Keeper of the Realms: Crow's Revenge (Book 1) by Marcus Alexander

nothing more than to move out of the way, but shock and disbelief had frozen her body to the spot. Creaking and groaning, cracking and splitting, the tree came down.
    A blurring shadow shot towards Charlie and a sudden blow to her stomach winded her as she felt herself propelled backwards. Coming to a halt in the mud, she lay flat on her back, staring up at the thunderous clouds tumbling overhead in the stormy sky. The ground trembled and shook as the mammoth tree struck the forest floor beside her.
    Slowly Charlie sat up. Sic Boy was standing next to her,calmly shaking leaves and mud from his fur. Charlie felt a shiver run up and down her spine and goosebumps prickled her skin. That had been close.
    Too close.
    With stiff fingers, Charlie reached over and gently rubbed Sic Boy’s muzzle in a ‘thank you’ gesture. The large dog stared back at her with his huge eyes before casually yawning as though to say it was no big deal.
    ‘Blight me Leaf, Charlie, but ya sure know how ta have a close shave!’ yelped Jensen. Relief was clearly stamped across his face. ‘Now tell me, lass, why didn’t ya move?’
    ‘Move?’ asked Charlie.
    ‘Yeah, ya know, get outta the way of big falling objects? Y’know … move?’
    ‘Oh yeah, move. I’ll have to remember to do that next time,’ said Charlie, who couldn’t stop staring at the fallen tree. Its sheer size and immensity was overwhelming. She wouldn’t admit it to Jensen, but it had been fear that had seized her muscles.
    ‘Well, make sure ya do next time, lass. I don’t think ya would make a good pancake, and I’m betting that’s not the last storm we sees before Sylvaris.’ Jensen gave her a helping hand up and plucked a couple of leaves from her hair. ‘Right, then, let’s go and inspect the damage.’
    ‘Damage?’
    ‘To the tree,’ said Kelko, coming over. ‘Gotta see if we can save it.’
    Charlie stared up as sunlight broke through the cloud layer. It seemed as though the storm would clear almost as fast as it had started. Looking around, she could see theforest return to life. The wildlife slowly emerged from hiding and the cries and whistles of birds resumed.
    ‘Save it?’ she asked.
    Kelko was busy organizing the Tremen. They were clambering over the broken tree trunk, running their hands along the cracks and tears, and gently patting the ruptured bark. ‘We’re checking ta see wot parts of the tree can still be repaired,’ he explained.
    ‘But it’s fallen over,’ said Charlie. ‘How’re you going to fix that?’
    ‘Wait and see, blossom,’ said Kelko with a faint smile across his lips. ‘All right, boys, let’s do it!’
    The Tremen placed their hands on the broken tree stump and in silence bowed their heads. Charlie stood there, looking around, wondering what was going to happen. Suddenly she could feel it: an unseen presence, a change in pressure as the temperature seemed to rapidly rise and fall. A heavy silence descended on the forest as the birds stopped singing and the smaller animals stopped rustling in the bushes. The monkeys that had been hooting, chittering and chattering in the distance quietened and stopped.
    Then the air began to shimmer around the stump. One by one the Tremen raised their heads and, still holding on to the tree, broke into song. Their warm voices rose and fell, echoing around the greenery of the forest. As the song grew in volume and in strength, Charlie could smell the faint aroma of freshly cut grass intermingled with cherry blossom and lavender. To her astonishment she could see the stump begin to bulge and writhe beneath the Tremen’s fingers. Green shoots and leaves erupted from the torn bark,twisting and turning as they grew. The new growth quickly gained height, thickening all the while. The Tremen’s melody slowly quietened until, one by one, their voices fell silent.
    Kelko was the last to stop, and Charlie noticed that his voice was surprisingly warm and tender. Releasing his hold on the newly