The Vendeleer Brothers Book 4: The Plagued Forest
Chapter 15: Undone

Ian tried to get up as the whole cave shook.

“What the heck is going on?!” he asked as Brian awoke with a start from his perch on top of the swamp creature. He flailed and fell into the pool. Prthviko weakly stood up.

“I sense… other humans…” he told them. Ian immediately thought of Keith, but he wanted to be sure.

“Prthviko, is there a way to see outside of here?” he asked. The creature pointed to a large clear crystal on a pedestal, and in response, Ian ran over and slammed his hand down on it. Immediately, an image appeared on the waterfall, and they could see Keith and the other survivors setting up explosives at a large stone door covered in vines.

“Crap!!” Ian exclaimed as he watched them trying to blow up the door again. The cave shook once more, and he could see the door start to crumble. “How the freak did they replace us??”

As if in response, the image on the waterfall distorted, and they were suddenly looking at the face of the man in the gas mask. Ian about had a heart attack.

“THE CREEPY GAS MASK DUDE?!” Brian exclaimed. “FOR THE LAST TIME, WE’RE NOT GOING TO OPEN YOUR CREEPY BLACK BOX!!!”

At the sound of that, Prthviko’s head shot up.

“You… encountered the man in the mask?” he asked tensely. Ian and Brian turned to him as the whole cave shook again.

“Uh… yeah. Last night.” Ian replied.

“And you didn’t open the box?”

“Heck no!!” Brian interjected. “It was all waaay to sketchy.”

Prthviko seemed surprised at this, and he looked like he wanted to discuss it more, but then the cave shook again. Ian ran over to him with his scrub brush and started to scrub furiously.

“If you get better, you can fix everything right?” he grunted, cleaning away the sludge like a mad man.

“Yes… but we are running out of time. That door won’t hold forever.”

Weakly, Prthviko started trying to get the sludge off of himself as Brian and Ian helped. Finally, Ian could see the sludge coming off, and soon, they were starting to get a good look of what Prthviko actually looked like.

His skin reminded Ian of a Birch tree; white with dark spots and lines. Coming from his head were a few dead branches, and in spots, it looked like he was damaged or burned. He was fairly humanoid, but his arms and fingers were much longer than a human’s. Shaking a bit, he stood up for the first time.

“Please… help me to my garden…” he told them, putting a hand on each of their heads. Ian and Brian helped him balance, and they led him over to the crystals as the cave gave another shake. This shake, was bigger than the others, and they all turned to see part of the wall a few feet away crumble.

“Ian-you take Prthviko to the garden-I’ll hold them off!” Brian told him, suddenly running over to the motorboat and going through their supplies.

“But- Brian-aren’t you scared?” Ian asked as he opened the door to the garden.

“Of course I am.” he told him. Brian came up with his backpack and pulled out some little balls and a box of matches. Ian blinked.

“When the heck did you pick up fireworks?!”

Brian smiled.

“Gas stations really can have some weird stuff sometimes.” he said, setting up all the fireworks and lighting them one by one. The whistles and sparks echoed through the cavern, and then Brian ran after Ian and Prthviko just as the survivors made their way into the sanctuary. Ian heard Keith curse, but he ignored him and helped the guardian of nature into the garden. Once the door behind them was closed, thick vines spread themselves behind them, blocking the path. Ian let out a huge breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding.

“Ok… what now?” he asked. Prthviko pointed to the fountain, and they helped him over. Then, he lay a hand on the very top, where there was another green crystal. As soon as he did, there was a flash of light, and Warden was standing there next to them.

“Prthviko, are you alright?” she asked in concern.

“I”m fine for now. Ian, Brian, step back.”

Ian and Brian did as they were told, and then watched as Warden dipped her hand into the fountain and then put her hand on Prthviko’s forehead. There was another flash of bright light, and Ian and Brian had to shield their eyes from it. Ian blinked a few times, trying to regain his vision, and then realized that the plants around them were all growing. He looked up to Prthviko, who was now standing tall, a full ten feet tall in fact, and the branches from his head grow out like a crown. Plants grew from his body, creating a robe of flowers and moss.

“He kind of reminds me of a spriggan.” Brian whispered to Ian.

“I have no idea what that is.”

“It’s from Skyrim. And ancient lore…”

“Oh.”

Prthviko held his hands out, and vines shot out from underneath his robe. Then, he clapped his hands together and sent a shockwave through the garden, knocking Ian and Brian back. The surrounding plants started to let out a powder, causing the two of them to get dizzy. Brian hit the ground unconscious first, and then Ian felt his vision darkening. He looked up in time to see Prthviko smile down at him.

“Thank you.” he said. “I will summon you and your friends soon to speak with you…”

Then Ian felt himself fall into a deep, deep, sleep.

“Don’t open the black box… Whatever you do, don’t open it…”

Ian could hear voices. He slowly opened his eyes to see a white ceiling above him. He sat up and looked around to see that he was back in the hospital, which seemed to be back to normal.

“IAN!!” a voice yelled. He turned just in time to have his brother tackle him out of the hospital bed and onto the floor.

“Agh!! Roderick!!” he protested, pushing him off but actually really glad to see him without mushrooms. Roderick grinned.

“It’s good to see you without vines coming out of your mouth.”

“Well, it’s good to see you without mushrooms.” Ian replied.

At the sound of that, Roderick’s eyes seemed to twinkle.

“So you remember everything?” he asked. Ian raised a brow.

“Uh… yeah. Why do you ask?”

Roderick looked around, and then helped his brother off the floor.

“Let’s go meet up with the others. We have a lot to talk about.”

Feeling confused now, Ian followed Ian out of the hospital. They passed by Lori and Keith Evans, who both looked happy with each other, and Ian started to wonder what entirely had happened once Prthviko had done his little magic thing.

“Where’s Brian?” Ian asked suddenly, looking around.

“Oh he woke up before you. He’s already out by his van with Jordyn and Joey.”

At the sound of that, Ian found himself relax a bit, and he and Roderick made their way outside to the parking lot, where the others were waiting for them. Immediately, Joey ran over to him and gave him a big hug.

“I’m so glad you are ok.” she said with her usual dreamy smile. “Do you remember everything that happened?”

“Yes!! Why does everyone keep asking me that?” he asked with a tinge of annoyance. The others exchanged glances.

“Ian, for some reason, it appears we are the only ones that remember what happened.” Brian explained. “Everyone else in town believes that Roderick, Joey, and Jordyn helped Lori Evans come up with an antidote.”

Ian blinked in surprise.

“Then-you mean-.”

“I’m sure Prthviko altered everyone’s memories somehow.” Joey said. “Brian’s been filling us in on your side of the story, and it leads me to wonder why he would leave our memories intact. I can understand maybe why he would do so with you and Brian, but the rest of us tried to kill him with the other survivors.”

“Yeah… I tried to take an ax to his head…” Roderick said sheepishly. Ian’s eyebrows furrowed forward as he tried to think.

“Maybe… we should ask him then.” he said as he suddenly saw a vine a few feet away on the edge of the forest beckoning to them. They all exchanged glances, and then decided to follow it into the woods, eager to get some answers.