Chapter 84: Crossing it
"Shit, I’m having a bad feeling about this," Marcus said. "Can we go a bit higher? I think we are getting interference from the forest."
The pilot didn’t hesitate.
"Copy."
His hand moved on the controls, smooth and practiced. The engine note shifted, low at first, then rising into a deeper hum that filled the cabin. The helicopter responded imdiately, the nose lifting just a few degrees as the rotors bit harder into the air.
Marcus felt it through the fra.
A steady climb.
The dense canopy below began to pull away, slowly shrinking as they gained altitude. From above, the forest didn’t open up. It didn’t thin out. If anything, it looked worse the higher they went.
Like a single mass.
"Passing eighty ters," the co-pilot said, eyes locked on the instrunts.
Marcus leaned forward slightly, one hand resting against the back of the pilot’s seat as he watched the panel.
Everything looked normal.
For now.
"Take it to one-twenty," Marcus said.
"Roger."
The helicopter climbed higher.
The vibration smoothed out into a steady rhythm, sothing that would have been easy to ignore under normal conditions. But nothing about this felt normal.
Not here.
Not over this place.
"Leveling," the pilot said after a few seconds.
The aircraft steadied.
The nose dipped slightly, correcting itself as they held altitude.
For a brief mont, it worked.
The warning tones that had been cutting through the cockpit earlier faded. The flickering on the displays slowed, then stopped. Numbers stabilized. The compass held steady without drifting.
"...That’s better," the co-pilot muttered under his breath.
Marcus didn’t agree.
He kept staring at the panel, eyes moving from one readout to another.
"Don’t trust it," he said quietly.
The pilot gave a small nod.
"Yeah. Feels like it’s just waiting."
"Shit, we don’t know how long this Forest of No Return is, but I really hope we cross it as soon as possible," Marcus said, his voice low but steady through the headset.
The pilot let out a quiet breath.
"Sa here," he replied.
For a few seconds, nothing changed.
No alarms.
No static.
No sudden flickers.
Just the steady hum of the engine and the constant rhythm of the rotors cutting through the air.
The helicopter held its altitude cleanly.
One hundred twenty ters.
Stable.
Marcus kept his eyes on the panel, waiting for sothing to break again. The mory of the earlier interference sat in the back of his mind, like sothing unfinished.
But the instrunts stayed calm.
The readings didn’t jump.
The compass didn’t drift.
Even the signal indicators, which had been blinking earlier, now held steady.
"...Everything’s green," the co-pilot said after a mont, almost like he didn’t fully believe it himself.
Marcus didn’t respond right away.
He shifted his gaze toward the window again.
Below them, the forest stretched on.
But now, without the interference, he could see it more clearly.
The canopy wasn’t just dense.
It was layered.
Different shades of green stacked over each other, so darker, so almost black where the light couldn’t reach. The tops of the trees moved slightly with the wind, but the movent didn’t travel far.
It died quickly.
Like the air itself didn’t flow properly inside that place.
"Wind’s weak down there," Marcus muttered.
The pilot glanced briefly at his instrunts.
"Yeah. Up here it’s fine, but below... it’s like it’s getting swallowed."
Marcus nodded slightly.
That matched what he was seeing.
He leaned back into his seat, though his posture didn’t fully relax.
"Maintain this altitude," he said. "No sudden drops."
"Copy."
The helicopter pushed forward.
Distance started to pass again.
Minutes went by.
Then more.
Ti felt different up there. With no obstacles and no interruptions, the flight settled into sothing almost routine.
Almost.
The crew adjusted to it.
The co-pilot ran another quick check, his fingers moving across switches and dials.
"Systems holding," he reported. "No abnormal readings."
The door gunner shifted slightly at his position, scanning the sides out of habit.
"Clear on my end."
Marcus let out a slow breath.
For the first ti since they entered the forest, his shoulders eased just a little.
"Alright," he said. "Maybe we just needed altitude."
The pilot gave a faint nod.
"Could be whatever’s down there doesn’t reach this high."
Marcus glanced down again.
The forest looked the sa, then suddenly, sothing moved in the forest.
Marcus glanced down again.
The forest looked the sa, then sothing moved.
At first, it was subtle.
A small shift in the canopy, like a ripple passing through the leaves. It didn’t follow the wind. It didn’t spread naturally. It held in one place, then pressed upward.
Marcus’s eyes narrowed.
"...Hold on," he said.
The pilot stiffened slightly.
"What is it?"
Marcus didn’t answer right away.
He leaned forward, one hand gripping the back of the seat as he focused on that exact spot.
