《The Hunter ~ A Ghosts of Grimwood tale》


 Ghost Lights

    She had come too far. Sadie knew that as soon as she felt the cloying presence of the deepest Darkwood set in around her.


    The sodden ground beneath her soft leather boots gave way to a thick littering of skeleton leaves. She would have to work harder now to remain silent.


    A soft rustle and the cracking of crystal ferns echoed through the mist. Her prey was near. Slowly, silently, she notched an arrow to her bow and drew the string. Her arm remained steady, one eye closed as the other followed each subtle tremor of leaves. Here she waited for her opportunity, in the dark and damp cold of the deep forest.


    Sensing danger through some animal instinct, the hare fled, twisting through the dense purple underbrush. Sadie traced the movement with the needle point of her bone-tip arrow, aiming for just the right spot.


    With a soft thwack she released her draw. The arrow speared through the foliage, hitting its mark.


    The hare fell to the soft earth, and Sadie strode to claim it.


    She had never ventured this deep into the heart of the Darkwood. She wasn¡¯t truly supposed to hunt this far. Her fellow rangers gladly hunted within their designations, tracking prey closer to home where the forest was lighter, less oppressive.


    Standing amongst the towering trees, feeling unwelcome in this alien world of glowing corals and rippling roots, Sadie understood why.


    Here the trees were ancient and creaking. The canopy twisted overhead in serpentine knots, the sky invisible beyond the silvern leaves.


    The violet glow of crinklecap mushrooms illuminated the rough bark of the trees they barnacled, casting eerie undulations of light across the underbrush.


    Sadie withdrew her arrow with surgical precision. Her kill had been clean, quick, efficient. The hare wouldn¡¯t have even felt it. Satisfied with her work, Sadie moved her fingers over the hare in the silent prayer of Grimwood rangers, before placing a coldstone in its mouth and deftly tying the animal to her belt.


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Standing from a crouch, Sadie startled as something moved at her side. A glimmering mist was pouring from the hare. From its ears and mouth, from its glassy eyes. The mist took shape as it fell to the earth, a writhing mass of green and blue, suffused with flecks of gold and earthen brown.


    Sadie stumbled back in alarm, then stepped slowly forward in awe, as the colours formed the shape of the hare it had spilled from. Knowing better than to touch it, Sadie circled the ghostly creature as the colours began to pulse, swirling and shaping around a brilliant point of light at its centre.


    Crouching down, Sadie held out her arrow, the point still slick with the hare¡¯s blood. The hare touched its nose to the bloodied tip, but otherwise took no notice as she slid the point of sharpened bone through its form. It moved through the hare as if through smoke, its colours swirling in momentary chaos around the arrow, before coalescing once again.


    Sadie breathed in through her nose, exhaling slowly through her mouth in the way she had been trained for hunting, steadying herself in the presence of this remarkable, if unsettling, phenomena. As she was deliberating what to do next, a new light appeared in the foliage nearby.


    The glimmering pearl of light was shrouded in a dancing silver mist, moving gracefully through the air like a sea creature floating in dark and deep waters. It flitted this way and that, as if seeking. As if hunting.


    The ghost of the hare stilled as the humming chorus of a song began. Sadie felt rather than heard the melody. It rang like a bell within her bones, a sweet haunting call that Sadie ached to answer.


    Enthralled, the hare touched its nose to the mysterious floating light as it twisted in ethereal spirals. The pearl danced backwards, as if enticing the hare to follow. The hare stretched forward as if eager to heed the call, yet its ghostly hind legs remained rooted to the forest floor.


    The light sang and twisted with an insistence that frightened Sadie. She herself felt rooted to the spot, paralysed, unable to move or do anything but bear witness. The hare stretched, its colours pulling and twisting apart, tearing away from the light of its core.


    The colours spilled to the ground as the dancing pearl spiralled, calling forth each small essence and fleck of the hare¡¯s form until nothing remained but a small ball of silver light, dim and thready.


    With a final burst of light, the remnants of both hare and the singing pearl vanished, and the Darkwood was still. The trees groaned and the air became heavy. As if the forest was grieving.


    Tears spilled down Sadie¡¯s cheeks as she forced herself up and out of her frozen crouch, fleeing back through the forest towards the village of Grimwood. Towards home.

 Artifice

    Sadie paced the flagstone floor of her apartment. Clutching a mug of hot mead in her cold hands she strode past her hearth, to and fro until she felt almost dizzy.


    She knew about spirits of course. She believed in spirits. She believed in an afterlife. But she had always thought of it as more¡­ metaphorical. Less tangible. She had never actually encountered a ghost before. Never seen actual spirits. Never felt their desperate presence as they struggled to reshape themselves, as the hare had done.


    Sadie shivered and took a deep gulp of the honeyed liquid, spilling a little down her front.


    She needed to collect her wits. She was a better ranger than this. Meticulous. Careful. She didn¡¯t pace. Her hands certainly didn¡¯t shake badly enough to spill drink all down her nightshirt.


    She had to think clearly. What did this mean? The image of that eerie mass of writhing colours, twisting into the shape of a hare before her eyes, illuminated from within by a pulsing light... it was something she felt would haunt her until her final days.


