Echoes From the Past (Book 1)

                         

https://rumble.com/v4tnfd8-echos-from-the-past-part-1.html

  

Echoes From the Past

By Ray Bush

“How much would you charge me to take me to Elwood?” Harrison asked Dagen with a smile. 

“Why would you need me to take you to Elwood?” Dagen answered with a question. “You go to the parking lot and follow the trail for about forty five minutes or so. Then bam you’re there.”

“I’m not going that way,” Harrison answered “I want to take the Sigrid trail. That is a three day hike and I lack the skills to survive that long alone in the forest.” Dagen could tell this man was used to using money to get anything he wanted. The unfortunate thing was people like him were able to do that because people like Dagen needed the money. This man was a rich spoiled brat for sure. 

“I’ve never been to Elwood and I’ve barely even heard of that trail,” Dagen lied. He had never been to Elwood but he did know Sigrud’s trail. “Why would you come to me? How the hell do you even know who I am?”

“Because I do business with your uncle,” Dagens damn Uncle Ronnie liked to brag about his young nephew. It was his mom’s brother, most of what he said was not true but he was right this time. Dagen knew that trail very well. “And he not only told me that you know the trail, but even if you didn’t that you would find your way. He said you have a natural instinct for direction in the woods.” That was true, Dagen worked most of the time but all of his free time was spent wandering nature, not just The Echo Forest. 

“But like I said man, I’ve never been to that trail,” Dagen said and Harrison wondered why he was lying. They met in a diner in the small southern Utah town, near where Dagen grew up. They sat at a booth looking at each other, Dagen with the look of a no nonsense man and Harrison grinning like a fool.

“I have known your uncle for years,” Harrison said, Dagen wanted to slap the rudeness out of the man’s voice. “I have never known the man to be uniformed. If he says you’re who I need to get me to Elwood then you are who I need to get to Elwood.” Harrison put a briefcase on the table and popped it open. In the case was more cash then Dagen thought he would ever see. “There’s another just like this waiting for you when we get back.” Harrison closed the briefcase and slid it towards Dagen. 

“Why would you pay someone that much for a three day hike?” Dagen didn’t understand the things that people would spend money on. “You could get someone to do it for a ton less.”

“Because my life is worth more than all of my money to me,” You mean daddy’s money, Dagen thought. “I don’t need just anyone, I need you Dagen. I don’t know why you don’t want to tell me about your forest experience but I know you’ve spent a lot of time there.” Harrison went on, “I’m a descendant of the last mayor of Elwood and your uncle tells me that you are a descendant of the wildmen. Are you not interested to see where it all came to an end?”

“My uncle is full of shit,” Dagen said, “All those stories are nothing but fairytales. Elwood existed but the rest is nonsense.”

“We both know that’s not true,” Harrison countered. Dagen looked at the briefcase, that kind of money could change his life. Dagen had big dreams that did not involve staying in this tiny town. “I wanna see if there are any family heirlooms left in his house. Even a scrap of note paper, I want to see if there is anything left. That is why I am willing to pay so much to get there.” Harrison noticed dagen eyeing the money. “There’s fifty grand here and there’s another fifty when we get back.” Harrison reached into the inside pocket of his black suit jacket and pulled out a money clip full of hundreds, it was the second most money Dagen had ever seen. “This is for our food and supplies, and I don’t expect change.” Dagen hated this show of wealth even for his own benefit. 

Dagen took the money, he needed this cash. Well he didn’t need it, things in this town were very cheap, but dammit he wanted it. He could not believe that he was agreeing to this, Dagen knew first hand how dangerous the forest could be. If you believe the stories then you would have to worry about wildmen, wolves, and witches. If you didn’t believe the stories the wolves would still be there, but there were also bears and mountain lions. They could even run into badgers, not a very large animal but very vicious. 

“I trust that you agree to my terms,” Harrison said, “A hundred grand is a lot of money for a hayseed from Southern Utah.” Almost every word made Dagen hate this man more.

“I would’ve done it for the hundred,” Dagen said, “But now you’ll need to add another fifty for that hayseed shit” Dagen looked directly into the man’s eyes. 

Harrison smiled a perfectly straight, perfectly white toothed smile, “You got a deal hayseed.”

“That’s the last one,” Dagen said clearly agitated, “Call me Dagen or Dag. That’s it, I’ll leave your rich ass in the forest if you keep it up.” Harrison smiled, even though he did believe Dagen could leave him where he would never be found. “Meet me Saturday at nine in the morning at Mt. Dutton overlook.” Dagen didn’t say another word, he picked up the briefcase and left. He left the check for breakfast for Harrison. 

Now Dagen was standing here at Mt. Dutton eleven thirty in the morning and Harrison was nowhere to be found. He already loaded the two mules with about seven thousand dollars worth of supplies. If Dagen was going to spend a week with this guy, then he was going to do it with the nicest equipment possible. He decided that he would wait until noon, if Harrison was not here then he would leave with the supplies, the change, and the fifty grand. Then in the distance he heard the loud exhaust from a diesel motor. Somehow Dagen could tell by the sound that it was Harrison, even his truck sounded like an asshole.

Dagen listened for the next few minutes until Harrison pulled up in a brand new truck. It was lifted with very nice tires and rims, the truck probably cost more than his house. This man didn’t even have to do anything to piss Dagen off, existing was enough. 

“Have you ever seen a truck this nice, hayseed?” Harrison asked with that ever cocky smile. “I bet my tires cost more than everything you own.”  

“You better knock that shit off,” Dagen said, without even a hint of a smile. “It’s nice of you to show up, I almost left your ass.”

“You need to relax big boy,” Harrison snapped back, the smile never left his lips. “We’re going to spend the week together, I hope you aren’t going to be this pissy the whole time.” 

“My attitude is gonna depend on if you know how to act right,” Dagen told him. Spoiled rich kids didn’t intimidate him, he had never been impressed by money. He was taught  that money didn’t make the man, and he believed it still. “So we have two choices. One you can stop talking down to me and we can get going. Or two, I can load all of this back up into the truck and trailer, slap the hell out of you then leave you right here with a busted nose and swollen eyes. Which is it?”

“Hopefully with all the money I’m paying you’ll buy a sense of humor,” Harrison looked genuinely hurt but only for a moment. “This is my personality, I bust chops. Don’t take it personally.”

“I don’t care about your personality or chops,” Dagen was ready to end this trip before it even started. “I’m warning you, if you keep this shit up I will leave your ass in the woods.”

Harrison’s smile widened, Dagen already hated this guy. “You got it Dagen,” Harrison spoke in a fake serious tone, "I will behave.” Dagen really hated this guy.

“Well since I’ve been here for three hours I’ve got the mules loaded up,” Dagen said. “I’ll take this one, you take that one. You have to be firm but don’t be mean.” 

Again Harrison mocked seriousness, “Yes sir, ready for duty sir.” Dagen had never wanted to beat up someone so much in his whole life, Harrison really sucked.

Without another word, Dagen led the mule into the forest. Harrison followed with an arrogant smile that Dagen would never see, but he said nothing. The trail declined slightly for the first thirty minutes. Dagen was surprised that Harrison had not ruined the beautiful forest ambiance with dumb his comments. The trees nearly suffocated the narrow trail, Harrison said nothing but Dagren knew that Harrison was feeling a bit claustrophobic, it was in the way he was breathing. That is why he was not running that everlasting mouth. The green leaves in the trees were surrounded by a glowing outline from the sun. Dagen basked in the perfection of the day. The sun was just the right temperature and the hike felt good on his legs. Song birds sang from everywhere in the forest and a single crow cawed from directly above them. Somewhere close by a water ran musically over rocks, Dagen loved the sounds. 

“It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?” Harrison said, again annoying Dagen despite it being the least obnoxious thing he had set since the two met. 

Without looking around Dagen said, “It really is, I love walking in these woods.” Dagen decided to let go of the lie, “I have spent hours wandering this land.”

“Ha, I knew it,” Harrison spat, then laughed harder. Dagen heard the crumpling of a wrapper and instantly stopped.