The canopy bulged.
Branches bent outward, leaves shaking violently as if sothing beneath them was forcing its way up. Not moving through.
Coming out.
"...That’s not right," the door gunner muttered.
The forest split.
Wood cracked.
A deep, heavy sound carried even through the rotor noise, like sothing tearing itself free from the ground.
Then, it erged.
A massive trunk forced its way upward, snapping through the canopy as if the trees around it didn’t matter. It rose fast, faster than sothing that size should move, dragging roots and splintered wood with it.
It didn’t stop.
It kept rising.
Higher.
Higher, until it stood above the canopy itself.
The crew went quiet.
Because now they could see it clearly.
It wasn’t just a tree.
It had shape.
Structure.
The trunk twisted unnaturally, bending into sothing that resembled a torso. Thick branches spread out like arms, jagged and uneven, so broken, others sharp like spears.
And then, the face.
It ford slowly, like the wood itself was shifting into place. Grooves carved inward, bark splitting open to reveal hollowed sections that beca eyes.
Below them, the wood cracked again, forming sothing like a mouth. Not clean. Not defined. Just a jagged opening lined with splintered edges that looked more like teeth than anything natural.
It looked up.
Directly at them.
Marcus felt it.
That mont when sothing locks onto you.
Not by chance.
Not by accident.
But with intent.
"...You seeing that?" the co-pilot said, his voice tight.
"Yeah," the pilot replied quietly. "I’m seeing it."
The thing didn’t move at first.
It just stared.
Its entire body swayed slightly, like it was adjusting to the open air after forcing itself out. The branches creaked, wood grinding against wood, a low, constant sound that carried even at their altitude.
Marcus didn’t like it.
Not the size.
Not the way it moved.
And definitely not the way it was looking at them.
"...Pilot," Marcus said, his tone sharper now.
"Yeah?"
"Hold altitude."
"Copy."
Marcus kept his eyes locked on the creature.
"Gunner."
"Sir."
"Arm up."
The gunner didn’t hesitate.
His hands moved imdiately, flipping the safety and bringing the weapon into position. The mounted M134 minigun shifted with a low chanical whine as it aligned toward the target below.
"Weapon hot," the gunner said.
The creature moved.
One of its branch-like arms lifted slightly, slow but deliberate. The wood stretched, splintering at the edges as it extended upward.
Reaching.
Not enough to touch them.
But enough to show intent.
Marcus exhaled once.
Short.
Controlled.
"Engage."
The gunner squeezed the trigger.
The response was imdiate.
The minigun roared to life.
A deafening stream of fire poured downward, the barrels spinning at full speed as a continuous line of rounds tore through the air toward the target.
The first impacts hit the upper trunk.
Chunks of bark exploded outward, splinters scattering as the rounds punched deep into the wood. The creature reacted instantly, its body jerking under the force.
But it didn’t fall.
It didn’t even hesitate.
The hollow eyes locked onto them harder.
Then it moved.
Fast.
The branch that had been lifting snapped upward with sudden force, extending far beyond what should have been possible. The wood stretched unnaturally, lengthening as it reached toward the helicopter.
"Contact!" the gunner shouted.
"Pull up!" Marcus barked.
The pilot reacted instantly, dragging the collective up.
The helicopter climbed hard, the nose lifting as the aircraft surged higher. The branch missed them by ters, slicing through the space they had just occupied.
Marcus felt the air shift from the near miss.
"Keep firing!" he ordered.
The minigun roared again, the stream of rounds tracking the creature as it moved. More impacts. More splintering wood.
This ti, deeper.
The rounds chewed through the trunk, tearing into the twisted structure that held it together. Pieces broke off, falling back into the canopy below.
The creature let out a sound.
A grinding, tearing noise that vibrated through the air like wood being forced apart under pressure.
It pulled back.
Not retreating.
Repositioning.
Multiple branches shifted now, spreading outward, reaching in different directions as if trying to predict their movent.
"Sir, it’s adapting!" the co-pilot said.
Marcus didn’t take his eyes off it.
"Yeah. I see that."
The creature rose higher again.
Not just its upper body.
More of it was coming out.
The ground below split further, roots tearing free as the massive structure underneath pushed upward. What they had seen before wasn’t all of it.
Not even close.
"...That thing’s bigger than we thought," the pilot muttered.
Marcus’s jaw tightened slightly.
"Then don’t give it ti."
He leaned forward slightly, voice cutting clean through the noise.
"Full suppression."
Reviews
All reviews (0)