Chapter Twenty-six: Thorn's Maze

Thorn gulped when he saw his wife, her usually kind eyes devoid of emotion. Was this how she felt when he looked at her? With her ghostly form, her chestnut hair and bright blue eyes were dim with sadness.

"Ezrin," he started, "please forgive me. I shouldn't have left you. I should've been there to protect you."

Her screams when Noforl tortured her pierced the air. A strong wind blew through the forest, hurtling dead leaves and twigs. Thorn shut his eyes tight as he thought she was angry.

Ezrin's melancholic spirit touched his forehead, revealing the last minutes she was alive.

Noforl blocked her path in the hiking trail that led through thick brush. Wild, scarlet hair floated around him, moving like hypnotizing serpents. His violet eyes flashed crimson as he flexed his claws and grinned. Sharp teeth glistened with drool as he approached her. "Where are they? Golir and Rif?" His menacing voice slithered through the shadows in whispers before he gnashed at her with his fangs.

She turned and ran, but he appeared ahead of her, closer this time. "I'll never tell you!" she hollered.

"Ezrin, always so brave," Thorn muttered.

Noforl's sharp teeth bit into her right arm, and he tore it off her at the shoulder.

It happened so quick that she stared in shock at her ripped flesh and the blood gushing out. She should've died from the blood loss, but Noforl used his demonic powers to keep her alive.

"Where are they?" he growled, his voice louder.

"Go to hell!" she shot back.

Noforl cut into her left arm with his red claws. Her flesh began to burn with his touch, and she screamed in pain.

Thorn was shaking with anger, but he couldn't do anything. All of this was in the past. He held Ezrin's ghostly face and sighed. "Don't suffer this alone, my love."

The pain of her shoulder and burned arm hit him hard, but Thorn was still able to stay standing.

Ezrin's arm was cut through with Noforl's burning claws. She shrieked with pain and adrenaline as she kicked him away and ran.

Noforl snarled as he sliced off her right leg at the knee.

She tumbled to the ground and cried in despair as she tried to push away with one leg.

Noforl snagged her left leg with his teeth and crunched through the back of her knee.

Thorn fell to the ground; the morbid sight of his beloved knocked the air out of him.

Her last breath cursed Noforl with a flurry of profanity until he ripped off her jaw and sliced open her skull.

Memories of their first date flooded his mind. She was beautiful as she danced on the sailboat. He was convinced she was the most dazzling creature, and he told her often how much he loved her.

Did he really love her? Why did he leave?

Thorn glanced at the canopy. "The wind cannot stay. It must be free." He closed his eyes as he recalled his father had said that before his mother had killed him. His father's face was serene when he hadn't tried to deflect her thorny arms, and his eyes weren't wide with fear. He had accepted his fate after he had scorned her.

Thorn himself felt he deserved such a fate for leaving Ezrin. The shadows closed in on him as he kneeled on the dead leaves. "Forgive me, Ezrin. It should've been me . . ." His tears fell for her, and his heart yearned to see her again, dancing on the sailboat with not a care in the world.

Why was Noforl after their kids?

Thorn sighed as he shook his head. "I'm not exactly the detective type. Give me a target, though, and I'll do my best."

A loud clang of a sword sounded through the dark forest. Thorn perked his pointed ears and wiped his tears. He glanced around for Chichi, but there was no sign of her. His wind magic searched through the trees with no results. A deafening silence filled the area. Thorn felt unnerved as the shadows shifted. "Chichi?" His voice echoed through the quiet woods. "Jopp?"

A sudden voice close to his ear made him scream.

"Calm down!" Chichi demanded as she took his arm and held it against her breasts. "Let's keep looking for them. They couldn't have gone far, right?"

Thorn smiled as he pressed his arm closer to her firm bosom. "Oh, yeah. That feels . . . You're absolutely right, Chichi! Let's try this way." He stopped when he felt Chichi's hand on his neck. "Stop that! Your hands are cold!"

When he turned to her, one of Jopp's hungry flowers was there instead. Its vine was on his neck. He pushed it away until it slapped his head.

"Dumbass!" the flower scolded in Jopp's voice. "Keep moving! Chichi's over here with me."

"You're a sick bastard! You know that?!" Thorn barked.

"No, I'm smarter than you and Chichi put together," Jopp snickered.

"Oh yeah? Then why isn't Noforl dead yet?"

"He's a powerful demon, duh!" Jopp growled.

"That's no excuse!" Thorn blurted.

"What you did to Ezrin has no excuse," Jopp hissed.

"Ouch," Thorn uttered as he rubbed his arm and stared at his feet.

Jopp sighed as the vine ruffled Thorn's hair. "You're a tough guy, Thorn, but sometimes you do stupid things to people that love you. All I have to say is if you hurt Chichi like you did Ezrin, I will be your worst nightmare." His eyes flashed green with malice.

Thorn swatted his vine away and scowled. "Oooh! I'm so scared!" he blurted sarcastically. "Don't touch me with your nasty vines; you probably did dirty deeds for all I know."

"Every seed has a dirty start," Jopp grinned. The vine whacked Thorn's forehead, and he yelped in pain.

"What the hell was that for?!" Thorn blasted.

"You had a huge fly that was about to crap on you!" Jopp notified. "I'll smack it harder the next time you say something stupid!"

"Crazy treehugger!" Thorn hollered.

"Better than a womankiller!" Jopp shot back.

Chichi and Tark sighed with exasperation as they watched them bicker.

"I bet Jopp will slap him in the next two minutes," Tark offered.

"If my tough Thorn dodges it, you owe me two of those chocolate bars," Chichi declared.

Tark grinned as he shook her hand. "Deal."

He glanced around and tapped his chin. "What did Jopp do with Noforl?"

Chichi giggled. "This is his forest, now. He can summon trails that aren't real."

Tark stared at her in disbelief. "Noforl doesn't strike me as an idiot like Thorn."

"It'll give everyone time to group up," Chichi revealed. "We'll need each other for his plan to succeed."