The trees were so tall that the clouds rested in the colorful sea of leaves. Shaynen and Ila sat in the branches, but it looked like they were sitting on the clouds. Shaynen leaned back against a branch. He reached into the bag and brought out a strip of fruit. Covered in sweet preserves. He sunk his teeth into it and pulled. The tough, sweet treat stretched and snapped. He looked at Ila, shifting beside him.

“Hey, you haven’t eaten anything.” Shaynen pointed to Ila’s bag. Ila shrugged. Putting their hands in their lap and shrugging again.

“Not hungry,” Ila mumbled. Then they looked up at Shaynen with an accusing stare. “And you always give me too much.”

“I do not,” Shaynen yanked another bite from the candied pacai.

“My bag is heavier than yours!”

“Cause I ate more of mine!” Shaynen yelled.

“Nu-uh!” Ila yelled back.

“What are you two doing?” Shaynen’s mother popped up from beneath the falling leaves. Scaring the kids into screaming.

“Shaynen, we told you to stay out of the treetops!” His mother said. With an edge in her voice, Shaynen had never heard before. He was stunned into silence. His mouth dropped open in disbelief. He couldn’t come up with any words.

“Sorry, Kiylla.” Ila said, hanging their head.

“Get down, right now.” She pointed down, her knife point stare levelled at Shaynen. He slipped his bag onto his shoulder and looked up guiltily at Ila, who shared a sheepish look back at him. They slipped down between the branches and back under the shadow of the canopy. Shaynen climbed down slower than normal. Letting Ila drop onto the platform first. He avoided looking at his mother, who was climbing down behind them. He felt a lump rising in his throat, her looming shadow added a heavy weight onto his shoulders. Shaynen dropped onto the platform. His mother hit the platform after him and made it shift.

“Ila, go find your father.” Shaynen’s mother said. Ila nodded and sent an apologetic look at Shaynen. They ran off into the bridges. Shaynen turned around to face his mother. She was untying her dress with no emotion on her face. It made panic flare up inside Shaynen.

“Mom, are you mad at me?” He asked.

“Yes, Shaynen. I am livid.” She said with a snap. Shaynen went cold. He closed his mouth tight.

“You’re never mad at me.” He pried his teeth apart to speak. His mother stood up straight, smoothing out her dress.

“Shaynen, your father and I both told you to stay out of the trees.” His mother said.

“You tell me to do stuff all the time. You’ve never been mad at me for it,” Shaynen said. Not waiting for her to finish speaking.

“You have to-”

“You told me to stay on our floor and then it fell!” Shaynen felt tears building. His voice rose with a whine to it. “You weren’t mad at me then!”

“That was different.” His mother shut the conversation down instantly. Shaynen stepped back as if she’d slapped him. His mother’s stone face cracked. She knelt down and held out her hands for him to take. Shaynen held his hands to his chest, not stepping closer to his mother.

“Shaynen, I,” His mother paused, not finishing her sentence. “Things are strange right now, and if the other kids see you doing things, we say not to. They could get hurt. You could get hurt.” Shaynen shifted uncomfortably. His body was so heavy he couldn’t move it.

“Why is it strange?” He asked, swinging his arms. His mother opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She sighed and closed her eyes. Pressing her thin lips together and shaking her head.

“Your father and I are taking care of it. We just need you to work with us.” His mother held out her hands again. Shaynen swayed side to side, then stepped forward to put his hands in hers. She smiled and gave his hands a squeeze. “Hey, you know we’d do anything to keep you safe.” Shaynen nodded. His mother stood up and let him go.

“We’re going to be at Ila’s while we sort out the mess,” she said. “That’s kinda fun, isn’t it?” Shaynen nodded. He didn’t feel like speaking. He looked up at the trees overhead and pouted.

“What am I supposed to do?” He asked, still not following his mother. She stopped and looked back at him. “If I can go into the trees, what am I supposed to do? Where do I go when I want to be alone?”

“You’ll just have to find something.” His mother said. “You could…” Shaynen winced as he hoped she wouldn’t suggest chores.

