Moonslight Through Forest Canopy

“Quiet night?”

Eelo looked up from their desk, eyes crossed. Regin was blurry, a vaguely dnoden-shaped figure leaning against the watchpost doorway. His ears twitched as he slowly came into view.

“Nothing so far,” Eelo replied. The night was barely started and they were already feeling the weight of exhaustion. The Dies Lin Du Forest loomed as it always did, a slumbering beast content to linger in the peripheral but never step beyond. Eelo rubbed their temples. “Rarely is.”

Regin plopped into his seat, tossing Eelo a paper bag. Eelo fumbled the catch. “You’re lucky it’s so quiet. You don’t look like you could catch a bishet with a backhand, let alone an undead.”

Eelo rolled his eyes, opening the paper bag and pulling out the sandwich neatly packed inside. “That’s not my fault. My neighbors in town just had their third kid. It’s hard to get rest during the day.”

“Can’t you buy some of those silence stones? Some of the other nightwatchers use those, I think.”

“Yeah, but I’m sure they know mages who can recharge them, or have a second job or something. The Leads don’t even charge the ones here in the watchposts I don’t think. That shit gets expensive over time.”

“Price of steady work, I guess,” Regin replied. He motioned to the bag. “Ji made tukket sandwiches for tonight. The last meat sandwiches for a few weeks. The storm that hit the gulf fucked some of the docks in the city and you know how long it takes shit to reach us on a good day.”

Tukket was hardly Eelo’s favorite, but they preferred it to the foul vegetable salad mixes. How the Watch expected any of them to be worth a shit in a fight against the dead with a belly fully of root vegetables and tubers was beyond them. They took a bite of their sandwich and chewed thoughtfully. “Think they’ll be moving us further north soon?”

“Cuz of the runners? Doubt it. Buubeno’s got half the Watch wandering the city cuz Loben and the Jungle can’t tell their crooked cocks from hardwood saplings. Until we get our reserves back I don’t think we’re going anywhere.” Regin threw his feet up onto the edge of window sill. There wasn’t a window proper, just a hole cut into the thin paneled wood that allowed the cool night breeze into the room, and allowed them an easy sight of the forest. “And honestly?” Regin continued, “I’d prefer staying here. The nightwatch up north is all pomp and no circumstance. Their Leads are a bunch of tight-asshole old-heads who spend their shift throwing uniform violations rather than fighting the dead. That’s why they have runners.”

Eelo took another bite, nodding along. They didn’t keep up on Watch politics, so Regin was their only source for anything related. Eelo was fresh on their own, only two months ago moving to their own apartment and the Watch, despite its reputation, was easy work to get into. It sold itself as fast-paced and flashy; a hero’s job, protecting the innocent from the cruel and callous Dies Lin Du Forest. In reality, it was a desk job with great marketing. The Watch was once a grand institution, Eelo remembered the stories from their grandaba, but years of corruption and Jungle Court interference had turned it into little more than an overused pick-up line. At least the pay was decent. “I wouldn’t mind a bit of excitement now and again.”

“Are you stupid?” Regin asked. He turned his head sharply, ears twitching again. “You don’t wish for that shit unless you want to be tailing down an amalgy for six hours.”

Regin was exactly what Eelo imagined the old Watch would’ve looked like. He fit neatly into the ‘heroic Watchman’ stereotype, with a sharp jaw and angled nose and unshakable nerves. He was all corners, broad and strong and blindingly confident. He sported wide shoulders and strong arms, both of which strained against the confines of the Watch’s uniform. He was a farmboy’s dream.

Eelo had to drag themselves back from their staring, suddenly embarrassed. “A what?” they asked.

Regin stared back, much more pointed. “Oh, you are wet-eared, aren’t you?”

Eelo frowned, sitting up straighter in their chair, the soft blush coating their cheeks growing darker.

“An amalgy. Amalgamation. Big ass word for a big ass beast. Happens when the dead get too friendly and end up mixing together into one mass. Nasty fuckers.”

It wasn’t a pleasant mental image that drew into Eelo’s mind, but it at least served as a distraction from their staring. They set their sandwich down, focusing instead on Regin’s hands and how he flipped his set of keys between his fingers. It was an impressive display. “Have you ever fought one?”

“No. But I’ve seen what they leave behind and I hope I never do. I’ll take a hundred amblers over one of those things,” said Regin. “They’re usually deep inside the forest but I’ve heard if you get enough dead in one place, they’ll get drawn out to the treeline.”

“Sounds bad,” Eelo said.

