《Dreaming Red》


 Chapter 1 - Something stirs

    The Snow Lands, year 873


    As she slowly trudged through the snow, Scypha pressed her icy, trembling hands to her mouth and exhaled, watching her breath form a mist in the chilly air.


    It didn¡¯t help. Her breath might have been as cold as the freezing wind that blew around her. Her trembling hands remained as cold and numb as they ever were. She couldn''t even feel the snowflakes landing on her fingers anymore.


    Her companion, however, was completely unfazed by such burdens. The young gray wolf ran excitedly ahead of her, then came right back and wildly shook off the blanket of snow that covered his fur.


    ¡°Oh, not onto me, Darko!¡± Scypha shouted. ¡°Can¡¯t you do that anywhere else? I¡¯m dying of frostbite here!¡±


    The wolf looked at her, perked up his ears, and then bounded through the snow to her side, coming up beside her and nuzzling his head between her chest and elbow.


    ¡°Oh ¡­ Fine, I guess it¡¯s okay ¡­ I love you too, Darko,¡± Scypha said, stopping her gait and lowering her forehead to his. ¡°And you¡¯re lucky I do. I¡¯d kill for a coat of fur like that¡­¡±


    In response, Darko gave her face a nice and rough lick.


    ¡°Argh¡­ At least your tongue is warm ... But if you wet me, I¡¯m just going to get even colder! Come on, Darko, let¡¯s hurry to Lyerateh. Just a few more days to get there and the trip back, and we¡¯ll be at my coming-of-age party. I¡¯ll make sure you get plenty to eat. You won¡¯t have to steal from my pack anymore.¡±


    Darko''s gaze lingered on her for a moment while he licked his nose. Then, he slipped his head out from under her arm and leaped ahead of her, clearly excited by something.


    He began howling. ¡°AOUUUUUUHHH!¡±


    Scypha¡¯s breath came to her trembling from the cold, but, suppressing a smile, she joined in. ¡°AOUUUUUUHHH!¡± she shouted.


    She held back laughter as the wolf turned back again to gaze at her. ¡°Let¡¯s get going!¡± she said. ¡°We¡¯re late already, I think the solstice is today!¡±


    Darko lowered his head, then bounded on through the snow.


    ¡°As soon as that sun goes down, I¡¯ll be fifteen winters old,¡± Scypha murmured to herself, going after him.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Raising her shaking hand, she hastily marked on her forehead the symbol of the patron god of humanity. ¡°Protect me, Vifafey,¡± she murmured. ¡°Don¡¯t abandon me to the cold and the beasts ¡­ no offense, Darko.¡±


    Swallowing hard, she trudged on through the snow behind the wolf.


    Suddenly, a little brown shape fell through the air right in front of her nose. With a panicked chirp, it plunged into the snow at her feet.


    Momentarily shocked, Scypha stopped walking and, with a stiff and freezing cold neck, looked down.


    It was a tiny little bird, a chickadee. It was trapped in a finger¡¯s depth of bright, cold snow. It was shaking its head and wings, trying to free itself, but it was having trouble. Scypha slowly knelt down in front of it, gazing at it.


    ¡°What are you still doing here?¡± she murmured. ¡°Did the winter beat you on your way south?¡±


    The little bird gazed up at her with beady little eyes and chirped. A cold wind blew and stung Scypha¡¯s cheeks, but she smiled despite herself and slowly cupped her arms around the bird.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, little one,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ve got you. I won¡¯t let winter have you ¡­ Or Darko.¡±


    She looked up and around, trying to spot the wolf, but he¡¯d run off somewhere again. She looked back towards the bird. It began to flap its wings, throwing away some snowflakes that had gotten caught on them, and then suddenly, it jumped off the white snow and landed on her pinky finger.


    It stood there, holding onto her with its little legs, shaking slightly and gazing at Scypha with tiny little black eyes. It chirped.


    Scypha lifted her other hand, still trembling from the cold, and gently patted it on the head. It didn¡¯t even try to fly away.


    ¡°Do you want to come with us?¡± she asked. ¡°We¡¯re going south, too.¡±


    The bird chirped. A strange thought crept into Scypha¡¯s mind¡ª


    ¡ªand suddenly, she was somewhere else.


    She was ¡­ she was standing straight, in the middle of a clearing. Darko was a few paces in front of her, bristling his fur and growling at her. He was angry and ¡­ very frightened.


    ¡°What ¡­?¡± she asked, turning around. ¡°Where¡­?¡±


    It was like she¡¯d lost a few moments. Unnerved as she was, she recognized the clearing; it was just ahead of where she had been, but ¡­ she had no memory of getting up and walking there. Just an instant ago ¡­ she should have still been kneeling on the ground, with the little bird on her pinky finger.


    But she felt strange ¨C her hands felt strange. They weren¡¯t cold anymore at all. She looked down at them.


    In an instant, she panicked wildly and fell backward onto the snow. Her trembling returned, and she breathed hard, stunned, with her eyes stuck to her hands.


    They were covered with blood. The broken body of the little bird lay stuck to it amidst torn-apart feathers, all covered in crimson.


    Severed from its body, the bird¡¯s cute little head rolled off her hands and fell into the snow.


    Darko kept on growling and barking at Scypha, slowly backing away, sounding more and more afraid.


    Scypha could barely breathe.


    ¡°What happened?¡± she gasped. She had no recollection of what had happened. ¡°I didn¡¯t ¡­ Did I¡­? What did I do?¡±


    But then, her whole body began to tingle and vibrate, and her lips curved into a wide smile. The cold of the snow faded away, and a rush of hot euphoria washed over her entire being. She felt herself shaking from head to toe, suddenly happier than she¡¯d ever been. Her hands moved without instruction and gently caressed her cold cheeks.


    ¡°It¡¯s so warm¡­¡±

 Chapter 2 - The day of Accord

    A thousand miles south, same year


    About once a season, the bells would ring, humans would make their way into the sacred forest, and Eletha would have to refrain from taking up her bow and shooting arrows at them.


    She and the other guardians of the forest, dryads all, stood by with their bows, watching as the humans trampled leaves and walked past their heart trees on the dirt path that led to the Oakmother¡¯s grove.


    She eyed the little meat-men children, occasionally straying from the path before their parents intervened, and her fingers itched to let loose an arrow.


    ¡°Disgusting meat-men,¡± she muttered under her breath, shaking her head. ¡°This is all wrong.¡±


    The sound of rustling leaves to her right betrayed the coming of one of her sisters. Maylissena, a taller dryad shaped like a human lady dressed in vines and leaves, nimbly hopped from rock to rock until she was at Eletha¡¯s side.


    ¡°I heard that,¡± she said with a smile. ¡°See, this is why you¡¯re still just a sapling.¡±


    ¡°May,¡± Eletha replied, ¡°¡­Is any of what I said untrue?¡±


    ¡°Regardless of truth and untruth, Eletha, you would benefit from playing nice.¡±


    ¡°As you do?¡±


    ¡°Exactly as I do,¡± May said. ¡°All I do is act ¡®kind and understanding¡¯, and the humans bring more of their dead to my heart tree than to that of any other dryad. It¡¯s not that hard, Eletha. You¡¯d do well to try it. Take it as a tip from your seed-sister.¡±


    Eletha shook her head, uncertain. The column of humans stretched on ahead before her and May, trudging silently along the path. Two adult men pulled a ¡®cart¡¯, a construct fashioned of unnaturally cut and bent wood¡ªa travesty.


    ¡°Do you see what they do to our dead, May? How can I ¡®play nice¡¯ when they bring something like that into our sacred forest?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s what they do, seed-sister. I didn¡¯t say you had to be nice, just play nice. Act as though they don¡¯t disgust you ¨C the truth of it won¡¯t change.¡±


    The cart¡¯s wheels rolled along the ground, creaking and aching. It was all Eletha could do to stop herself from raising her bow towards the men pulling it. She tried to look away from them, to focus instead on the four human corpses the cart carried ¨C the gifts.


    We need those, she thought. And this is the way our Oakmother decreed.


    And she must have had her reasons...


    ¡°A corpse for a corpse,¡± she mumbled. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose they are any happier about this than we are.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± May said. ¡°They¡¯re not. I heard from a family of them last season that tensions are rising. Some of them would like to be rid of us, to claim the whole forest for themselves.¡±


    ¡°Hardly surprising,¡± Eletha snorted. ¡°Meat-men ¡­ As you said, it''s what they do. Though I¡¯d like to see them try.¡±


    May shook her head. ¡°No, you wouldn¡¯t. The meat-men don¡¯t fight with arrows. They fight with fire.¡±


    ¡°Another reason we should kill them all now.¡±


    ¡°Another reason we should keep the peace now. Listen, I have to go, Eletha. I want one of those dead men for myself. Please try to get one as well. Push some of those vines away from your chest. Show skin ¨C especially that skin, there ¨C and show that you look like them. And play nice.¡±


    Eletha grimaced but remained quiet. Her seed-sister¡¯s advice was good; she knew, but it was incredibly distasteful. Dryads were no mammals, excreting water and milk from fleshy bodies¡ªeven if they did look like them. Eletha doubted that even the goddess Phosyphia had enjoyed herself while molding her daughters into the shapes of their greatest enemies.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    Still ¡­ Eletha thought, good advice given should be good advice used.


    She touched the vines wrapped in knots around the various parts of her body and asked them to pull their leaves in, exposing her human-like skin to the wind, sunlight, and the meat-men¡¯s staring eyes.


    She watched as May skipped ahead of her, similarly exposed, along pebbles that covered the forest floor. Not trampling a single sapling or blade of grass, she made her way to the humans. She kindly greeted the men who pulled the cart and made idle conversation with the elderly, smiling all the while.


    Eletha frowned. She remained by her heart tree, uncertain how exactly to continue following her seed-sister¡¯s advice and also somewhat unwilling to try. Finally, once the column of humans had nearly completely passed her, she shook her head, inwardly sighing to herself and skipping towards it, just as May had.


    The humans watched her approach with expressions of mixed fear and anger. Mothers tightened their grips on their children, and fathers moved to stand between them and Eletha. She skipped lightly towards them on the pebbles and roots, pretending not to notice. Before long, she began to receive the same kind of stares that May had, and she jumped before the last of the meat-men forming the column.


    She took a moment to scan the surroundings, partially out of duty, partially because she didn¡¯t know what to say to those things.


    The meat-men walked on, stealing glances at her, then pretending they hadn¡¯t. She followed closely behind them, noting that most of the other dryads preferred to stay far away, next to their heart trees ¡­ As in all honesty, she would have as well.


    ¡°Why do you jump around like that?¡± a human voice asked.


    She frowned, pushing her thoughts aside, and turned her gaze towards its source. It was a semi-young male, slim and somewhat taller than most, with messy brown hair and a suspiciously curious look on his face. He¡¯d slowed down his gait, falling behind his fellow humans in order to get closer to Eletha, and he was waiting patiently for an answer, his gaze occasionally flickering between her eyes and her chest.


    The pine cones along the path seemed to whisper with May¡¯s horrid words: ¡°Play nice.¡±


    Holding back a grimace, Eletha smiled at the human. ¡°What do you mean?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I mean the way you hop around on all the little rocks on the ground. I¡¯ve noticed all the dryads do it ¨C are you afraid to get your feet dirty?¡±


    ¡°Of course not,¡± Eletha said. ¡°We dryads are born from the soil. Why would we be afraid of it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. That¡¯s why I¡¯m confused.¡±


    Eletha eyed the human suspiciously for another moment, trying to discern what game he was playing, but eventually concluded that he genuinely didn¡¯t know.


    ¡°We follow the creed of the goddess Phosyphia,¡± she said. ¡°We cherish life, big and small. Life grows in soil, but not rocks ¨C so whenever possible, we tread on those.¡±


    The human looked at her thoughtfully, then nodded in understanding. ¡°Phosyphia is the goddess of plants and trees, right? And ¡­ nature in general.¡±


    ¡°Yes, as well as being mother to my people. Now go, human. We are falling behind the column.¡±


    ¡°Right! Sorry.¡±


    The human turned away from Eletha, glancing at the path ahead, and ran ahead to catch up to his own. It might have been a trick of the light, but for a moment, it seemed to Eletha that he had made an effort to step more on the rocks than on the dirt and fallen leaves. Perhaps she¡¯d frightened him already. Good.


    She soon caught back up to him and the column, then scanned the area behind them again. The wind was starting to blow, rustling the leaves and undergrowth, promising rain in the near future.


    As she turned back ahead, she caught the human staring at her again.


    ¡°What?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Sorry.¡±


    She eyed him suspiciously. ¡°Sorry for...?¡±


    ¡°Sorry. Um ¡­ It¡¯s just ¡­ I¡¯ve never seen a dryad before. The lack of ¡­ proper clothes ¡­ is disconcerting.¡±


    Eletha snorted. So much for May¡¯s advice. ¡®Proper clothes¡¯ were nonsense that humans invented, but, if only for the sake of ¡®playing nice¡¯, she touched the vines wrapped around her body again and had them push their leaves out to lightly cover her. A few other humans turned back to glance at her and the meat-man, but they said nothing.


    ¡°I¡¯m new to this area, to be honest,¡± the meat-man said, stealing glances at the leaves, his cheeks taking on a shade of red. ¡°Before today, I had no idea about the villagers'' arrangement with your people.¡±


    ¡°It is a long-standing tradition,¡± Eletha said. ¡°Though not a common one.¡± She hesitated, then quickly hopped to a pebble ahead of the human and offered him her hand. ¡°My name is Eletha,¡± she said, holding back a frown. ¡°It¡¯s ¡­ a pleasure.¡±


    For a moment, the human, and all the others surrounding him, looked at her wide-eyed. Then he grasped her hand with his own and gently shook it ¨C a gesture May had previously mentioned to be common.


    ¡°I¡¯m Sam,¡± the human said, losing his balance slightly. Eletha looked towards his feet ¨C both were amateurishly perched on a tiny pebble.


    She was beginning to grow increasingly suspicious. What is the point of your little act? she thought.


    ¡°So,¡± Sam said. ¡°I hear you are quite ¡­ good with that bow. Do you ever use it to protect the village? Maybe from ¡­¡±


    Seeing Eletha grimace in disgust, he slowly lost his voice.


    ¡°I guess ¡­ not,¡± he continued. ¡°My mistake. Well ¡­ the bow is still really pretty. I think I recognize the wood ¨C is it oak?¡±


    ¡°Of a sort. It comes from my heart tree.¡±


    ¡°Heart tree?¡±


    Eletha narrowed her eyes. ¡°You¡¯re asking too many questions, human.¡±


    ¡°Oh. I¡¯m sorry,¡± he said, shaking slightly.


    Eletha turned away from the column again and looked around. Once again, she saw nothing but rustling leaves. A promising sign, perhaps. The Oakmother would be pleased by a day of accord without violence.


    They were so rare.

 Chapter 3 - Funeral

    Once inside the sacred grove, the humans clustered around each other like a herd.


    Dryads stood by the trees surrounding them, bows hanging over their shoulders, while others walked silently atop the tree branches above, watching for danger.


    Eletha was among those on the ground, standing behind everyone and guarding the entrance to the grove. May stood to her left, idly smiling at the humans and making strange gestures towards one of the males.


    She¡¯d be sure to get one of their dead. She always did.


    To Eletha¡¯s right, a pile of dead tree trunks and branches littered the ground, ready for the humans'' grubby hands and cart.


    Their dead for ours¡ªthe words of the accord.


    Up ahead, ten dryads past Eletha, the Oakmother stepped out of her heart tree and walked over to the group of humans. A cloudy mist spread behind her, as it always did.


    ¡°Berrick,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s good to see you again.¡±


    A short, old, and hairless man stepped out of the group of humans and went to stand before her. The human¡¯s leader, for the last twenty or so years.


    ¡°Vephena,¡± he said, reaching out to her and clasping her hand. ¡°It hasn¡¯t been that long¡ªtwo months, maybe. We come bearing gifts. Offerings.¡±


    The Oakmother smiled. ¡°I can see that. We have gifts prepared for you as well.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll be grateful for them. We might be in the south, but still ¡­ The air is turning cold, and winter is coming sooner than we¡¯d like.¡±


    ¡°Sooner than anyone would like, apart from the evergreens.¡±


    ¡°Quite possibly. You would know better than we. So ¨C shall we get this started? There¡¯s something I urgently need to discuss with you later, and it looks to me that everyone is already in place.¡±


    ¡°By all means.¡±


    A wind picked up then, rustling the leaves of the great oaks in the grove, carrying a whisper: ¡°Everyone quiet now. It is time for the ceremony. Maylissena, stop making a fool of yourself. Stand still and silent. Honor the dead.¡±


    ¡°Alright then,¡± the human named Berrick said, looking around. ¡°Oakmother, Vephena, we come to you on this day in peace to honor a bargain once struck. ¡°May your goddess Phosyphia bless us, may our patron god Vifafey honor you, and may all the other gods bear witness to the harmony between us.¡±


    ¡°To life,¡± the Oakmother said.


    ¡°And to peace,¡± replied the human. ¡°I offer the bodies of our four recently dead. Their names were Jon, Terril, Leyn, and Pella. May they all rest in peace.¡±


    The Oakmother nodded at Berrick, stepped past him, and slowly headed towards the cart. The cluster of other humans parted before her. Most were silent and solemn, while others openly wept. None stood in her way, though¡ªthey had finally learned. The Oakmother arrived at the cart and knelt before it while Berrick caught up to her.


    ¡°May their spirits find the ways to the gods they favored, and their bodies nourish the earth,¡± the Oakmother said.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Berrick nodded. The Oakmother rose from her knees and inspected the dead humans on the cart. She crossed her fingers in the symbol of Phosyphia and blessed them, one by one. When she reached the fourth, she stopped.


    ¡°This one is young,¡± she said. ¡°What happened to her?¡±


    ¡°Disease,¡± Berrick replied. ¡°A sudden one. I¡¯d advise you not to get too close ... or, at least, I would if you were human.¡±


    ¡°A shame that she suffered so young,¡± the Oakmother said, ignoring his warning. ¡°May she ¡­ rest in peace, as you say.¡±


    Berrick nodded, and the Oakmother blessed the girl. Then she turned to the group of humans standing around, silently gazing at them for a moment before raising her voice again.


    ¡°We dryads too grieve for your fallen friends. Until sundown, the law of trespass is lifted. Go, wander freely in our sacred forest. Find the places where you would lay these dead to rest, and revisit those that you have in the past.¡±


    She lifted her hand into the air, veins of glowing green magic slithering down her arm. Then she looked towards the dryads. ¡°Girls,¡± she said. ¡°Help them find their way.¡±


    ¡°And make sure they don¡¯t destroy anything.¡± Another whisper, carried on the wind.


    The dryads nodded, then walked over to the humans with fake sympathy and smiles on their faces. Some of the humans merely said quick and solemn goodbyes to the corpses, then made their way to the pile of dead tree trunks and branches at the side of the grove.


    Others wept, and others still ¨C a group of four ¨C picked up the dead, gently placed them over their shoulders, and made their way out of the grove. One of the four was a woman flanked by a little boy. She carried the body of the young girl. It appeared that many of the other humans avoided them, though they never quit reciting prayers.