When Dagen turned around he saw that Harrison had a sleeve of crackers in his hand. He was eating them one by one. “What the hell are you doing?” Dagen was so mad, “ You're not supposed to be eating yet, we need to ration our food.” He tried to remain calm even though he hated this spoiled rich kid  with every fiber of his being.

“Simmer down kid,” Dagen continued to be amazed at the level of his companions' arrogance. “It looks like you brought enough to feed an army.”

“And what happens if we get lost?” Dagen asked, no longer trying to remain calm. “What if there is a landslide and we have to find another way out? What if one of the million things that can happen in the forest happens and we need extra food?”  

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Harrison said dismissively, “That’s why I paid top dollar for the best. You just said that you’ve spent hours out here, I’m sure I’ll be ok.”

Again Dagen marveled at the audacity of this rich man. Without a word Dagen moved on. Harrison was about one smart ass comment away from being left right here on the trail. Then Dagen thought of the hundred thousand waiting for him, which cooled him down a little. The pair walked deeper into the forest towards the town of Elwood. As many times as Dagen had made this hike, he always stopped short of Elwood. He knew all the stories which made him leery of entering the ghost town. Dagen closed his eyes while he walked hoping it would enhance his other senses. 

Harrison laughed when he watched Dagen trip on a mostly buried rock, “Watch where you’re going chucklehead.” Dagen said nothing.

They walked another hour in silence that Dagen was more than thankful for. He loved looking at the small yellow, pink, purple, and red flowers polka dotting the green grass that was glowing with the vibrance of the sun. Dagen was familiar with all the sounds of the forest, so when the birds ceased singing Dagen noticed immediately. He knew that meant that there was some kind of predator nearby. Even the bugs stopped humming, something was out there. It could be a pack of wolves or a lone bear, Dagen wondered which it was. He only felt a single pair of eyes watching him. 

“What’s out there?” Harrison’s perception was very surprising to Dagen.

“It’s nothing, “Dagen lied, “There’s probably a hawk or an eagle circling somewhere above the treetops. That always scares the smaller birds.” He hoped that Harrison was dumb enough to believe that. He was so they moved on. 

The ambiance of the forest shifted back to normal. The birds resumed their songs and the insects came buzzing back to life. Around lunch time they found the stream that had been playing its magical tune over the rocks. Dagen decided that this was as good a place as any to have lunch. Lunch consisted of, first a peanut butter sandwich and then a granola bar. Dagen listened intently while Harrison talked the lunch hour away. Dagen did not particularly like Harrison but he was always fascinated with people’s life stories. Harrison’s father invented a game app for phones which made him a multi-millionaire. His parents were still married and he had no siblings. When Harrison was not being obnoxious, he was actually a decent person. 

When Harrison asked about Dagen’s family the only response he got was, “It’s time to move on.” 

The rest of the day passed by with mostly silent walking, Dagen did not care to know his companion more than he learned at lunch. Before sunset, Dagen started the evening fire then set up both tents. He didn’t bother asking Harrison if he knew how, Dagen knew that he lacked the skills. Dagen again heard wrappers and again looked to see Harrison eating more of the rationed food.

“Hey!” Dagen called across the campsite, “I thought I told you to stop eating stuff.”

“I think the person who pays for everything eats whenever he wants,” Harrison answered, making Dagen regret this trip a little more. 

Dagen cussed to himself but the magical melody of the forest quickly calmed him. He loved the voices of the birds and the chirps of the crickets waking up for the night. Later the night creatures would awaken so there would be hoots from owls and screeches from the bats. He did buy plenty of food so he knew that they would be alright. Harrison just knew how to grind Dagen’s gears. The breeze in his ears and on his face calmed him the rest of the way. He cooked two cans of stew for them, and they ate in silence.

“Do you know the story of the wildmen?” Harrison asked after the meal was finished. “I feel like there’s much more to the story and since you live close I thought that you may know.” 

“That story would take weeks to get into all the details,” Dagen answered, not really wanting to talk about that  story. Every tourist wanted to hear about the wildmen, they were interesting but the real queen of the forest was a woman named Hazel. “But do you know the legend of Hazel’s bottle?”

Harrison smiled a wide smile, it made him look like a ten year old on Christmas. “I have not, Who’s Hazel? Can you please tell me?” Dagen was surprised by the politeness. 

In Elwood there were two beautiful young women, Dagen began. They were twins and both named Hazel for their grandmother and great grandmother. The second born Hazel, they called her Z, was a burden from the second  she was born. Her parents had only wanted one child in their life. They did not have the money or the space in their small home for two. Her father was nice enough to take her for a late night bath one night in spirit lake. He said that he ‘forgot’ the baby on the shore but when the boy Richard brought her back to Elwood, everybody knew the truth. He left her there for the wildmen, but the wildmen had no use for a baby girl. They were interested in women to produce their sons, not baby girls. 

Like I said, Z ended up being saved by Richard, who would later become known as big Dick and one of the wealthiest men in Elwood. He was only behind the mayor and the sheriff. That was only the first of many times that her family put the poor young girl in mortal danger. Obviously the rest of the town paid special attention to the girl to try to keep her safe. Despite the threats of violence against the father he did not stop. Richard’s parents even tried to adopt the girl but it was blocked by the sheriff and mayor. They said that it wouldn’t be fair to the other Hazel, who did love her sister. The feeling was far from mutual, Z hated Hazel for the love their parents had for her. 

Hazel would give Z dolls that her parents bought for the older Hazel. Z would take them to the forest and burn them to dust. Z had so much resentment for her sister but not just her sister, for her parents, the town, the world, and even resented the fact that she was alive. The town began to worry about Z. She was quickly growing from a sad little girl into a troubled teen. The worst part is that it wasn’t even the girls fault, bad parents can ruin generations of their family. She was starting to become dangerous to the town’s small animals, even forest creatures were not safe. 

It was the same Richard, who found her on the shore so many years ago, that found the clearing where she performed her rituals. Small skulls, mostly squirrels, cats, and rats hung from home spun yarn tied to branches. Larger skulls mostly deer and pigs but Richard saw a cougar skull that helped complete the large circle in the clearing. He had know idea how a small girl would be able to take down a cougar. In the center of the clearing was a fire pit, Richard guessed that was where she burned the dolls. Headless skeletons hung from a rope that was weaved like a spider web through the trees above the entire clearing. There had to be at least thirty corpses in this place. 

Z was still one of the town's most beautiful young ladies in Elwood, like a dark princess. Her hair turned black despite her family full of platinum blondes. Her skin had begun to turn white but it was not a sickly pale, more like a movie vampire. Hazel still walked with her sister to school everyday even though the walk was silent and awkward. They looked like a fallen angel and God's most perfect soul walking together. Hazel loved being with her sister, Z did not like being around anyone. 

    Then to make things worse auction day came, the twins were the perfect age. To keep Hazel safe their parents offered up Z as tribute, before any other of the other girls had even been picked. Hazel screamed, cried, and protested until she was on the ground shaking. She was so upset that she gave herself a seizure, when she woke up her sister was gone. Z’s life got more sad and painful by the day. 

In the time while Z was away with the wildmen Hazel fell for the charming hunter named slick Ricky. He was a good man and would be a prize for any woman of Elwood. The two fell in love and got married six months after Z left. The two were only sixteen but were deeply in love and knew they would last for a lifetime. Hazel had never forgotten the sister that she loved so much. Many nights Ricky had to snuggle his girl to sleep while she cried because of what her sister must be going through.

When Z got back her black hair was streaked with gray at the old age of nineteen. Her skin was more pale and her eyes were filled with evil. Z was not Hazel’s little sister anymore, she was becoming a monster. Hazel was the one to pick her up at the return clearing, their parents wanted nothing more to do with the second twin. Hazel told her sister of her marriage and her new found happiness. Z did not care in the slightest. Hazel told her about the mayor’s son who had become very handsome and was good friends with Ricky. Z again did not care in the slightest.

“He is just what you need to make your life whole,” Hazel told her sister but Z still did not say a word. Hazel hoped that her sister was still in shock and this boy could bring her back from the madness swimming around in her mind. Z never even gave the boy a chance. 

