The Underneath - A Yarn by Byron Lin

The Underneath 

A Yarn by Byron Lin 

Eighteen year old Scarlette loved to explore the woods behind her house. As far as she had known she had lived there all her life, in the foothills of the Adirondacks. She spent every day getting to know the leaves, streams, and fallen logs - sometimes she would bring her camera with her and sometimes not. It depended on if the light was just right or not. Of course, this was just a hobby for when she didn’t feel like studying or wasn’t in the mood to edit the photos she took. She also liked to collect shiny pebbles that she would find along the way, and on occasion a lucky penny no matter how rusty it was. 

Her mother Autumn had raised her to be a superstitious kind of girl, but she had never known who her father was. She just assumed that Autumn was a single mother. But now that Scarlette was on the doorstep of adulthood she wondered why. She was going away to college soon at the University of Rochester, even though she had been homeschooled almost all her life until high school. There were rumors in town that her mother was a woods witch, whatever that was.

Why exactly should she keep listening to her mother? Scarlette was almost a woman full-grown herself. But she kept this resentful thought to herself. Her aunts Aislin and Aurora also lived with them although Scarlette never really understood why. She just knew that her aunties had always told her to not go too deep into the woods, especially by herself. Autumn would always look away whenever her aunties started on their same old lectures. It was almost as if her mother wished she could be almost anywhere else in the world at the moment. Strangely, no matter where she was standing, her mother would always look in the direction of the woods, as though there was some great sacred secret that none of the grown-ups in her life would let her know about, no matter how often she pestered them to tell her already.

Today was her half-birthday - six months to go until she turned nineteen. On this day, she planned to fill a rucksack with all the snacks, water, and other supplies she needed to camp out in the woods. She had spent the last six weeks befriending a crow she had encountered one day, a curious little thing that she sensed was a kindred spirit of hers. She had decided to name this crow Midnight, since it was about that time she had found the crow. It had a broken wing that she had tended from her little campsite under a shelter she had built with logs and leaves and a blue vinyl tarp that had been left behind who knows how long ago. But the bird had recovered and brought her shiny pebbles every day, leaving them in a neat ring in her little tent every time she came back to it. 

Summer was coming to an end, and once she started school, she wouldn’t have nearly as much time to explore until the semester finished. That meant it was now or never. When she got back to her hidden tent as dusk approached, she found that Midnight was sitting inside the ring of stones that he usually left for her. He was cawing in an unusual way as if he were trying to talk to her. She threw him a puzzled look, but the bird just stared back at her, as enigmatic as ever. She lit the old-fashioned lantern she kept in the tent for whenever she lost track of time and it got too dark outside. Then she opened the trunk where she kept spare supplies and gear in when she didn’t need them. She pulled out a flashlight and checked the battery to make sure it hadn’t corroded yet. It was fine. A sudden shiver shot up and down her spine, taking her breath away for a moment. She shook her strawberry blonde hair out of her eyes and rubbed at her eyes before looking around for Midnight. The little crow had inclined his head towards the flap into the tent before taking wing. 

Frowning, Scarlette adjusted the pack on her pack and slung the flashlight on a carabiner she kept on her belt. She followed her feathery friend back out and looked around for where he was. He was sitting on a leaning tree branch that she had never noticed before. When she approached, the crow croaked approvingly, as if beckoning her closer. So she did and walked closer to the tree that Midnight was sitting on. It was here that she saw something else that astounded her - a trail of old coins and shiny pebbles that led away deeper into the forest. She could see something twinkling in the distance, like a comet of fireflies. Before she took another step, Scarlette realized that going down this path would lead her deeper into the woods than she had ever dared go. 

“Where are you leading me, little one?” She murmured, although she knew that as intelligent as he was, Midnight would never be able to respond. At least, not with words. Still, she kept going, every hesitant step bringing her closer to her goal. She could already tell something was different the more she followed her familiar. The air smelled different, the water sounded louder, and the trees whispered to her as if echoing what the water was trying to say to her, but in a long-forgotten language that no one alive would be able to recognize or understand. There was a quiet sense of wonder to it all, and she felt touched on a spiritual level. It was like the forest appreciated her kinship with it all these years. 

She found a knot of trees where that mysterious glow had been. She stopped walking when she saw it and gasped when Midnight took her by surprise, landing on her shoulder and nibbling her ear affectionately. What she had taken for a cluster of fireflies was a ball of light that glimmered on its own, even when she didn’t aim her flashlight at it. It had apparently been waiting for her. At least, she figured it had as it started floating away once she did fix her light on it. Midnight gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze as if encouraging her; this was obviously the right way to proceed. 

She followed the will of the wisp. Darkness fell like a silent curtain and something about the scent of the air changed again. She wondered if that meant that rain was coming soon. She used to lie on the floor of her tent and listen to the droplets fall while reading poetry she had composed for the crow, who would chirp appreciatively when she was done.  

After ten more minutes, she came across a shaded grove that she had never seen before. The will of the wisp settled in the center of this clearing, and here Scarlette found a gently bubbling spring of water. She had forgotten all about her backpack in her haste to follow the bird and the orb that had guided her this far. Now the straps were starting to cut into her shoulders. She took it off and eagerly approached the spring. Ready to cup her hands and drink some of the water, she startled when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. 