    Sadie dropped herself into the narrow armchair by her fire, poking at the coals. The familiar warmth of gold fire was comforting after the cold, supernatural lights of the Darkwood.


    Working the braids out of her long black hair, Sadie ruminated. Whatever that small pearly light was, it had wanted the hare. It had come for it. Claimed it. The hare had even wanted to follow, but had seemed¡­ stuck somehow. Frozen to the forest floor just the way Sadie had been.


    It was as though Sadie''s whole being had been gripped by the forest itself, unyielding. Possessive. Sadie had not liked that feeling. Not in the least. She had never felt so small, so powerless, as feeling held utterly in place by forces unseen. By the will of an ancient and alien mind.


    The hare had been caught betwixt and between, and had unformed itself to follow the intruder. That beautiful beacon so unwelcome within the Darkwood.


    Blue had followed globs of gold had dripped apart from glowing green, until the hare was gone. At least, gone in spirit. Sadie had already delivered its carcass to the butchers'' station. Though she considered herself less superstitious than her ilk, Sadie had been glad to be rid of it.


    It was apparent to Sadie now that there was more to the living creatures she hunted than merely their tissue.


    And she was determined to learn what that was.


    ???


    Sadie stepped into the artificers'' workshop with some trepidation.


    The alchemical stations were clean, well lit, littered with a colourful assortment of herbs and powders, feathers, talons, and clippings of fur.


    Liquids bubbled pleasantly within bulbous glassware affixed to spiralling copper tubes. Several green-robed apprentices worked at grinding roots to a fine dust, as the bronze-robed masters tuned several instruments of bone and crystal.


    Under normal circumstances, Sadie loved observing from the side benches as flowers became paste became distilled essence. It was all rhythmic and meticulous, the predictability of it soothing.


    Today however, she felt as though she were stepping into uncharted territory, certain she would be laughed at. Or at the very least recommended to take a leave of absence to attend her impending insanity.


    Sadie took a breath and admonished herself, approaching a stocky woman in bronze who was fiddling with several taps.


    ¡°Sister Carmine, may I have a word with you, please?¡± Sadie whispered. ¡°In private, if possible?¡±


    Sister Carmine looked up, as if startled by the presence of other people in the room. ¡°Hm? A word? Oh, yes of course, of course, I¡¯ll be but a moment,¡± Carmine said, whipping her blonde braid as she returned to her taps. Sadie waited on a nearby bench for half an hour until Sister Carmine was finished.


    ¡°There, all done, my dear, thank you for waiting a few moments,¡± Sister Carmine trilled, beckoning Sadie to follow her through an arch into a smaller adjoining workspace. Sadie smiled to herself as she closed the door behind them. Alchemists never seemed quite aware of the passage of time.


    Unsure of how to start tactfully, Sadie simply got right to the point. ¡°Sister, what do you know about spirits? Specifically, spirits within the heart of the Darkwood?¡±


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Sister Carmine pursed her lips into a small ''o'', before she bustled over to a bookshelf by the window and rifled through a stack of leather-bound codices.


    ¡°Sister James came to me a few months ago with a proposal¡ªoh where did I put that thing¡ªclaiming that the Darkwood was filling with the ghosts of wee little beasties. Here¡ª¡± Sister Carmine handed a heavy book to Sadie as she continued looking. ¡°He wanted to study the nature of the phenomenon.¡±


    ¡°What did he find?¡± Sadie breathed, utterly relieved she wasn¡¯t the only one to encounter these creatures.


    ¡°Oh, I denied his proposal, of course. Far too dangerous, what with the ferrifae, and of course, the living beasties¡ª¡°


    ¡°Ferrifae..?¡± Sadie cracked the codex open, skimming her eyes over the neat script of Sister James¡¯ proposed expedition into the heart of the Darkwood.


    ¡­would require twelve alchemists, and at least three senior rangers to ensure protection¡­ I suspect alchemical uses for the remaining essences of animals, raw spirit formed at the nexus of soul and sinew¡­ wish to capture the essences and study the potential¡­


    ¡°You know, the ferrifae, the keepers and claimers of spirit¡­ honestly what do they teach you rangers over at the academy?¡±


    ¡°You mean, like the guardians of the ancient texts?¡±


    ¡°Oh, no no, those are something else entirely,¡± Sister Carmine sighed. ¡°Here, take this one, too.¡± Sadie grunted as Sister Carmine slammed another book atop the one she was already carrying, awkwardly balancing them as she sat in a nearby chair.


    ¡°Is it possible, do you think? To do what Sister James proposed? Collect the spirit essences, study them?¡±


    ¡°Oh, yes, entirely feasible, I think.¡±


    ¡°Then, we must!¡± Sadie exclaimed, as she opened the second book at a random page.


    ¡­the siren calling beckons home those wayward spirits towards the deep caverns¡­ rarely will they surface as they belong not to this world of living tissue, but to the under realms of spirit and wild magics¡­ dangerous to living beings for they do not distinguish between incarnate and discarnate souls¡­


    Sister Carmine tapped at the book Sadie was thumbing through. ¡°This will catch you up to speed on the ferrifae. I¡¯ve told Hildegard time and time again that you rangers need to know about the deep forests, but no, that¡¯s need-to-know for only the most experienced and senior rangers because certainly no mid-ranking ranger could ever wander too deep by accident.¡± Sister Carmine gave Sadie a pointed look, as Sadie pursed her lips sheepishly.