Richard was coming back from a late night fishing trip to Spirit Lake. He could smell rain for only a moment before the forest flashed blue. Quickly after, the blue flash was replaced by echoing thunder that rolled away into the night. Richard had never in his life heard such a loud crash of thunder. He expected the rain to come next but it never did. There was another bright blue flash followed by another loud crash of thunder, Richard jumped. That lightning and thunder didn’t seem like a natural thing. He was not dull to the existence of dark magic in this world and if it were dark magic, Richard knew who was behind it. The memory of the clearing all those years again hit him like a slap in the face. Richard decided to investigate. 

The fire was coming from the clearing, there had been no more lightning which Richard was thankful for. Z was dancing naked around the fire and chanting in a language that he had not heard before. A blue flash shot straight up into the night sky. The whole clearing turned blue, then the air around him boomed so hard that it shook his whole body. Z stopped the chanting and knelt in front of a tree stump. On the tree stop was a ball of glass filled with red smoke. Z had come across a dragon’s eyeglass. Elwood was in grave danger. 

Above the fire hung the headless body of the mayor’s son, Richard didn’t see his head. Z eyes were rolled back in her head as she whispered something inaudibly. The fire started to morph into a humanoid shape. Richard stepped back deeper into the darkness. The fire grew until the tips kissed the upside down headless body. The flame burst, or maybe exploded up into the body. The demon grabbed the body by its waist and yanked it into the fire. The body tore in half putting the torso in the flames and leaving the legs hanging above the clearing. Richard jumped back again, this time he tripped over a large rock. 

When he looked down he saw that it was the boy's head and in his mouth was a small bottle. In the bottle was a note, Richard took the bottle and the note before she had a chance to see him. Or even sense him, if she were capable of summoning demons then she would surely be able to sense his presence. 

“What did it say?” Harrison asked, hoping that the story was not over yet.

“Well first it was not actually Richard that read the message,” Dagen said. “He was too scared that night to look. His uncle found it in the morning and read it. It said ‘take me home and i will haunt you for a lifetime” Harrison was speechless “Let’s get some sleep,” Dagen said, “We have a long day tomorrow.” Dagen got up, checked the ropes tethering the mule’s to the trees, and went into his tent. Harrison watched the fire burn down to ash before he turned in.

Dagen drifted up for his sleep peacefully like a leaf blowing in a gentle breeze. He always slept so well in the woods, he guessed that part of it was the fresh air. At this moment Dagen completely understood Peer Gynt, or Morning Mood if you like that better, by Edvard Grieg. Song birds pierced his ears with their music softly like it was their feathers tickling his eardrums. Again the water played its beautiful melody as it ran over the rocks, the sound grazed his ears like a lover’s kiss. The sunlight pierced his eyelids lightly making this wake up experience nearly perfect. Dagen stretched his ankles then let it move to his calves. The stretch continued north into his thighs and hips next to his lower back. Dagen grunted in pleasure. His spine cracked as the stretch moved up his back to his shoulders then down his arms to hands and ended in his fingers.  Dagen woke up with a wide smile on his face. 

Sadly the mood was short lived when he heard the crumpling of a bag then Harrison bite into something crunchy. “You up yet,” Harrison said through a mouthful of whatever he was eating. Dagens’ smile turned into a scowl. “You’re burnin daylight.” 

“What did I tell you about eating everything?” Dagen yelled from his tent.

“What did I tell you about paying for everything?” Harrison responded and Dagen felt his blood pressure rise. 

Now angry, Dagen did not say another word, he simply wiggled into his shirt, unzipped his tent, crawled out. Dagen had bought two, very small but well insulated one man tents. “You really know how to piss someone off first thing in the morning,” Dagen said as he stood up.

“Well I missed you too buddy,” Harrison said with that everlasting fools grin. Dagen wanted to slap him in the head. 

Breakfast consisted of a granola bar, a cereal bar, and a bottle of water. Dagen finished his breakfast quickly then began with the morning chores. He rolled up his sleeping mat and his sleeping bag then did the same with his tent. Foolishly, Dagen thought that Harrison would pay attention so he could be helpful in the future. Harrison did not, he wandered off in the woods, Dagen hoped that he would get lost. He was normally not this angry of a person but this kid knew how to get Dagen going. 

Dagen heard a wrapper in the forest nearby. “What the hell?” Dagen yelled, “You should be over here helping me, not eating more of the damn food!” 

“Dagen my dense little friend,” Harrison said from somewhere nearby. “When are you going to realize that I hired you for all this. You’re making a lot of money so you will cater to me and I will eat what I want when I want. If I am hungry then I am going to eat. That’s all there is to it. The man with the money is the man that gives the orders.” Harrison stepped from behind a tree and walked back to the campsite. “I know you are some honorable hayseed from some tiny little town but that is how things work in the real world. 

That would be the last time this guy would be disrespectful, Dagen stopped what he was doing and walked across the clearing. The stupid smile never left Harrison’s face, but it was about to in a big way. Dagen was happy for the smile, he had been wanting to smack it off this guy's face since they met. Harrison was standing by his rock from the previous night. Dagen walked straight to him and gave him a good hard one. The slap echoed away into the forest and Harrison’s ears rang so loud that he didn’t even hear it. Harrison sat down on his campfire rock, this time there was no relaxing campfire. Harrison was instantly far past angry.

“I told you,” Dagen said as he stood over Harrison, Dagen was praying that Harrison would try to fight. “You’re not talking down to me. I don’t care about your money or what you think is the real world. You are in my world, I could make you disappear and no one would ever find you.” Harrison looked furious, but it was obvious that he was not going to try anything. “Are we going to have problems?” Dagen asked but Harrison said nothing, “K then all you need to do is watch how you talk to me and we won’t have any more issues.” 

Harrison said nothing, there was no need to say anything Dagen could see the hate all over his face. Dagen smiled, there’s nothing this spoiled ass kid could do to intimidate him. Dagen turned around to finish the morning chores only to hear a wrapper opening behind him. Harrison was trying to get a reaction from Dagen, but he wouldn’t get the satisfaction. Dagen did want to give him another smack but he decided against it. If he hurt this guy too much the other hundred grand would be out the window. He also thought that he embarrassed this guy enough for today. 

Dagen cleared the campsite, including Harrisons wrappers, and got the equipment secured to the mules. “You still got that one,” Dagen said in the nicest voice he could muster. Harrison still said nothing. Again, Dagen found himself talking himself out of smacking his companion. 

Instead Dagen grabbed the rope to his mule and headed towards Elwood. At first Harrison made no attempt to follow, Dagen hoped that he wouldn’t. That way he could finish the hike in peace. After a moment of consideration Harrison grabbed the rope and also got on the trail. Song birds sang the day away while Dagen listened and loved life. This is the way it should be. Lunch time came quicker than expected. The stream was close by so Dagen found a clearing so they could listen. Dagen sat on a tree stump and Harrison found a large rock with a flat top. The first ten minutes were quiet and extremely awkward.

Finally Dagen said, “Are we going to get past this or what?” He would not apologize, Harrison got what he deserved. Harrison still said nothing so Dagen continued, “I told you what was gonna to happen. You can’t just talk to people however you want. Especially around here. We don’t care about money, we care about respect.”

“I get that you don’t like me,” Harrison was clearly not happy about the events this morning. “That doesn’t mean that you can just walk around hitting people. And you just expect me to be ok and you didn’t even say sorry.” 

“I don’t expect you to do anything,” Dagen would not be pushed around or guilt tripped by this guy. “You’ve been trying to get under my skin since we met, now you know what happens when you mess around. I’ve been warning you the whole time I kept telling you to knock that crap off. So are we going to move on or should we head back to the truck?”

“I didn’t come this far to turn around and go home,” Harrison said, and his face relaxed a bit. “I get that you’re not the kind of man to apologize, but you can’t go around slapping people.”

“Seriously dude,” Dagen said he had enough of this nonsense, this was stereotypical behavior for a spoiled rich kid. They push and push and push until they go too far then act like they’re the victim the whole time. “I’ll agree not to hit you again if you’ll agree to stop talkin to me anyway you want. I’m a grown man with pride, don’t try to take that from me. Now it’s my turn to ask. Do you agree to my terms?” 

