath. I had already recounted my experiences at Promenade for him, including how the acceptance of women into the prestigious school had merely been a publicity stunt to improve King Henry’s reputation with the younger generation. I had also told him about the fateful day I’d missed curfew and was subsequently arrested, and I’d recounted as much as I could stomach regarding my time in prison, leading up to when Jason saved my life. Although Father had obviously heard a great deal of this already, he said it was different hearing my firsthand account of these events.

  “I get the feeling that there’s more to the story about Prince Jason,” he said, clearly noticing something in my expression each time I said his name.

  I stared down at the floor. “Yeah . . . I . . . I made friends with him. We became really good friends . . .” I paused, holding my breath and willing the tears in my eyes to stop forming. Mother wrapped an arm around me while Prince knelt on the floor beside me, listening quietly.

  I cleared my throat and forced myself to continue, reaching for my backpack to retrieve the scrolls Jason had been studying. “He showed me these,” I said, handing them over.

  Father’s face twisted in confusion as he took the scrolls and stared down at them. “What are they?”

  “Ancient scrolls written in the original Arnazuri language. Jason knew how to read it.” Father’s eyebrows raised. I nodded. “The prophecy you spoke of—about there being an Arnazuri leader on the way—not only did Jason know about it, but he also believed in it. He was trying to

  figure out who the leader was, and he said the answer was somewhere in those scrolls. He just needed time to figure it out. He . . . He knew so much about our people, Dad.” I paused to recollect myself again. “He took me to a hidden temple within the capital, where the Kingfishers have been keeping Arnazuri artifacts hidden for centuries. Dad—there were once Arnazuri kings. We had royals. And they looked just like us! There are statues made of them, but they were covered with white paint to hide their brown skin. To disguise they identity. And now, practically no one in living memories knows anything about them. But Jason revealed them to me. He was even teaching me the ancient Arnazuri alphabet. He . . .”

  But my voice gave out on me again. I had been talking about Jason too much, and I literally felt like another piece of my heart was being chipped away.

  “What happened to Prince Jason?” Father asked in an uncharacteristically soft voice.

  “He was killed,” Prince said, speaking for the first time in a while, saving me from giving the painful answer. “He died saving Genesis. Stepped right in front of a bullet for her. And now King Henry has claimed she was his murderer.”

  “I’m terribly sorry for your loss, Genesis,” Father said after a long pause. I could tell from the look on his face that he understood my feelings for Jason had run deeper than usual. I supposed everyone had come to realize that by now.

  Father leaned over to wrap me into another hug. Unlike when I was little though, his hug no longer felt capable of protecting me from the cruel world anymore, which almost made me want to cry even harder.

  Holding my breath for a few seconds, I hastily wiped my eyes and averted my gaze. Even though I was elated to have my whole family reunited, I suddenly had the urge to be alone again.

  “It doesn’t matter,” I said. “All that matters now is that we fight them. I’m a Hawk now.”

  Father released me and exchanged glances with Mother. I had seen them exchange glances in that manner so many times that it was almost like old times.

  “What’s wrong?” I said.

  “Genesis, when did you become a Hawk?” Father asked.

  “From the moment Jason died.” The fierceness in my voice surprised even me. My parents exchanged glances again, and I began to feel annoyance creep through my sorrow and anger. “Why are you looking that way?” I demanded. “I thought you’d be happy to hear that I’m finally on board with the Hawks. I thought you’d want me to join them.”

  Father sighed. “Honestly, Genesis, I’m not sure how I feel about that. Being a Hawk is dangerous, and as a parent, it’s hard to watch your child do anything that could put their safety at risk. Don’t get me wrong, honey, I’m proud of you. I’m very proud of you. The way you’ve handled yourself through these difficult times is astounding to me. But at the same time, I’m scared for you. I don’t want you in danger.”

  I stared back at him, wondering how he had missed the memo that it was already dangerous to be me lately. But I managed to bite back the retort at the last moment. We had just been reunited, and the last thing we needed was to start arguing again. Otherwise, it really would have been just like old times, but for all the wrong reasons.

  Mother cast me a sorrowful smile. “I know it’s hard for you to understand now, but you’ll understand someday when you have children of your own.”

  CHAPTER 2

  “Excuse me,” I said, squeezing past several Hawk members as I made my way back inside my father’s cabin. As if it wasn’t already small and cramped enough, it felt even more so now that so many people had crowded inside. I’d been there when the first few members started arriving for the meeting Remington had called. They had come bearing the news that they’d spread the word.

  “We told some more Hawks about the meeting, so a few extra might show up,” they’d

  said.

  A “few extra”
turned about to be about another dozen.

  Seeing so many people in such tight quarters had started making me feel suffocated for some reason, so I stepped out for a moment to get some fresh air. But now the meeting was about to start, and I didn’t want to miss anything. It was more important than ever to carefully plan our next moves, and I wanted to know every single detail.

  I squeezed through the room until I was near my family and Remington. As if he had been solely waiting on my return, Remington stood and cleared his throat. “Hello, everyone,” he said. “I want to thank you all for coming out and spreading the word about this impromptu meeting. And I want to especially thank Mr. Romunda for letting us use this location at such short notice. We’re glad to have you back, Mr. Romunda.” He nodded toward my father, and the room broke out in polite applause. Remington cleared his throat again. “I don’t want to drag this out any longer than necessary,” he continued, “so I’ll just get to the point. I called this meeting because I think it’s time for us to pick things up a notch. In light of recent events—mainly the regretful death of Prince Jason and the fact that King Henry is trying to pin our own Genesis as responsible for it—we’re going to need to boost up our numbers in order to stand a chance against him and the royals. That being said, I think we need to reach out to the rest of the Hawk members in Black Forest, as well as those in King’s Bay and King’s Port, to make sure everyone is on the same page. And it’ll probably be a good idea for us to start recruiting more Rowans into our movement as well. After all, we’re all tired of the king and his ways, and there is always strength in numbers.” Remington briefly glanced at me, echoing our earlier conversation. He then turned back to the group at large. “So what do you guys think?”

  A hush fell over the cabin as everyone considered Remington’s words. He glanced around, looking for reassurance that he wasn’t the only one who felt like it was time to beef up the Hawk’s recruitment efforts.

  “Sounds good to me,” I said, breaking the silence and subsequently causing all eyes to turn my way. “Not only could we use more Rowans, but I think we could use more Ammirians too. Both tribes can be useful to us, particularly since they have different sets of skills. We could use the Rowans and their knowledge of the waterways. As for the Ammirians—they’re great with science and technology. We need that on our side. All of us need to be united if we’re going to go against the king.”