    ¡°I was tracking a hare.¡±


    ¡°Mhmm.¡±


    ¡°I might have let it range further than was strictly necessary¡­¡±


    ¡°Hmmm?¡±


    Sadie sighed. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to frighten it. I was tracking it from a distance to minimise the creature¡¯s distress until I could land a clear shot through the spinal stem. Just because we need to hunt these beasts, doesn¡¯t mean we shouldn¡¯t make an effort to consider their stress. Besides, the pelts are more viable, and the meat¡ª¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes, I understand,¡± Sister Carmine smiled. ¡°You¡¯re a hunter with a bleeding heart and near to perfect preservation rates.¡±


    Sadie huffed at the condescension but didn¡¯t argue. She knew her fellow rangers humoured her somewhat unique approach to hunting, which took longer than most others were willing to spend for the admittedly small gains in pelt quality. Though, she had never realised she was building something of a reputation for it.


    ¡°Anyway, the hare went deep, so I followed,¡± Sadie continued, tracing her fingers across the page of the book in her hands. ¡°I caught it. But then¡­ as I lifted the carcass, the spirits sort of¡­ fell away from the body. Then a shining thing of light and mist, maybe the size of a large pearl¡ª¡±


    ¡°You encountered an actual ferrifae?¡± Sister Carmine gasped, clutching her chest. ¡°Holy grief, child, you could have died!¡±


    Sadie grimaced. She had suspected she had been in danger, but hearing it from Sister Carmine was unnerving.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t move¡­ It¡¯s like the Darkwood had a grip on me. The hare spirit¡­ it was sort of¡­ pulled apart? The spirits were almost dissected away in pieces¡­¡± Sadie shook her head, as Sister Carmine stood silent and wide-eyed.


    ¡°I thought you¡¯d call me crazy,¡± Sadie laughed, a little chaotically.


    ¡°You¡¯d be crazy if you went back,¡± Sister Carmine said, staring up at Sadie with uncharacteristic seriousness. Sadie simply nodded as the silence lengthened. ¡°May I borrow these?¡±


    ¡°Pfah!¡±


    ???


    Sadie spent the next week pouring over the borrowed books. Sister James believed it would be possible to contain spirit essences within specially treated vials of quartz. His proposed hypothesis was quite detailed, for which Sadie was grateful as she had been unable to speak with him directly. Away in Starwood on placement exchange, according to the Master of Rosters.


    The book on ferrifae offered less clarity. It would contain passages written with complex scientific lexicon, before abruptly switching to a style better suited to a work of scripture. It left Sadie frustrated and with more questions than answers.


    As best she could glean from the book, the ferrifae weren''t malicious... though they were dangerous. The most useful piece of information in the book was a footnote so small Sadie almost missed it, telling of a strange flower with yellow-gold petals and blue edging, growing only in the deepest recesses of the Darkwood. If properly utilised, it was said to ward away the ferrifae.


    It took another week for Sadie to obtain two dozen quartz vials, hypothetically suitable for the containment of spirits. She examined them as she sipped tea by her window.


    The window was narrow with old shutters that let in the cold, but she was one of the lucky few resident rangers with an uninterrupted view over the western horizon.


    Beyond the sprawling lanterns of Grimwood Village lay the Ring Road, its purple quartz glittering in the light of the sinking sun. Beyond the Ring Road lay the Darkwood, a pocket of dense forest otherwise engulfed by the wider Faewood.


    Sadie watched the crescent moon rise over the dark haze of the distant forest, lulled almost to sleep by the comforting thunder of the Great Fall echoing from the stone cliffs to the south.


    Sadie sighed as she finished her tea, basking in her coveted view a few moments longer before climbing into bed.


    Tomorrow, Sadie would venture into the heart of the Darkwood seeking spirits she might collect before the ferrifae got to them... or to her.

 Foxes & Fae

    Sadie knew she had crossed into the heart of the Darkwood when the bird calls fell away, replaced by occasional, hushed trills echoing amongst the overhead boughs. She felt the possessive grip of the forest''s presence surround her once more. She knew that this area of the forest would not part easily with its creature''s spirits.


    A hare and a pheasant hung from Sadie''s belt. They had been hunted nearer to the edge of the Darkwood. Sadie hadn''t even seen their spirits. She had needed to venture deeper.


    Though her eyes were sharp, Sadie could not see any sign of the mysterious flower said to ward off the ferrifae. She was hesitant to go too deep into the woods without protection, yet was eager to find more spirits. On high alert, Sadie continued cautiously down her path.


    The soothing babble of a nearby brook drew Sadie''s attention. She followed the sound and arrived at a small cluster of rockpools. The water was icy and crystal clear. Small glowing fish flitted amongst the layers of vibrant corals and swaying reeds.


    Sadie crouched behind a rock, settling in to wait. It wasn''t long before a fox arrived at the pool''s edge, lapping cautiously.


    Sadie''s arrow was sharp and quick, and the fox fell with a dull thud by the water''s edge.