Harrison kept his mad face but it did not last long. His goofy smile came back in full force, “You got it. And I am sorry, sometimes my mouth runs away before my brain can stop it. I didn’t mean to upset you and I really didn’t mean to insult you. That’s just how I’ve been since I was president of a fraternity and that’s what we did all day, we talked shit.” 

“That does not surprise me,” Dagen said, “You seem like the president of a frat.” Dagen knew that Harrison took that as high praise even though Dagen meant it as an insult. The two shook hands, Dagen still didn’t like this guy but Harrison was back to thinking they were besties. “Let’s get going,” Dagen pulled Harrison to his feet. “If we hurry we can camp at spirit lake tonight.” 

“I’ve heard of Spirit lake, isn’t that the meeting ground for the wildmen,” It seemed the best way to calm Harrison down was to talk about The Echo Forest. He was very fascinated by all the myths and legends. ‘Do you know why they call it Spirit Lake? I bet it has something to do with Hazel” He was again a dipshit with a cocky smile and perfect white teeth. 

“I do know the story,” Dagen answered, “But that lake predates even Hazel and the wildmen. I can tell you the story tonight after dinner. I promise you that you want to see the sun going down over Spirit Lake. When the moon and stars come out over the lake, you will never see a better view. It will make you see how small you are compared to the vastness of the universe.” 

  “Oh man,” Harrison was back to his old self, “You can’t tease me like that. C’mon you just give me a little taste.” 

“Alright,” Dagen said, “I will tell you this much, the lake was the home to two of the most dangerous water demons. To us locals they are known as Bawa and Bazon. The rest of the story will have to wait until tonight.” 

Harrison had a wide jester smile across face and his green eyes were just as wide. “There were demons in this forest too, this place just keeps getting better and better.”

“Just to make sure you know, these are all legends,” Dagen informed him. “You know that right?” 

It was obvious that Harrison didn’t believe Dagen, “Man I bet it’s a good story.” The smile made him look like an over-excited eight year old. Dagen laughed. “Don’t you think most legends begin with a hint of truth?” 

“I don’t think there is much truth to stories about witches and Demons,” Dagen actually did believe in Hazel. He didn’t necessarily believe that she was a witch, just an enraged and unloved younger sister that became evil. But the demon story, that was just a little too far fetched for Dagen. 

“You need to open up your mind, use that imagination,” Harrison advised. “You have never seen anything that you couldn’t explain? There’s a lot more out there than we know about, I can promise you that.” 

“I’ll take you word for that,” Dagen said, “But I’ve been in the woods most of my life and I have yet to see any proof of any demons. I’ve spent countless nights under the stars at Spirit Lake. They are just campfire stories.” That was actually a lie, Dagen had seen what people call the Lady of the Lake. She was a beautiful woman with dark skin and black hair. There was no fear of this woman, just great sadness. Dagen never told anyone about that night, probably never would. Especially not to Harrison. The moon was full on that summer evening and Dagen had no doubts about what he saw. 

“You’ll see tonight,” all of Harrison’s childhood glee was back  with a vengeance. “I am a magnet for strange activity.” “Dagen said nothing but he did laugh on the inside. “I’ve seen many ghosts and ghouls in my time,” Dagen could not tell if this guy was serious. I saw bigfoot and the chupacabra too. You’ll see tonight buddy, you will see.” Harrison wore a huge smile.

“Well neither of us are going to see anything if we don’t light a fire under our asses,” Dagen wanted to be done talking to this goofball. 

“Lead the way boss,” Harrison seemed to forget all about the slap. “I’ll be right on your heels el capitan,” Dagen said nothing and started walking down the trail. “You could at least say giddy up or wagons ho or something.” 

That actually made Dagen chuckle to himself, but he would never let Harrison know that. The day was perfect again, as were most days in these woods. The sounds were the perfect background for the trek to Elwood. The smell was like no place in the world, everything was perfect until Harrison decided to play I’m going on a picnic. Harrison started with the letter A and said he would be bringing an avocado. Dagen ignored him the eight times Harrison told him to bring something starting with B, like Dagen didn’t know how the game worked. So Harrison said that he would be bringing beer, of course he did. When the alphabet was complete Harrison started with ninety-nine bottles of beer. Harrison passed out all ninety-nine bottles. Dagen had never actually heard someone finish that song. 

“Dude!” Dagen finally yelled when he started I spy with I spy something green. “Of course you do, Everything is green. You’re driving me nukin futs.”

Harrison laughed hard, “Man you lasted a lot longer than I thought you would. I thought you were gonna yell at me around the letter D.” Harrison laughed again when Dagen stopped and turned around to give him a dirty look. “I can’t believe you let me take down all ninety nine bottles. I’ve never heard anyone finish that song.” 

Dagen said, “Now it’s my turn to pick a game, it’s called the quiet game. And it starts now.”

Dagen shook his head and moved down the path, Harrison was still chuckling. He couldn’t understand why this guy would purposely annoy someone that slapped him earlier on this very day. Thankfully the last half of the day Harrison only whistled, and Dagen thought he was pretty good. He whistled something slow and sad that mixed perfectly with the birds. The stream added the perfect highlight to the whistling. The rest of the walk actually turned out to be peaceful and quite pleasant. 

The trail slowly opened up until finally the lake came into view. Dagen heard a gasp from behind him, Harrison was just like everyone else that had ever come across this scene. Despite the horrible legends, Spirit Lake was extremely beautiful.The water was the exact right shade of deep blue and the sky was the perfect shade of light blue with just the right amount of wispy clouds. The two made good time so they would have a few hours to enjoy the evening. The trees reflecting in the lake on the opposite side completed this painting from heaven. Dagen would guess this is the first time Harrison had seen anything like this view.

“Now that is a view,” Dagen loved hearing the reactions from people when they come here for the first time. Dagen was enjoying this more than anything on their trip so far. That was until he heard the crumple of another wrapper. “Thank you for bringing me here,” Harrison said, then took a bite of whatever. 

“You can thank me by not eating all of our food,” Dagen said without looking around. He didn't want to take his eyes away from this beauty to look at Harrison. 

“What can I say,” Harrison said, “I am a growing boy so I need to eat a lot.” 

Dagen began the nightly routine which consisted of tying the mules, setting up tents and finding some firewood. Harrison was useless for the second night in a row but at least Dagen got to wander away for a while. When Dagen got back Harrison was leaning up against a tree with a bag of chips in his hand. He didn’t say anything, Dagen got the fire going so he could cook some dinner. Tonight’s delicacy was canned chili. Dagen loved campfire food, somehow it just tasted so much better when it was cooked in a real fire. It’s a scientific fact Dagen thought as he watched the reflections in the lake, he was so at peace that he almost forgot Harrison was here. Then he heard Harrison’s spoon scraping the inside of his can, he lost that peaceful, easy feeling. Dagen decided to let it go, he didn’t need to let his companion ruin this for him.

After the meal was finished and the cleanup was taken care of Dagen said, “Are you ready for this. It will explain two things to you, first why this lake is called Spirit Lake and two why there are so many Richard’s in such a small town.”

“Absolutely I’m ready,” Harrison answered, “I have been waiting all day. And you owe me because I whipped you at the quiet game.” Just like yesterday the two sat across from each other, the fire light danced between them. A lone wolf howled.

The “Ancients” as they are lovingly called by the people who live near here. They were the first people to inhabit this land. At first there were only a few that migrated to the mountains to leave behind the terrors of the human race. They taught themselves to hunt, farm, and fish. They ended up building a very nice community for themselves. Of course Spirit Lake was important to them, it was their main water source and the fish added some variety to the clan’s diet. The group was thriving with no worries of war or invasion because nobody even knew that they were here. The group stayed happy for generations making the mountainland their home. 

It was then that the demons came out of nowhere to destroy everything. Nobody has any idea where the hell they came from or why they came here. They were not stereotypical  demons with horns on their heads and embers burning all over their bodies. These were water demons, they were not beautiful like people say that mermaids are. They were hideous things that looked waterlogged and bloated. Their bodies were covered in colorful coral and dangling green seaweed. 