“Real bad,” Regin replied. “I’ve seen a squad of twenty barely able to take one on. We’re lucky the forest is quieter than it used to be.”

“What, when you first joined?”

Regin laughed, a low deep rumble. “No, no. I’m not that fuckin’ old! I’m talking about way back, when the Watch got made official. Centuries ago. There would’ve been no watchmen to spare to play Jungle politics back then.”

“I’m glad I’m working now, then.”

Regin split a grin. “You seem really set on speaking bad luck on us, don’t you?”

“I didn’t mean-”

Eelo’s voice was cut short as Regin flipped his keys over his pointer finger, but lost his grip and instead sent them flying at Eelo’s chest.

Eelo wasn’t quick enough to dodge, and the keys landed directly into the tukket sandwich in their lap. They chuckled, pinching the keys in their hand to avoid the oil.

“Shit, sorry, E.” Regin scooted his chair closer until their knees touched, far closer than he needed to be, and carefully took the keys from Eelo’s hand.

Though they might have been wet-eared when it came to undead, the closeness did not pass Eelo by. They stiffened slightly, swearing they saw Regin’s gaze flicker in their direction. They were close enough that Eelo could see the small flecks of auburn in Regin’s otherwise dark brown eyes. The moment was flash-quick and over before Eelo could think anymore on it. Regin shoved his chair back to his spot and Eelo shook their head. It was a silly feeling, nothing worth them dwelling on. Still, their next deep breath didn’t help cool the heat on their cheeks or loosen the tight squeeze in their chest.

“Eelo?”

Eelo snapped their head up, realizing Regin had been speaking. Silly. “Mm?”

Regin gave them an amused raise of the brows. “I asked if you wanted to play cards. Test that bad luck of yours.”

---

The weather in Shur Sha Shu was pleasant this time of year, with clear skies marred only by the occasional drizzled rains to kept the foliage lush. The dead were more active beneath cloud cover, or so Regin said. “Something about the twin moons drive them off” so a starry night sky was set to be an uneventful one. Eelo wasn’t sure how much they believed Regin, but there wasn’t any real reason to doubt him either. At the very least, Regin had been right about the luck; Eelo lost Blind Man’s Gambit four times in a row.

Unfortunately, the bad luck didn’t end at Regin and Eelo’s game of cards. An unlucky set of circumstances was brewing beyond their little post on a much grander scale. A nasty mix of Lieutenants of the Watch having been pulled into the city on Jungle Court nonsense, and Eelo, among thirty-five new recruits who’d joined just that week, being sent out to the treeline with a days’ worth of training. It was bad luck that the Watch’s couriers were a few days behind, leaving news from the north stalled somewhere along the coast. And it was naive comfort that left most of the civilian population of Shur Sha Shu, new recruits included, to believe the sleeping beast of the Dies Lin Du Forest would sleep forever.

A northeasterly wind came upon Regin and Eelo’s post three hours before sunrise was due to arrive. It rustled the playing cards left on the sill of the window; a warm caress that smelled of rot. Eelo crinkled their nose, drawn out from his daydream.

“Is that you?” they asked, blocking their nose with their hand.

Regin didn’t reply. He was sitting up, already staring out their makeshift window towards the forest. His ears were pinned back.

Eelo frowned. “Is something wrong?”

“You just had to go and wish for excitement,” Regin grunted.

Eelo snapped their gaze to the forest, squinting to try and make out the treeline. Patchy clouds rolled in on the wind, moonslight fading in and out like a poorly-willed spell. Eelo couldn’t make out more than a blurry visage of the trees along the edge. “Still looks quiet to me.”

“They gave you a sword at base, right?”

“Ah, yeah.”

“Ever wielded one before?”

“Yeah, a few times,” Eelo lied. “Brother used to spar with me.”

Regin grunted again. “Let’s hope you’re better with a blade than cards. Grab your steel.”

Regin was up on his feet before Eelo could remember where they’d put their blade. They scrambled out of their chair to follow, turning back halfway through the door when they realized they hadn’t, in fact, grabbed their steel.

The air was warmer than it was earlier in the night, not uncomfortably so, but enough that Eelo rolled up the sleeves of their jacket. They tried desperately to remember what the training Leads had said about swordsmanship.

“Quiet steps,” Regin said.

Eelo stepped lighter, though failing to hide their footsteps entirely. They didn’t remember that from training either. Their palms were sweaty and their grip on their blade kept slipping. “What is it?”

“Don’t know yet. But that smell is the smell of death.”

“Lots of death?”