    Sadie moved quickly, kneeling by the motionless fox and hoping she had come deep enough into the forest... After a breath or two, misty lobes of light began pouring from the body, coalescing into the form of a fox. The translucent shape was writhing with vibrant teal and shades of lavender.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    Sadie withdrew a quartz vial from a pouch on her belt. Unsure of what to do, Sadie uncorked the top and slowly, tentatively, held the vial out towards the fox spirit. The fox seemed unaware of Sadie''s presence, continuously forming and reforming its colours in apparent confusion.


    The fox yipped as it nuzzled its lifeless body. The sound was wrong. Distorted. It yipped again, sounding plaintive.


    Disturbed, but determined, Sadie touched the lip of the vial to a point near the spirit''s cheekbone, just below the eye where a particularly bright bead of light had formed. Sadie startled and almost dropped the vial as the light flared briefly, and was sucked into the container.


    Sadie laughed in surprise, hastily corking the vial and tucking it away. Before she could withdraw the next, Sadie felt a tugging within her chest. The feeling of a bell ringing. Soundless. Deafening.


    Sadie stood quickly and stepped back into the trees as a ferrifae materialised, dancing before the fox. The fox swayed back and forth, mirroring the movement of the pearly light. The fox stretched forwards as the ferrifae danced just out of reach, compelling the fox to follow.


    Sadie watched, fascinated, as the colours within the fox were called away from its form, piece by piece. They fell to the forest floor and dissipated into the earth until only a small ball of silver light remained of the fox''s form.


    Sadie took a step towards the ferrifae, entranced by the rhythm of its dance and the pulsing of its pearlescent light. As she tried to move closer, compelled by that exquisite, eerie melody, she felt the grip of the forest tighten, freezing her in place.


    With a brilliant flare, the ferrifae and last of the fox spirit vanished from sight. The trance was broken. Shaken, Sadie took several steadying breaths before retrieving the carcass of the fallen fox. She turned on her heel and raced back through the forest towards familiar paths. Away from ghosts and the chilling songs of the ferrifae.

 Siren Song

    Sadie held her small vial to the light of the evening sun. The contents were a luminous purple. As she tipped the vial back and forth the substance pooled like a thick liquid, before swirling like a mist only to pool once more at the other end.


    Sadie had never seen anything like it.


    Sadie intended to take it to Sister Carmine for examination, hoping she might have some insight on exactly how the spirit essence might be used.


    But first, a bowl of stew and a hot bath.


    After turning over the spoils of her hunt to the butchers'' station, and returning her bow to the armoury, Sadie trod the narrow marble stairs up to her room in the ranger''s quarters, locking her door behind her.


    With a full stomach, Sadie piled her dirt-stained clothes into the bathing room hamper and twisted the taps of her copper tub. Sadie tipped in a generous cup of salts and ground ferns to help soothe both muscle and nerves.


    Night was falling as she climbed into the tub, relishing the heat and fragrant steam. Sadie had long ago dragged the tub from its proper position so she could see the stars through the small window set high in the stone walls. On clear nights, like tonight, she could spend hours watching the moon cross the sky, and whisper wishes on a rare shooting star or two.


    Tonight, however, Sadie contemplated the glowing contents of the quartz vial. In the dark of her bathing room, Sadie could see that the substance was composed of tiny, ever shifting beads of light, twinkling like galaxies within the liquid mist.


    Curiosity getting the better of good sense, Sadie uncorked the top to better see the spirits. The substance merely settled to the bottom of the vial as she peered in, mesmerised by the shimmer.


    Is this what lay within every living creature? Or were these lights unique to the creatures dwelling in the deepest Darkwood? Sadie wondered what her own spirit lights might look like, if indeed she had them at all.


    Sadie tilted her hand, examining the smooth skin of her wrist and pondering whether spirits lay within. The movement disturbed the liquid, which rose in a cloud of mist out of the vial and hung suspended in the air.


    Sadie cursed, holding the vial to the cloud, willing the purple mist to condense back into the container. The mist simply swirled like a small storm before drifting towards Sadie''s face. She inhaled the mist before she thought to hold her breath. The mist was warm and tingled on the back of her tongue. Squeezing her eyes shut, Sadie waited for something to happen.


    Several moments passed. Exhaling slowly, Sadie opened her eyes. She gasped, for the room was bright as day. Looking out at the night sky, the stars shone like midnight suns, brilliant bursts of gold and diamond light illuminating the shadows.


    Sadie took a stuttering breath. The spirit essences worked. She had the fox''s eyes.


    Sadie almost slipped as she clambered out of the bathtub, drying herself roughly before donning a new set of hunting clothes. Each thread of fabric was visible as she laced her boots, every faint stain of dirt from past hunts that had never quite washed out bloomed like bruises across her shirt.


    It was too late now to collect her ranger-issued bow from the armoury without raising questions she preferred not to answer. Instead, Sadie sheathed a hunting knife to her belt and fetched her own personal bow of black wood from her storage chest.


    Finally, she clipped her pouch of quartz vials to her belt.


    It was time to hunt.


    ???


    Sadie waved to the guards as she exited the main gates of Grimwood Village, making her way across the crystal Ring Road and into the forest. The trees were more sparse here, close to the boundary of the Darkwood.


