Yag’aki, The Crawling Chaos of the Woods

Brent had been hiking the woods for years. Since he was a child he had always felt drawn to the Bundjalung National Park in particular.

Even during his university years in Sydney, where he pursued economics, his thoughts often drifted back to the old trees. Every chance he got, he would return to his parents' property outside of Evans Head and embark on camping trips in the forest.

Each time he returned from a trip, he felt physically rejuvenated, but mentally disoriented. He had always felt like this when leaving the forest, his mind would feel like it was full of cotton wool, losing focus, or blacking out entirely. Nevertheless, he still felt pulled back to the forest.

One time, Brent found himself standing in the shallow waters of the beach, his gaze fixed not on the sea, but staring directly back on the impenetrable wall of green that was the forest. This old growth forest, known as the Bundjalung National Park, has existed for an unknown number of years. It was named after the local Aboriginal people, who have inhabited the land for tens of thousands of years. Even their ancestors recognized the forest's age and mystique.

Brent parked his car in the deserted campground, which served as a trailhead for his favorite hikes in the forest. The wind blew in from the ocean, bringing with it the scent of salt and decaying seaweed. The trees of the forest moved with the wind, creating the illusion of a giant restless beast laying before him.

He set off on the trail, the same trail he had walked many times before. It was a simple 7km hike around the centre of the forest and ended up a few hundred metres down the beach. He was looking forward to taking his shoes off and walking along the beach, anticipating the mental fog that came from the trek being washed away by the waves at his feet.

The trees towered over him, blocking out the sun and casting long shadows across his path. A kilometre into the hike, he came to a small hill, where the path crawled up to the left, amongst some rocks, and onto a small plateau, where it continued on.

He had come to this same point hundreds of times, but this time, when he started up the rocky path, he froze in place, unable to move.

He heard a noise from his right, from beyond the trees. A low hum, that he felt more in his body than he heard in his ears.

The hum started to pulse. The pulsing became quicker and quicker, thudding into his chest.

All other noise had gone, no birds, no wind, no insects.

It was as though something was calling out to him from deep within the earth. He could hear the sound of whispering voices, urging him to meet them.

Suddenly, it stopped. The vibrating hum ceased as quickly as it had started, but the other noises failed to return.

He stood there, in the middle of a forest, normally teaming with life and sounds, in complete deafening silence.

Slowly, he turned towards the direction the sound came from, and tentatively took a step. The crunch of leaves under his foot sounded like the static from a broken TV, and the twigs that snapped under his weight were like gunshots in the silence.

Slowly making his way in the direction the hum came from, he arrived at a wall of greenery. Trees, vines, plants, all knitted together to form a solid wall.

He went to place his hand on a small sapling in front of him that formed part of the barrier, but as his hand inched closer, the tree bent away from him, as if pushed by a magnetic force.

Waving his hand slowly side to side, the sapling moved ahead of his hand, always staying just out of reach. As he slowly swung his hand to the right, he noticed other vines and bushes also being distorted out of his reach.

As he pushed his hand forward, the leaves and plants parted, showing him a glimpse of a small glade on the other side with a thin tree in the centre, completely blocked from view, only visible in the gap around his hand.

Feeling drawn to the space, Brent stepped forward. Fully anticipating being blocked by the trees and vines of the forest, his progress was clear of any obstacle. Having expected to be blocked by something, the sudden free movement caused him to stumble forward, and emerge into the clearing.

Now in the clearing, he could hear the life of the forest return, the sounds of the forest resumed, birds chirping and insects humming in the background.

Brent took in the sight of the clearing, with its lush vegetation of moss, grass, and low bushes, each varying in shades of green. The only noticeable feature in the area was a solitary, slender tree standing in the center.

Drawn towards the tree, Brent was suddenly gripped by a cold, rough hand on his shoulder, and a voice that seemed to have existed for eons whispered in his ear, "Fear not, young one. Speak the words that your heart is yearning to say."

Without hesitation he began chanting.

In the darkest woods, where shadows loom

Where trees stretch up to an endless gloom

The crawling chaos lurks and waits

Yag'aki, lord of twisted fates

The slender tree in front of him began to split apart, cleaved down the middle. From within the tree, a blackness seeped out, not a physical form, but a pure black shadow that crept across the broken tree's surface and spilled down onto the grass, pooling around his feet.

The darkness, an abyss of nothingness, expanded to encompass the entire clearing, touching the soles of his feet with a frigid spike that nearly caused him to collapse, saved only by the hand gripping his shoulder.

The void crawled all over his feet, sending shooting pain up his legs. Brent opened his mouth to scream, but his voice failed him.

The voice whispered in his ear again, “Too soon, young one.”

Brent opened his eyes and took in the scene before him. The forest of green in front of him, sand between his toes, his hiking shoes in his hands.

The waves slowly crash around his ankles, feeling cold and familiar, invigorating him with a surge of energy.

Though his mind was somewhat hazy, he knew he had enjoyed his hike and couldn't help but smile at the thought of it. He made his way down the beach toward the camping grounds and his parked car, eagerly anticipating a relaxing drink on the veranda of his parents house.

But in the back of his mind, he was already anticipating his next hike here in the old forest.

He felt it would be a special one.