    May suddenly distracted Eletha with a wave of her hand. ¡°I¡¯ll see you later,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ve got my eye on that large one. If I can get him, I bet he¡¯ll nourish my heart tree until spring.¡±


    Eletha nodded and chuckled, watching her seed-sister run off to one of the other groups of humans, that which carried the body of a larger and fatter old man on his shoulder. She said something to them, held the hand of one of the elderly women, and led them all out of the grove, straight in the direction of her heart tree.


    Once all four of the deceased and their families had departed, the remaining humans in the grove started to lift and carry the tree trunks and branches offered by the dryads to their cart.


    Sam was among them. Eletha didn¡¯t know why she¡¯d bothered to remember his name and face, but it was something she noticed.


    She quickly bowed to the distant Oakmother, who was talking to Berrick again, and left the grove, searching out the trail of the woman that carried the dead girl. That corpse was smaller. Fewer of her sisters would be vying for it.


    She found them quickly ¡­ and really, it was no surprise. There were only two: the woman carrying the corpse and a young boy who was likely her son. Apparently, all the larger meat-men had left them behind. The boy looked to be about the same age as the dead girl, and his face somewhat resembled hers as well. He and his mother trod through the undergrowth, quietly mouthing prayers to their lesser meat-man god, Vifafey.


    They trampled every plant in the undergrowth that was in their way ¨C and it was apparent they had no idea where they were going.


    The woman looked tired.


    ¡°So, you¡¯re after the little one too, Eletha?¡± asked a soft, close voice.


    Eletha turned around and saw Nelippe quietly approaching her. She gracefully cartwheeled and flipped atop the pebbles and air until she crouched by Eletha¡¯s side ¨C being a young dryad, she still favored wasteful and flamboyant movements.


    ¡°It looks like we are the only ones,¡± Eletha said. ¡°How many of our sisters are competing for the large one?¡±


    ¡°The one Maylissena is targeting? Not many. They know not to compete with her ¨C most are trying to get one of the other two.¡±


    ¡°And you, Nelippe? What brings you here?¡±


    ¡°My heart tree is small. I don''t need quite that much fertilizer. Hey, what do you think about sharing the girl?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not opposed to the idea ¡­ but at this rate, it seems the woman won¡¯t make it to either of our heart trees.¡±


    Nelippe smiled softly, gazing past Eletha at the human woman struggling to carry the little corpse. ¡°Come sundown, then, the two of us might have more to share than just a little girl.¡±


    Eletha had already allowed herself a smile before she remembered the Oakmother¡¯s words. ¡°Help them find their way.¡±


    ¡°I suspect that won¡¯t happen,¡± she said. ¡°The Oakmother is as serious as ever about this damned peace. Come, Nelippe, let¡¯s play nice.¡±


    ¡°Urgh, did you just say ¡®play nice¡¯? So now you¡¯ve been listening to Maylissena too? Go ahead if you want. I won¡¯t play at anything with those meat-men.¡±


    Eletha shrugged, then skipped ahead of Nelippe towards the humans.

 Chapter 4 - The second time

    Days after the first of her many episodes, Scypha awoke to find herself alone.


    Her bedroll was covered in snow, and the fireplace dead beside it, but Darko was nowhere to be seen. She arose from the covers, the chill air stinging her face, and blew her nose into the white snow. Perhaps the wolf had gone hunting.


    She took a few moments to fully awaken, wiping the moisture from her face and blinking a hundred times. Then she got to work.


    Walking around, she gathered several armfuls of mostly dry sticks from the nearby trees and rekindled the fire. She rummaged through her pack, retrieving a loaf of tough, cold bread. While doing so, she noticed Darko''s footsteps in the snow, but she didn''t catch sight of him.


    While the bread warmed by the fire, she got up and started doing jumping jacks. Once she felt a little less cold, her stiff legs began to hurt and she got tired, so she folded up her bedroll and tied it to her pack.


    The cold stung her hands as she worked, prompting her to wiggle her fingers to alleviate the discomfort ... But that brought back into focus the memory of that cute, fragile little bird, clutched in her trembling hands just before she blacked out.


    Her whole body shook, and she lost her grip on the bedroll. She found herself smiling, envisioning the sticky crimson and the beautiful, smashed-up little bones...


    She shook her head wildly. ¡°Stop it!¡± she shouted. ¡°Stop it, stop it! That¡¯s not me! That¡¯s not me! What¡¯s going on?!¡±


    Breathing hard, she ran back to the fireplace, everything forgotten, and looked around, trying to focus on something ¨C anything else.


    ¡°What¡¯s happening to me?¡± she gasped, inwardly feeling horrified even as her lips curved into a twisted grin. ¡°By the god Vifafey, what is wrong with me?¡±


    Another horrible thought came over her.


    ¡°Darko?¡± she asked. ¡°Are you safe? Where ¡­ are you? Please, please be okay.¡±


    The snowflakes continued to blanket the wolf¡¯s pawprints in the white-covered ground, but Darko himself remained out of sight.


    Scypha gulped, then took a few deep breaths to calm herself. Darko was fine, she told herself. She had work to do.


    Cold as it was, she undressed and changed into clothes that were a bit drier, then put a few layers of fur on top of them. After that, she finished packing her bedroll. She drank some freezing cold water ¨C snow, that had just melted by the fire, and ate the frigid bread she¡¯d taken from her pack.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    Even after all that, her wolf did not come.


    ¡°Darko!¡± she shouted, getting too frightened to keep waiting. ¡°Darko, where are you?!¡±


    She saw nothing, heard nothing. A cold wind began to blow the snowflakes sideways, stinging her exposed cheeks and hands.


    ¡°Darko! Come, we¡¯ve got to go! We¡¯re almost at Lyerateh! We should make it by day¡¯s end!¡±


    She silently waited for him for a while, but he didn¡¯t come. The memory of the bird flashed before her eyes again, and her head twitched.


    ¡°That didn¡¯t happen,¡± she muttered to herself. ¡°It didn¡¯t. Not to you, not to Darko ¡­ Please, at least not to Darko¡­¡±


    She walked over to the trail of his pawprints in the glistening snow and began to follow it. The trail led her past a dozen trees and frozen bushes. She proceeded with caution, watching the sky and with her feet making occasional markings in the snow so that she wouldn¡¯t lose her sense of direction.


    ¡°Darko!¡± she shouted again. ¡°Where are you?¡±


    A dark shape fell into the snow right in front of her. Another bird ¡­ but no. When she looked down, it wasn¡¯t there. There was nothing there, she was just seeing things.


    She began to feel strange again. Her body tingled, a numbness spreading and soothing the sharp sting of the cold until it entirely disappeared. In its wake, a rush of exhilaration suddenly flooded over her, making her breath deeper and harder and faster...


    ¡°No, no, no!¡± she shouted, her voice shrill. ¡°Not again! Darko, stay away!¡±


    She blacked out.


    She woke up with a jolt, pushing herself from the ice and snow and forcefully propelling herself into an upright sitting position. She breathed hard. The first thing she noticed was that she was cold and wet all over.


    She wildly looked around, brushing snowflakes off her nose, forehead, and eyebrows. As she did so, her hand suddenly flashed in pain as a warm, wet, and rough tongue brushed against it.


    Just like that, she saw Darko standing over her, whining anxiously, smelling her, and licking.


    Breathing a sigh of impossible relief, she embraced the gray wolf. ¡°Darko!¡± she exclaimed. ¡°By the god Vifafey, I¡¯m so happy you¡¯re still alive!¡±


    Darko whined, stuck his nose into her ear, and gave it a few soggy licks.


    ¡°I¡¯ve missed you so much,¡± she breathed into his fur. ¡°I was so worried ¡­ please don¡¯t ever leave me again. I¡¯ll feed you properly now, I promise! No more mice and rats. You¡¯ll get venison every day!¡±


    Suddenly, Darko stopped licking and jumped away from her. He bounded through the snow a few paces ahead, waging his tail along the ground.


    Scypha sobbed a few more times out of sheer relief. ¡°What is it, Darko?¡± she asked. ¡°Do you smell something?¡±


    Darko ignored her. He lowered himself to the level of the snow and began growling. Somewhere past the trees ahead of the two of them, Scypha heard a couple of twigs break.


    Someone is coming, she realized. Someone or something. And Darko doesn¡¯t like it.


    She held her breath and remained completely still for a few moments, then quietly crouched down, trying to make herself less visible.


    Darko growled.


    Glancing over at him anxiously, she sneaked up behind him, gently placing a hand on his back. ¡°Darko,¡± she whispered. ¡°Quiet, now. I think we should hide¡ª¡±


    That was when the arrow pierced his eye.

 Chapter 5 - Lies

    Eletha had spent some time deliberating how best to steer the woman and her boy to her heart tree, but the solution she came up with at the last moment was resoundingly simple. She skipped along pebbles that lined the undergrowth until she got ahead, then stopped beside a pine tree directly in their path.


    ¡°Do you need a hand?¡± she asked the woman carrying the body.


    Apparently, though, she should have spoken more graciously, as both the woman and the little boy shuddered and gaped at her.


    Eletha remained motionless for a few moments, allowing them time to compose themselves. Then she motioned towards the dead girl.


    ¡°You are exhausted, human. I can carry the body for you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s ¡­ Hi. That¡¯s a very kind offer,¡± said the woman. ¡°But please, allow me. She¡¯s my daughter.¡±


    Eletha thought for a moment, then nodded and stood aside to let them pass, trying to keep her expression neutral. ¡°As you wish,¡± she said. ¡°But know that midday has come and gone, and the day of accord ends at sundown.¡±


    ¡°We will hurry,¡± the woman replied. Her voice shook slightly. ¡°We¡¯ve just got to find the right spot, and we¡¯ll leave as soon as we can. We don¡¯t want any trouble.¡±


    Eletha smiled widely, but then she noticed their feet, which were firmly planted on bent and slowly breaking little saplings on the forest floor. She quickly became all too aware of her bow, which was slung over her shoulder. Her fingers again began to itch for the feel of an arrow.


    ¡°There will be no trouble,¡± she said, swiftly moving her hands away from the arrows strapped with vines to her thighs. ¡°I know the forest well. I can lead you to one of the prettier trees if you like. It¡¯s an oak, not far from the path you took to reach the grove. You may lay the body there and be back on your way home before the sun turns red. Sooner, if you let me carry it.¡±


    ¡°Then ... please, lead the way,¡± the human woman said.


    Eletha curtly nodded and turned away before they could see her smile.


    ¡°Oh,¡± she said then, turning back around. ¡°By the way. I¡¯m Eletha.¡±


    The woman looked stunned for a moment, then found her words again. ¡°I¡¯m Jennah,¡± she said. ¡°This is my son Luvelye ¡­ and Pella.¡±


    ¡°Hi, Luvelye,¡± Eletha said, eyeing the boy. He seemed to be frightened of her, just as his mother was. Wise. ¡°Please follow me. If you¡¯d be so kind, try not to trample too many of my younger relatives.¡±


    I would so hate to return the favor, she thought.


    ¡°Please, Luvelye,¡± the woman said to her boy, holding his shoulder, ¡°do as the kind dryad says.¡±


    He nodded without saying a word, and the three of them slowly made their way to Eletha¡¯s heart tree.


    ¡°How do you like this spot?¡± she asked when they had arrived at her heart tree. In line with the accord, humans had the final say over where they lay their dead to rest, although the dryads could move the bodies after they left. Still, Eletha had to ensure that they left it in her territory, not that of one of her sisters.


    The woman, breathing heavily and smelling of sweat, stopped just behind Eletha and looked upon her heart tree.


    It was a smaller oak than most of the others surrounding it, especially May¡¯s, and the bark was flecked with white and covered with moss. Despite that, though, Eletha took great pride in her heart tree. Every evening, she carefully arranged everything so that the tree could gather as many nutrients as possible from the earth and the sun, focusing far more than most other dryads on the spread of the branches, the health of the leaves, and the organization of the roots underground.


    The woman and her son, however, wouldn¡¯t appreciate any of it. The woman simply looked at it for a while, exhausted, and held the hand of the boy behind her.


    ¡°Just ¡­ here?¡± she asked. ¡°Just by this tree?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Eletha said.


    The woman gulped. ¡°But ¡­ I thought there would be a hole, or ¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡±The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°Mom,¡± the boy said quietly, tugging at her arm. ¡°How do we bury her? People will get sick.¡±


    ¡°Your concerns are irrelevant,¡± Eletha replied, sighing. ¡°Don¡¯t fret. Just lay it by the tree, and your part will be done. I¡¯ll put it in the ground later.¡±


    The woman appeared crestfallen but obeyed without saying another word. She gently laid down the dead girl directly in front of Eletha¡¯s heart tree.


    Eletha suppressed another smile, then stepped alongside her and the corpse and placed a hand on one of the lower branches of the tree. As soon as she did, the wind blew, rustling the leaves overhead.


    ¡°The small one has been dealt with,¡± she said.


    ¡°Good work, Eletha,¡± replied a whisper of the Oakmother¡¯s voice. ¡°The humans with the cart have also already left. Sisters, once the dead have been taken care of, make sure to escort the living out of our forest, and come back to the grove.¡±


    Eletha slipped another thread of magic into her tree, acknowledging the message, then turned back to the woman and boy. ¡°You should leave now,¡± she said. ¡°I will show you the way.¡±


    She¡¯d already started past them when she was interrupted.


    ¡°Wait! Can¡¯t we ¡­ Can we please have a moment to say goodbye?¡± asked the woman.


    Eletha grimaced, then looked toward the leaves blocking out the sky. Sundown was still a way in the future ¡­ and the corpse wouldn¡¯t truly be hers until the humans left. Solely to appease them and ensure they wouldn¡¯t decide to move it, she smiled understandingly and nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave you to your moment, then,¡± she said, scanning the ground and finding the line of pebbles that led away from them. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for your loss.¡±


    At that point, the woman had the makings of tears in her eyes. She mouthed a quiet ¡®thank you¡¯, then grasped more tightly the hand of her living boy and knelt down on the ground before Eletha¡¯s heart tree and the dead girl.


    The young boy, Luvelye, stared at Eletha for a few more moments than his mother did, then stepped up to the tree, trampling a dozen fallen leaves. Once his back was turned, Eletha glanced at the nearest pebble and nimbly hopped into the air, landing on it with one foot. It was easy to reach to the next pebble from that one, and then to create a measure of distance between herself and the two disgusting meat-men.


    Nelippe skipped over to her soon enough, having kept a safe distance between herself and the two meat-men while Eletha had graciously catered to them.


    ¡°Are you still willing to share?¡± she asked.


    Eletha couldn''t help but roll her eyes at the younger dryad.


    ¡°Those are the first words you say to me?¡± she asked. Still, after a moment''s consideration, she found herself nodding in agreement. ¡°Sure, why not? But I did all the work, so I¡¯ll be taking more than half.¡±


    ¡°That sounds fair. Mind if I take the head?¡±


    Eletha narrowed her eyes at her sister. ¡°Does the head include the entire neck?¡±


    Nelippe chuckled. ¡°Only half if you¡¯re going to be stingy about it. Come on, I¡¯ll owe you one next time, sister.¡±


    ¡°If I remember correctly, sister, you already do. Still ¡­ I¡¯ll humor you. I¡¯m nothing if not kind.¡±


    ¡°See? That¡¯s why you¡¯re the Oakmother¡¯s favorite, Eletha,¡± Nelippe said.


    Eletha grimaced. ¡°What? No, I¡¯m not.¡±


    ¡°Yes, you are. Didn¡¯t you know?¡±


    ¡°No ... Why would you even think that I would be?¡±


    ¡°Think that you would be what?¡± asked a new voice. Eletha turned and found her seed-sister May standing just behind her, grinning widely with newly grown vines and leaves tangling around her waist.


    ¡°Maylissena,¡± Nelippe said. ¡°She doesn¡¯t know that she¡¯s the Oakmother¡¯s favorite.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yes, you definitely are, Eletha. When there¡¯s an issue to do with ¡­ anything except meat-men, really, there¡¯s no doubt about it.¡±


    ¡°And when it is to do with them, it''s you, Maylissena,¡± Nelippe said.


    ¡°Yup,¡± May replied.


    ¡°Why ¡­ would you say that?¡± Eletha asked.


    May rolled her eyes. ¡°How surprising can it be? You suck up to her at every turn, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°I do not,¡± Eletha said.


    ¡°You do so,¡± Nelippe replied.


    ¡°Remember that time when we fought over who had the healthiest heart tree?¡± May asked.


    ¡°Yes ¡­ But the Oakmother judged fairly. My heart tree is healthier than yours. Just look at the leaves.¡±


    ¡°Mine has more leaves, seed-sister! It¡¯s twice the size of yours!¡±


    Eletha shook her head, grimacing. ¡°Size isn¡¯t everything.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a lot, though. Size got me to the sunlight while you, dear seed-sister, still wallow in the shade. Not to mention my roots run deeper.¡±


    ¡°But in all the wrong places!¡± Eletha exclaimed. ¡°Come on, May, really? Nelippe, what do you think?¡±


    ¡°I think I know better than to get involved in this argument ¡­ although you¡¯ve currently got some leverage over me, so I believe I¡¯ll side with you.¡±


    ¡°Ha. Hear that, May?¡±


    May shook her head, chuckling. ¡°Fine,¡± she said. ¡°You win, Eletha, your heart tree is healthier. You¡¯re still the Oakmother¡¯s favorite, though. An adorable little suck-up.¡±


    Eletha rolled her eyes. ¡°My dear seed-sister, shouldn¡¯t you go back to those meat-men you were so kindly leading around, all your skin exposed? I bet there are quite a few others who would love to help themselves to your big, fat prize. Maybe you should get back to sucking up to those meat-men.¡±


    ¡°My big, fat prize is already in the ground, feeding my heart tree,¡± May replied, grinning. ¡°I didn¡¯t even have to wait for those miserable old things to leave ¡­ But perhaps you should go to your little prize, Eletha. Congratulations, by the way! You finally snagged one. Small, but still something. You¡¯ve got a meat-man ¡­ Now, push it into the mud and wrap your roots around it.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t yet,¡± Eletha said, nodding toward Nelippe. ¡°We¡¯re splitting.¡±


    May grimaced. ¡°You little minx, Nelippe. I¡¯m pretty sure I already saw you haggle yourself a portion of Tefera¡¯s.¡±


    The young dryad shrugged. ¡°Diplomacy works for me. A bargain struck must be honored, and I don¡¯t even have to talk to the filthy things. You girls go on ahead and do that for me ¨C I¡¯m very grateful, of course.¡±


    ¡°Dishonest little worm,¡± Eletha said. ¡°You really are getting only half the neck.¡±


    The three of them laughed.

 Chapter 6 - Flowers

    ¡°Will we be allowed to visit?¡± the woman asked once Eletha had led her and her son away to the edge of the sacred forest. ¡°My old family used to have a custom ¡­ We¡¯d like to bring flowers to the grave, or, well, to the place where the body will rest. Would you allow it?¡±


    Eletha glanced at the woman and concealed her disgust with a smile. No doubt she meant to murder the flowers while moving them. She wouldn¡¯t know how to touch something as fragile as a dandelion or a rose without killing it, let alone be willing to try to.


    So Eletha shook her head. ¡°No,¡± she said. ¡°You may visit on the next day of the accord, but no sooner. The law of trespass stands without exception.¡±


    ¡°Not even once? Please?¡±


    Just once would be fine, actually, Eletha thought. The visit would be ¡®to die for¡¯.