Late one night the chief and his wife went for a moonlit stroll. It has always been the little things to keep your wife happy. A moonlit stroll on the beach holding hands was a very good way to keep your wife happy. True love is a timeless thing. There is no clear recount of what happened but legend says that the water exploded like an underwater nuke test. A wave like a mini tsunami knocked the two hard to the ground and left them gasping for breath. The demons followed the wave out like Poseidon emerging from the sea. They took turns holding his wife while the other beat her husband to the brink of unconsciousness. His helpless wife was forced to watch and listen to the whole thing. I never share what happened to the chief's wife and I never will. As a matter of fact I wish that I didn’t even know. 

They finished with these two so for the next hour the demons took turns rounding up every member of the clan. One by one each person was dragged kicking and screaming into the lake and helped them underwater until the struggles and splashes stopped. Then another minute longer just to make sure each person was good and dead. They started with the children first, from youngest to oldest; they wanted the adults to suffer as much as possible. Next was the women, these proud men watched their wives, daughters and grandmas killed while helpless to do anything. The demons had some type of paralysis spell, or something, according to legend. Finally the men were put out of their misery. The chief and his wife watched all the people that they loved be taken out of this world. Next they yanked the chief's wife into the water and all he could do was watch. He tried to fight himself free but didn’t have enough strength. The chief screamed  over and over into the night. He could see everyone he had ever known floating in the water under the night sky. 

“What happened to the chief?” Harrison asked, he hated when story time came to an end. 

“They left him alone on the beach, beaten and crying in agony,” Dagen answered. “The chief walked out into the water, he had nothing left to live for. He wanted to drown with his so they could be together for eternity. The demons held him under water until he was nearly lifeless then they would drag the chief back up on the shore. He tried this four or five times with a zero success rate. The chief decided that he would just end it with a knife, but when he got home his son Ryzard was still alive and well. The demons must have missed him somehow. Who would take care of him if the chief was gone. He lived out his days as a miserable man but a loving father. The demon’s must have missed him or they didn’t really  care about getting that small  baby. Ryzard was the one who banished the demons from Spirit Lake. The name  is a variation of the name Richard and besides the demons he did many things to become a great man, basically reaching god status.” Harrison looked fascinated but Dagen was tired. 

The fire had burnt down to coals. “I’m going to bed,” Dagen said and stood up, his knees popped like gunshots. “I would suggest that you do the same if you want to get to Elwood tomorrow.’

As soon as Dagen zipped up his tent he heard the sound of Harrison crumpling another wrapper. Dagen wanted to slap him again. Dagen fell asleep quickly while Harrison watched the coals burn down to nothing.

A twig snapped which intern snapped Dagen from a deep sleep. He listened intently, he could distinctly hear something walking through their camp. He hoped that it was Harrison but the creature sounded like it was on all fours. The thought of yelling came to Dagen, but if it was a wolf then they would be in trouble. Another twig snapped then a wolf howled and Dagen did not like how close that howl was. 

“Dagen! Is that you?” Harrison shouted from his tent, Dagen should have never underestimate the stupidity of his companion. Dagen said nothing and the footsteps stopped walking. The only sounds were the crickets and the occasional wave rolling in. 

The silence, which was only about thirty seconds, felt like a lifetime and a half. Whatever it was darted between the two tents and back into the woods. Dagen thought he was wrong, whatever this creature sounded to be bipedal. Of course that was purely speculation. 

“What the hell was that?” Harrison asked, “I should’ve asked when we started this trip. You brought a gun right?”

“I don’t know what that was,” Dagen answered, he wanted to smack Harrison again. “And no I didn't bring a gun, I have never needed one.” 

Now it was Harrison’s to be mad. “You Idiot why would you come to the woods without a gun? What if we get attacked by an animal? What happens if we run into tree people? What happens if one of the million things that could happen in the woods happens and we need protection?” Every word made Dagen madder than the one before. “What happened to all that shit about being prepared? I would‘ve thought you would be prepared.”

“Well then you were wrong then weren’t you,” It was Dagen’s turn to be a sarcastic asshat. “I’m guessing it was just a deer. If it were a predator it wouldn’t have run away, it would’ve ate your goofy ass for yelling. Just calm down, we will see the footprints in the morning.”

“You aren’t a very convincing liar,’ Harrison informed him, Dagen could hear that Harrison was smiling. “We both know that it was walking on two legs.”  

Dagen rolled his eyes, “How the hell would you know what something on four legs sounds like in the woods?” This was Harrison’s first trip to any forest but he hoped not the last, and Dagen knew that. “Trust me if that was something that wanted to hurt us, well you let it know exactly where you were.”

“For reals man,” Dagen could hear the panic in his voice. “Did you bring a gun?”

“You just need to breathe dude,” Dagen advised. “I don’t need one because deer don’t eat people and even if it wasn’t a deer. It already ran away.” 

“What if it wasn’t a deer?” Harrison said, “What if it was something that thought we would be a tasty midnight snack.”

Really? Dagen whispered to himself. “Well like I said like three times already,” he was enjoying being the smart ass for a change. “You let it know where the snack was, if it wanted to eat you then you would be ate. There is nothing in this forest that would actively hunt people. Most animals, including predators, want nothing to do with humans. Now let’s get some sleep, tomorrow comes early.” 

Neither of them slept deep or for very long. They both lay awake straining their ears to hear if the animal would come back for dinner. Dagen finally drifted but awoke abruptly to the sound of a wolf howling and Harrison screaming. 

Dagen laughed, “What the hell are you screaming about? That wolf is probably miles away.”

“Can you stay up with me and talk?” Harrison was so scared that Dagen could hear the shakiness in his voice. “I’m not sleeping tonight. That’s for sure.”

Dagens’ lie about how far away the wolf was got disproved immediately when the bushes rustled. He did not want to let Harrison know but now Dagen was just as scared as he was. Now a deep growl from the throat of a terrifying beast came opposite the rustling bushes. A third wolf howled from the forest nearby and at least two more growled deeply. 

“Stay calm,” Dagen pleaded, like telling someone to be calm ever calmed someone down. “Seriously dude, if you panic you will get us both killed.”

The wolves charged but luckily for Dagen and Harrison not at them. Unluckily for the mules, the wolves attacked them. They were still tied to the trees, this made Dagens’ heart hurt. The poor things didn’t even have a chance. The wolves barked and growled as they tore into the helpless animals. The mules screamed in agony, it was the most heart wrenching sound that Dagen had ever heard. He could hear the sound of them being torn apart.

“We have to run,” Dagen said, “just run into the woods. It doesn’t matter which way you run, we just need to get the hell out of here.” 

“What are you talking about?” Harrison asked but Dagen was already putting on his shoes and socks as quietly as possible.

“I hope you are getting ready,” Dagen said, ignoring the question. “Put your shoes on and grab your backpack. I will leave your ass for the wolves if you don’t hurry.” Dagen gave Harrison a full minute. That was all he could take of the sounds of those poor mules being eaten. “K I am going now I don’t care if you are ready.” 

He heard Harrison’s tent unzip then the sound of feet running fast into the woods. Dagen unzipped his tent quietly then poked his head out. He wanted to see if any of the wolves gave chase. None of them had, they were mid-feast and not concerned with anything else. He should have known that Harrison was going to do some sneaky shit, that was just the kind of person he was. Dagen wished he would have just left the little weasel. Dagen dodged branches the best he could without being able to see. He stumbled and got smacked hard by branches but he managed to stay on his feet. 

Dagen could not hear anything in pursuit but could hear Harrison in front of him. Dagen wished they would have been able to take the trail. Running blindly into a forest at night rarely turned out to be a good thing. Harrison stopped in a mini clearing, Dagen didn’t but he did run his shoulder into Harrison’s chest. His breath came out in a whoosh. Wolves howled, they couldn’t tell how many. Suddenly the two could hear a few charging towards them.

“If you think they’re getting close, climb a tree,” Dagen instructed as he ran. Harrison almost didn’t hear. “Dogs can’t climb trees. But get as high as possible. These wolves are big and they can jump.”

