Day 280 - Captain Hawkins III

 Captain Hawkins III

Matthew Ryan Fischer

 

Captain Hawkins was lost, but he could not tell that to Lady Hanbrook. He thought his courage, even if it was fake, was what kept her going. And her continuing on was what kept him going. It was a good enough circle, as long as they both believed in it.

Somewhere the forest had changed. The ground was moist and mushy. His boots sank with every step. And it was getting worse. It took more and more strength to pull his legs up and to continue on. But he had to. The forest had come to life before and attacked them. But now, it was as though the forest became a maze, where the walls were constantly shifting and moving. He had spent his childhood in these woods and had run every path, but now it seemed as though he was in a strange and foreign land.

Somewhere ahead were his men, waiting. They would lend protecting and safety. If only he could find them. Ben was to have first watch, but Hawkins had trouble telling what time of night it was. The moon shifted and changed, growing in ebb and flow, finding a new home in the night’s sky. In ways it was worse than the forest.

“Ben!?” he whisper-called, trying to seek out his men, but not so loud as to alert any possible enemy to his location.

Something stirred in the forest.

“Ben? Is that you?”

It was Ben, but not Ben. Unliving, he moved slow, covered in the much and mire of the swamps. This skin had turned brown and green. It looked like bark and leaves. His face much more like chiseled markings on an old stump.

It was his former companion. But what of the rest of his men, wondered Hawkins.

“We must go back,” he said to Lady Hanbrook. “Quiet so he doesn’t hear us.”

But it was too late. Ben the woodland creature turned his head and moaned in their direction. Above the crows danced and sounded their approval.

The shot from Hawkins’ pistol did little to nothing.

“We must run!”

They turned and struggled through the mud, hurrying in the other direction. Not knowing where they were headed, but away from Ben. That was enough for now. Away. Just away. Any direction that would mean escape.

The forest twisted and turned, not helping their cause.

When they emerged from the twisted woods, they were at the crossroads. There was no sign of Ben, but Hawkins heard the sound of approaching horse hooves. He turned in defensive anticipation.

And that was when they saw the ghost soldiers riding their way on apparition steeds.