Regin looked over his shoulder. His smile was kind. “Don’t look so nervous. The dead can sense that.”

Eelo pursed their lips, but didn’t reply. Regin might have been correct with the wet-eared comment, but Eelo didn’t need to prove it for him. Instead, they turned their attention back to the forest. There was nothing obvious from what they could see, but Eelo wasn’t seasoned enough to recognize the subtler movements of undead: a broken branch here, a trail of leaves there. The forest was unfamiliar to them, and the undead even moreso.

Regin, however, was alert. His broad shoulders were board straight, and his sword held aloft. He motioned for Eelo to keep close as they both pushed through the dense underbrush at the treeline and walked into the forest.

Eelo shivered. They were not a coward, but they weren’t particularly brave either. It wasn’t an ideal trait for a Watchman to have, something Regin was always sure to mention, but Eelo didn’t have the years-long relationship with the forest that the other Watchmen had. Regin described the forest like a senile uncle, an unpredictable creature you knew but could never understand. Not fully. That somehow gave some Watchmen a sense of security, but Eelo was not one of them.

The uneasiness spread to Eelo’s legs as they walked. The forest was a blur of blacks and greys, and they had to focus to keep from tripping over the tangle of brush on the forest floor.

Regin’s hand reached across to Eelo’s shoulder, grounding them in the moment. “Steady?”

“Yeah,” Eelo said. “I’m good.”

“Good. Keep your head on. Stay out of those big thoughts of yours.”

The pair moved deeper into the forest, Eelo keeping close to Regin’s side.

The Dies Lin Du Forest, despite its current state of presumed dormancy having washed the surrounding cities into complacency, was still a living, breathing beast. Made of trees and brush and dirt and rot, the forest thrummed with an unfamiliar heartbeat that, to the untrained ear, sounded a lot like a breeze through treetops. Its breath felt like leaves against skin. And like most beasts, the forest was clever, and knew better than to let unwanted guests draw too close to its heart.

“What the fuck is that?”

The hair on the back of Eelo’s neck stood up. Their head jolted up, and they tried to see what Regin was seeing. There was nothing but trees, just like there had been for however long they’d been walking. They couldn’t make out anything but the trees. “What?”

“Merciful Mahys, there’s dozens of them!”

“What!” Eelo said, harsher this time.

“We need to get back,” Regin replied. He turned in a flash, shoving Eelo back by the shoulder. “Move, fast.”

Eelo’s heart leapt into their chest, but they did as Regin asked. They realized with a growing fright that they had no idea how far they’d walked and, if split from Regin, Eelo would have no way of knowing which way was back out.

“What was it?” Eelo asked again.

Either Regin didn’t hear them or he chose not to reply. Eelo could guess what that meant.

Regin continued to run, turning sharp corners that Eelo struggled to keep up with. When Regin drew to a sudden stop, Eelo nearly ran headlong into him.

“Can you still run?” Regin asked, steadying Eelo by the shoulders.

Eelo blinked Regin into focus. Their throat was dry. “Huh? Uh, yeah.”

“I’m going to draw the undead back into the forest. You need to get back to the Lead in the village and tell them we’ve got a horde. Eighty at least, if not more. Mostly amblers. Heading straight east.”

“What?” Eelo shook their head. “Wait, why can’t we-”

“We’d be dragging the horde right into town,” Regin interrupted. “We don’t have the people for that kind of stand. You need to move and move fast.”

Eelo swallowed thickly. Things were happening too fast. This job wasn’t meant to be urgent. Eelo and Regin were meant to be playing cards and complaining about sandwiches. “But-”

“No. Move. Fast.” Regin spun Eelo by the shoulders and shoved him forward.

Eelo stumbled into a run, unable to look back over their shoulder before they were darting between trees and leaping over bushes and ferns. They prayed to Mahys and Styvel and anyone who might hear them in this godless place that Regin had pointed them in the right direction. Eelo didn’t have the time to debate. They simply ran. They ran until the trees began to thin and the brush turned green and they, blessed be, broke through the treeline outside the forest.

Eelo could’ve collapsed then and there, collecting their breath and struggling through their adrenaline addled mind. But instead they kept running racing past the watchpost, where they’d left the lightorbs glowing and the breeze had scattered their playing cards into the road. Eelo replayed Regin’s instructions over and over so they didn’t forget.

Eighty at least, if not more. Mostly amblers. Heading straight east.

The Dies Lin Du Forest loomed as it always did, a slumbering beast, watching a wet-eared watchman race down the road for town.