Harrison didn’t wait, he climbed the tree next to him like a monkey. Dagen wanted to get as far away from Harrison as possible, this might be his chance to ditch the rich kid. He wanted to keep that promise that he would leave Harrison where nobody would find him. The wolves were closing in but Dagen still ran, he would not go up a tree until they were right on top of him. The wolves snarled from right behind him, they had to be within ten feet. There were also a couple on either side of him. It was hard to put an exact number on how many were in the pack, but that really didn’t matter. One of these beasts was far too many, they are extremely dangerous. 

Dagen shot up a tree to his left. He was just in time, one jumped after him and nipped his hiking shoe. Luckily Dagen got his foot out of the way just in time. There would be no way to know how far away he was from Harrison until morning. Dagen hoped it was far.

The black wolves circled the tree and stared up at him with their red eyes. Dagen climbed a few branches higher, just to be safe. One stood against the tree then howled a beautiful long howl. Dagen admired the creature. Another stood on the opposite side scratching and growling up at Dagen. Blood from the mules was on their teeth and in the fur around their mouths. Dagen watched with terrified eyes and a pounding heart. 

As the moon traveled west in the sky while the wolves watched Dagen with hungry eyes. He was sure that Harrison was going through a similar experience. The hour glass for this night must have been flipped on its side, the sand was moving so slow. Time crawled but finally the wolves got bored, or they were trying to lure him down the tree. Dagen found himself hoping Harrison would fall for the trick from the pack. Not only were these wolves much larger and much much meaner than regular wolves, their intelligence was far superior. They had the traveler's scent, they would stalk them until they found them. Dagen knew that the chances of either of these two men leaving this forest was slim to none. 

He dozed here and there, once he nearly rolled out of the tree. That would have been a painful and disastrous end for Dagen. The sky lightened and the forest got brighter. Dagen was very thankful. He wondered where the wolves had wandered off to, he was sure they would not be far. 

“Harrison!” Dagen yelled, “Harrison are you dead?” He was hoping to hear nothing. 

After a long moment of hope filled silence, Harrison called back, “I’m not dead. Are you dead?” Dagen chuckled, sometimes Harrison was funny but Dagen found himself disappointed that Harrison was still alive. 

“I was hoping they got you,” Dagen said honestly, but he knew that Harrison would take it as a joke. 

“I hoped they got you too,” Dagen was right, Harrison thought that he was joking. “I would have saved a hundred grand,” Now Dagen thought that Harrison was being serious. He actually appreciated the honesty.

“Did you get your backpack?” Dagen asked even though he felt like he knew the answer. 

“No,” Harrison said and Dagen heard him trying not to laugh. “Are you serious right now? Hell no I didn’t grab my backpack. You are out of your mind.”

This guy was completely useless, Dagen had to hope they would find the trail quickly. They would not last long on only the food in his pack. He now believed Harrison was right about one thing, Dagen should have brought at least one gun. Fishing may be an option, he knew how to sharpen a stick and poke a fish. He tried it with a friend one time and they did ok. 

“Those wolves will be back for sure,” Dagen said, “We need to get down and get as far away as possible.” 

Dagen heard movement to the south, Harrison was climbing down. He decided to wait to see what would happen when Harrison got to the ground. If the wolves were near then they would surely pounce immediately. Hopefully Harrison would become breakfast. 

“What are you doing?” Harrison said from the base of Dagens’ tree. “You were using me as bait for the wolves, damn man that’s pretty cold blooded.” The smile never left Harrison’s face. 

“Hey man,” Dagen smiled back, it was the first time in their short relationship that Dagen smiled at Harrison. “I don’t want to get eaten by those wolves. Those wolves are different.”

“What do you mean?” Harrison asked, “They looked like regular wolves to me.”

“Are you serious?” Dagen was baffled by this, he seemed to know some of the legends about the forest and the North Moon pack was a pretty big one.  “They are at least a hundred pounds bigger than a normal wolf.” 

“That’s crazy,” Harrison seemed to just blow it off but they were in serious danger. “So how about you get down here and we get the hell out of here.”

Dagen just did that, he climbed down and they moved on without hesitation. They both knew what was going to happen if they were found by these wolves. But only Dagen knew that there was no chance of escape. It was a peaceful walk if you could forget about the enormous wolves and being lost with almost no food for two people. The air was filled with a mixture of all the aromas from the greenery. Thankfully Harrison was keeping his mouth shut, well for the most part. He did complain about being hungry at one point, Dagen gave him a cereal bar. Harrison did not look impressed by his breakfast. 

The birds sang beautifully while the sun moved across the sky slowly. Dagen marked trees with X’s and tried to read the signs of nature. Dagen could not think straight, it was like his mind was clouded. It was like he forgot everything he ever learned, like someone reset his brain. It was a very strange feeling. Even by the sun and the shadows Dagen was struggling to find his way. He had never experienced anything like this before. Harrison wondered a couple times why they were walking in circles. On two separate occasions the two passed trees marked with an X. Dagen blew far past frustrated into the land of full blown anger. 

“I am trying to figure this out,” Dagen said with crazy eyes and gritted teeth. “Do you want to lead the way?”

“I am a bit concerned, as I’m sure you can understand,” Harrison spoke rationally. Dagen hated him more for it. “Your uncle told me that you never get lost.” 

“Well he is full of shit,” Dagen snapped back, “I barely even know him anymore. And anyone can get lost. Now zip your ass and let me figure this out.”

Harrison did shut up but it did not help one bit. Dagen felt dizzy by the vastness of the Echo Forest. His mind felt enchanted but in no way was that a logical explanation. He shook his head in a feeble attempt to clear the cobwebs, Harrison chuckled. Unfortunately that didn’t help either. Dagen stumbled around, the more he struggled made him more frustrated and the more he got frustrated the more he struggled. It was a vicious cycle. 

“I am pretty sure this is the tree you slept in last night,” Harrison was very worried and it showed in his voice. 

“You better shut your mouth,” Dagen was so pissed off, “It’s getting late and we need to get ourselves up in a tree.” Dagen handed Harrison a sleeve of crackers and a bottle of water. 

They climbed separate trees but the tops were intertwined so they lay only feet apart. That way if Harrison talked they were close enough together that they could speak quietly. He was sure that the wolves knew exactly where they were but Dagen didn’t want any attention. These wolves were said to be among the smartest mythical creatures.The legends even say they had similar intelligence to dragons. Dagen prayed that it was not true.

“So what’s so special about this wolf pack?” Harrison asked quietly, Dagen was happy that Harrison was able to read the situation. “Are they just big or what?”

“No that’s not it,” Dagen was still frustrated but maybe telling a story would calm him. He had to find the trail tomorrow, if he didn’t they were in some serious trouble. “This is the North Moon Pack. The legend says that they were created by the Spirit Lake demons. But they could also be mutated from regular wolves somehow.”    

The second men that moved into the echo forest, this was long before Ryzard came back to banish Bawa and Bazon, was night and day different from the first men. The second men were an industrial civilization. Their desires were not to take care of this land, they wanted the trees. There was a big market for loggers right now and these men wanted to capitalize on the boom. They wanted to carve their place in this land, so they brought axes and more sophisticated logging equipment. It didn’t take them long to create a large clearing and begin building their fort. It is actually the clearing where Elwood was built, but that was a couple centuries later. Their fort was similar in style to early settlements, kinda like Fort Bridger. 

The first sighting was by a man and his wife taking a stroll on the beach of Spirit Lake. They say that the large wolves emerged from the lake under the full moon. That is where the assumption that they were summoned by the demons came from. Some others believe that the wolves were sent by the gods to punish these men for destroying this sacred forest. The man and woman froze in the darkness praying that they would not be seen. The man put himself between his wife and the wolves, in case they did attack. They walked backwards slowly as the wolves drank from the lake. They looked majestic and intimidating in the light of the full moon. Their eyes glowed red while water overflowed out of their mouths back into the lake. Luckily they were sneaky enough to get back in the woods. 

