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a-crack-in-the-universe · 1 year

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Anna and the Wenn

Anna looked out through the entrance of their small treehouse toward the ground far below, her heart twisting into painful knots within her chest.

Something was wrong, she could feel it. It was late afternoon and Jarred still had not returned. It was not like him to be so late. He had told her that he would be back by mid-afternoon, and knowing the dangers the forest held, he would not let himself be waylaid by anything. For, after all, dusk was the time the Wennbar and other dangerous monsters would be coming out.

What if he had been attacked, or worse? Anna squeezed her eyes shut, unable to bear the thought. If Jarred was still out at dusk, he would be in danger, injured or not. And then…

Fate have mercy, she had to find him!

‘Mama? Is Papa in trouble?’

Anna turned to find her daughter standing next to her, eyes wide with fear. Jasmine. Anna’s heart clenched. She must have seen her fretting and pacing. She would have to reassure her somehow.

She knelt and hugged her daughter, stroking her dark hair and looking into her beautiful green eyes that were so much like her own. ‘Yes, my dearest. Your father may be in danger, but it will be all right. I am going to search for him. Stay in the house, and do not come out until we return. All right?’

After a moment’s pause, Jasmine nodded her head, sniffling slightly, though still looking afraid. ‘All right, Mama.’

Anna hugged her again tightly, drawing comfort from her daughter’s small warm body. ‘I love you. Be of good heart and wait for us to return.’

Though it twisted her inside to do it, she let go of her daughter, and proceeded to prepare for her journey. She did not bother to change clothes, but she grabbed her foraging bag and her medicines—she would need those, in case Jarred was injured.

All too soon she was ready to leave. She moved toward the entrance and began the long climb down to the forest floor.

-----

As the years had passed, Anna had grown proficient at noticing the signs that someone or something had passed through their area – a necessity, to help her protect her small family from dangers such as fearsome forest creatures or Grey Guards. She was not as adept at it as she would have liked, but she had enough skill at it to track Jarred.

Jarred had become just as good as she at stealthily moving through the grassy forest floor, perhaps even more so, but she knew him well enough to notice the signs he would typically leave behind at certain spots, signalling that he had been there. Her heart grew heavy with foreboding as she noted how at first Jarred had proceeded on foot, and then it looked like he had been dragged, based on the way the greenery had been disturbed.

She followed those signs to a grassy clearing that the Wenn usually deposited their victims in for the Wennbar to find.

She and Jarred had first come across the Wennbar—and the Wenn—some weeks after first arriving in First Wood. In the months before Jasmine’s birth, Jarred had begun scouting the area for any dangers they would need to be aware of and avoid while they were living there in the forest. As she had been big with child, Anna had been unable to join him, but after the birth she had insisted on it—both because she was painfully curious about the wonders Jarred had been telling her about, and because she knew that if she spent another moment in the treehouse she would surely go mad.

And so, with little Jasmine bound to her on a sling on her back, Anna had gone with Jarred scouting. It was on that trip that she had first seen the Wenn--pale misshapen creatures with glowing red eyes. On that trip, she and Jarred had watched from the treetops as the creatures ran past, carrying an animal who appeared to be as still as death. However, after the Wenn had deposited it onto the grass in the clearing, Anna could see that it was not dead, only paralysed. How, Anna did not know, but it chilled her to see the look of terror in the animal’s eyes as it realised it could not move. Had it known what its fate would be?

Anna and Jarred had not stayed to see what would happen to it. In later weeks, however, they found out what the Wenn did to its captives—that they were sacrificed alive to a monster called the Wennbar, which seemed to be the Wenn’s master. In the months and years to come, they came across more helpless victims who had been caught by the Wenn, and they quickly learned to see the warning signs of Wenn approaching and keep away from them.

Some of the Wenn’s victims were Grey Guards. Eventually, Jarred had had the idea of stripping those Grey Guards of their clothes, so that he, Anna and Jasmine would be able to use the fabric to make clothes for themselves. The danger of it had worried Anna, but they desperately needed the fabric after their original clothes had become too worn out to wear, and so she had agreed to it.

Anna felt a twinge of guilt. On any other day, they could have gone together, but today she had to stay behind to tend to Jasmine, who had badly grazed her knees while playing in the treetops. So Jarred had gone alone. Anna had suggested they postpone the trip until tomorrow or the day after, but Jarred had shaken his head. It would be better if they could make it today, he had said. Who knew if they would get another chance like this anytime soon?

Anna had let him go. After spending over five years in the Forests of Silence, Jarred had become a capable fighter, and he knew to be careful of the Wenn. If he encountered trouble, he would be able to find his way out of it. Besides, it was not likely that he would run into any trouble, for there was not much activity on the forest floor today. She had not thought there was anything they would need to worry about.

Now, though… Anna’s heart froze as she stood in the clearing of the Wennbar and took stock of the situation. Jarred lay on the grass before her, paralysed – bound by the Wenn. Some feet away, also paralysed, lay a Grey Guard.

She knelt and gripped Jarred’s calloused hand in her own, feeling terror rise within her.

“Anna, I am sorry,’ Jarred said weakly. ‘I was careless. I--'

‘Hush,’ she said, trying—and failing—to suppress the tremble in her voice. Tears stung her eyes. If Jarred died, she did not know what she would do. ‘You must save your strength.’

She glanced up at the sun. It was not so long until sundown, now. She would have to act quickly if she were to help Jarred. But how could she do that? What kind of potion could cure someone of paralysis?