“You could help clean the pantry or sweep the floors?” She suggested. Shaynen groaned. “Or you could play with the other kids?” Shaynen sighed dramatically and threw his head back.

“Nevermind,” He said. His first instinct was to jump to the trees, but remembered and scowled instead. Storming down a different bridge than the one his mother was facing. He didn’t make the bridge shake or move with the motions.

The platforms had little to no privacy. There were certain ones that had walls like the pantry. But those were all communal spaces where groups congregated. Shaynen kicked a loose branch from the platform. Watching it fall out of sight, he crouched down. Listening intently for the stick to hit the ground.. While hyper focused, he started hearing whining and creaking. The sound was coming from above, not below. The stick hit the ground, but Shaynen wasn’t listening for it anymore.

All around him the forest was quieting. The whine through the trees felt like a predator stalking the village. The dark brown of the trees had turned black. Shaynen’s skin raised. He held his arms as the tree branches reached around him. Trees had never been unwelcoming to him, looking up at them now. They had become very threatening. He turned and ran down the rope bridges, running into his mother and clinging to her legs. She stumbled forward at the unexpected momentum.

His mother turned and held his shoulder. She looked up at the trees and grabbed him roughly. Putting herself between him and the trees. Shaynen peeked through his mother’s dress at the trees looming above. Their branches were drooping and the colorful fall leaves were rotting to ash.

“I thought you said it wasn’t too bad?” Shaynen’s father whispered.

“It wasn’t!” His mother whispered back. They both sounded worried. Scared.

Shaynen laid on the spare bedding Ila gave him, pretending to sleep. Not that anyone could, with the absence of the bats and other nightlife scurrying around. Instead, he laid still, watching his mother playing with her pendant with both hands. His father paced the length of the bridge.

“Aelius, we can’t stay here.” His mother caught him by the hand when he came close. “Our home is going to drop any second. It’s not safe here anymore.”

“I agree,” He said. “The canopy isn’t safe. But where do we go? The muck is spreading through the trees faster and more deadly than wildfire. Soon the entire forest won’t be safe anymore. What then?”

“We could go over the mountains,”

“The m- Have you lost it?”

“It’s risky, but we have correspondence from another-”

“Shh.”

Shaynen kept looking at his parents. They paused in their talking to look around the dark village platforms. He’d seen his parents disagree, but he’d never heard them so uneasy. It made him squirm in his blankets. A lump rising in his throat. He choked and curled into a ball. A flash of light made him jump. The thunder came rolling seconds after.

“We need to go,” His mother said. “The rains are here. If we don’t move now, we’ll get caught in the floods.”

“Go to the pantries and begin packing. I’ll send help as I rouse everyone,” His father said. His father ran down the rope bridge. His mother watched and fiddled with her necklace. Shaynen slid out of the blankets and sheepishly crept over to her. Reaching out and grabbing her hand. She yelped and jumped.

“Oh Shaynen. You startled me,” she said. Catching her breath, she knelt down beside him. “Are you having trouble sleeping?” He nodded.

“Can I stay with you?” He murmured.

“Sure honey,” she said.. She took his hand and led him toward the pantries. Lightning flashed and thunder came lazily after it. Shaynen’s mother picked up her pace, pulling him along the bridge. The pull lengthened his stride wide enough he could skip five bridge boards. He tried to run alongside her, but once he sped up, so would she. The two ran along the second platform and the next bridge.

“Mom?” Shaynen asked, out of breath from the running.

“Yeah?”

“Why are we running?” He asked. His mother stopped. She started holding onto his hand tighter.

“Mom,”

“Yeah?”

“You’re hurting me,”

His mother dropped his hand. She was playing with her necklace again.

“The trees are very sick,” she said as she stiffly started walking again. “We have to go away for a little while.”

“I heard,” Shaynen said, keeping up behind his mother. Now she was walking far too slow. “You told dad we should go over the mountains.”

“How long were you listening?” She walked into the pantry and stepped aside for Shaynen behind her.

“A while,” He said. “It’s too quiet to sleep.” His mother nodded.