    ¡°No,¡± she said aloud.


    The woman looked sheepishly towards the ground, tightly holding her son¡¯s hand. ¡°What if ¡­ I was to bring flowers here, to the border?¡± she asked. ¡°I could say some prayers, at least, and then ... would you bring them to her? To my daughter?¡±


    Hearing such blasphemous words, Eletha became so furious that her mask of pleasantry slipped, as did her trembling right hand, towards the shaft of an arrow strapped to her thigh. ¡°I will not cover my heart tree in death!¡± she hissed. ¡°The flowers are innocent; they want nothing to do with you and your dead little runt!¡±


    Both the woman and her son took frightened steps back, staring at her in horror.


    Eletha glared at them, beside herself with anger. Eventually, many moments later, she forced herself to tear her eyes away from them before the violent thoughts could truly take hold of her.


    They don¡¯t know any other way, an annoying thread of thought in her mind echoed, even while she seethed with rage. Meat-men, beasts, even most animals ¡­ killing is just what they do.


    It was the reason the goddess Phosyphia created dryads in the first place.


    Concealing her fury as much as she was able, Eletha forced herself to speak to the woman again.


    ¡°If you want flowers so badly,¡± she growled, ¡°I¡¯ll plant them myself. You will see them when next you are welcome into our forest ¨C but you will not insult me or my sisters by bringing any yourself.¡±


    Both the woman and her son continued to stare at her, shaking. The son took a few more steps back, hiding behind his mother¡¯s dress.


    ¡°Do you understand?¡± Eletha asked.


    Still trembling wildly, the woman hastily nodded.


    ¡°And do you accept?¡±


    ¡°Yes! Yes! Thank you.¡±


    Eletha relaxed and released the arrow she had begun clutching in her right hand. Pulling her gaze away from the two meat-men, she knelt to the ground and gently caressed a small birch sapling growing in the shade in front of her. ¡°Good,¡± she said. ¡°Then, as this young one witnesses, we have an accord.¡±


    She looked towards the two humans again and slowly rose to her feet. ¡°Is that all?¡± she asked.


    ¡°O-only one more thing ¨C if you would be so kind, noble dryad,¡± the woman said.


    Eletha clicked her tongue, realizing she was being far more patient with the humans than was customary or necessary.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to ask if my boy is sick, too,¡± the woman said. ¡°Luvelye. I¡¯ve heard dryads can tell these things at a glance. If you would be so kind¡ª¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Eletha cut in. ¡°He¡¯s not sick. He¡¯ll be prowling the earth for decades to come, a horror to all of nature¡¯s guardians.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s ¡­ not? Oh, thank you, Vifafey ¡­ and thank you, dryad. I am in your debt¡ª¡±


    ¡°Leave now, then, and I¡¯ll consider it repaid. Trample on fewer lives on your way home.¡±


    The woman hastily nodded, holding her son close to her again and profusely speaking praise to Eletha and the lesser god Vifafey. Slowly, she made to leave. Eletha had already grown bored by her presence rather than disgusted by it by the time she and her boy finally did go.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    The reddening sun slowly hid itself under the treetops as she began to make her way to the Oakmother¡¯s sacred grove.


    ¡°Not sick at all, that little boy,¡± she murmured to herself, passing a group of birch trees, pines, and larches. ¡°But then, neither was the girl, before the nightshade.¡±


    The journey back to the Oakmother¡¯s grove was much quicker than the one away from it, since Eletha was no longer stuck caring for meat-men.


    She made it to the Great Oaks before twilight, skipping on pebbles and tree roots along the way. It was refreshing, once again moving through the forest without watching plants get trampled right in front of her, forbidden from intervening as sylvan law and basic morality decreed.


    ¡°The accord was a mistake,¡± she murmured. ¡°No matter how few of us dryads there are left ¡­ those murderers and fire-starters¡­¡±


    Of course, her thoughts on the matter were unimportant, as were those of the majority of her sisters. The Oakmother¡¯s word was final, and she had personally arranged a ¡®peaceful coexistence¡¯. With the occasional days of accord as exceptions, the humans would stay out of the forest, and the dryads stay in it. The agreement didn¡¯t make anyone happy, but it left everyone alive.


    Eletha smiled, lifting her hand and caressing the bow hung on her shoulder. Almost everyone, in any case. Trespassers can be shown no mercy.


    Soon enough, she passed through the entrance of the Oakmother¡¯s grove. About twenty of her sisters were gathered there, tending to saplings and undergrowth that were bent and injured when the humans passed them.


    The Oakmother was there too, with a human. The old, bald one, the leader ¨C Berrick. The sun was already down, and he was still in the heart of the woods ¡­ it made Eletha¡¯s skin crawl.


    A gentle breeze began to pick up, causing the myriad of leaves above everyone to sway and rustle. The Oakmother held a hand to one of her oaks, silently communing with them, to the chagrin of her human acquaintance. After a few moments, she opened her eyes and signaled Eletha to join her.


    Eletha did so without delay. As she skipped along the pebbles, she saw May kneeling on the ground and tending to a little sapling with a bent leaf stroke.


    ¡°Who is she sending for?¡± her seed-sister asked. ¡°Ah, yes. Her favorite.¡±


    Eletha rolled her eyes and continued hopping towards the Oakmother.


    ¡°Are we truly asking for that much?¡± the human was saying as she arrived. ¡°Vephena, this will be bad for all of us. I keep telling you not all of us humans are the same, but you won¡¯t listen!¡±


    The Oakmother sighed, removing her hand from the oak. ¡°And I keep telling you, dear friend, that we do not interfere in human affairs. Is our accord with you truly not favorable enough already? Why do you keep asking for more?¡±


    ¡°It is, Vephena! I¡¯m not asking for more, we are all already happy with the accord ¨C but we won''t be able to follow it any longer if you don¡¯t help us!¡±


    Eletha stood patiently in silence, eyeing the distressed meat-man with a measure of distaste.


    ¡°We do not pick sides,¡± the Oakmother said. ¡°We cannot.¡±


    ¡°Vephena, I¡¯m begging you. Just this once. Half your girls are starving, aren¡¯t they? You¡¯ll even get a meal out of it!¡±


    ¡°Eletha,¡± the Oakmother said, turning away from him. ¡°My child. It is good that you have made your way back here so quickly. I have a task for you.¡±


    ¡°What is it, Oakmother?¡± Eletha asked.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to ask that you see this man safely home,¡± the Oakmother said, shaking her head. ¡°He is dear to me, and I would fear for his fate if he were to wander our forest alone in the dark.¡± She turned to gaze at the human again. ¡°These woods can be dangerous for our human friends.¡±


    Eletha frowned, trying to see if she was being serious.


    Berrick rolled his eyes at the Oakmother in a display of utter repugnance. ¡°So that¡¯s your answer, Vephena?¡± he asked. ¡°No? Just like that?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Berrick,¡± the Oakmother said.


    ¡°Fine. But things won''t bode well for you either. Without us and our accord, how will you eat? Will you start leaving the forest to scavenge and murder? How long until someone sets fire to it?¡±


    The Oakmother remained calm in the face of the threat, but Eletha unconsciously grasped one of the arrows on her thigh.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a pleasant day of accord, Berrick,¡± the Oakmother said after a few moments. ¡°I¡¯d rather not end it with a fight. Look ¡­ I¡¯m sorry, but I have to look out for my own. I will pray that you resolve your issues.¡±


    ¡°Not bloody likely!¡± the human retorted. ¡°Hell, this might be our last goodbye, Vephena! But ¡­ I guess I shouldn¡¯t complain. It clearly doesn¡¯t matter to you.¡±


    ¡°Goodbye, Berrick. Please be wary of that screecher I mentioned earlier.¡±


    Screecher? There¡¯s one here? Eletha thought. She hadn¡¯t heard. Perhaps the god-blessed monster would kill one of the meat-men on their way home.


    ¡°Goodbye, Oakmother,¡± the human spat.


    At that, the Oakmother appeared taken aback, but after a moment, she composed herself again and nodded at Eletha, and she, in turn, placed her hand on the human¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°Come,¡± Eletha said to Berrick. ¡°I¡¯ll show you the way.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± the Oakmother said, looking towards the ground. ¡°See him all the way home, my daughter. The law of trespass will be lifted a little longer.¡±


    Eletha turned toward the Oakmother, confused. Had she really just asked her to leave the forest¡­? It appeared so¡­


    The human snorted. ¡°Spare me. Let¡¯s just get going,¡± he said, before turning away from Eletha and the Oakmother. He plodded off without a care for any of the young plants in his way.


    Eletha gazed at the Oakmother for a moment longer.


    ¡°All the way home, my daughter,¡± the Oakmother said. ¡°Please keep him safe.¡±


    ¡°Why give this task to me?¡± Eletha asked.


    ¡°Because you¡¯re good with the bow, and because you might benefit most from completing it. You have potential, Eletha, but you need to be able to behave yourself more appropriately around the humans. I want you to take this as a learning opportunity. As your seed-sister Maylissena told you earlier today, try to play nice.¡±


    Eletha shuddered at the embarrassment. Confused as she was, she nodded and skipped up ahead of the human.

 Chapter 7 - Playing nice

    All along their path, the bald old man made no effort to spare any plant¡¯s lives. If anything, he seemed to deliberately step on and injure more of them than necessary.


    Play nice. The Oakmother¡¯s words were stuck in Eletha¡¯s mind like a cancer.


    Eletha was disgusted by the meat-man¡¯s actions, as were all the other dryads that they passed, but she said nothing.


    The Oakmother had called this one a friend, she recalled ¡­ Berrick was one that they had all known for a while, as leader of the humans, but still. She wanted him protected, and he seemed even to know his way through the forest.


    ¡°The sun has gone down,¡± he said suddenly, breaking the silence and stopping in the middle of a small clearing. He turned to Eletha, gazing at her irritatedly. ¡°Want to kill me?¡± he asked. ¡°I¡¯m still in your territory.¡±


    Eletha grimaced. Of course, she did ¨C but what she wanted was beside the question. ¡°The Oakmother would see you protected,¡± she replied.


    The human snorted. ¡°Sure she would ¡­ Hel, well, maybe she would make an exception for me. But ¡­ just for me.¡±


    He seemed to grow sad. Eletha didn¡¯t really care. It was growing dark, but just ahead of the two of them, all of a sudden, she thought she saw ¡­ a very large hole in the ground.


    Quickly, she darted between it and the meat-man, grabbing her bow from her shoulder and nocking an arrow. ¡°Stand back,¡± she said. ¡°And move back. We¡¯re not going this way.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± the human asked.


    ¡°A screecher¡¯s tunnel.¡±


    The human¡¯s breath caught in his throat.


    Eletha knelt on the ground, bow at the ready, for a moment disregarding the comfort of the little plants beneath her. She slipped a thread of green-glowing magic from her knees into the ground, sending a message to her sisters and probing for the location of the abyssal, god-made monster.


    Finding nothing, she slowly got back to her feet. ¡°It¡¯s not here right now,¡± she said, not turning away from the tunnel. ¡°But we¡¯ll take a detour regardless.¡±


    ¡°Agreed,¡± the human replied. He seemed nervous. ¡°So she was telling the truth? By Vifafey, now we¡¯ve even a screecher to deal with?¡±


    ¡°Screechers have nothing to do with that lesser god of yours,¡± Eletha said, shaking her head. ¡°Now come. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    She heard the rustling of leaves behind her as the human began to move his feet. After a moment, she followed, then skipped ahead of him, carefully scanning their surroundings again.


    The moon continued to slowly rise in the sky. For a while, they made their way through the dark forest in relative silence, though the human¡¯s lumbering steps across dried twigs and leaves distracted Eletha from her search for the monster. Then he spoke again.


    ¡°If you won¡¯t help us,¡± he said, ¡°do you think the screecher might?¡±


    Eletha cringed despite herself. ¡°You would ask a screecher for help?¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± the old human sighed. ¡°I¡¯ve run out of friends to ask. I¡¯m desperate.¡±


    Eletha remained silent for a few moments, then shook her head. ¡°I know nothing of the issue, yet I find the answer to your question to be beyond obvious.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± the human said, scowling. ¡°Human-hating monsters will not agree to help.¡±


    ¡°No. They won''t.¡±


    ¡°Well then ¡­ I guess we truly have no friends here at all. The bigots were right all along. We humans are alone in this world ¨C even nine out of ten gods hate us.¡±


    Eletha smiled. Just what does that say about you? she wondered, though she didn¡¯t deign to say the words aloud.


    As time went on, the human seemed to grow more and more solemn. Eventually, the two of them made it to the edge of the Oakmother¡¯s sacred forest, and Eletha jumped out of the undergrowth onto a human-made path constructed entirely of smooth pebbles. It was the first time she¡¯d left the trees in decades...


    The feeling of isolation arrived without delay. Her magic stirred, tangling itself further into her body as it lost its connection to her distant heart tree.


    For a moment, she remained perfectly still, looking around. She marveled at the open field ahead of her, lit by moon and starlight. It was strange, seeing nothing above her but the sky.


    The human soon stumbled out of the forest behind her. He roughly patted himself down with his hands, saw her staring at the stars, and smiled. ¡°Ha ¡­ You¡¯re just like Vephena was,¡± he murmured. ¡°First time out of the trees?¡±


    Eletha turned her gaze towards him. How exactly did he know the Oakmother?


    ¡°She was especially interested in that one, there,¡± he said, pointing out a star to the left of the full moon. ¡°That one doesn¡¯t move.¡±


    Eletha grimaced. ¡°Do stars normally move?¡±The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°All of them do. All the time ¡­ But not that one. It¡¯s useful for finding your way home if you get lost ¡­ Though I suppose that doesn¡¯t concern you.¡±


    Eletha remained quiet, looking at the star he¡¯d pointed out.


    The human shook his head. Eletha thought she saw a tear leave his eye. ¡°So, are you really going to follow me all the way home?¡± he asked.


    She nodded.


    ¡°Fine,¡± he sighed. ¡°Then I, too, lift our ¡®law of trespass.¡¯ Tonight, you are welcome outside the trees, dryad.¡±


    Eletha snorted. She¡¯d actually forgotten that humans had the right to deny dryads entry to the plains, just as the dryads could deny humans entry to their forest. Why would a dryad ever even want to go to a place with no trees in the first place?


    She shrugged. Apparently, there were times when it was necessary.


    ¡°I¡¯m Berrick,¡± the human said. ¡°I suppose you should know, since you¡¯ll be meeting my family.¡±


    ¡°I have no wish¡ª¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± the human said. ¡°I¡¯m joking. But what is your name? So far, I¡¯ve only dealt with Vephena and Maylissena.¡±


    Eletha narrowed her eyes and gazed at him for a few moments, tilting her head to the side. ¡°Eletha,¡± she said finally. Just how had he dealt with Maylissena?


    ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you, Eletha. Now, I suppose it¡¯s my turn to lead, and yours to follow.¡±


    Eletha nodded, and Berrick turned away from her. ¡°Don¡¯t start shooting arrows at people,¡± he murmured. ¡°Leave it to the bandits¡­¡±


    For a moment, he looked towards the sky, then he started walking along the pebbled path, the ¡®road¡¯, in the direction of the humans¡¯ settlement. She followed closely behind him ¨C walking, not skipping on the rocks, for the first time in years. It didn¡¯t take long for one of them to break the silence again ¨C but this time, it was her.


    ¡°There¡¯s another screecher tunnel,¡± she said, gazing toward a large black pit in the middle of the field. ¡°To your right.¡±


    Berrick looked blindly through the darkness for a few moments, saw it, and cursed. ¡°Chi¡¯orat! This close to the village? Is the beast in there?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Eletha replied. ¡°I sense nothing. Let¡¯s keep going.¡±


    The human nodded and started to walk a little faster. ¡°It better not have attacked already ¡­ we need to prepare ¡­ get out of here¡­¡±


    Soon enough, the two of them made it further into the grasslands than Eletha had ever gone. In the distance, past the fields of grass, a group of unnaturally rectangular dark shapes appeared ¨C apparently, the humans¡¯ living spaces. ¡®Houses¡¯, according to Berrick.


    Meat-men are strange, Eletha thought ¡­ though really, if she thought about it, it wasn¡¯t too different from how birds gathered sticks or how badgers dug holes in the ground for their young. Everyone needed a nest of some kind ¡­ a heart tree ¡­


    They passed a group of humans walking along the ¡®road¡¯, but it was dark enough that they didn¡¯t recognize Eletha. She must have seemed a human to them, walking around in the darkness, nowhere near the forest. She shuddered despite herself ¨C regardless of the advantage, she¡¯d really rather not have even been perceived as a meat-man.


    Not long after, once they¡¯d gotten closer to the settlement, wherein the humans foolishly burned small fires in their houses, they passed more people.


    Grateful for her eyes, which were clearly superior to those of humans, Eletha even recognized some of the men from the ritual in the forest, though she hadn¡¯t bothered to remember their names ¡­ except the one.


    She saw Sam carrying a ¡®bucket,¡¯ something made to be filled with water, from a ¡®well.¡¯ It was empty, but it smelled of dirt.


    She strolled past him, right behind Berrick, who somehow kept answering her questions before she could even ask them. He was strangely kind to her. He¡¯d even stopped torturing the grass under his clothed feet ¡­ and he seemed sad about something.


    She began to shift uncomfortably. Annoying thoughts began to creep into her mind, each one of them related to ¡®playing nice¡¯.


    Even the Oakmother says I should¡­


    Suddenly, the meat-man stopped. ¡°Okay, I¡ª¡± he started.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Eletha cut in.


    Berrick stopped speaking mid-sentence, seeming taken aback. ¡°¡­Sorry, what?¡±


    ¡°I said thank you,¡± Eletha said. ¡°For humoring me. For answering my questions regarding all these human things.¡±


    ¡°Oh ¡­ Oh. That¡¯s okay. It¡¯s nothing, I just like talking. Anyway, I wanted to let you know that we¡¯ve made it. This is my house, here.¡±


    Eletha looked past the human and gazed at the rectangular mound of dirt and stone, hollowed out like an old tree trunk, with orange light streaming out of three openings. Almost no wood, she thought. All the other houses are made just about exclusively out of it.


    ¡°What are you?¡± she murmured, mostly to herself.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry?¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°Never mind.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to guard me any longer,¡± Berrick said. ¡°You can go if you want. Will you be able to find your way back to the forest? I¡¯d walk you, but I doubt you¡¯d want me to in the first place, and it would defeat the point of you escorting me here.¡±


    ¡°I can sense the way,¡± Eletha replied. ¡°I will tell the Oakmother you survived the night.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Eletha. Be safe. There are bandits somewhere around here.¡±


    It was at that moment that another meat-man walking past the two of them through the darkness suddenly stopped and stared at Eletha. ¡°Y-you¡ª¡±


    Apparently, the middle-aged man lost his voice. Eletha frowned. She and Berrick turned towards him.


    ¡°D-dryad!¡± the man gasped. ¡°Here?! People¡ª¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes, calm down, merchant,¡± Berrick said. ¡°She¡¯s a friend.¡±


    ¡°I am not,¡± Eletha spat, grimacing.


    Berrick glared at her for a few moments, then rolled his eyes and turned back to the merchant. ¡°An acquaintance, then. Just keep moving, merchant, and she won¡¯t harm you.¡±


    ¡°Y-yes ¡­¡± the man said, hastily moving along away from the two of them.