They moved through the forest quietly but quickly back to their settlement. When the guards in the towers saw the two approaching they signaled for the gate to be open. That’s when three wolves from the pack charged out of the woods. One grabbed the man by his throat, another tackled the woman. Their screams filled the silent night air, some say you can still hear them when there is a full moon. The guards watched in horror while the massive wolves tore the couple apart then dragged them back into the woods. Blood pooled and left a trail. The guards were horrified, they claimed that they even took the shape of men, like werewolves. 

The second age of echo men were large men that prided themselves on being strong. They wanted to protect their families as well as their neighbors and their neighbors' children. Their settlement was not large enough to sustain people dying from unnatural causes. They formed hunting parties, most never found anything. But one group in particular went deep into the woods to elders cave, that is where Hazel set up her cottage. Twenty men armed with spears and axes trekked into the forest towards where they thought the beasts lived. 

When they reached the cave everything was silent, the scary kind of silent. The leader decided to put brush and branches at the mouth of the cave and start them on fire. They never even got a chance to gather one stick. Wolves charged out of the forest, not one man had a chance to even raise his spear. The pack was on top of them in the blink of an eye. Growls and screams filled the air for miles and miles. When the screams ceased the forest was engulfed in beautiful but terrifying howls.
They did leave the leader of the men alive, like I said these wolves are smart. They wanted someone to go back to tell the story of what happened. A wolf dragged him to the ground by his forearm. Then the pack leader stood over him while he wept in horror. He had watched the strongest men he had ever known be devoured in minutes. The pack leader grabbed his earlobe gently with its front teeth. It pulled the ear slowly from his head. He was a tough man, he gritted his teeth and grunted but he did not scream. The wolves left and he made his way slowly back to the fort that died. 

“Let’s get some sleep,” Dagen said, “We are going to have an extremely long day tomorrow.”

“What are our chances of getting away?” Harrison asked, “Be honest.”

“Not good,” Dagen said solemnly, “But they will be a lot less if we don’t try to get some sleep.” Dagen closed his eyes and did not enjoy unpeaceful and not restful sleep.

The night was long but was completely uneventful, which was a very good thing. Except for the owl that is. This morning was not like a symphony as the other morning, last night was a nightmare and this morning was the theme to a horror movie. Harrison didn’t seem to have any trouble sleeping, Dagen listened to him snore almost all night. Even for the hour that Dagen broke off pieces of sticks and hit Harrison with him, the kid never budged. He was a lucky Bastard, Dagen was exhausted.

Sometime during the night an Owl landed on a branch so it could look eye to eye with Dagen. Owls were very sacred in the Echo Forest and this one was no exception. She was snow white and even seemed to have a white aura around it, somehow he knew it was female. It seemed so real, however it was most likely a Vivid dream. Dagen could see countless golden galaxies swirling in the blackness of its eyes. The owl tilted its head and a vision came to Dagen. He was running through the forest with Harrison close behind him. The vision jolted and the glowing owl flew away with gold dust trailing behind it. Dagen thought he knew what it meant but he would have to see if the time came. 

This was the worst night of Dagens’ life, including last night which was saying a lot. Harrison did wake up when Dagen hit him with a much larger stick. “We need to get going,” an angry Dagen said while Harrison yawned and stretched his way awake. “We need to find the trail, thanks to you we barely have any food.” 

Harrison ignored Dagens’ anger and comment, “Speaking of food..”  Dagen was automatically furious.

“If I were you I would stop talking right now, you are not eating anything  you hear me,” Dagen couldn’t believe this guy. “We barely have any and we need to conserve it. Your hungry ass is going to hate it but it’s my pack and my food. You left your pack so I make the rules.” 

“To be fair,” Harrison answered, “I don’t think I had any food left in my pack anyway.” That stupid grin never left his stupid face.

“Look man I gotta ask you,” Dagen spoke seriously, he needed to assess the way Harrison was feeling. “You do understand how much trouble we are in? Like really know?”

“Look,” Harrison was calm and reasonable, “I have you here, I get that you are scared and that night with the wolves was far beyond shitty. But as for me, I am very confident that you will get us the hell out of here. You did struggle yesterday but I think that was because you got in your head. You couldn’t get past the frustration so you could think clearly. I know that you lost all your confidence, you just need to focus. You got this.” Dagen was actually touched. 

“I’ll do my best man, that I can promise you,” Dagen answered while a smile crossed his lips. “It’s a bit overwhelming but I think you’re right.”

They both ate a cereal bar because Dagen was feeling a bit more generous after the pep talk. The two leaned  against trees facing each other. “So today I am going to mark the trees with numbers and arrows, that way if we pass one we actually have an idea where we are and which way we were going.” Dagen explained, “It will also give us an idea how close we are to here. Hopefully it won’t matter but if today is like yesterday, I think the numbers will help.” 

“Sounds good man,” Harrison said, still smiling, “I will follow you out of this mess. I am glad the wolves didn’t come last night. You were right, those things are terrifying. I hope I never see those again. Hopefully they forgot about us.” Dagen knew that had not happened, he didn’t know why they didn’t come but he did know that they would.

A tiny rock hit Dagen in the back of his head, his heart sank. “Where did that come from?” Harrison asked. He was facing Dagen but the rock appeared to appear out of nowhere. 

“Something must have fallen from the tree, or a bird dropped something,” Dagen lied again, he used to be an honest person. Now they had two big problems, Harrison only needed to know about one. 

Dagen felt much more relaxed today, he thought it was the pep talk or the night visit from that amazing owl. Could it have been the mythical Saphiana? Dagen really began to believe that it was. He marched through the underbrush marking trees as he went. Harrison smiled and followed like a dog just happy to be alive. More than a few times the two came across trees marked with an X. That brought up momentary frustration but he was able to fight it off. No good would come from getting frustrated. From somewhere in the woods a wolf howled, it was not close but earshot was too close for Dagen. 

“How close are they?” Harrison asked. There was fear in his voice, he did not try to hide it. 

“A couple miles I would guess,” Dagen answered, “but it doesn’t take a wolf long to cover two miles. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that. So I really think we need to get goin.” 

“I agree,” Harrison said, “So let’s light a fire under it. Like I said, I never want to see those damn things again.”

The two men got out of there, they wanted to put some more distance between themselves and the monsters. A small stick fell out of a tree and hit Harrison in the head. He looked up but saw nothing. Dagen prayed that he was wrong about what was going on. At one point Harrison did comment that he felt like they were being watched, Dagen felt it too. The good news was that so far things today were going well. They had yet to pass a tree with a number on it, maybe the system was working. The last X was more than two hours ago.

By lunch time, which came around two thirty, Dagen was feeling much better about their situation. They had not heard the wolves for hours and nothing had flown out of nowhere and hit either of them. The feeling of dozens of eyes watching never left however. They ate lunch in silence, a single granola bar. The birds sang and the stream babbled from somewhere not far away. 

“I think I’m gonna find the stream,” Dagen said as they began to set off. “We can follow it either way and eventually we should run into something. If anything it can keep us going in the same direction.” Harrison agreed but Dagen didn’t care.

The stream was more difficult to find than Dagen would have thought but eventually he did find it. They both splashed the cool water on their faces and smiled. Dagen decided that they should take a late day break, he was beyond exhausted. It turned out to be a much longer nap than either had intended. When the howl woke them up it was much closer than before and Dagen mentally called himself an asshole.

“Dammit,” Dagen cursed, “Get up dude, that was too close. We need to get the hell out of here right now. I never should’ve taken a rest like that. Dammit.”

“Would it help hide our scent if we walked in the water?” Harrison asked and Dagen thought that might have been the most intelligent thing Harrison had said since they met. Dagen thought he read somewhere that walking in water doesn’t help, but at least Harrison was thinking.

“I don’t know if it will help,” Dagen answered, “But I think we should give it a shot.” 

They both took off their shoes and socks then rolled up their pant legs. The two walked up stream. Luckily the current wasn’t strong, the bed was dirt instead of rocks, and the stream was no higher than their shins at its deepest point. The cool water on his feet mixed with the sound of the birds and the stream did Dagen a world of good mentally. Slowly the suffocating trees opened up and the stream slowly got wider. Dagen was overwhelmed with happiness when he saw Spirit Lake through the trees. 