“The woods are far too still,” she agreed, but her eyes were far away. She came back to the present with a shake of her head. “Can you help me gather up supplies? For now, we need as many non-perishables as possible.” Shaynen kept close to his mother, grabbing canvas travel bags and holding them open for her to place things into. Groggy eyed elves staggered their way into the pantry. Half alert from the danger, but still sleepwalking. Shaynen’s mother called directions as new parties entered. Directing some to gather supplies, some to bring them to the open platform across the bridge.

The pantry got crowded quickly, even as the contents of it moved out. Shaynen kept within reach of his mother. Close enough that he could reach out and grab her dress when she moved away.

“Kiylla,” Shaynen’s father ran into the pantry. Panic plastered on his face. Shaynen’s mother turned and started through the crowd. Shaynen latched on to her. The alarm on his father’s face became relieved when he saw Shaynen.

“I didn’t know you got up,” He said.

“Couldn’t sleep,” Shaynen mumbled. His father nodded and rubbed at his tired eyes.

“You and Ila came to help your mom?”

“What?” Shaynen asked, “Ila was sleeping when I got up,” Alarm returned to his father’s face..

“Has Ila come in?” His father asked. His mother shook her head. “They aren’t with the other kids.”

“Does their father know?” His mother asked. Shaynen stepped back from his mother and looked up into the trees. There was no other place to go.

Shaynen slipped between his parents without them noticing him. He jumped from the platform into the trees. He scaled the wood in the flashing of the incoming storm. The trees felt dry and cracked; the bark peeled too easy. Its rough texture scraped at his knees and his feet. The thunder chased the flashes of lightning closer with every flash. The missing and rotten leaves gave large glimpses of the storm clouds as rust descended like a black curtain falling over the stars.

From between the branches, Shaynen lifted himself up above the forest. Lightning cracked down into the trees so close it made Shaynen’s hair stand up.. Thunder roared down alongside it, deafening him. Sitting atop the trees was a single figure staring up into the storm.

“Ila!” Shaynen yelled over the storm. Their head turned. Shaynen crawled along the tree branches. Hearing a few of them crack under him. Shaynen sat up alongside Ila, slipping his hand into theirs.

“Ila, the village is going to the ground. The trees are sick. We have to go,” Shaynen said. Ila shook their head.

“I can’t. What if mom comes back?” They said, The coming storm made Ila’s hair rise too. Their eyes were red and tears streaked down their face. Shaynen squeezed their hand.

“But if we stay here, the trees could make us sick, and my mom and dad said they could drop our home to the ground.” Shaynen said. Lightning struck down in the distance, thunder drowning out Shaynen’s voice. “If we don’t leave before the rains, we could get stuck in the floods.”

“I can’t leave my mom,” Ila cried.

“But you aren’t! She’s always wanted you to be safe! Staying here worrying everyone sick wouldn’t be safe!” Shaynen yelled over the erupting storm. Ila didn’t have an argument. “Let’s get back down to the adults!” The wind picked up, pushing the children sideways. Shaynen’s hair whipped around and stung his skin. A streak of lighting flashed down a few yards from the two. They screamed in the thunder, the cinders so close they could see them burning.

Shaynen yanked Ila’s hand down, scrambling down beneath the safety of the trees. The branches muffled the thunder slightly. But between the storm’s rage, they could hear the first of the rain showers. The branches creaked as the wind caused them to sway. Shaynen scrambled down the tree, the rough edges becoming rougher.

“Shaynen!” Ila called fearfully. Shaynen looked up where Ila slowed to a crawl down the tree. They struggled to find the right holds to climb down. Their face had gone pale, the tree whined as they swayed. Shaynen climbed back up the tree alongside Ila. Trying to coach them down the tree, but the continuous howl of with and exploding thunder drowned Shaynen’s yelling. Lightning sliced down a tree, and it split in two. The lines of fire laced down the splintering sides of the tree. It shattered and tipped down toward the children.