    Berrick turned to Eletha and shrugged. ¡°Sorry, acquaintance,¡± he said. ¡°That¡¯s another newcomer, a merchant that somehow made it past the bandits. I apologize if he offended you.¡±


    Eletha shrugged. Actually, she had quite enjoyed watching the man squirm.


    She hesitated for a few moments, then sighed. ¡°Berrick,¡± she said finally. ¡°I think I might tell you something.¡±


    ¡°Hm? What is it, has Vephena given you more instructions? I thought her voice couldn¡¯t reach outside the forest.¡±


    Her eyes shot up to the human. ¡°You really do know too much.¡±


    He smiled tiredly.


    ¡°But no,¡± she said, looking away. ¡°This might, in fact, be unnecessarily stretching my duty to protect you on your way home, but well ¡­ I can¡¯t really tell anymore. You are a friend of the Oakmother¡¯s, and ¡­ well, you were kind to me, in your own horrible meat-man way¡­¡±


    ¡°Continue,¡± Berrick said.


    Eletha shook her head. ¡°Do you remember the man with the bucket?¡± she asked.


    ¡°The ¡­ oh, do you mean that one from before? Yes. What about him?¡±


    Eletha grimaced, unsure of herself, but continued anyway. ¡°That bucket he carried,¡± she said. ¡°It was dark, but you told me he¡¯d be using it to carry water from the ¡®well¡¯ to his nest.¡±


    Berrick nodded, somewhat confused. ¡°I ¡­ apologize if the wood it¡¯s made of offends you.¡±


    ¡°It certainly does, but that¡¯s not what I want to say. The bucket was empty. Or ¡­ empty-ish.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­?¡±


    Eletha shook her head, slowly growing irritated. Humans really did have no connection to plant life at all. ¡°He was carrying it back to his ¡®house¡¯,¡± she said, ¡°but it was empty. He didn¡¯t fill it up at the ¡®well¡¯.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°He didn¡¯t take anything from the well, but he did put something in,¡± Eletha continued. ¡°When we were passing by it, I sensed the unjust suffering of some young plants from its direction. I doubt you¡¯d care, normally, but ¡­ they were nightshades.¡±


    Berrick winced, then stared at her wide-eyed. ¡°Poison,¡± he gasped.

 Chapter 8 - An honest merchant

    The wagon trembled and shook, rolling across the snow-covered forest path.


    Vrelyen, whispering to himself that he was a gruff and honest merchant, worked hard to feed his family in Ryzayah. He sat on a hard wooden seat next to Nalian, one of the dull-faced mercenaries employed by the slavers¡¯ caravan. Nalian, the mercenary, was a scarred-faced man who was fonder of whipping the horses that pulled his cart than he was of feeding them.


    It was cold, and warm winds were still a long way off. Vrelyen had been dealing with a runny nose for several days, and his sickness was putting him in a bad mood ¨C though, really, the same could be said for everyone in the caravan.


    The goblin slaves in the wagon cages constantly whispered complaints, their teeth chattering, frostbite slowly taking their fingers. Most of them had cost Vrelyen quite a bit of silver, so really, he wouldn¡¯t have been opposed to giving them extra clothing, but due to a rare lack of foresight, he had forgotten to buy any when he¡¯d been in Lyerateh.


    He sighed, rubbing his hands together to keep them warm. It didn¡¯t matter. The pukes would most likely survive anyway.


    ¡°How long until Amzev gets back?¡± asked Nalian. The man¡¯s voice was raspy and unpleasant. He had a cold, too.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be long,¡± Vrelyen said. ¡°He just needs to collect our payment for the girl, and he¡¯ll come running back to us. Perhaps he¡¯s already on his way.¡±


    The mercenary¡¯s expression darkened. ¡°Should we really be collecting payment?¡± he asked. ¡°The job isn¡¯t done.¡±


    Vrelyen shook his head, grimacing. ¡°That¡¯s the problem with you mercenaries,¡± he said. ¡°No insight, no eye for business. Isn¡¯t the job done as well as it needs to be? The customer will never see that girl again, and at the end of the day, that¡¯s all she really wanted, isn¡¯t it? So why not obtain a free slave to go with the priestess¡¯s silver?¡±


    ¡°Because we said we would kill her, that¡¯s why. Scamming a priestess rubs me the wrong way. Aren¡¯t we basically stealing from the gods?¡±


    Vrelyen chuckled. ¡°Damned as we are, I don¡¯t think it makes any sort of difference, Nalian. But go on, if you like. If you want forgiveness, go on and start praying. Get in one of the slave cages and repent. I¡¯m sure the god Vifafey will appreciate it.¡±


    Nalian shook his head. ¡°Urgh. Pointless. Never mind, then.¡±


    Eventually, Vrelyen¡¯s butt began to ache a bit too much for his liking, and he got up from the hard wooden seat at the front of the caravan. He jumped onto the snow-covered ground, stretched his legs and arms, and took a short walk around, surveying the area to take his mind off the cold.


    They were still in the Lyerateh forest, and they would be for a few more days before they reached the nearest other city. They had to get south. Traveling in the winter was rough, even if it was safer from bandits.


    He made his way past the first three slaves¡¯ carts, looking through the metal bars at the shuddering goblins, all huddled together, trying to conserve their body heat.


    ¡°Just a few more hours until we stop for your daily meal,¡± he told them. ¡°You damned pukes. If you¡¯re going to freeze to death, do it before then. More food for the rest of you that way.¡±The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    In response, he got a few coughs and sniffles. Goblins never were particularly articulate. He had two half-breeds too, in one of the carts, but those weren¡¯t much better, either.


    He stood by and stretched, waiting for the first couple of carts to move past him and the last ones to reach him. His newest acquisition was in one of those, in the back. The young woman, a human, who had somehow made herself an enemy of a priestess of Vifafey.


    She sat apart from the goblins in her cage as far away from them as was possible. She was huddled up with her knees in front of her chest, quietly mumbling a prayer ¨C to Vifafey, of all gods ¨C the one who apparently wanted her dead. Vrelyen stifled a laugh.


    The girl¡¯s teeth chattered with every syllable.


    Vrelyen looked at her and smiled. He had never considered himself a do-gooder, but apparently, it wasn''t impossible to become one. The woman would never know it, but really, she ought to be grateful to him. He could have just killed her as instructed ¨C as all his mercenaries wanted, but instead, he was giving her a free trip to some city down south.


    Not that he wouldn¡¯t be compensated for it, he did mean to sell her, but that didn¡¯t change things. He was saving her life. Wasn¡¯t that a good thing?


    The young woman looked up at him, her breath and body both trembling from the freezing cold. Her clothes were tattered, her sleeves too short. She didn¡¯t say anything. After the first couple of days, she¡¯d stopped begging him to sell her back to her mother. He couldn¡¯t oblige her ¨C at least as far as her hometown was concerned, if not reality, she did have to be dead. His reputation for honesty depended on it.


    ¡°You doing well?¡± he asked her. ¡°Need anything?¡±


    A few puke-colored goblin faces behind the woman turned to look at him, but they didn¡¯t say anything. Over time, they had learned what to expect.


    The human girl, however, apparently hadn¡¯t. ¡°Slaver,¡± she said. Her voice trembled.


    Vrelyen turned to look at her. ¡°What is it, girl?¡± he asked. ¡°Are you cold?¡±


    Her head suddenly twitched to the side, as if on its own, and she winced. He realized he¡¯d forgotten her name.


    ¡°Would you like that wolf pelt?¡± he asked. Skinning her little pet had been quite the challenge, really, but once the thing would be dry, it¡¯d make quite the coat. ¡°It¡¯s still a little bloody,¡± he said, ¡°but I¡¯m sure you¡¯d like to be closer to the little beast of yours. I already gave my friend Amzev the head, though, to use as proof of your death.¡±


    The woman looked horrified. Then, she shook her head and gazed up at him pleadingly. ¡°P-please,¡± she said, teeth chattering. ¡°I need to get out of here.¡±


    ¡°Haven¡¯t we already gone over this a few times?¡± Vrelyen asked.


    ¡°Not free. I just ¡­ need to be out of this cart. Away from these people. You can tie me up.¡±


    ¡°Why would I do that?¡±


    ¡°Please.¡±


    Vrelyen stared at the woman for a few moments, then shrugged. ¡°You need to keep warm, girl. Huddle up to the pukes for a few hours, if you want to stay alive. And don¡¯t worry. If you really want a few moments of freedom, me and my men will be happy to let you out in the evening to have some fun.¡±


    The woman shrank back into herself. Vrelyen smiled. The merchants down south would pay extra if she remained a virgin ¨C if she was one in the first place ¨C but the ice and cold had really brought spirits down. Some entertainment would be welcome.


    He turned to leave.


    ¡°I will carve the name of God into your flesh, Vrelyen, and I will call it mercy.¡±


    A moment passed. Vrelyen''s hair stood on end.


    He spun back around, staring at the woman again. She was gazing at him with eyes that were white as snow, with no irises or pupils to speak of. Suddenly, her body tremored, and she fell forward onto the metal bars in front of her. Her eyes returned to normal.


    ¡°What did you say?¡± he asked.


    She shook her head, looking around with a stupid expression on her face, then gazed up at him.


    ¡°What did you say?¡± he demanded.


    Her eyes widened, and her mouth hung open, but she just stared at him, apparently dumbfounded. ¡°Um ¡­ Sorry!¡± she said. ¡°I just wanted to ask you if you¡¯d let me out of this cart.¡±


    ¡°Not that! Before! You. Tell me. What is my name?¡±


    ¡°I ¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°You just said it.¡±


    ¡°Did ¡­ Did I? I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t remember.¡±


    Vrelyen stared at her for a few more moments, but her continued stupid expression betrayed no hint of anything but confusion and fear. He looked to the other slaves, but they either really hadn¡¯t heard or they were pretending not to have.


    Uncomfortable, he grimaced and walked away without another word.

 Chapter 9 - Fresh fertilizer

    A few days after the day of accord, just after Eletha had untangled herself from her heart tree and skipped over the flowers surrounding it to go patrol her section of the border, she heard the meat men¡¯s distant bell ring.


    It chimed once ¡­ twice ¡­ thrice.


    Three chimes. That meant nothing to the dryads ¨C not to any of them but Eletha. Berrick had told her ¨C if the other meat-man turned out to be an enemy, he would let her know.


    She shivered. She didn¡¯t know what had come over her that night. Perhaps exhaustion? The Oakmother had told her to play nice, but she¡¯d gone and broken the pact of neutrality!


    She¡¯d helped one meat-man discover the murderous plot of another ¨C what if that got out? What if someone found out?


    She shook her head, grimacing. It felt wrong ¡­ but she didn¡¯t feel as guilty as she knew she should have. She was looking forward to bringing a fresh corpse to her heart tree. That little headless girl she¡¯d pulled under her roots was serving her well, but it had been a very long time since she¡¯d had a full-grown man.


    Clearly, there was something wrong with her. Dryads weren¡¯t supposed to interfere in human affairs. The Oakmother had told them that countless times. Though ¡­ was it really so wrong to turn one meat-man against another ¨C particularly, when she did so with nothing but the truth, and in so doing, gained the forest fresh fertilizer? Was it really such a terrible thing, to stop a murderer from murdering more?


    She shrugged, unsure of herself. The birds kept singing, not giving a tweet about what she¡¯d done.


    ¡°Well, I might as well go and take what was promised me,¡± she sighed. She¡¯d probably need to ask the Oakmother for guidance later, but what was done was done.


    She quickly hopped along various pebbles scattered on the ground toward the direction of the edge of the forest, nearest the human ¡®village.¡¯ She did so lithely, careful not to make any noise that might disturb her sisters ¨C despite her inner turmoil, she¡¯d have rather not have found out what they thought on the matter.


    Soon enough, the last trees before the open fields came into view. A few birds flew out of Eletha¡¯s way as she hopped onto one last pebble and then onto a tree branch. She climbed a tall pine tree halfway to its top and looked around in all directions.


    It didn¡¯t take her long to find the old human she¡¯d broken the pact of neutrality for. Berrick.


    He sat on a rock near the edge of the Oakmother¡¯s forest, looking at nothing. He was just on the human side of the border. There was another meat-man next to him, a dark-haired man around middle age, and on the ground next to that one lay Sam, dead.


    Eletha smiled. A dead meat-man really was a pleasant sight, regardless of the circumstances under which it came to be so. Perhaps she was being too hard on herself.


    She jumped off the tree she stood on and made again for the direction of the border.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Before the two living meat-men could spot her, she took her bow into her hands, nocked an arrow, and shot it swiftly into the ground before their feet. It flung a clump of dirt into the air, making a little brown cloud.


    The younger meat-man yelped, jumping back, but Berrick only turned his head to calmly look at the arrow.


    ¡°Relax,¡± Eletha heard him say. ¡°It¡¯s just a ¡®hello¡¯. We¡¯re still on our side of the border.¡±


    ¡°H-how can you be sure?¡± the younger meat-man asked. ¡°That was really close!¡±


    Eletha nocked another arrow. She let it loose, and it whistled a finger¡¯s width from the man¡¯s right ear.


    Allowing herself a smile at the pleasant sight of their fear, she put her bow away and hopped towards the meat-men.


    ¡°Because if it wasn¡¯t, that would have gone between your eyes,¡± Berrick said, rising to his feet while the younger man cowered. ¡°Trust me, Teven. Dryads don¡¯t miss. She just wants us to know she¡¯s coming.¡±


    Eletha took a few more steps forward, then stopped by the last tree before the end of the sacred forest. The two meat-men finally saw her.


    ¡°Hello again, Eletha,¡± Berrick said. He looked her up and down, eyeing the layers of fresh leaves and flowers she¡¯d recently allowed to spread over her body. ¡°You look good and healthy. Pella must be doing your heart tree well ... She was the girl, in case you¡¯ve forgotten.¡±


    Eletha grimaced, realizing she should never have told the human her name. She remained quiet, eyeing the corpse lying on the ground beside the young and cowardly dark-haired man.


    ¡°I promised him to you, provided he turned out to be our enemy,¡± Berrick said, pointing at the corpse with his feet. ¡°Turned out he was. A bandit, sent to poison our well and get people to leave the village with money on them to buy medicine. He was responsible for Pella¡¯s death.¡±


    Eletha blinked.


    ¡°Ah ¡­ You don¡¯t really care, do you?¡± Berrick asked, sighing and looking her up and down. ¡°Us meat-men are all the same to you, aren¡¯t we?¡±


    Eletha shrugged.


    ¡°That¡¯s okay. In any case ¨C will you shoot Teven if he moves forward a few paces to bring you the corpse?¡±


    Eletha thought for a moment, then nodded. ¡°Yes,¡± she said.


    In the knee, she thought, because she was feeling generous, but she didn¡¯t say that part out loud.


    ¡°Alright then,¡± Berrick said. ¡°I lift the law of trespass for you. Come get the poisoner yourself.¡±


    Eletha stepped past the last tree and the border towards the two humans. The younger one, Teven, took a step back whenever she took one forward. Avoiding a patch of dandelions, she hopped onto a pebble just in front of the corpse. Seeing it closely, it looked ¡­ ravaged. Its fellow humans had hurt it quite thoroughly before killing it.


    After a moment¡¯s thought, she grabbed an arrow from her thigh and stuck it into the corpse¡¯s ribcage. With any luck, any sisters that¡¯d perhaps see the thing would assume she had been the one to kill it.


    A trickle of blood spurted into the air and covered her hands. She hoisted the body onto her shoulder, turned around, and moved back towards the forest.


    ¡°There¡¯s more of them if you want,¡± Berrick said, behind her. ¡°This killer¡¯s crew is still out there. We know where they are hiding, now. We from the village are no warriors, but ¡­ You could take them all. You dryads could have lots more to nourish your heart trees, Eletha.¡±


    Eletha stopped for a moment, considering what he was offering, then turned towards Berrick again. ¡°Dryads don¡¯t get involved in human affairs,¡± she said.


    ¡°But you could,¡± he replied. ¡°You¡¯d benefit from it. As would we; you¡¯d be saving our lives, but ¡­ you could make twenty more dryads, at least. And we¡¯d agree to move the border, give you plenty of space for them. Anything you want. We just need your protection from these bandits.¡±


    Eletha grimaced. She¡¯d heard that humans occasionally warred amongst themselves, like colonies of ants. The Oakmother had mentioned it when she was a child, sleeping in her sapling heart tree. Forests of dryads often grow where once humans fought great battles, she¡¯d said.


    So why not benefit from it? Perhaps it¡¯d be a good idea. Still, she shook her head, unsure. Perhaps she didn¡¯t see the whole picture.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already helped you once,¡± she said to the human, ¡°and even that was probably too much. Anything more is up to the Oakmother.¡±

 Chapter 10 - Light green

    Scypha''s stomach rumbled with hunger and discomfort as she huddled up to the freezing-cold metal bars of the slave cart.


    She was turned away from the other slaves, short, green-skinned goblins all, looking instead towards the outside of the cart, towards the snowy forest on the side of the road. She sat with her cold, stiff legs around the metal bars. She¡¯d found that the discomfort of the cold helped her focus on her own thoughts, if only a little, while looking at people made her feel like ¡­ she was drifting away.


    ¡°Vifafey, my god, please help us,¡± she mumbled, trying to focus on the words. ¡°Bring us to safety and freedom, away from tyrants ... Vifafey, my god, please help us ¡­ save these people from¡­¡±


    Her head suddenly jerked to the side, moving of its own volition. She bit her tongue, wincing in pain.


    Outside the cart, one of the slavers walked by, looking her up and down hungrily. She closed her eyes, trying not to think, trying to keep her focus on her prayers.


    ¡°Vifafey, please help us,¡± she said again. ¡°Before I lose myself¡­¡± Her body kept twitching. It wasn¡¯t because of the cold.


    ¡°Hey,¡± a voice whispered from behind her.


    Scypha¡¯s eyes fluttered open, and she turned to look before she could stop herself. A girl with light green skin and long, light brown hair, crawled up to her. A half-breed goblin girl, judging by her appearance. She was one of two ¨C she¡¯d earlier noticed a male goblin that was also taller than the others.


    ¡°You¡¯re new to being a slave, aren¡¯t you, pink-skin?¡± the girl asked. ¡°You should sit with us. It¡¯s easier to keep warm when we¡¯re together.¡±


    Scypha glanced at her for a moment, trying to maintain control of herself, afraid she might bite her own tongue off if she spoke. She nodded.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we don¡¯t bite. Even if we are pukes.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry ... Pukes?¡± Scypha asked, frowning. Her mouth shook as she spoke.


    The girl stared at her. ¡°Yes, pukes.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s a puke?¡±


    ¡°A goblin. Or half-goblin.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Um ¡­ Could I ¡­ please use a different term?¡± Scypha asked.


    The girl looked mildly surprised. ¡°Well, that¡¯s a first,¡± she said. She scuttled a little closer. ¡°My name is Nissaeliah, if you want. Call me Niss.¡±


    An uncommon name for a goblin, as far as Scypha knew ¡­ but she hadn¡¯t met many goblins in her life, and the girl was a half-breed, so it¡¯d be harder to tell. As Scypha was thinking, her head suddenly jerked to the side, and her right hand began to shake. She quickly closed her eyes, clenched her teeth, and took in a deep breath through her nose.


    ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you, Niss,¡± she said after a little while, once she had calmed down. ¡°I¡¯m Scypha.¡±


    ¡°Scypha? My brother was right. Weird one. He¡¯s that one, there, by the way, in the corner. My twin brother. His name is Nass. He¡¯s not as nice as I am, though ¨C are you okay, Scypha?¡±


    She nodded, forcing her eyes to remain closed. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±


    ¡°You just keep twitching. We¡¯ve all noticed it. Are you sick?¡±


    Scypha shook her head. ¡°No, I ¡­ um, I mean yes. I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m a little sick in the head. I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t mean to be rude, but I think I should stay away from everyone right now. Can you please leave me alone for a while?¡±


    She heard the wooden floor of the cart creak slightly from Niss¡¯s direction. ¡°Sure,¡± the half-goblin said. ¡°Just don¡¯t be a stranger for too long. Come and huddle up to us before your fingers turn black.¡±


    Even after half the day had passed, Scypha hadn¡¯t found the courage to do such a thing. Her thoughts were turning darker and bloodier, and her involuntary movements were starting to happen more often.


    It¡¯s only a matter of time, she thought ¨C and what would happen then? Would someone stop her before she hurt anyone? She knew she ought to say something and give the goblins fair warning ¡­ but every time she tried to open her mouth to do so, the words wouldn¡¯t come. Her body seemed to rebel against her conscience. All she could do was keep her eyes closed and her arms and legs around the cold iron bars of the cage, making sure she stayed as far away from the goblins as possible.


    As she was doing that, freezing cold but focused mostly on her breathing, her fingers suddenly seared with pain.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    She scrambled backward instinctively and saw one of the human slavers standing on the other side of the metal bars. In his hands, he held a wooden bowl, full of thick, oily broth. Her fingers burned ¡­ it was because he had spilled some of it on them.


    The slaver chuckled and pushed the bowl through the bars, leaving it on the wooden floor in front of Scypha. Then, he stepped away from the cage and made his way to another man, who was cooking something in a large pot.


    It was mealtime.


    Scypha rubbed her seared fingers together, trying to numb the pain, then crawled up to the bowl and held it up in her hands. It felt wonderfully hot. Her fingers were all stiff, and it felt nice to see the thin layer of ice around them melt. Carefully, she stood up and turned around, sitting back down and leaning on the iron bars. She sniffed the bowl and placed it on her lap, trying to relax for a moment and letting the heat warm her up a little.


    The broth smelled horrible, but she didn¡¯t really mind. The warmth was enough, and she was hungry, too. The slavers didn¡¯t feed her much.


    She noticed once again that they hadn¡¯t given anyone any cutlery. A memory of her angry mother flashed in front of her ¨C she really didn¡¯t like it when Scypha did anything unladylike ¨C but at that point, there really wasn¡¯t an option other than eating with her hands. All the goblins were doing it, in any case.


    ¡°My god, Vifafey, thank you for the meal you¡¯ve provided me,¡± she whispered, then began to eat.


    She quickly finished her meal, partly because she was half-starved and partly because it was warm. Objectively, she knew it tasted terrible, but it didn''t feel that way to her. It tasted amazing, like the warm, severed limbs of an innocent child ¡­


    Scypha started. ¡°What?!¡± she shouted aloud.


    All around her, goblins and humans turned and stared. Scypha gulped and breathed hard, trying to ascertain if she¡¯d really just had the vile thought. It disappeared from her mind like smoke.


    She began shaking, her vision growing cloudy for a moment. Then it cleared up again.


    After eventually calming down and taking her last swig of broth along with a piece of stale bread, she stifled a burp and just sat still. For a long time, she just stared at the empty space in front of her with the warm bowl in her lap. She began to feel sleepy.


    After a little while, a freezing cold wind began to blow through the metal bars of the caged wagon, and she suddenly shivered and curled up into herself, goosebumps all over her skin.


    Just when her teeth started to chatter, the half-goblin girl from before, on the other side of the cart, stood up, walked over, and sat next to Scypha, shielding her from the wind.


    ¡°Hi again,¡± she said. She seemed to have an accent Scypha hadn¡¯t noticed before. ¡°Are you back in there? Criffa, right?¡± she asked.


    Scypha shook her head. It felt clear, like there wasn¡¯t a single bloody thought in her mind. ¡°No, my name is Scypha,¡± she said. ¡°But nice try. Hi, Niss.¡±


    ¡°Right. Scypha. Hey, um, are you still feeling sick? You look fine ¡­ surprisingly good, actually, after all this time ¡­ but I still think you should join us, to get warm. Staying alone here in the cold can¡¯t be good for you.¡±


    Scypha smiled weakly. She felt good. ¡°Actually ¡­ I think ¡­ I might really be getting a little better, right now, but ¡­ I don¡¯t know. Maybe it¡¯s the food. Still, I shouldn¡¯t get near you guys. Not yet.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Niss said. ¡°That ¡­ um ¡­ that makes sense. You can take a little longer, I don¡¯t mean to pressure you or anything. Just wanted to let you know you¡¯re still welcome to join us, no matter how some people start to look at you.¡±


    Scypha started. ¡°Thank you,¡± she said. ¡°That means a lot. I ¡­ I don¡¯t really like being alone.¡±


    ¡°Well, you can join us whenever you¡¯re ready. We¡¯ll appreciate the extra warmth,¡± Niss said. She smiled. ¡°Even if some of us are starting to think you¡¯re a racist, like the rest of your kind.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Scypha asked. ¡°I worship Vifafey. I¡¯m not a racist.¡±


    ¡°So you say, but you really are trying to stay as far away from us pukes as you can. And most followers of Vifafey are racist.¡±


    ¡°Well ¡­ I just don¡¯t want to hurt you! Or ¡­ infect you.¡±


    ¡°You know, I think I might actually believe that. The way you scared off that slaver before? That was ¡­ really scary.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°You know, the whole ¡®your darling little daughter¡¯s blood will clot for me in the mud before I sweep it into the gutter¡­¡¯ and all that? You ¡­ um ¡­ you really got the man. He looked like a rabbit in front of a knife. And you looked like you were possessed.¡±


    Scypha stared at Niss, stunned. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I mean ¡­ he really got a fright. I have to say, I probably would have, too, if you¡¯d done something like that to me. Were you faking, or was that a part of your illness? What happened to your eyes?¡±


    ¡°When did I say those things?¡± Scypha asked.


    ¡°Just ¡­ before? You know, after mealtime, when he came to take your bowl?¡±


    ¡°But I still have my bowl,¡± Scypha said, glancing down at her lap ¡­ and finding it empty.


    She looked around in all directions but found no bowl in sight, hot, warm, or otherwise. The goblins on the other side of the cart, all huddled together, sneaked glances at her. She could tell ¡­ they were afraid.


    ¡°What happened?¡± she murmured. ¡°What did I do?¡±


    ¡°Hey, Scypha?¡± Niss asked. ¡°You are just playing, right? You¡¯re just trying to scare off the slavers, so they don¡¯t rape you like they do the other human women? It¡¯s a good idea, if you are, and ¡­ I think it might even work. Keep at it ¡­ but ¡­ with the way you keep spasming and twitching even while they¡¯re not around, we¡¯re starting to get scared, too.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Scypha said, trembling slightly. A vision of blood flashed before her eyes. Her heart started to race.


    Suddenly, she still couldn¡¯t see anything but drops of blood, falling gracefully right before her eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s happening¡ª¡±


    Her vision suddenly cleared up.


    She turned towards Niss, but ¡­ her green face wasn¡¯t there.


    It was dark, all of a sudden. Nearly pitch black. Scypha couldn¡¯t see a thing.


    The only sounds to be heard were those of an owl hooting somewhere overhead, and on the other side of the dark metal bars behind Scypha, the moon was high in the sky above rows of pitch-black trees. Stars covered the night sky. Scypha could hear faint snoring sounds coming from the direction where the goblins had huddled together.


    She pinched her cheek as hard as she could, then wildly looked around, feeling numb, like she was in a daze.


    Nothing happened. She had no idea what had happened.


    But she was talking to no one.

 Chapter 11 - A vision of beauty

    Berrick hunched over a worn, tattered tunic, its fabric stained and frayed from years of use. With practiced hands, he threaded a needle and thread, working in rhythmic motions, stitching the fabric together and slowly repairing the clothing. Meanwhile, Jennah''s son, Luvelye, ran around in the room in front of him, bare-chested, playing with a dull wooden sword.


    ¡°You¡¯re much better at that than I¡¯ll ever be,¡± Jennah said, watching him work. ¡°Terrenen used to tell me you would be, but I never believed him. I¡¯d never seen a man working the needle before.¡±


    Berrick smiled. ¡°It¡¯s all about patience,¡± he said, without looking up. ¡°And being gentle ... I¡¯m afraid my grandson will be unlikely to inherit these traits.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m sorry about that. It¡¯s probably my fault. Though, Pella ¡­ she would have been good at it.¡±


    ¡°Yes, she would have¡­¡±


    Just ahead of Berrick, something smashed and loudly shattered. A moment later, Luvelye quickly scuttled away from that direction.


    ¡°Luvelye!¡± Jennah shouted. ¡°Don¡¯t play like that inside the house! What did you break? Stop running ¨C slow down this instant! Sorry, Berrick.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s quite alright,¡± Berrick said, shook his head, and focused again on the cloth in his hands.


    In a little while, he managed to fix up the tunic quite nicely ¨C certainly well enough for a mischievous little boy who would be ruining it again in a week¡¯s time. Finally, after a long while, he leaned back, allowing himself a deep breath and a moment of peace.


    Then, just after a few moments, he noticed he was tapping his foot, and he felt himself growing anxious again. The numerous problems that the village was facing were coming back into his mind.


    ¡°Dwindling reserves, bandits looking to kill us all, a screecher¡­¡± he mumbled to himself. ¡°And my granddaughter is dead.¡±


    He shook his head before he could shed a tear. He so missed the simple days when he could just lie down next to Vephena¡¯s old heart tree and forget all his problems ... Even stitching and knitting didn¡¯t relax him like they used to anymore.


    Behind him, he heard someone knock on the front door of his house.


    He rose from his chair, stretching his tired, old limbs, and walked over to the door.


    ¡°Teven,¡± he said, seeing a young man as he gently pushed it open. ¡°It¡¯s nice of you to visit. To what do I owe the pleasure?¡±


    ¡°May I come in?¡± the youth asked.


    ¡°Of course,¡± Berrick said, stepping out of the way. Teven mouthed a silent thank-you and walked past him into the house.


    ¡°Want anything? Water? Bread?¡±


    ¡°No, thanks. Look, I¡¯m here because of that ¡­ thing ¡­ that you asked me.¡±


    Berrick looked around outside, spotted Jennah and Luvelye playing there, and closed the door. ¡°Yes?¡± he asked. ¡°What did you find out?¡±


    ¡°You were right. The merchant is gone.¡±


    ¡°Damn it. By the god Vifafey, I was hoping I was wrong ¡­ what do we do now¡­?¡±


    ¡°We were all hoping that you would have a plan,¡± Teven said. ¡°You said you¡¯d get the dryads to help us ... but after that last meeting with the one a few days ago ¡­ we¡¯ve got nothing, have we? Those bandits are going to slaughter us.¡±


    ¡°No. I won¡¯t let that happen. What did that boy we questioned say ¨C that the rest of the crew are two days away? Then we might still have three days ¨C one more until that second ¡®merchant¡¯ meets up with them, then another two until they all get here to kill us.¡±


    Berrick looked upwards and thought for a moment. ¡°Unless, of course, we got lucky, and the merchant is missing because the screecher ate him, and not because he¡¯s part of a murderous group of bandits and slavers.¡±


    Teven shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not feeling very lucky,¡± he said.


    ¡°Neither am I. We need to act.¡±


    ¡°We should find a way to kill them before they kill us.¡±


    ¡°Ha! If that¡¯s what you want, perhaps you should start praying to Chi¡¯orat,¡± Berrick replied. ¡°Ask if he has any more screechers to send our way.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re joking.¡±


    ¡°Of course I am,¡± Berrick said. ¡°The god of monsters won¡¯t be of any help to good humans. That said, it doesn¡¯t look like the dryads will be, either, and you youngsters are no soldiers, no matter how motivated you might be. We can¡¯t fight those bandits ¨C if that poisoner is to be believed, there are far too many of them, and they¡¯re well-armed. If I could only convince Vephena to ¡­ I¡¯ll have to try again.¡±If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°We already did¡ª¡±


    ¡°We have no other options.¡± He shook his head. ¡°Or ¡­ maybe we do. Go and spread the word. Everyone should start packing. Food and warm clothing, nothing else. Maybe we can find someplace to hide.¡±


    ¡°Hide? Everyone? Three hundred people?¡± Teven anxiously bit his lip, then shook his head. ¡°Pfft. Fine. We¡¯re used to living like rats, anyway. I¡¯ll tell everyone, and I¡¯ll get Mikken to ride out on his horse and start looking for a spot we could use. A cave, maybe ¨C though I¡¯m not sure we¡¯ll have much food to bring with us. Also, perhaps we can leave a trail to the edge of the forest, make the bandits think the dryads took us in, even if they don¡¯t.¡±


    Berrick froze. ¡°I¡¯m ¡­ I¡¯m not sure that¡¯s a good idea. Vephena won¡¯t like it.¡±


    ¡°So? Is now the time to be thinking about the dryads? We¡¯ve got our own skin to worry about. If they don¡¯t care about us, why should we worry about them?¡±


    Berrick noticed he was tapping his foot again. ¡°Hold off on that today. I¡¯m going to go talk to Vephena.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Teven asked.


    ¡°Just do it,¡± Berrick said, then moved towards the door as quickly as his old legs could carry him.


    Outside, the village was unusually busy, and the atmosphere tense. Men and women who usually would have stopped to greet him and make small talk stepped right past him on their way to their various errands, and there were more children at work carrying things around than there were playing.


    They¡¯re coming, the people¡¯s worried expressions seemed to say. Those damned bandits that had poisoned their wells, trying to lure them and their coin pouches into the wilderness.


    They were already on their way to rob, enslave, and kill us, and now they¡¯ll even want vengeance for what we did to that boy of theirs. There is nothing we can do to stop them.


    Berrick shook his head. He would find a way. He always had so far ¡­ though his odds of success this time were unmistakably terrible.


    He hurried past the main cobbled street that ran through the village and made his way to his little wild orchard. He¡¯d need a gift for Vephena if he was to have any hope of convincing her to extend her kindness and protection to any human other than him. With a little luck ¡­ perhaps he could at least get her to take in his daughter-in-law and grandson ¨C Jennah and Luvelye. He hoped.


    He entered the orchard and headed towards the nearest gooseberry bush. He plucked a handful of plump, emerald-green berries and carefully nestled them into the worn leather pouch that hung at his waist. Next, he stepped a little way away, knelt on the ground, and gathered a small collection of pinecones. After that came blueberries, and after those, a couple of acorns and elderberries. They were all things that harbored seeds that could grow in Vephena''s forest.


    Finally, he stood back up off the ground and left his orchard in the direction of the woods.


    Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t move as quickly as he would have wanted to. He was growing old. As he rushed through the fields of tall grass outside the village, his mind buzzed with thoughts on how to persuade Vephena.


    It was more challenging to convince her of anything now than it had been in their youth. Of course, it was inevitable, now that she was Oakmother to the grove, responsible for all of the dryads in it, but¡­


    ¡°Berrick!¡± a familiar voice suddenly called out from his left.


    He stopped and turned to look, startled. There was no one there. Only tall grass. ¡°Hello?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Berrick? Is that you, over there?¡± the voice said.


    ¡°Vephena? That¡¯s my line ¨C is that really you? Are my ears deceiving me? I can¡¯t see you ¨C where are you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m right here. Give me a moment.¡±


    Berrick looked around, confused, but he still couldn¡¯t see anything but the tall grass, swaying slightly in the breeze.


    ¡°What ¡­ what are you doing here, Vephena?¡± he asked. ¡°It¡¯s been years since you left the forest! Where are you?¡±


    The long blades of grass up ahead of Berrick suddenly parted, and Vephena stood up and greeted him. She smiled brightly, waving at him, covered scarcely with vines and ivy leaves, much like she had been during her youth. Berrick began to feel all tingly ¨C she was beautiful.


    ¡°Vephena ¡­ you¡¯re really here. I never would have guessed ¡­ I was just on my way to see you!¡±


    She nodded and walked over to him, gazing into his eyes and smiling all the while. The tall grass seemed to bend and jump away from her feet, as if eager to get out of the way. She looked so happy to see him¡­


    ¡°I¡¯m glad,¡± she said softly. ¡°I¡¯ve missed you, Berrick ¡­ And I¡¯m so, so sorry. I know we didn¡¯t leave on the best of terms.¡±


    Berrick shook his head, suddenly feeling a little strange, but he made his way over to her, trying to avoid the smaller, more dried up, and fragile grass as he did so. She noticed, and she smiled at him warmly, stretching out her arms as he came closer.


    With the distance between them gone, they embraced each other openly and tightly. It must have been the first time in years¡­


    The strange tingling feeling in his head began getting stronger. All of a sudden, he felt light ¡­ weightless ¡­ and afraid, but ¡­ really good.


    ¡°Vephena, you¡¯ve no idea how happy I am to see you,¡± he said. ¡°But what¡¯s the meaning of this? You said we couldn¡¯t anymore ¡­ your people, mine, and the accord¡­¡±


    Vephena simply closed her eyes, embraced him more tightly, and then leaned her forehead against his own. ¡°None of that matters anymore,¡± she said, her lips inches away from his. ¡°You and me, right now. It¡¯s the only thing left that¡¯s important.¡±


    ¡°How come? The village ¡­ Your grove ¡­ And the bandits¡­¡±


    It was getting harder and harder to think straight for long enough to say a full sentence.


    Strangely, Berrick began to feel as though he¡¯d been lifted off the ground.


    ¡°They don¡¯t matter, Berrick,¡± Vephena said. ¡°Not anymore. Not to you.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­¡±


    Vephena gently drew her forehead back from his, a wide smile blossoming on her face. Her eyes sparkled, inviting him to close the distance between them. He began to feel nervous. Something strange and wet moved on top of his head.


    ¡°It¡¯s just you and me now, Berrick,¡± Vephena said. ¡°Stop denying yourself. Come closer and be with me, until it¡¯s all over.¡±


    For some reason, Berrick found that he was strangely constrained, but he was able to lean forward.  For the first time in over a decade, he kissed her.


    And it was amazing. It was better than anything he had ever felt before, with anyone else, or even with her. She was so clearly so very happy ¡­ and so was he. As their lips touched, he felt tears of joy fill his eyes.


    Strange prickling and stabbing sensations began piercing his skull, but they were numb, and they didn¡¯t bother him much. He focused instead on the kiss, losing himself in Vephena¡¯s lips.


    For a brief moment, they parted, just for long enough so that he could take a breath.


    Vephena held him even more tightly. He felt his arms and ribs cracking under her grip, but he was numb to all of it.


    ¡°Chi¡¯orat says hello,¡± Vephena whispered, then pulled him back into another kiss.


    Soon, the whole world went away. The only thing left was bliss, and everything became white.