She squeezed her eyes shut, thinking. Then it came to her. It would be risky, and there was a chance it would not work. But it would be worth it, if it meant she would have a chance to save Jarred.

She only allowed herself a moment’s fear; then she forced it out of her heart and opened her eyes. She kissed Jarred on the forehead and looked into his dear, familiar, exhausted eyes. ‘I love you. I must go now, but I will be back soon, with something that will help you.’

‘Anna—’

‘Trust me,’ she urged. ‘This will not be the end. I will make sure of it.’

‘I trust you,’ he assured her. ‘It is time I do not trust. It is close to sunset, when the Wennbar will come.’ And with it, his death. The unspoken words seemed to hover between them. Anna felt her heart squeeze painfully. Yes, it was close, so very close. Would she have enough time? She had to believe that she would. The thought of losing Jarred was like a knife to her heart; she could not let it happen.

She kissed him again and stood up. ‘Do not fear. I will be back in a little while, before sunset.’

Be brave, and wait for me to return, she thought. I will not let you die. I will not let Jasmine lose her father.

And with that, she darted away into the forest.

-----

Later, once it was over, she would admit to Jarred that she had been terrified that her plan would not work, that she would run out of time, leaving Jarred to be sacrificed to the Wennbar. Then, however, she only felt a cold, steely determination come over her as she moved through the forest, foraging for the herbs required to concoct the medicine that would hopefully cure Jarred of his paralysis. She had no room for any other emotion.

Once she gathered the herbs she needed, she made her way as fast as she could back to the treehouse, where she would be able to mix them into a form that Jarred could ingest. Jasmine gazed at her with questions in her eyes as she re-entered their small treetop home.

‘Mama! Where’s Papa?’

Time was of the essence, but Anna forced herself to pause and reassure her daughter, even though every part of her was screaming at her to prepare the medicine now before it was too late.

‘Papa has been stung by the Wenn,’ was all she had time to say. ‘I must make some medicine before dusk to help him move again. Here,’ and she motioned to her daughter to join her at the workbench she used to formulate her herbal remedies. ‘Help me prepare it.’

For all that she was only five years old, Jasmine understood the urgency of the situation, for she said no more and quietly helped her mother crush the herbs and prepare the medicine that would hopefully save Jarred’s life.

Once they were done, Anna gazed at their creation. It was a foul-smelling liquid that made Jasmine wrinkle her small, sensitive nose in disgust. It would have a foul taste as well, but as long as it worked, that would not matter. It had to work, she told herself. It had to. She could not think otherwise.

Without another word, she grabbed the tiny bottle and placed it in a pouch around her neck, hurrying out of the treehouse and back down to the forest floor. Jasmine anxiously watched her go.

-----

Time became a blur, after that. Anna could think of nothing else than racing to where she had left Jarred in the clearing before the Wennbar emerged from its cave to claim its sacrifice. It was almost dusk – Anna could see the sun positioned painfully low in the gradually darkening sky.

It felt like an age before she was in that clearing again. She knelt before Jarred, taking out and uncorking the bottle with the precious medicine in it.

‘Jarred, open your mouth!’ she hissed. ‘Quickly!’

There was no time to greet him or provide any warning. Dusk was almost upon them, and with it the Wennbar.

Thankfully, Jarred obeyed her without question. He knew as well as she did the urgency of his situation, and what would happen if they were both still in the clearing when the Wennbar came.

Anna lowered the bottle over his open mouth and carefully poured two drops of the foul-smelling medicine onto Jarred’s tongue. Two, she had calculated, would be enough for the medicine to do its work. Once the drops hit his tongue, she clamped one hand over Jarred’s mouth. It would all be for nothing if Jarred somehow spat out the medicine.

She held her breath as Jarred grimaced at the terrible taste of the potion. Please let this work! An expression of intense agony crossed Jarred’s face. Anna’s heart squeezed to see it and hear his muffled pained cry. And then – his body began to jerk, limbs moving, as it tried to process the pain it was under.

Anna let out the breath she had been holding. Tears sprang into her eyes. It had worked! Her medicine had worked. But she could not relax quite yet – they both still had to escape the clearing before the Wennbar arrived.

Quickly she shook Jarred shoulder, tugged at his arm as hard as she could – anything to get his attention over the immense pain he must be feeling. ‘Jarred? Jarred! Please listen to me. You can move! We must escape from here before the Wennbar comes.’

He groaned. She kept repeating her words to him, until she feared he was in too much pain to understand her. Then her words finally seemed to registered within his mind, and he began to struggle to get to his feet. Anna helped him to his feet and together the two of them, with Anna half-supporting Jarred, stumbled out of the clearing.

They did not stop until they had reached their home in the treetops. Anna had not dared to, the thought of the Wennbar’s angry, snapping teeth spurring her onward, and Jarred, still half-delirious with pain as he was, had not had the strength to do aught but follow her lead. She breathed a sigh of relief once she saw the familiar wooden structure of the treehouse and the small face of their daughter peering down at them, her green eyes filled with a mixture of fear and hope.

As soon as they were safe in their home, Jasmine rushed to her father’s side and hugged him tightly, burying her face in his leg. ‘Papa! Are you all right?’

Anna could see that Jarred was still weak, so it took him a few moments to respond to Jasmine’s tearful question. Finally he said, ‘Yes, sweetheart. I am.’ His eyes met Anna’s, and Anna’s heart warmed at the deep love, relief and gratitude in them. ‘Your mother saved me.’

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