“Jump!” Shaynen grabbed Ila’s shirt and yanked him backwards. He kicked off the trunk and entered freefall toward one platform. He hit the platform and tumbled into a roll. Ila hit the platform shoulder first but tumbled, using his forearms instead of his feet. The tumbling turned to uncoordinated rolls that crashed Shaynen and Ila into each other. Shaynen looked up with a goofy smile that vanished when one rope holding the platform snapped. Ila jumped to their feet and yanked Shaynen onto him. Ila shoved their elbows into Shaynen’s back, shoving him at speed down the bridge. Shaynen pushed back when the tree the two had been climbing tipped down. The split tree hitting the opposite platform first. Forcing it to tip.

The bridge tipped over. Both platforms flipped horizontally. Shaynen grabbed the boards of the bridge, his feet slid off the boards. Ila held on beside him.

“We’re gonna fall!” Ila yelled. Shaynen lifted to look over the side of the bridge. Below was nothing but darkness. It dawned on Shaynen for a very brief and fleeting moment that he’d never been on the ground before. Another rope snapped, and the bridge jerked.

“Shaynen, what do we do?” Ila yelled. Shaynen looked over at them, at a loss for words. Another rope snapped, and the bridge jerked.

“Hold on!” Shaynen shut his eyes as the weight on the weakened trees and ropes became too much and they snapped. The bridge dropped, and Ila screamed.

The planks of wood evened out in free fall, bucking when its anchored trees hit the surrounding trees. A sudden stop flung Shaynen and Ila off the bridge and into the air. Shaynen hit the ground face first and rolled feet over head until he was sitting upright.

Dazed, Shaynen sat in the soft wet dirt. He wiped the damp mud off his face, still stunned. Inspecting the mud on his hands and clothes. He made a disgusted face at the mud and looked up at Ila, who was sitting up. Equally stunned.

“See?” Shaynen cleared his throat and attempted to brush off the mud. “I’ve fallen tons of times.” He quickly replaced his unease with bravado. As well as an annoyance that the mud didn’t wipe off.

“Shaynen,” Ila hissed. Shaynen looked up as a branch snapped in the dark. He froze. The forest floor was pitch black, the mud beneath them had small plants growing out of it. Sticks and rocks from the fall crushed the plants. Shaynen could vaguely see gray tree trunks that went on for miles. Something moved between the trees. Getting closer to them.

“Ila,” Shaynen waved his hand at them. Ila bumped into him as they both slowly backed up. Pressing up against the trunk of a tree. The figure slipped around the tree to look at the children. It was upright and Elven in a crooked, jagged way. Splashes of black ooze covered her dark skin and white dress. Shaynen squinted at the crooked woman. She resembled a twisted rendition of Ila’s mother. The crooked woman came around the tree.

“Is it?” Ila whispered.

“Can’t be.” Shaynen shook his head. Bunching Ila’s shirt in his fist. “It has to be a nightmare creature. Some kind of ground beast that pretends to be things to lure kids in.” Ila grabbed onto Shaynen and yanked him back harder.

“What do we do?” They whispered. Shaynen scooped down and picked up a rock.

“We’re not scared!” Shaynen yelled and threw the rock at the thing as hard as he could. It sailed right past the crooked woman and bounced harmlessly off the tree behind her. It didn’t phase her in the slightest. She broke into a run.

A bright light flashed and streaked through the forest. Contrasting the dark to sharply, it left the children temporarily blind. Shaynen forced his eyes open. The outline of a large bluish white dragon with feathers instead of scales burning into his eyes.

As quick as it appeared, it vanished. The crooked woman was gone as well. Shaynen’s father ran over and dropped to his knees.

“Are you hurt? Where? Did it touch you? Are you okay? What the hell were you thinking?!” He said without giving Shaynen a chance to answer. His father wiped at the mud on Shaynen’s face. “Ila? Are you hurt? What’s wrong? Where have you been?” Ila shoved behind Shaynen to grab onto Shaynen’s father. They stuttered out what happened, meshing words together and sobbing.. Shaynen didn’t blink, seeing only the outline of the dragon in his vision.

The first drops of the winter's rain fell.