    Sadie took a long look at the village behind her. Tight clusters of tall stone and wood houses littered the hills, rising all the way up to the Grimwood Palace built into the eastmost mountain range. The golden glow of lantern lights illuminated the black cobble streets and glittering quartz windows. A village of stars, all the brighter to the eyes of a fox.


    If she listened carefully, Sadie could still make out the crash of the Great Fall in the distance, feeding the Grimwood river which was just out of sight further south. The sound mingled with the chirp of nearby crickets and rustle of small tree-dwelling critters as they scurried through the canopy.


    The sweet scent of mossmire blossoms filled the chill air. The forest was bright and alive with movement as Sadie wandered the familiar trails. She felt elated. If the spirits of the animals they hunted could be utilised, the rangers of Grimwood could enhance their senses beyond human capability. They could hunt even more skillfully, more effectively. There would be less waste. Less fear. Less pain.


    Sadie''s teeth clenched as she recalled her very first hunt in the Darkwood. She had been too impatient, too anxious to please her teacher. Too eager for big game. The way the stag had screamed as her clumsy arrows pierced its hide still echoed in her nightmares.


    Sadie watched a hare scurry beneath a bush over a hundred yards away. Each detail was crisp in the starlight. Grinning, Sadie notched an arrow, tracing the hare''s movement for just a moment before letting fly. She hit her mark with ease.


    Sadie laughed out loud, causing several small critters to scurry away. The hare hadn''t even had time to be afraid. Wasn''t aware it had been stalked and hunted. Wouldn''t have even felt the arrow pierce the skin of its neck. Sadie practically skipped across the forest floor to collect the hare.


    Intuitively she knew there would be no spirits. She wasn''t deep enough in the forest for that. The atmosphere of the woods was light, unburdened by the sorrows which lay further down the winding trails.


    Feeling confident, Sadie ignored the fatigue in her limbs from the day''s hunt and delved deeper into the woods. Even as she approached the heart of the Darkwood, the light only dimmed slightly. The faint glow of moss and mushrooms was more than enough to illuminate her path.


    Able to see her footfall clearly, Sadie left the hunter''s trails, stepping over sticks and roots, easily avoiding anything which might alert her presence to prey.


    Though she could see with crystal clarity, Sadie didn''t spy any of the mysterious gold and blue flowers as she ventured through the wood. She was beginning to wonder whether they existed at all.


    Still, Sadie continued until a brighter light glimmered ahead. A clearing in the trees. Between the vast trunks of rough bark, Sadie could see the movement of a lone deer grazing on the ferns.


    It looked small enough for Sadie to carry on her own. After a moment''s deliberation, she let fly another arrow, marvelling at the ease with which she was able to hit her mark with the fox''s vision.


    The deer collapsed, and Sadie hurried to its side. As the spirits of the deer emerged and took form, Sadie realised there were too many to collect in time. More than she even had enough vials to capture.


    Sadie felt a rush of panic, cursing her thoughtlessness. Should she try to collect as many spirit essences as she could now with her vials? That would waste the rest, and she hated the idea of wasting anything of her prey. It felt too disrespectful, now that she was aware this other dimension of the animal existed.


    No, she would claim it all.


    If the spirit was wholly formed, could she lead it to the alchemists stations for them to study in full?


    But how to get the spirits to follow her? She tried clicking her tongue at it, like she would a horse. No response. She tried whistling to it, like she might with a dog. But the cluster of spirits paid her no mind.


    Bristling with anxiety, Sadie hoisted the deer''s carcass onto her shoulders, so she would be ready to flee when the ferrifae arrived. It wouldn''t be much longer now, and Sadie was completely unsure of how to proceed.


    As she stepped back under the weight of the deer''s body, the spirits turned towards her. Hardly daring to breathe, Sadie stepped back again. The deer took a wobbling step forward, its spirits reforming chaotically as it moved, unsteady as a newborn fawn.


    Sadie took another step back, then another. The spirits continued to follow. Sadie held still as the ghost approached the body Sadie carried, nuzzling the fur. Almost as if seeking a way back in.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    Sadie took several more hasty steps back through the underbrush and the deer cantered persistently after her. "Gotcha!" Sadie whispered.


    Shifting the deer''s weight to settle more comfortably across her shoulders, Sadie moved as quickly as she could towards the familiar trails, not caring now whether she snapped twigs or rustled leaves.


    Compulsively checking that the spectre was still following, Sadie reached the better worn paths and began to run as fast as she could beneath the weight of the small deer.


    The spirits trotted along behind her, a tumbling cluster of light and colour, stretching out its multihued muzzle towards the still-warm flesh.


    The forest was becoming darker, and Sadie struggled to see the path ahead.


    Her fox vision was fading.


    Even so, Sadie could see the trees beginning to thin a little further ahead. She was nearing the edge of her regular hunting range. Sadie sprinted faster, desperate to reach the edge of the forest before her vision returned to normal.


    Sadie felt the heaviness of the forest''s presence fading, and sighed with relief as reached the threshold of the Darkwood. Sadie laughed and turned to check on the deer.


    It was gone.


    "No!" Sadie dropped the deer carcass. "No, no! Where are you?" Sadie retraced her steps back towards the deeper forest, but the glowing lights of the deer''s spirits were nowhere to be found. The spirits were lost.