 Chapter 12 - Human

    After spending half the night on the inside of the group of huddled-up goblins, where it was slightly warmer, it was Nass¡¯s turn again to be on the outer-most ring, to be one of those that sheltered the others from the cold and the icy wind.


    He settled himself with his back to the rising sun and the metal bars of the wagon cage, facing his sister Niss and being as far away as possible from the strange human-like woman she was trying to befriend.


    Behind him, outside the cart, the slavers walked along the caravan, lazily inspecting the carts for damage, yawning without covering their mouths, and generally being typical human tyrants who deserved to die.


    He concealed a grimace. His and Niss¡¯s father had told them the truth. It was shameful that they were half-breeds. The human parts of them were disgusting.


    Niss turned and looked at him curiously. She smiled, suppressing a laugh. She always did have a knack for reading his face. He shook his head and turned away.


    The cart was still in the Lyerateh forest, even after months ¨C which was a testament to the slavers¡¯ laziness. Since the time when they¡¯d bought him and Niss, they could have gotten all the way to Ilfuhaen if they¡¯d given the journey and sort of effort. Instead, they were stuck in the snow lands, in a frozen forest, running out of food. He¡¯d been paying attention to how they were rationing the slaves¡¯ meals. It wasn¡¯t looking good.


    ¡°I think she¡¯s gone again,¡± Niss said, looking towards the human-like woman on the other side of the cart. ¡°Look at her eyes.¡±


    Nass focused himself, looked where Niss was pointing, and nodded. The woman¡¯s eyes were wide open, and they had turned completely white, the irises and pupils disappearing beneath a milky and cloudy-like substance.


    ¡°Stay away from her, Niss,¡± he said to his twin sister. ¡°That¡¯s not something we should get involved with.¡±


    Niss turned back towards him, frowning. ¡°She doesn¡¯t look to me like a ¡®that¡¯,¡± she said.


    He sighed. ¡°That¡¯s just because you¡¯re hung up on trying to connect with a pink-skin again. Again, Niss ¨C and that¡¯s not even the real thing.¡±


    ¡°I am not. I hate them just as much as you do. Actually, maybe that¡¯s why I hate you so much, brother. Is that a shade of pink on your green skin? Damned half-breed.¡±


    ¡°Takes one to know one. But seriously, Niss, look at her. She¡¯s been alone in the cold for days, hardly anything to eat, and she¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°Weird, I know.¡±


    ¡°No, not just ¡®weird¡¯. We huddle up for a reason ¨C she should be frozen solid. And then there are her episodes¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll admit, those freak me out¡­¡±


    Trinn, one of the full-blooded goblins sitting beside Niss, turned towards the two of them and groggily blinked sleep from his eyes.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°They freak all of us out,¡± he said. ¡°Even the slavers are starting to talk. They don¡¯t want to go near her.¡±


    ¡°Morning, Trinn,¡± Nass and Niss both said at the same time, then glared at each other.


    ¡°Urgh,¡± Trinn said, grimacing. ¡°I must be damned by our holy patron Gromph ¨C you two twins are so damned alike. Good morning.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re nothing alike,¡± Niss said. ¡°Unlike him, I¡¯m pretty.¡±


    ¡°And stupid,¡± Nass added. ¡°And short.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re only two inches taller than me, Nass.¡±


    ¡°Those two inches matter.¡±


    ¡°Well then, it¡¯s a shame you¡¯ve got them in the wrong place, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Nass frowned, then bit his lip, holding back a particularly nasty comeback.


    ¡°Don¡¯t start again so early in the morning,¡± said Trinn. ¡°Please? It¡¯s bad enough being stuck in a cage ¨C but being stuck in it with you two can be so much worse¡­¡±


    Nass glared at Niss but had trouble holding his tongue. She looked far too smugly at him for her own good.


    ¡°Thinking is merely a step away from doing ¡­ one of these days, that thing over there is going to kill someone,¡± Trinn said.


    Nass turned away from his sister and saw that the goblin was looking toward the human-like woman on the other side of the cage.


    ¡°She¡¯s not a ¡®thing¡¯, Trinn,¡± Niss said, lightly tapping Nass on the shoulder. ¡°Her name is Scypha.¡±


    ¡°I told you she¡¯d have a weird name,¡± Nass said. ¡°Pay up.¡±


    ¡°Whatever. Anyway, I¡¯ve been studying her, and I don¡¯t think she¡¯s lucid right now.¡±


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t seem to be lucid at any time. Why are you so interested in her?¡± Trinn asked.


    ¡°Because I heard the slavers were supposed to kill her. The mercenaries say they were hired by a priestess, that she¡¯s cursed by Vifafey ¨C that human god. Hey, maybe that¡¯s what¡¯s causing her to be like ¡­ that.¡±


    Nass looked toward the human-like woman, Scypha. She was sitting on the far end of the cart, facing away from them, her arms and legs tightly wrapped around the metal bars of the cage.


    He cringed. Metal sapped heat. Normally, what she was doing would be the fastest way to get herself frozen to death. Somehow, however, she was still alive ¨C and apparently in perfect health ¡­ aside from the obvious.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever heard of Vifafey cursing people,¡± Trinn said. ¡°He may be the god of pink-skins and bigots, but I don¡¯t think that¡¯s his work.¡±


    ¡°Maybe a demon is possessing her, then,¡± Nass said. ¡°With the things she¡¯s fond of saying, it certainly seems plausible to me. What did she say to that slaver, Amzev, when he came back last night?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯d she¡¯d drown him in his own spit, I think. Oh, look. She¡¯s twitching again.¡±


    Nass nodded, watching the woman¡¯s head and arms shake and flinch in random directions. Those empty white eyes of hers were creepy as hell.


    ¡°It looks like she¡¯s trying to grab someone,¡± Niss said.


    ¡°And choke them,¡± Nass replied.


    They looked towards each other and nodded. Nass suddenly had a thought.


    ¡°What do you think would happen if someone came too close to her while she was doing that? Not one of us, obviously ¨C one of the slavers.¡±


    ¡°I think they¡¯d stop feeding us,¡± Trinn said. ¡°Don¡¯t do anything stupid. Nothing good will come out of that woman.¡±


    ¡°How about something evil, then? We could use that.¡±


    ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking, Nass,¡± Niss said. ¡°But I don¡¯t want to use her like that. She¡¯s not a bad person.¡±


    ¡°I knew you pitied her. She¡¯s a human, Niss.¡±


    ¡°Just earlier, you said that she¡¯s not one.¡±


    ¡°Human-ish, then.¡±


    ¡°Human-ish? Human-ish like us two, Nass?¡± Niss asked.


    He rolled his eyes. ¡°We¡¯re nothing alike, there¡¯s no goblin in her. But look, chances are, she won¡¯t remember any of it, anyway. Didn¡¯t you say she has no idea what happens after her eyes turn white? Well, what she doesn¡¯t know won¡¯t hurt her. Unless it does ¨C but we¡¯ll make sure it doesn¡¯t. Come on, Niss. Those damned slavers said we¡¯re headed to Ryzayah. Is that really where you want to be headed right now? Back to father?¡±


    ¡°No¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, I doubt she¡¯d want to go there, either, and neither does your awesome twin brother ¨C so let¡¯s see if we can find a way to use and abuse her little curse to get us the heck out of here.¡±


    ¡°What are you thinking?¡±

 Chapter 13 - A knight in shining armor

    It started as a dim pinprick of light. A slow realization of her existence, and a painful rise unto a weak feeling of self-awareness.


    Her name was the first thing that came to her ¨C Scypha.


    She wondered who had given her that name. Her mother, a devout priestess of Vifafey, probably wouldn¡¯t have. It was not connected to any of their patron god¡¯s chosen disciples or prophets.


    The dim light started getting brighter, and memories stirred in Scypha¡¯s mind. She saw a black stain in the back of her mind, like an opening where her soul had chipped away. Perhaps it was the reason she was cursed as she was, or, if she was truly damned, the reason Vifafey refused to save her.


    She wept.


    Under her mother¡¯s tutelage, she had trained her whole life to become a priestess of the god Vifafey, an acolyte in his service ¡­ but he¡¯d never acknowledged her. Not even once.


    She could only wonder why he¡¯d always left her every prayer unanswered. Perhaps due to the circumstances of her birth ¨C after all, nobody liked a bastard. Why should a god concern himself with one?


    Gradually, the light disappeared. She began to feel an icy chill at the back of her neck, the trembling of her frosted hands, and she saw the real world reveal itself around her. Behind the metal bars of her cage was a shimmering landscape blanketed in glistening snow, where every branch and blade of grass sparkled like diamonds under the pale winter sun. She smelled the morning dewdrops on top of the snow.


    She coughed violently, shuddering, and her senses suddenly sharpened. She was fully present and painfully self-aware.


    Niss and her twin brother were staring at her from the other side of the cart. She shook her head and pinched her cheeks, making sure she was fully conscious, then looked around elsewhere.


    She sat with her back to the corner of the cage, as the creaky cart continued to roll across the rough road. Under the dirty floorboards she sat on, the wheels shook and groaned.


    She had moved, during her ¡­ sleep. The floorboards in front of her were splintered, as if someone had dug at them with their fingernails. The wood was stained with a beautiful shade of dark red.


    She felt a sharp pain in her fingers, lifted them to her face, and saw them bloody.


    It had been her.


    She opened and closed her hands into fists a few times, trying to get rid of the pain and the numbness created by the cold. At least there wasn¡¯t any frostbite, yet. She was probably very lucky in that regard.


    All of a sudden, she felt tingly all over, and her vision clouded. As soon as she could see clearly again, she lurched backward, shocked, and hit her head on the metal bars of the cage behind her. Just before she''d blinked, there had been no one there, but now a giant, plate-armor-covered man was standing right in front of her.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    He stood tall, young, and strikingly handsome, with strong features and light hair. Though without a helmet, he was wearing gilded armor that reflected the morning sunlight. It cast a warm, golden glow that highlighted intricate engravings etched into his pauldrons. His eyes were an impossibly deep blue. He was gazing straight at Scypha, smiling.


    ¡°Hello,¡± he said calmly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I startled you. Don¡¯t be afraid, Scypha.¡±


    ¡°Who ¡­ what are you?¡± she gasped, starting to tremble.


    With his head, the young knight motioned towards the goblins and two half-goblins behind him. Behind the man, Niss was staring at Scypha, looking concerned, while her brother glared at her suspiciously.


    ¡°Perhaps you shouldn¡¯t speak aloud. They will think you¡¯re crazy.¡±


    ¡°They ¡­ they already do,¡± she said. ¡°But what¡¯s going on? How did you ¡­? What are you ¡­? Are you the curse?¡±


    He shook his head. ¡°No. That¡¯s not me. I¡¯m a friend.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡±


    Scypha shuddered and blinked a few times, seeing if the man would go away, and trying to get over the shock of his sudden appearance. She hesitated, looking at the goblins on the other side of the carriage. They were all staring at her, but not one of them even spared a glance for the human ¡­ or rather, the knight in shining armor, standing right in front of her.


    ¡°I am flattered that you see me that way,¡± the knight said. ¡°And the answer to the question forming in your mind is ¡®yes¡¯. Your suspicions are correct, Scypha. I¡¯m not really here.¡±


    ¡°Then how are you¡ª?¡±


    ¡°Have you heard of astral projection? I¡¯m doing something similar. Sort of.¡±


    ¡°A sorcerer, then? That¡¯s vile magic, what do you want with me? Who are you?¡±


    The knight knelt down in front of Scypha, dropping to her level, and extended a gauntleted hand towards her. ¡°I¡¯m someone a lot like you,¡± he said, smiling. ¡°We are, um ¡­ distantly related. Very distantly, actually ¨C never mind that. I¡¯m sorry, my name is a strange one, so I¡¯d rather not tell it to you. You can call me whatever you like. I¡¯m here to help, I promise¡ª¡±


    ¡°Stay away!¡± Scypha shrieked as he moved closer. ¡°Please. I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    The knight waited a few moments, completely still, with his hand extended towards her. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about hurting me, Scypha. That thing in your head ¡­ you don¡¯t understand it. You don¡¯t even know what it is ¡­ But if you want, I can weaken its hold on you. I already have, to a degree.¡±


    ¡°You already have?¡± Scypha asked.


    ¡°There¡¯s a reason you haven¡¯t killed anyone. Trust me, you would have, if I hadn¡¯t been interfering.¡±


    Scypha started, but then the memory of the ravaged little bird flashed before her eyes. ¡°You¡¯ve ¡­ I ¡­ thank you.¡±


    The knight nodded. ¡°I can help you fight those urges of yours, Scypha ¡­ but only to a degree, and not so well while you are stuck in this cage.¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯m trapped. I can¡¯t get out of here.¡±


    ¡°I will help you escape. Soon, I just need to do some scouting and build up my strength first ... but I¡¯m sorry. I can set you free, but I will need something in return.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Scypha asked. Her voice was starting to shake. ¡°I¡¯ll give you anything, please, just save me from ¡­ this. I don¡¯t want to be like this.¡±


    The knight¡¯s smile faltered. ¡°You know nothing of what you¡¯re asking of me, Scypha. I will confide in you later. For now, just ¡­ know that you are not alone. There is a literal god up there in the sky, one that you have never known ¡­ one that you are not ready to know. But he knows you, and he has a plan.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s more to you than you know; that¡¯s all I can say. For now ¡­ befriend those around you, Scypha. The goblins, and those two twins over there. They are more capable than they seem, and they might prove useful. They plan to use you for their own ends, but for now, at least, those ends align with ours. And don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t let you hurt them.¡±


    ¡°They want to use me? How? But ¡­ no. You said a god watches over me? That can¡¯t be true. Vifafey has never answered even a single one of my prayers. How can you ¡­ can I trust you?¡±


    The knight shrugged. ¡°You can trust me, Scypha. Believe it or not, I need you far more than you need me. There is a whole people out there, subjugated and living under unholy tyranny ¨C and you are our only hope. So I must beg of you ¡­ please don¡¯t let us down.¡±

 Chapter 14 - A mistake

    Eletha crouched down on the two pebbles under her feet and gently nudged the short, yellowing patch of grass struggling to grow under the shade of fallen leaves.


    Her breath came to her slowly, unwillingly, as she held back the tear that had pooled in her eye.


    ¡°It won¡¯t be long now, friend,¡± she whispered. ¡°You¡¯ll be soil again soon, and then part of another life. I¡¯ll ensure you get to reach the sunlight. All you need do is let go¡­¡±


    The grass remained silent, slowly rotting, wet with morning dew.


    Suddenly, the magic in the air shuddered ¡­ and gradually slowed to a halt. The soil she had exposed from beneath the fallen leaves glowed for a brief moment before fading back to its usual dark brown color.


    ¡°I wish you good fortune, little life,¡± Eletha said. ¡°May the goddess Phosyphia preserve and guide you to her realm beyond.¡±


    ¡°And may new life sprout from your remains,¡± finished a familiar voice.


    Eletha closed her eyes and marked the symbol of Phosyphia on her chest, two circles and a flowing line crossing them, then turned to face her seed-sister.


    ¡°May,¡± she said. ¡°Good morning.¡±


    ¡°Good morning, Eletha. For some of us, anyway.¡± She sighed. ¡°These days are so harsh to the little ones. I¡¯ve already stumbled upon hundreds of the dying or dead today.¡±


    ¡°So have I.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve spent your time blessing every one of them before they could pass on, haven¡¯t you? That¡¯s nice of you, Eletha, but we have a job to do. The forest needs to be guarded, now more than ever. You cannot help them all.¡±


    Eletha nodded, then lifted a hand towards her face and brushed away her tears. ¡°Well ¡­ I¡¯m glad I could help that one.¡±


    May looked at her seriously, then jumped onto some small white pebbles that lay on the ground closer to Eletha, and pulled her into a tight embrace.


    ¡°The cycle will continue,¡± May said. ¡°Death always chases life, but it cannot truly destroy it.¡±


    ¡°I know ¡­ But I don¡¯t like seeing it try,¡± Eletha replied. She took a deep breath, then parted herself from her seed-sister¡¯s arms. ¡°Why did you come, May? This isn¡¯t your sector. You should be watching over the walnuts and rosewoods by the stream.¡±


    ¡°Something is happening today, Eletha. The Oakmother asked me to come and bring you to her sacred grove.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°Oh? What for?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. But many of our sisters are moving around unusually. Perhaps there is to be another day of accord.¡±


    Eletha frowned, standing up straight as May did the same. ¡°So soon?¡± she asked. ¡°Well, I suppose the villagers are in trouble. It makes sense that these days will come more often as they die.¡±


    ¡°The meat-men are in trouble?¡± May asked. ¡°There is only one screecher. How much damage would it really do to them?¡±


    ¡°The bandits,¡± Eletha said. ¡°The meat-men count their own among their enemies.¡±


    May shook her head. ¡°Strange, they are. Truly just like colonies of ants ¡­ only far more harmful to the world around them. Let¡¯s go. We shouldn¡¯t keep the Oakmother waiting.¡±


    Eletha nodded. Together, the two of them made their way, hopping along pebbles and stones of various small sizes, to the Oakmother¡¯s grove.


    The trees whispered all along their path, speaking through the wind in a language only they could understand. Birds chirped happily up on their branches, building little nests for their young, and mice and rabbits scuttled in and out of their dens between the tree roots. Even a rare blue-tailed fox peeked out of a thicket of leaves, watching the two of them curiously as they passed.


    When they arrived at the Oakmother''s grove, they found it crowded. Twenty of their sisters were already there, silently looking around, their gazes settling on May and Eletha.


    Do they know what I did? Eletha suddenly thought. Do they know I helped the humans?


    Guilt began to tug at her mind, but her sisters betrayed no hint of knowledge regarding her blasphemy. They stood around the Oakmother, who was sitting on a mossy, fallen log, set aside on the ground for the next day of accord. Beside her sat two meat-men, a woman and a young boy ¨C and the beheaded, ravaged body of another.


    The Oakmother cradled the beheaded, ravaged body in her arms, struggling but failing to hold back tears.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Eletha whispered to May. ¡°The Oakmother is ¡­? Then ¡­ is that Berrick?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know any names,¡± May said. ¡°But ¡­ yeah. I think it might be. He was the Oakmother¡¯s ¡­ never mind.¡±


    The Oakmother looked up from the body, genuine sorrow in her eyes. She gazed at Eletha and May and beckoned them to approach her, then lowered her gaze to Berrick¡¯s remains again.


    ¡°Oakmother,¡± Eletha said, once she and May were standing before her. ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°The screecher,¡± the Oakmother said, choking back a sob. ¡°It devoured him. I knew it was out there; I knew it would eat one of them, but ¡­ out of all the humans ¡­ I never considered that it might choose him. Not even once. I never thought¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Oakmother,¡± May said.


    The Oakmother looked at her for a moment and slowly nodded. She motioned towards the two humans sitting beside her.


    ¡°Maylissena,¡± she said, her voice trembling. ¡°These two are his kin. They brought us his body. They are to be welcome here in our forest, now and always ¡­ See to their needs.¡±


    May nodded, then walked up to the two humans and crouched before them, speaking quietly.


    ¡°Eletha? You ¡­ I have a different task for you.¡±


    ¡°What do you need of me, Oakmother?¡± Eletha asked.