“We might just be ok,” Dagen said, sounding surprised. “We might just make it. From here we can find the trail, we will be hungry for a couple days but we won’t starve.”

“Holy shit dude,” Harrison said, he was also overwhelmed with joy. “I knew that you would get us out of here.” Wolves howled, it sounded like they were scattered all over the forest. The howls echoed through the forest for what seemed like a full minute. 

They walked the beach until they saw the ruins of the campsite, and unfortunately the ruins of the mules. Dagens’ heart broke all over again, those poor animals. The two scavenged for food, unfortunately it was only a couple of cereal bars and two cans of stew. It wasn’t a lot but it would do. The truck was only a two day hike. 

“How much damn food did you eat?” Dagen asked, he was irritated but much too relieved to get mad. “You’re lucky we found the trail, I was about to stop feeding you. I can’t believe you ate everything.”

“I told you man,” Harrison said, Dagen wondered how Harrison could smile all the time. “I am a growing boy and I need to eat any chance I get.” 

“You’re an asshole,” Dagen was still smiling but he meant every word. They might really have a chance and Dagen would not let Harrison ruin that relief. “I’m serious, if we weren’t at the trail I would be burying you by tonight. Or more likely, leave you for the animals.”

“You know you love me,” Harrison said with an even bigger than usual smile. “You would never hurt your best friend, you are all bark and no bite.” 

“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Dagen said, choosing to ignore that last comment. He thought he made it clear that he hated Harrison since they met at the diner. “We need to put some more miles behind us before it gets dark.” 

The two got back on Sigrid’s Trail and began the two day hike back to the trucks. The sun was hanging low in the western sky making the forest almost completely dark. Dagen decided that they should keep going until it gets hard to see. They hadn’t heard the howling for a while but there was the man that Dagen saw at Spirit Lake causing him to hurry off. Harrison had not seen him which was good. Wolves were bad enough but now they had these people following them. He wanted nothing more than to get back to the truck. 

As if reading Dagens’ thoughts a lone wolf howled from somewhere much too close. Another howled from the opposite side of the trail, they either were surrounding the two or trying to find them. Dagen hoped it was the second. 

“Should we get up a tree?” Harrison asked, “Those two sounded pretty damn close.”

“I’m gonna keep goin,” Dagen said, “I should be able to see for about thirty more minutes and I'm gonna use it.” 

“Are you sure?” Harrison asked, “The bushes have been shaking all around us for the last forty five minutes. I don’t think they are as far away as you think.”

“Those aren’t wolves,” Dagen said to Harrison and the smile left his face for about five seconds. “That is a mountain lion, climbing a tree would be the best way to get killed. Walking is probably going to get us killed too, but if I die it’s going to be on the way to the truck.” Dagen looked around until he found a stick perfect size to be a club, Harrison did the same. 

They moved up the trail quickly, Dagen didn’t care about the noise he was making. He wanted out of here as fast as possible, and he was never coming back. Dagens’ senses were heightened making every sound seem to be magnified by ten. Again the wolf howled from too close and the cougar decided to pounce. It screamed and sprang towards Harrison like a tan flash of lightning. A large wolf charged from the other side of the trail and caught the cougar by the throat. It shook it wildly while the smaller animal tried to break free. It wasn’t long before the cat stopped moving. 

Harrison was up a tree in a flash, Dagen was right behind him. The two heard and watched every bite the wolf took from the body of the cat. It was a horrible sight. Dagen gave them each a cereal bar, and they ate in silence. The wolf left and left the remaining bits of the cougar under the tree. Dagen tried some deep breathing exercises. That had been way too close. Luckily it was dark so Harrison did not see the tears in his eyes. There would be no stories tonight, Dagen was fried. All he wanted was to try to get some sleep and get the sounds of eating out of his ears. 

The night dragged on through half sleep and snoring themselves and each other awake. The crickets gave way to chirping birds. The two climbed down the trees and stretched their bodies. Sleeping on a branch half sitting against the truck while images of rabid wolves stalking you for days was not a recipe for a good night's sleep. 

“Let’s get some breakfast,” Harrison said, “Daddy needs some food in his belly.”

“We’re not eating anything until lunch,” Dagen informed him. “There’s not enough to eat three times today. Then we can eat the stew tonight when we stop. Then it will be like a half day hike to the trucks.” 

“Yeah,” Harrison said, “That’s not how this is going to work. I paid for all this shit so I suggest you give me a cereal bar. I’ve been nice to you so far and put up with your shit. Don’t make me take off my gentleman cap.”

“Really?” Dagen asked with a cocky smirk and a raised left eyebrow. “Is this how you want to start the day? I would be careful what your answer is.”

Harrison puffed up his shoulders, “You wouldn’t walk all over me like you think. You may win but it wouldn’t be an easy win. So just give me a cereal bar and let’s not do this.” 

“Somebody’s balls just dropped,” Dagen said as he puffed up his chest. His eyes were wide with anticipation. “I have been waiting for your ass to toughen up, I was hoping you would give me a reason to leave you for the wolves. Literally.” Dagen felt wild in his mind. He had been angry before, but this was much different. He felt like a polar bear that got the taste for human blood. He clenched his fists, he was ready to turn Harrison’s lights out. 

“I can see the hate in your eyes, and have since we met,” Dagen had never made an effort to hide it. “That is what makes you weak, Dagen.” Harrison took a karate stance, Dagen didn’t know which discipline and he didn’t care. He would not lose a fight to a guy like Harrison, he couldn’t allow that. “I have pushed every button you have and you think it’s me that is weak. I have been running you hayseed, you’re just to dumb to see it.” 

Before Dagen got a chance to make his move a wolf howled from a distance less than a football field, according to his estimation. Dagen thought one more time about knocking Harrison’s teeth out the back of his head. At the last minute Dagen decided against it. Dagen ran up the trail as fast as he could and Harrison followed. 

The forest came alive with movement in the shrubs and underbrush, the wolves were all around them. Dagen could not see any of them yet but the snarls and growls let him know just how close they were. Harrison was right on Dagens’ heels, his speed was actually impressive. Harrison was screaming and Dagen felt a hand grasping at his shirt. Was he tryin to tackle me? Dagen wondered.

The two were just in a pretty heated exchange, maybe Harrison was trying to take him out. Saphiana was right, there was only one choice. Dagens’ wild mind lost control. He skidded to a stop and lowered his shoulder to Harrison’s chest height. Harrison’s breath ejected from his lungs like a pilot ejecting from a plane. Both fell hard to the ground but Dagen, who was expecting the contact popped right back to his feet. Harrison lay on the ground clutching his chest and gasping for air. The movement in the forest stopped. Dagen ran a little ways up the trail then stopped also, he wanted to see what was going to happen. 

Slowly four wolves walked out of the woods and surrounded Harrison like the points of a compass. They growled like motorcycles and drewelled like waterfalls. Harrison fought his way to his feet still having trouble breathing. 

“Dagen please help,” Harrison was pleading with his words as well as his eyes. There would have been nothing Dagen could have done even if he wanted to, and he didn’t want to. “You son of a bitch,” Dagen smiled, he was happy that he got to keep his promise. 

The wolf directly in front of Harrison charged and clamped its jaws on his throat. He tried to scream but it came out in a gurgle. Two wolves grabbed each leg and the other grabbed his arm. They tugged at his limbs like playful dogs playing tug of war with a rope. Dagen decided that he had seen enough. He heard a tearing sound and hoped Harrison was being pulled apart by the monstrous wolves. 

Dagen stopped when he saw the trail blocked by several large men dressed like TV show vikings. There were a few more in the trees and even more scattered in the forest. Dagens’ heart dropped, he would almost rather deal with the wolves. The men smelled strongly of dirt, sweat, and other woodly smells. The largest wildman stood towering over Dagen although Dagen was just as brood. 

“Dad,” Dagen said and the large man with the dark hair and beard smiled.

The large man looked over Dagen to the carnage on the trail behind him and his smile widened. “It looks like you are ready to come home, my son.” Dagen nodded and took off his shirt. The men walked into the woods cheering for the son of the king that had finally come home.