    Had a ferrifae claimed it? No... Sadie hadn''t felt the unmistakable presence of their siren song... and it wasn''t the sort of thing one could ignore.


    Had it simply... dissolved? The spirits dispersing on their own?


    Feeling confused, defeated, and utterly exhausted, Sadie returned to the deer carcass. She placed a coldstone in its mouth to prevent its meat from spoiling, then hoisted it over her aching shoulders once again.


    Sadie re-entered the Grimwood Village gates and carried her deer up the hill to the butchers¡¯ workshop.


    "Working the late shift, eh, Sadie? Lose a bet?" Journ grinned as Sadie carefully unloaded the deer onto a clean bench of dark bone marble, before untying the hare from her belt.


    Sadie blinked at him, then chuckled through her fatigue. "I was trying to scavenge a rare flower and got lucky with these. Didn''t find the flower, though." It wasn''t a complete lie.


    "Ah well, better luck tomorrow. Or maybe the day after... you look beat, sweets," Journ peered down at Sadie with concern.


    Sadie nodded wearily, stifling a yawn. "I''ll be fine after a solid night''s sleep. G''night, J." Sadie waved as she stepped out the door.


    Too exhausted to take another bath, Sadie simply tossed her grimy clothes into the hamper with the others and collapsed into bed.


    ???


    It was several days before Sadie worked up the nerve to hunt spirits again. While disheartened by her previous failure, Sadie was resolved to try again. The potential was too exciting.


    Sadie considered speaking with her fellow rangers, or at the very least Sister Carmine. But she wanted to be sure she could repeat her success before telling anyone else.


    Sadie didn''t want to risk this opportunity by tainting it too soon with public failure. If she could prove the utility of spirits, perhaps Sister Carmine would approve Sister James¡¯ research proposal. Sadie might even be allowed to join the expedition team, if she proved her skill.


    Last time, Sadie had been shamefully unprepared. She was still too eager. Too rash. She had been wasteful. Sadie hated the cruelty of wasting her kills, second only to causing her prey pain.


    This time, Sadie had a plan.


    She would hunt a smaller animal. One with fewer spirits, like the first hare, or the fox, so she could capture all the essences in her vials.


    As Sadie approached her ranging designation, she waited until her fellow rangers were out of sight before striding purposefully along the deeper trails, towards the heart of the Darkwood.


    She would kill from as close a distance as she could without startling her prey. She would work quickly and precisely, removing vials from one pouch, collecting as much spirit essence as would fit, before stoppering the vial and placing it in a second pouch. Rinse and repeat.


    The trail ahead narrowed as Sadie reached the end of her ranging territory. She was still a ways away from the deepest Darkwood, but the trees were beginning to thicken.


    Once she had collected all the spirits, she would grab the carcass of her prey and flee the area, ideally before the ferrifae even appeared.


    The air became damp and chill as Sadie crossed the threshold into the heart of the Darkwood.


    She didn''t know whether carrying so many spirits with her, even in quartz vials, would attract the ferrifae to pursue her. It was too great a risk.


    So first, she was determined to find the gold and blue flower, hoping it was enough to protect her.


    It took several hours to spot the glimmer of gold petals, edged with sky blue. Sadie had seen the occasional eerie glow of ferrifae winking in and out as she ranged the forest, avoiding them as best she could. Even so, the call of the siren song was strong, and she ached to follow them towards the rest they seemed to promise.


    As she wearied, the suggestion of peace became ever more appealing, and it was increasingly difficult to force her feet away from the pearly lights as they appeared between the trees.


    Sadie had been about to give up the expedition as too dangerous when a glimmer of gold from the corner of her eye caught her attention. There, in the dark hollow of a nearby tree, grew a cluster of the distinctive flower with no name. The petals seemed to writhe with golden light. The blue edging flared, radiating threat.


    Unsure whether it was poisonous, Sadie pulled on a pair of leather gloves before she reached out to pluck one. The stem wouldn''t yield. Sadie tugged on flower after flower, to no avail. She tried tearing at the petals, but they dissolved like smoke beneath her hands, only reforming as she pulled away.


    Growling in frustration, Sadie pulled out her bone knife, its edge sharpened by alchemical processes to the finest possible point. The stems still would not cut, but if she slashed at the petals in just the right way, she could divest a few from the flower bud.


    Reaching out to touch the cut petals, they didn''t fade to smoke as they had while attached to their flower. Gathering several fallen petals with a deep feeling of relief, Sadie tucked them into a pocket within easy reach, hoping they were enough.


    Sadie was nearing the end of her stamina. She needed to find prey quickly, before the light of the afternoon faded and the heart of the forest became too dark to safely navigate.


    It took less than a quarter hour before a hare appeared nearby. Sadie tracked it with her arrow, willing herself to be still and silent and patient. She would not shoot unless she was sure of the cleanest possible mark.


    She stood for another minute, her bow drawn tight, her frame hidden from the hare''s view by the trunk of a fallen tree. The hare hopped into clear view and Sadie took her shot. The hare fell.


    Shouldering her bow, Sadie launched herself over the tree, scraping her skin on the rough bark. Kneeling by the hare, Sadie withdrew several quartz vials, uncorking them in preparation as she anxiously waited for the spirits to emerge.