    ¡°The other humans are gone,¡± said the Oakmother. ¡°They have left the village and gone into hiding. Only these two have come to do us this kindness by bringing me Berrick¡¯s body. Did you happen to see where the others went? Have you noticed anything suspicious while patrolling the border?¡±


    Eletha shook her head. ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°No? Well, regardless, I want you to take command of the guard. If any villager that you recognize comes running towards our forest, I want them to be welcomed in it. If you see anyone else, I don¡¯t even care if they cross the border or not. No more ¡®playing nice¡¯. Show them no mercy.¡±

 Chapter 15 - Snoring loudly

    Nass awoke to the sounds of grating metal grating on metal and uncommonly loud snoring.


    He opened his eyes, finding himself snuggled between five of his fellow goblins, with his head lying on Niss¡¯s lap. The rest of his body was sore from the cold, hard wooden floorboards beneath him.


    He¡¯d fallen asleep as the sun rose in the morning, after spending the whole night listening to the crazed mutterings of the almost-human on the other side of the cart. Niss was looking down at him, wide awake and smiling.


    ¡°What is it?¡± he asked, blinking away sleep as he sat up and moved off her warm, green thighs.


    ¡°Shh,¡± she said, motioning up ahead. ¡°Be quiet. You¡¯ll wake her.¡±


    He frowned. Strangely, he noticed that the snoring was not coming from one of the goblins that surrounded him and Niss. He¡¯d been the only one staying up at night, anyway, to guard everyone from the crazy person and the slavers.


    But ¡­ the snoring was coming straight from said crazy person. Scypha, as Niss said her name was, lay on her belly, sprawled out on the wooden floorboards of the cart, completely out of it, with her arms and legs lifted and splayed out in odd angles. The cart rolled on, creaking and groaning, but her snoring was louder than everything else put together.


    It was like a scene from a comedy, the way she was basically upside-down, drooling on the floor.


    ¡°That¡¯s ¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the first time we¡¯ve seen her truly sleep,¡± Niss said. ¡°I guess she really needed it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Nass replied, nodding, doing a poor job of holding back a smirk. ¡°I¡¯m happy for her.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s been like that since morning, you know? Since about the time when you went to sleep. No prophecies, threats, twitching ¡­ nothing. Just regular sleep ¡­ in strange positions.¡±


    ¡°Is that your rag I see covering her chest?¡±


    ¡°She did spend some time tossing and turning. With those tattered clothes of hers, she almost exposed herself to the slavers.¡±


    ¡°Ah. A shame you didn¡¯t wake me before you helped her.¡±


    Niss lightly punched Nass¡¯s arm. He shrugged, then found a vacant spot behind himself, away from her and the goblins, and stretched his numb arms and legs as much as he was able.


    ¡°Then maybe she¡¯s a normal person after all,¡± he said. ¡°At least to a degree. What about those delusions? It looked like she was talking to some imaginary person before.¡±


    Niss shrugged. ¡°Not since she fell asleep. She¡¯s been alright. Maybe that imaginary person was exactly what she needed.¡±If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°I hope she didn¡¯t make a deal with a devil or something. We¡¯re overdue good fortune, not a blood price.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so ¡­ but somehow ¡­ I do feel like she was talking to someone. Her eyes weren¡¯t white back then, they were normal. She looked lucid ¨C we just couldn¡¯t see who she was talking to.¡±


    ¡°That sort of means she wasn¡¯t really lucid.¡±


    ¡°You know what I mean.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. But I don¡¯t want to think about it.¡±


    Trinn, who was sitting on the floorboards with his back to Nass and Niss, turned to face them. ¡°Maybe the god of sleep came to her,¡± he said.


    ¡°What¡¯s that one¡¯s name again?¡± Nass asked.


    ¡°No idea.¡±


    ¡°Chi¡¯orat,¡± Niss said.


    ¡°No, that¡¯s the monster god.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but I was just cursing.¡±


    Nass frowned mockingly at his sister and turned again to look at the insane sort-of-human on the other side of the cart. Her snoring was as loud as ever. He hadn¡¯t yet decided how he might go about using her afflictions to escape the cage they were in, but if she was getting better, then perhaps the option would disappear altogether.


    On the outside of the cart, behind the metal bars, a couple of slavers walked by, talking angrily.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t see the signs before?¡± the one called Amzev demanded. ¡°There were posts driven into the ground with their symbol!¡±


    ¡°Not everyone knows what screechers look like!¡± Nalian replied. ¡°I¡¯m a northerner, we don¡¯t have them! I thought those signs said to be wary of snakes, not giant monsters!¡±


    ¡°Idiot! When you mean to bring your wares down south, you should at least do a bit of research! Those weren¡¯t snakes, they were worms! Screechers! When have you seen snakes with claws?!¡±


    Nalian shook his head dismissively, walking away. Amzev went after him. As they left, their voices were slowly drowned out by the sounds of Scypha¡¯s grating snoring. Nalian was the last to say anything audible.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not the one in charge! Take it up with Vrelyen! And it¡¯s not like we can do anything about them, anyway. We don¡¯t have the coin to hire an escort; we can¡¯t use our own goblins as one without more of us on horseback ¡­ where did Terrick go off to, anyway? This isn¡¯t on me!¡±


    Nass smiled, feeling that his day was made a little brighter by the slavers¡¯ problems. Then he turned to Niss and Trinn, who were still arguing over something stupid.


    ¡°We¡¯re in screecher territory,¡± he said. ¡°I just overheard from those two.¡±


    ¡°Chi¡¯orat!¡± Niss cursed.


    ¡°True. Screechers are indeed of Chi¡¯orat,¡± Trinn said.


    ¡°I just meant it as a curse again,¡± Niss said, smiling mischievously. ¡°Nass, didn¡¯t you say we were overdue for some good fortune? Screechers?¡±


    ¡°Yup. But think of it this way ¨C why would the screechers attack the little green people locked in a metal cage, when it could just eat some evil slavers walking on foot along the road?¡±


    Trinn grimaced. ¡°Because screechers are evil,¡± he said. ¡°They hate people, and I hear they hate good people most of all.¡±


    ¡°I hear they hate humans most of all,¡± Nass said. ¡°You, Trinn, might just be quite safe. Niss and I are less fortunate, but as for the purebred humans ... I wonder if that snoozing lunatic over there will be the first to go. You said she was a good person, Niss, and I say she''s not quite a human...¡±


    ¡°I bet Vrelyen will get eaten first,¡± Niss said.


    ¡°No way ¨C he¡¯s way too cowardly,¡± said Nass. ¡°The punk will just be hiding on the cart all day. I bet Nalian.¡±


    ¡°Then I bet Amzev,¡± Trinn replied, clapping his hands together and smiling widely. ¡°And I happen to know for a fact that I will be the one winning this wager.¡±


    ¡°How?¡± Nass and Niss both asked at the same time.


    Trinn leaned back on his arms. ¡°Loud sleeper over there told us how the other two would die, and it was nothing about screechers. She¡¯s going to gut one and drown the other, remember? Only Amzev hasn¡¯t gotten a prophecy yet. He¡¯s the only one left for the big beastie.¡±


    Nass cringed. ¡°As if they¡¯re really prophecies¡­¡±


    ¡°Maybe they¡¯re not, maybe they are ¨C but I¡¯ve got a feeling the gods are on my side on this one. So, what do we wager? Three days¡¯ meals?¡±


    ¡°Actually, I think you might have a point,¡± Niss said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to make that bet¡­¡±

 Chapter 16 - We are become entertainment

    As Eletha stood and watched, May gracefully skipped out of the forest¡¯s last line of trees. She jumped around the plant life all around her, finding pebbles to land on and finally a clear spot in the field that was free of all of it, including grass and weeds. There, she crouched down and placed a large, heavy, long-dead log, and set a smaller rock on top of it.


    She got back up. ¡°All right!¡± she shouted, skipping to the side of the log. ¡°Ready!¡±


    Eletha nodded. With a single fluid movement, she grabbed her bow, crouched low onto the ground, and gently handed it to Luvelye, the little meat-boy clumsily standing on a rock next to her.


    Luvelye gulped, glancing at her nervously before taking the bow from her hands. She unstrapped an arrow from the vines around her thigh and offered it to him.


    ¡°Be gentle to the wood, little human,¡± she said. ¡°Life was given to create this instrument.¡±


    He nodded hastily, took the arrow ¡­ and then began shuffling his feet, looking down and shaking slightly. He was afraid. ¡°I don¡¯t know how,¡± he stammered. ¡°I¡¯ve never used a bow before.¡±


    Eletha smiled at him, trying for the Oakmother¡¯s sake not to appear the least bit threatening.


    ¡°Come on, Luvelye!¡± May shouted, her voice brimming with fake enthusiasm, from the field. ¡°You can do it!¡±


    The little meat-boy continued trembling. Eletha stood up and walked over behind him, then crouched back down to his level, right behind his back. Gently, she held his left hand, lifted it to the bow, and nudged his fingers into the correct position on its lower limb.


    ¡°Relax,¡± she said, breathing into his ear. ¡°Just let our goddess tell you what to do.¡±


    ¡°I ¡­ I don¡¯t hear her,¡± Luvelye said. ¡°Mother says that Vifafey is the only ¡­¡±


    Eletha stopped listening, but she did manage to refrain from rolling her eyes. Instead, she smiled again at the boy, then shot a dirty look at Nelippe, who was disgustingly smirking while she sat on the branch of an oak tree behind them.


    ¡°Well, in that case, let me help you,¡± she told Luvelye. ¡°Keep your fingers as I showed you, and slowly nock the arrow.¡±


    Luvelye obeyed with all the grace a little meat-man was capable of, but given that he was Berrick¡¯s son, and he was putting in effort, Eletha did not mock him.


    ¡°Very good,¡± she said, nudging him in the small of his back and then in his shoulders to correct his posture. ¡°Now look towards that rock my seed-sister laid down on the log, and quickly pull the bowstring.¡±


    Luvelye took a deep breath and did as he was told, but it quickly became apparent that he was far too weak to properly use the bow.


    ¡°Am I ¡­ doing something wrong?¡± he asked, straining his voice.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°No, not in essence,¡± she replied, shaking her head. ¡°Try to pull it back a little more, if you can.¡±


    He did manage to do so, if only a little. His hands trembled wildly.


    ¡°How long do I have to hold?¡± he asked.


    ¡°You may let go whenever you wish,¡± Eletha said.


    As soon as he did, the arrow flew wobbly and slowly through the air ¡­ for a mere few paces, before it fell into the dirt in front of the two of them. Behind them, Nelippe chuckled, nearly imperceptibly, and May, still standing on the field, lifted a hand to her lips to conceal her smile.


    Eletha grimaced and sent a surge of magic through the ground towards them, delivering a message to stop messing around.


    ¡°By the everlasting life of Phosyphia, meat-men really can¡¯t use bows, can they?¡± May asked jokingly in reply.


    ¡°No. They can¡¯t. Now do your job ¨C we are become ¡®entertainment¡¯.¡±


    Eletha slowly lifted a hand toward Luvelye and ruffled his hair. Apparently, the little meat-man found that comforting, as two days earlier, she¡¯d seen his mother do it to him.


    ¡°You did good,¡± she said. ¡°And next time, you will do even better.¡±


    ¡°But I didn¡¯t even get close,¡± Luvelye complained.


    ¡°The bow was the problem, not you. It is meant for larger people.¡±


    ¡°Larger people? Or only for dryads?¡±


    ¡°Only for ¡­ Maybe that is it, yes. But perhaps if you ask nicely, my seed-sister Maylissena will have her heart tree grow a bow that will suit you, as well.¡±


    The little meat-man looked up at her and smiled. She returned the gesture and handed him another arrow.


    ¡°We¡¯ll do this next one together,¡± she said. ¡°Perhaps if I help you, the bow might obey.¡±


    Luvelye nodded, nocked the arrow, and raised the bow. Better than the first time. Eletha corrected his posture again, then held the bow herself as well, her fingers a few inches above his. She pulled back the bowstring.


    ¡°You aim,¡± she said quietly. ¡°And tell me when to let go.¡±


    Luvelye nodded. Eletha spotted May looking smugly beside the rock she¡¯d placed atop the log. A funny idea popped into her mind, and she discretely guided the boy¡¯s aim just a little bit to the side of the rock¡­


    ¡°Shoot!¡± Luvelye said, quite apparently ignorant of her intervention.


    Eletha gently released the bowstring, letting it slip away from her fingers. The arrow surged through the air, whistling as it flew, before embedding itself directly into May¡¯s chest.


    Luvelye jumped, instantly panicking and letting go of the bow. Eletha kept hold of it. May, many yards away, hunched over for a moment, groaning in pain, then looked up and glared at Eletha.


    I warned you, Eletha said, through a trickle of magic. I told you to take this seriously. We are here at the command of the Oakmother.


    May rolled her eyes, getting up and tapping the ground with her foot to send a silent reply:


    ¡°I told you that you were a suck-up. And to think that at one time, I had to plead for you to play nice with the meat-men. Now you do it gladly.¡±


    Eletha grimaced, then turned her glare toward Nelippe. The young dryad nodded at her respectfully before another accident could happen.


    Meanwhile, Luvelye panicked, wide-eyed and breathing hard, apologizing profusely and loudly to the three of them who weren¡¯t listening. He didn¡¯t dare move from the rock, lest he step on any plants and make them even more angry.


    ¡°Hey, Eletha,¡± May said, through a ripple of magic.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°What did the rock say when the arrow hit it?¡±


    Eletha grimaced, sighing inwardly.


    ¡°Nothing. It didn¡¯t.!¡±


    May and Nelippe both burst into laughter while Eletha groaned behind the little meat-man. Luvelye looked up at her again, scared and confused. She smiled, gently grabbing his shoulder, and gave him a reassuring squeeze.


    ¡°It¡¯s all okay, little human,¡± she said. ¡°You¡¯ve done nothing wrong. We dryads can¡¯t be hurt like that ¨C look.¡±


    She motioned towards May, who firmly grasped the arrow and pulled it out of her chest. As soon as she pulled it out, the wound filled up with vines, sap, and, finally, skin.


    ¡°You did good, Luvelye!¡± she called. ¡°You almost got that little rock! Just aim a little to the left next time!¡±


    The little meat-man¡¯s heart raced. He said nothing.


    ¡°Want to try again?¡± Eletha asked.

 Chapter 17 - Out of the cage

    Scypha had always known that she would be freed from the cage on the creaky wooden cart someday, and after her meeting with the knight in shining armor, her hopes had grown even stronger.


    However, she hadn¡¯t dared imagine that it would happen so soon, nor had she considered that it might unfold in such an unexpected way.


    After weeks of sitting behind the metal bars, the slavers simply opened the door of the cage and began shouting at her, Niss, and her twin brother Nass to get off the cart and join them on the ground.


    They obliged, gazing at each other in shock and looking around warily, but received little explanation. The slavers began talking amongst themselves, watching them out suspiciously, looking for signs that they might try to escape.


    ¡°Well, Amzev?¡± the slaver named Vrelyen shouted a little while later, holding a wooden cudgel. ¡°Will these three do? They¡¯re the only humans we¡¯ve got to lose.¡±


    Amzev, another one of the slavers, lounged on the edge of a cart that stood up ahead. He was eating a ripe apple that glistened in the sunlight, but he tossed it away, half-finished, and plod over to them, grimacing.


    ¡°These two are green,¡± he said, pointing at Niss and Nass. ¡°You call them human?¡±


    ¡°Half-human, then. They¡¯re all we¡¯ve got if you¡¯re going to insist on using our kind.¡±


    Amzev muttered a curse. ¡°It¡¯s not my damned preference. Chi¡¯orat. They¡¯re a little small.¡±


    Scypha winced. Suddenly, she noticed that the man was wearing a fur pelt¡ªa wolf pelt. It was small and gray, and she recognized the patchy pattern of black and white on one of the ends: Darko.


    A dark, bloody thought crept into her mind, quietly laughing and tempting her to surrender to unconsciousness.


    ¡°Resist,¡± then came the voice of the knight in shining armor, whispering in her ear. ¡°It¡¯s not time yet. Just a little longer.¡±


    Slowly, she nodded, whispering a prayer. ¡°Vifafey, preserve me ¡­ and let justice be done.¡±


    She had been quiet, but the slaver called Amzev must have heard her anyway. He stalked over toward her. Niss shuddered slightly by her side, while Scypha¡¯s arm began to twitch, despite her hard-won focus.


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Amzev asked.


    ¡°You have to resist,¡± the knight said. ¡°I know it¡¯s difficult, but do try. Take this as a learning opportunity.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s the weird one,¡± Vrelyen said, his quiet voice seeming to come from a million miles away. ¡°Ignore her. It¡¯s nothing.¡±


    Amzev narrowed his gaze.


    ¡°I said ¡­ I¡¯m glad to be free again,¡± she murmured, looking the slaver in the eye. ¡°Thank you for letting us out of the cage.¡±


    Amzev grimaced. ¡°Free?¡± he asked. ¡°You are not free. You are our convoy. You will walk beside the caravan, watching for danger. Before you get any funny ideas ¨C if one of you runs, the other two die. And one from each cart.¡±


    He eyed Niss and Nass. ¡°Damned pukes.¡±


    Vrelyen grimaced, walking over and shaking his head. ¡°Best if we split you up,¡± he said.


    A little while later, Scypha walked along the road, accompanied by Nass. She¡¯d never talked to him directly before, only to his sister, so things were a little awkward ¡­ especially because of the way he kept nervously pacing and flinching toward the forest.


    ¡°You keep forgetting the safe word, Niss¡­¡± he kept muttering. Scypha didn¡¯t know exactly what he meant.


    They walked at the front of the caravan, flanked by slavers and the three horse-drawn carts full of goblins. As she and Nass led the column, Niss was left behind at the back, likely to ensure they couldn''t coordinate a plan of escape. It¡¯d be hopeless, anyway. There was nowhere to go, nothing in sight but an endless snowy forest, and the goblins still trapped in their cages would suffer if they abandoned them.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    Suddenly, a figure appeared right beside Scypha, tall, with strong features and kind, discerning eyes. A ray of sunlight bounced off his gilded armor.


    Scypha looked at him briefly and smiled, then gazed straight ahead again before anyone could notice her staring at things that weren¡¯t really there.


    ¡°So that one is gone, too,¡± Nass muttered, distracting her.


    ¡°Pardon?¡± Scypha asked.


    The half-goblin glanced at her. He was a few inches shorter, sharing the same height, pointy ears, and olive-green skin as Niss. They were startlingly similar, Scypha noticed, though with certain obvious differences due to their genders.


    Nass shook his head. ¡°Nothing, I¡¯m just counting slavers. Have you got a count?¡±


    ¡°A ¡­ count?¡±


    ¡°How many of them bastards can you spot right now?¡±


    ¡°Um ¡­ I think there were about ten of them, in all. But I¡¯m not sure.¡±


    ¡°There are six remaining,¡± the knight in shining armor said. ¡°My preparations are nearly complete. My god beckons us to move forward. The time for your escape is approaching.¡±


    Nass grimaced, unable to see or hear the knight. He turned back to look towards the caravan.