The figure was human-shaped, but it wasn’t like any person she had ever seen. The newcomer was translucent, like liquid glass, with an unearthly sheen reflected across its torso. Scarlette supposed that was the light coming from the wisps providing a dim light. As the figure came closer, she realized that this being shimmered with every step, splashing and spraying. It was made entirely of water, but bipedal and walked upright instead of dissolving into a puddle around her well-worn hiking boots.

“Welcome, Scarlette,” said the watery figure. “You’ve been expected. In all fairness, I was beginning to despair you would never find us here.” 

“Who are you and how do you know my name?” Scarlette tried to keep the tremble out of her voice, but failed. 

“Forgive me, where are my manners? My name is Ludi, and I am a naiad. I am also your father that you never knew.” 

This staggered Scarlette, who took an involuntary step back. “But how is that possible? You’re -”

“A water being, yes,” Ludi replied. “I can manifest a fully human form, as human as you are, for when the need arises. Your mother and her sisters showed me kindness when I lay wounded on the side of a cliff they found while exploring these woods nearly twenty years ago. There are many nature spirits who have taken sanctuary here. They are under my protection, and have been, but the magic binding me to this plane is fading. If I don’t return to the Underneath by dawn’s early light, I fear I will cease to be. That is why your pet crow and the wisps brought you here tonight. Though they are spirits of the air, I have an affinity with them, and they with I in turn.”

Scarlette was speechless. She had read books with these sorts of plots growing up. She didn’t care how silly they were. She devoured them all the same. Now it was her reality, and she didn’t know what to say.

“You are a woman grown now, and it is your responsibility to speak for the spirits that have found this forest to be a haven for them. Come, drink from this spring. It is known as it has been in ages past as the Wellspring of Immortality.”

“Will it make me an immortal?”

“No, my darling. No being can live forever, though all feel the passage of time in different ways. It will instead give you the clarity and wisdom you need to take up your newfound responsibility. Knowledge is the one thing that can withstand the ravages of time.”

“Will it hurt when I drink the water?” 

“Your mind will merely expand, and it is an experience beyond which there are words for, in this tongue or any other.”

“Will it make me more like you?” she asked, unable to contain herself. 

“Less human and more magical? No child, you carry more of your mother in you, from since before you were born. When the waters of life saw fit to fashion you into a vessel.” 

“Does this mean I’ll have superpowers?”

“In a way, yes.”

“What can I do? What should I do?”

“All in good time, my child.”

Scarlette stepped forward, cupped her hands, and drank from the wellspring. At first she didn’t feel any different. A few moments later though and she felt the blood pounding in her ears as they never had before. She felt refreshed and hydrated even though her mouth had been dry from fear this whole time. She had found it hard to talk, and was astonished to discover that she could speak with Ludi without the urge to run away screaming as fast as she could. 

Her eyes, which had been a clear blue, turned a vivid forest green instead. She heard new voices in her head, and that whispering she heard earlier became clear all of a sudden. She turned her head and saw Midnight smiling at her. 

“It’s about damn time.” he said. 

“Now then, there is one more thing you should know,” Ludi said, drawing Scarlette’s attention back to himself. “There are several tribes of spirits bound to the places you know, or the ones you think you know. Are you familiar with the nearby cities that your people call Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse?”

“Yes, I’m going to college in Rochester soon,” Scarlette answered. 

“The Bison Tribe protects Buffalo, the Hawk Tribe protects Rochester, and the Goat Tribe protects Syracuse. The Mountain Tribe protects these hills and woodlands, including the patch of land where you live. Have you ever wondered why your little encampment has never been disturbed?” 

Now that she thought about it, Scarlette wasn’t surprised anymore. It all made sense. 

“But there is another tribe you need to know about it. We call them a tribe, but we have no other words to describe them. They are invasive outlanders, from another plane of existence that we know little about and have no recourse with which to resist them except for the combined will of our magic power. We have begun to call these interlopers the Root Tribe. For although roots stand strong, they also creep into places where they do not belong and seek to take over.” 

“Sounds familiar,” Scarlette muttered.

Ludi stepped forward. He held out a stone to her in his palm. “You’ll need this,” he said.

“What is it?” 

“Something that will help you prove who you are. Every tribe has their protector. I don’t have the strength to call them together for a conclave. You’ll need to seek them out and gain their trust. That is the only way to accomplish your mission. You’ll have the easiest time with the guardian of the Mountain Tribe though.” 

Midnight rustled his wings. “C’mon Scar, it’s time to go.” 

Scarlette turned to her pet, but was reluctant to leave. 

“I have...so many questions…” 

Ludi stepped closer and caressed her face with a sad smile on his transparent face. 

“You’ll have to ask your mother.”

Then he snapped his fingers. 

Scarlette woke up in her own bed, in her room. The sun was rising as she sat up, confused and out of breath. The door opened and Autumn walked in with a grimace on her face. 

“So, about your dad…”