    Sadie made herself draw slow, even breaths as light began pouring from her fallen prey. As the spirits coalesced into the form of a hare, Sadie captured essence after essence, stoppering the vials with deft movements and stowing them in her pouch. Green. Gold. Blue. Pink.


    She had filled a dozen vials before the ferrifae appeared.


    But Sadie wasn''t done.


    Hesitating for only a moment, Sadie withdrew a petal from her pocket and held it out, her hand shaking as the ferrifae approached. The ferrifae spun, its siren song ringing like a bell through Sadie''s body, willing surrender. The pearl of light was close enough now that Sadie could feel the forest strengthening its hold on her.


    The petal glowed brighter, causing the air to shimmer in waves, as if it were ringing a bell of its own. The ferrifae paused, retreating as though confused, before whirling within its cloud of light and approaching once more.


    It came closer and closer, pressing past the warding aura of the flower petal, which had begun to fade.


    Sadie hurriedly withdrew all the petals she had gathered and held them out. Another pulse of light forced the ferrifae to retreat once more. Sadie placed the flowers atop the body of the hare and rushed to uncork another vial. There were only a few more spirits left, and Sadie had more than enough vials to capture them.


    A swirl of yellow contained.


    The petals were sputtering.


    A spinning cloud of magenta stoppered.


    The ferrifae was approaching.


    Only one final layer of gold encapsulated the silver core of what had been the hare''s ghost.


    Sadie took the risk. She thrust out a new vial, syphoning away the golden swirl, before slamming the stopper into place.


    Sadie grazed the ferrifae with her hand as she withdrew it, dropping the vial as she screamed.


    The ferrifae latched onto her hand. Sadie tried to flee, but she was held frozen to the forest floor by the possessive chaos of the Darkwood. Sadie felt the ferrifae¡¯s siren song tearing at her deepest layers¡ª deeper than flesh, deeper than bone¡ªcalling her essence home. The ferrifae danced back, enticing Sadie to follow.


    Sadie resisted, trying to pull her hand away and cried out in agony as several lobes of orange light tore away from her fingers. Her hand burned hot and cold. She felt as though her flesh were being peeled away, one layer at a time, as the ferrifae shredded her spirits.


    Yellow mist poured from her palm, followed by spitting flecks of pink. Sadie could barely see through tears of pain, unable to catch her breath through her panic as she scrambled for the flower petals with her free hand.


    Green followed blue followed silver as the siren song flayed away the spirits of Sadie''s left arm. With her right, she searched blindly for the petals on the hare''s carcass. Unable to feel the petals through the thick leather of her glove, Sadie tore it off with her teeth and desperately ran her hand through the hare''s fur until she felt the soft velvet of flower petals.


    Sadie felt as though the bones of her arm had been splintered to the elbow as she tossed the fading gold petals at the ferrifae. The ferrifae ceased its song, bobbing backwards as if struck. As the ferrifae retreated, Sadie felt the Darkwood¡¯s hold on her ease.


    Not wasting a second, Sadie grabbed the fallen vial of gold and the hare''s carcass with her good hand as she stumbled upright and dashed through the false night of the Darkwood.


    Sadie''s legs felt weak. Her injured arm felt like ice. Still she forced her body to move. Exhausted, grazed, and delirious with pain, Sadie squinted against the light as she finally tumbled out of the thickets onto a familiar trail.


    She could no longer feel the weight of the Darkwood''s sorrow, nor the terrifying compulsions of the ferrifae.


    Sadie collapsed against a tree, sobbing. Her right hand was cramping from clutching the hare and vial so tightly. Her left arm burned with cold. Gulping in air, Sadie mustered the courage to examine her injury.


    Sadie was shocked to find her arm was completely unmarked. There were no visible injuries, no cuts, nor bruises. Though, the flesh was ice cold, and she couldn''t move her hand. Nor could she feel her own touch.


    Overcome with a new wave of panic, Sadie wept, stifling screams of fear and rage.


    Her spirits had been torn away by the ferrifae. They were gone. She could feel it. Her left arm below the elbow was as good as dead.


    Unwilling to dwell on what that meant, Sadie forced herself to breathe more deeply, more slowly. Wiping away her tears, she awkwardly stowed the last vial of golden spirits within her pouch. Unable to tie the hare one-handed to her belt, Sadie simply lifted it by the scruff of its neck and forced herself back to her feet.


    Sadie was shivering with shock by the time she reached the edge of the woods. She heard voices calling her name, but her vision was too blurry to see who the voices belonged to. Dizzy, she slumped to the ground, losing consciousness as she hit the earth.

 Waste & Wishes

    "Sadie?"


    A cool compress lay across her forehead. Someone was speaking her name, but the sound was muffled, as though underwater.


    "Sadie? Can you hear me?" The voice was clearer this time. It sounded familiar.


    "Sister Mari?" Sadie''s voice was hoarse, and someone pressed a cup of water to her lips. Sadie gulped the water, raising her arm to grip it.


    Sadie froze. Something was wrong. Something was very, desperately wrong.


    "Sadie, wait¡ª"


    "What..." Sadie whispered as she took in her left arm, bandaged from shoulder to elbow. For that was all that remained.


    "I''m so sorry, Sadie. We tried our best, but we couldn''t save your arm. The necrosis had already started by the time you reached us¡ª"


    "What happened..." Flashes of memory returned, slicing through Sadie''s mind. The ferrifae. The icy burn as her spirits were flayed. The unnatural cold of dead, unfeeling flesh.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    Sadie began to hyperventilate as she relived the horrors of the deepest Darkwood. Sister Mari crouched beside her, holding Sadie gently as she cried.


    ???


    Sadie recovered slowly. After the first week in the healers¡¯ hall, she returned to her own rooms. Her belongings had all been returned. No one had discovered the spirit vials, tucked neatly into her pouches.


    She had told all who asked that she had encountered the ferrifae. She described them at length to the healers and alchemists who came to assess her. She told them of the flower that warded them away. Where she had found it. How she had cut it.


    But she did not tell them about the spirits she had collected.


    Sadie felt sick every time she thought of the pain of her spirits being torn away, shredded to nothing. She felt sicker still as she thought of the pain she herself must have inflicted while divesting the hare of its spirits.


    She could not¡ªshe would not¡ªshare the knowledge which would allow others to inflict that pain on any creature, living or dead. She prayed Sister James¡¯ research proposal would continue to gather dust.


    As her flesh healed, and she was fitted with a new hand of wood and crystal, Sadie pondered what to do with the spirits she had collected.


    She could not use them. She could not waste them.


    She wished on shooting stars, praying for an easy answer. There were none.

 Penance

    As winter passed and the flowers of spring engulfed the landscape, Sadie made her decision.


    She could no longer hunt, even with her new hand. Instead she ranged, gathering herbs and mushrooms. She studied creature-made trails, and collected river samples, and helped heal root rot.


    One evening in late spring, Sadie clipped her pouches of spirit vials to her ranger''s belt. She wended her way down to the small pools by the Great Fall. She sat atop the slippery rocks and, one by one, released the spirit essences of the hare into the pool.


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    Sadie watched them pour like mist from the quartz vials, coalescing into liquid as they hit the water''s surface. She watched as they sank down past clusters of coral and quartz, seeping into the rocky gravel along the bottom, disappearing from sight as they were returned to the earth.


    As the final shimmer of gold spilled from the last vial and sank from view, Sadie whispered her ranger''s prayer, her apology, her penance, over the still waters. She sat by the pool until the sun began to set, then gathered her empty vials and returned to her rooms.

 New Paths

    As the seasons passed, Sadie gathered her courage for a new calling. One that felt like its own siren song, compelling her along a new path of purpose.


    She ranged deeper and deeper into the Darkwood, once more seeking the nameless flower of blue and gold. She learned where they grew. Stubbornly, defiantly, from the wasting flesh of the Darkwood''s lost creatures, called so violently home by the ferrifae. They bloomed only a day before withering to stalks.


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Sadie felt victory each time the petals yielded to her bone knife. She gathered them all in a jar, a writhing mass of gold and vengeful blue.


    She sought out spirits and collected their bones. She held her jar of flowers aloft, a lone lantern in the dim night of deepest Darkwood, warding away the song of sirens.


    The spirits of creatures followed behind their flesh as Sadie beckoned them, a lamenting procession yearning for life, until they slipped past the threshold. Beyond the keening grasp of the Darkwood''s bleeding heart, the spirits fell peacefully away, returning to the earth just as their flesh must.

 Chorus

    <div>


    <div>


    Over the years, the Darkwood grew resentful of Sadie leading its spirits away, releasing them to peace. She often had to toil in circles to find a path through the thickets.


    As Sadie''s hair turned white with age, and her limbs ached with the cold of her final winter, she returned to the Darkwood for a final time.


    Seated by a rockpool in the dusky glow of frilled mushrooms, Sadie opened her jar. One by one, she ate the golden petals, fringed with lethal blue, until her body and spirits alike were saturated in their poison. In their grief. In their magic.


    Sadie leaned against a mossy root, smiling as she fell asleep and breath left her body.


    The spirits that emerged were brilliant gold and trimmed in vibrant blue. As Sadie¡¯s ghost coalesced, she listened to the chorus from deep beneath the earth, compelling her home. She felt the vise grip of the Darkwood''s sorrow preventing her from answering its call.


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Sadie continued to walk with the Darkwood''s trapped spirits, patiently herding them to the edge of a threshold she could no longer cross, lest she herself fall away.


    The ferrifae scattered before her presence, no longer a threat as she cradled the magic of a mourning flower.


    Piece by smallest piece, she fed her own essence to those hesitant lost creatures, coaxing them to take their final steps beyond the Darkwood''s grasp through the will of her shepherd''s spirits.


    And so Sadie continued, season after season, year after year, until centuries lost their meaning and her spirits were carved away, shared with the spirits of prey she chose to protect.


    As the gold and blue trimmings of her spirits were plucked from her, like so many petals from a flower, Sadie approached the boundary for the last time.


    With the last piece of her spirits, Sadie willed her own fragile soul across the threshold, to the freedom of release, and surrendered gladly to the eternal chorus beneath the earth.


    ~ The End ~