    ¡°I was looking for an exact number,¡± he said. ¡°There were eleven, in the beginning. We lost one just before Lyerateh, and then another later, but that was all long ago. Only the god Gromph knows where they got lost. This morning, there should have still been nine ¨C but I only spotted eight. Now I can¡¯t even find six ¡­ no, never mind. There¡¯s blondie over there, so there are six. But I can¡¯t find seven.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Scypha said. ¡°I did hear something about them not being able to find Vrelyen ¡­ so there are a few slavers missing?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Looks like it. By the way, have you seen Niss, in the last little while?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Scypha said. She looked towards the knight in shining armor, who smiled at her warmly and gave her a nod. ¡°But I think she¡¯s fine,¡± she continued. ¡°The gods are on our side, and I¡¯m sure she can take care of herself.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Have you two already become best friends? Is that how you know that?¡±


    Scypha shrugged. ¡°Well, she¡¯s currently my only friend, so you could say she¡¯s my best one, too.¡±


    ¡°Not counting you, sir knight,¡± she added in her mind.


    Nass stopped and stared at her for a moment, then turned away again. ¡°Hm. How would you like a second? Friend, I mean.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d ¡­ love one,¡± Scypha replied.


    ¡°My name is Nass.¡±


    ¡°I know. Niss told me. I¡¯m Scypha.¡±


    ¡°I know. Niss told me, too.¡±


    Scypha smiled. ¡°Niss must have been busy.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve got that right,¡± Nass said. As he walked backward, looking over at the caravan, his eyes suddenly lit up. ¡°Oh, there she is. Found her. She¡¯s still alive, thank Gromph.¡±


    Niss nodded.


    ¡°Eyes up ahead, you two!¡± shouted a slaver, coming up behind them and glaring. ¡°Or you won¡¯t be getting any meals tonight! There¡¯s something in these damned woods¡­¡±


    Scypha shivered and obeyed the man. Nass did so far more reluctantly, apparently silently mouthing a curse, but eventually, he did turn his head, as she had.


    ¡°So, how did you come to be a slave, Scypha?¡± he muttered a little later. ¡°It¡¯s not often we get to see a pink-skin in the cage with us. Niss and I were chasing after a shard of the divine. What about you?¡±


    For a mere moment, a vision appeared before Scypha. A vision of that little bird she had murdered. The cute, beady, little eyes, the feathery head, rolling off its shoulders ¡­ she began trembling.


    ¡°I, um ¡­ I got ambushed, in the woods,¡± she said, shaking her head. ¡°When I was on my coming-of-age journey to Lyerateh. Those men kidnapped me and forced me into the cage. They ¡­ killed my wolf, Darko.¡±


    ¡°Oh. That sucks. I hate it when they do that.¡±


    ¡°Yeah ¡­ Um, me too.¡±


    The knight in shining armor sped up his gait and walked over a little distance in front of Scypha. ¡°My preparations are done,¡± he said, his voice echoing in her mind. ¡°Are you ready, Scypha?¡±


    She glanced at him and swallowed hard, then nodded.


    ¡°Like I said, I won¡¯t be able to focus on protecting you when it all starts. I¡¯ll be too busy handling everything else. I need you to take care of yourself.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I think I remember what you taught me, but I don¡¯t know how long I¡¯ll be able to hold it¡ª¡±


    ¡°Hey, Scypha?¡± Nass asked, distracting her again.


    She turned to him, plastering on a smile. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°I can see him, too.¡±


    Her eyes widened. What? ¡°You ¡­ you can? You can see him? B-But¡ª¡±


    The half-goblin smiled widely. ¡°Ha. Gotcha! I knew there was still something going on.¡±


    Scypha glanced back at the knight for a moment, then at Nass. The knight¡¯s form began to fade into a white mist, disappearing from sight. Her thoughts began to race in a thousand directions, and her heart beat hard and fast.


    ¡°How did you¡­¡±


    Her entire body began to tremble and shake.


    ¡°So, you mind telling me what¡¯s really wrong with you?¡± Nass asked. ¡°Because I don¡¯t believe¡ª¡±


    Scypha¡¯s mind quickly began growing fuzzy. Her eyes vibrated, distorting the world around her impossibly, and she found her lips moving on their own. ¡°Why would I tell you anything?¡± she asked. ¡°You hate me.¡±


    Nass looked stunned. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Talking to me disgusts you, Nassilyan Velarin. Because my skin is pink, and you wish yours and Niss¡¯s was, too.¡±


    Nass stopped and stared at her, a furious expression on his face. ¡°I do not. Who am I talking to, right now?¡±


    Scypha felt herself smiling. ¡°Come now, Nassilyan. None of that really matters. It¡¯s lunacy, all of it. Come and join us, help us tear it down¡ª¡±


    A sharp pain pierced into Scypha¡¯s brain. Fighting back agony and tears, she wrestled back control of her body, crumbling onto her knees and hitting the cold, rocky ground.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± she breathed, her mind pulsing with pain. ¡°I don¡¯t know ¡­ This hurts so much ¨C¡±


    ¡°Keep walking!¡± shouted a slaver, somewhere behind them.


    Scypha stumbled forward, trying to keep moving but instead slipping on a wet stone and grazing her hands. The pain was growing. Her vision flickered and clouded, and she knew it was only a matter of time.


    ¡°Please, my lord god Vifafey,¡± she prayed. ¡°Spare the innocent. I don¡¯t know if I have the strength¡­¡±

 Chapter 18 - Screecher

    Nassilyan stared at the sort-of-human, his breath catching, his heart thundering in his chest. Walking sideways, not daring to take his eyes off her, he almost tripped over himself.


    Something had happened. He could feel it in his bones¡ªhis hair was standing on end. Something bad was happening.


    As the almost-human walked alongside him on the hard, stony road in front of the line of carts, she held her head in her hands, grimacing in apparent agony. Her pupils vibrated, the irises slightly changing color. It was so slight, he¡¯d have thought it a trick of the light ¡­ if he didn¡¯t know better. He moved a few more paces away from her.


    ¡°Speed up, you two!¡± shouted a slaver¡¯s voice from behind him. Vrelyen, he thought, though it didn¡¯t really matter. ¡°Walk faster! I want to get out of here¡­¡±


    The humans could probably feel it, too. He wondered what had caused the sudden ¡­ change. Scypha had seemed just fine, until a few moments ago. Until she had the delusion. She appeared to have been getting better. Perhaps that itself was the problem? There was no way to know.


    Scypha, her head buried in her hands, peered at him through her fingers, each one trembling.


    ¡°Nass,¡± she said. ¡°Could you move a little further away from me? Please.¡±


    He nodded hastily and obliged. Through her fingers, he saw that her eyes were turning white.


    ¡°T-thanks...¡± She sounded like she was choking on her own tongue.


    ¡°What is happening, Scypha?¡± he asked. ¡°As your newest and second-best friend, I¡¯d like to know. I can help.¡±


    ¡°No ¡­ no, you can¡¯t. No one can ¡­ except him. But he¡¯s gone away for a while.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°A prophet ¡­ but it doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Scypha grimaced in pain. ¡°Just ¡­ get ready to run. He¡¯s going to free us. All of us. But he said that you and Niss should run away as soon as you can. My lord god ¡­ Vifafey, please, preserve us.¡±


    Damn it. Vifafey, as far as Nass knew, didn¡¯t give a damn about goblins ¨C but he¡¯d sent one of his prophets for Scypha?


    Nass turned away from her and walked sideways toward the edge of the road, then began searching for Niss again. He would take care of the two of them, prophet or no prophet. The faint scent of wildflowers and damp earth filled the air.


    He almost fell into the giant, gaping black hole right in front of him.


    He caught himself at the last moment, waving his arms frantically to avoid falling face-first into it. As soon as he regained his balance, he took three steps back, almost stumbling, his heartbeat suddenly pounding in his ears. The hole gaped open in front of him, as wide as he was tall, a dark void that seemed to swallow all the light around it. Where the dirt ground stopped, there was nothing left to be seen when looking down ¨C not even a hint of light, only impenetrable blackness.


    ¡°Screecher!¡± he screamed, taking a few steps backward, his legs growing stiff. ¡°There¡¯s a screecher hole over here!¡±


    ¡°Screecher hole!¡± the slavers repeated down the caravan, their voices cracking. ¡°Watch your surroundings!¡±


    Nass began running around the front, trying to catch sight of Niss. ¡°NISS?!¡± he shouted. ¡°ARE YOU OKAY?¡±


    He listened for a while but got no response. The slavers shouted amongst themselves, and the goblins in the cart cages whispered and trembled in fear. Behind Nass, Scypha quietly muttered to herself. ¡°I¡¯m still here, Vifafey protects me, I¡¯m still here, Vifafey protects me ¡­ Run.¡±


    Nass turned towards her. ¡°What?¡± he asked.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    He saw her eyes¡ªthey were completely white, devoid of pupils or irises. A wide smile slowly stretched across her lips. ¡°Run,¡± she said calmly. ¡°Get out of the way. It''s not you we want just yet, half-breed.¡±


    For a single fleeting moment, Nass couldn¡¯t move a muscle. Then Scypha began to tremble uncontrollably, her body shaking as she hunched over. Desperation etched across her face, she pressed her shaking hands back onto her head, struggling to breathe through ragged gasps.


    Somewhere behind Nass, a slaver¡¯s voice shouted again. ¡°Get moving again, damn you!¡± it said, with a strong undertone of panic. ¡°We¡¯ve got to get out of here, if there¡¯s a damned screecher nearby!¡±


    Nass tried to move, but his whole body suddenly went stiff. He could only watch helplessly while the ground under his feet began to rumble and shake, and just behind Scypha, a giant, chitinous monster began to rise from the earth.


    ¡°Gods, preserve us,¡± the slaver behind him breathed.


    Lumps of dirt and rock exploded out of the ground in all directions. The air filled with the smells of mud and rot, and there was a low, grinding noise, the sound of plates scraping together, as the monster split the earth apart and slowly rose out of it.


    It was a horror straight out of the deepest nightmares¡ªa gnarled, armored thing dripping with the muck of the earth it had just torn through. Segments of brown chitin bristled with hooked, jagged spikes, each one seemingly designed solely to rend and kill, and from either side of its monstrous, giant, worm-like body, long, black, scythe-like claws jutted out, each serrated and gleaming in the sunlight.


    As its upper body slithered out of the ground and rose twice as high as the wagons were tall, Nass caught sight of its face¡ªor what passed for one¡ªten separate red eyes and a mass of glistening tentacles around a nightmarish maw that split open impossibly wide, revealing rows upon rows of razor-sharp, needle-like teeth.


    While the people behind Nass began to scream, Scypha calmly turned toward the giant creature, walking over and gently placing a hand on its body as she closed her eyes. It didn¡¯t so much as look at her. She smiled brightly.


    Before anyone could react, the creature lifted its head and emitted an unearthly, deafening shriek and then surged forward, lashing out with its scythe-like black claws and slicing through everything in its path.


    It crashed onto the ground and charged straight past Nass. The slaver behind him was the first to go. The screecher cut the human apart in a mere moment before moving on down the line of carts, wreaking havoc.


    A cacophony of shouts and terrified wails filled the air, debris raining down as carts on the ground tumbled and shattered. The horses whined and fell to the ground, dead and dismembered, and the metal cages that held the goblins catapulted away from everything like weightless toys, the screecher''s claws tearing through them.


    Nass¡¯s body screamed at him to move, and finally, he found himself able to do so. He dashed straight ahead, not a single thought in his head¡ªbut one: ¡®Niss¡¯.


    As he ran past the destruction in the same direction that the screecher was going, a slaver rushed toward him, eyes wide with panic, a sword in his hand. Nass blinked, and the man was dead, his blood and entrails covering the ground, his body crumpling against a cart with a sickening thud. More screams erupted from the goblins trapped in the cages, then a deafening screech and the sound of metal twisting and wood being torn apart.


    ¡°NISS!¡± Nass shouted. ¡°WHERE ARE YOU?!¡±


    The ground kept trembling under his feet, the unearthly screeching piercing the air, the smell of blood and fear everywhere.


    A moment of silence.


    ¡°Nass!¡± a voice shrieked from up ahead. Niss¡¯s voice. ¡°I¡¯m here! I¡¯m coming!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯M COMING TO YOU!¡± he shouted back.


    Suddenly, the world under his feet jumped and began spinning, and he found himself falling for a moment before he stumbled into the dirt. He got right back up, ignoring the pain and dashing forward again.


    ¡°WHERE ARE YOU!?¡± he shouted, running straight past the obliterated wreckage of a cart, the bodies of three slavers strewn about it like ragdolls with their legs cut off.


    The giant monster loomed just ahead, its mud-caked teeth glinting in the sun, each as sharp as a dagger and long as a sword.


    The earth shook again as another cart splintered, cracked, and tore itself apart, sundered by the screecher¡¯s claws and spikes. A group of goblins, unwashed and dressed in rags, dashed out of the cage, screaming, but seemingly unhurt.


    They all ran past Nass, each headed in a different direction away from the screecher.


    Nass spotted Niss. Her eyes met his, and his heart suddenly stuttered in his chest, disbelief and panic rising simultaneously with the pounding in his ears. The earth violently quaked under his feet.


    He ran.


    One of the slavers, Vrelyen, was gripping Niss in front of himself, his fingers digging into her slender, green arm as he dragged her in front of himself like a shield, positioning her between himself and the towering monstrosity and the rows of teeth that faced them. They were backed up against the remains of an overturned wagon, faces contorted in terror.


    ¡°Take her!¡± Vrelyen bellowed, wide-eyed, voice shaking and cracking under the weight of his fear. ¡°Take her, damn it! Take the puke!¡±


    Spittle flew from his lips as he thrust Niss forward toward the monster, her tear-streaked face wide with shock and fear.


    ¡°Nass!¡± she cried. ¡°Nass, Please! Please help me!¡±

 Chapter 19 - Hero

    Nass¡¯s heart clenched; a surge of terror so great it drowned out every rational thought. He couldn¡¯t breathe, couldn¡¯t think. All he could do was madly dash toward his sister as fast as he could. He didn¡¯t have a weapon, but the slaver did, so he¡¯d use that one¡­


    Getting ever closer to Niss and Vrelyen, the monster shrieked again, the deafening sound piercing his ears, overpowering everything else in the world. Niss''s eyes met Nass¡¯s one more time, wide and pleading. She struggled against the slaver''s grip, and she bit down hard on his forearm, drawing blood, but the pink skin didn''t let go of her.


    And then suddenly, the human lurched forcefully backward, Niss falling out of his grip and stumbling onto the ground. Scypha stood there, with one hand holding the slaver in the air by his neck, her eyes all white. She had a wide smile on her face and a bloody knife in her hand.


    ¡°I told you, Vrelyen,¡± she said, her voice full of cheer. ¡°It¡¯s time to carve!¡±


    Nass glanced at her only briefly before deciding she wasn¡¯t important. Niss. Niss was right there, crawling on the ground to her side. She was injured ¨C her leg was bleeding ¨C but he could make it. The screecher was getting closer, but he could make it. That¡¯s what he told himself. He had to.


    And he did make it. The screecher ¨C or maybe time itself ¨C seemed to slow down as he ran. By the grace of the gods, perhaps, he reached Niss before the monster¡¯s rows of teeth could get any closer.


    ¡°Go!¡± he shouted, roughly pulling her to her feet. ¡°RUN! NOW!¡±


    Niss stared at him, her eyes wide with terror. Her injured leg trembled and she winced in pain, but she put her weight on it anyway and ran. He grabbed her by the hand and pulled her forward. Together, they fled, past Scypha, the slaver, and the giant monster destroying everything in sight ¨C back into the maze of shattered carts and sliced-apart corpses.


    Behind them, he heard the fading sounds of Vrelyen screaming in pain, and Scypha gleefully laughing.


    As Nass and Niss reached the ruins of a slave cage, fifty feet away, Niss pulled his arm, wincing in pain.


    ¡°Nass,¡± she said, crying. ¡°I¡¯m so glad you came for me. I don¡¯t understand how that worked ¡­ But Scypha ¨C she saved me too. She saved a lot of us, she opened half of the cages! We have to¡ª¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t, Niss. There¡¯s no time! Don¡¯t worry about her, she¡¯s friends with that thing, anyway!¡±


    ¡°No, she¡¯s not! The real her isn¡¯t. Nass, we have to do something!¡±


    She let go of his hand, then, and stopped running. Nass stopped, staring at her. Tears streamed across her green cheeks, mixing with blood from a cut on her nose.


    ¡°Nass ¡­ This can be that moment. Maybe we don¡¯t need a shard of the divine. We can prove ourselves now, and Father will accept us! I¡¯m sorry, I know you don¡¯t care, but please! We have to try!¡±


    Nass hesitated. ¡°What the hell do you mean ¡®prove ourselves¡¯?! We don¡¯t have to prove anything to that pink old snot! We just got away from that monster, Niss, and now you want to go back?! For a pink-skin?! No. I won¡¯t have it!¡±


    Niss stared at him pleadingly, pulling her hand back. ¡°Then let go of my¡ª¡±


    ¡°What, so you can go?!¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    ¡°No, Niss! You¡¯re not going back there! Come with me, and stop struggling!¡±


    ¡°Even if you don¡¯t, I have to help her! She helped me!¡±This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°Damn you! Damn you, Niss! Now isn¡¯t the time!¡±


    ¡°Now might be the only time!¡±


    Nass glared furiously at Niss, his rage nearly boiling over. It was just because the damned woman was pink and not immediately evil! Niss was being na?ve and stupid again ¨C yet again!


    But ¡­ better him than her.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go, then,¡± Nass growled. ¡°But I¡¯m not taking any risks for a damned pink-skin, you got that? At the first sign of trouble, I will leave her to die. Now go, and take care of your bleeding leg!¡±


    ¡°Wait, I can help¡ª¡±


    ¡°Go that way!¡± he roared. ¡°Or I¡¯ll break your other leg, and neither of us is going to help that thing you call a friend!¡±


    He grimaced, hating himself, and ran off. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare come after me!¡± he shouted. ¡°Go!¡±


    Just a little later, Nass¡¯s breath came in ragged gasps, the dusty air burning in his chest as he made the stupidest decision of his life, running back towards the sounds of splintering wood and twisting metal, and the towering monster that he knew perfectly well had let him escape.


    It came into view quickly, because it was so monstrously large. It slithered over a pair of overturned carts, the front of its body standing tall, like a giant snake ready to lunge. Scypha crouched on the ground in front of it, her eyes all white, smiling, and bloody as she used a knife to slice across the slaver lying on the ground before her.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get better at this,¡± she laughed. ¡°But it¡¯s a good start. Perfectly legible.¡±


    The slaver groaned, his voice raspy and unclear, wordlessly bleating in agony.


    ¡°Can you read it, Vrelyen?¡± Scypha asked. ¡°You should ¨C after all, it¡¯s on your stomach. Figure it out!¡±


    The screecher towering above the two of them lowered its head and hissed, emitting a spine-chilling sound that made the earth tremble under Nass¡¯s feet.


    Scypha looked up to face it for a moment, smiling, then turned back down to Vrelyen. ¡°Don¡¯t pout, little tyrant,¡± she said. ¡°I did you a kindness. At least you won¡¯t live to see what I¡¯m going to do to your children.¡±


    Nass shook his head. ¡°The friends you make, Scypha¡­¡± he muttered.


    He hid behind the remains of a ruined cart. Every instinct he had screamed at him to turn and run, to go back to Niss and drag her away before the monster turned its hollow, soulless gaze onto the two of them. His jaw clenched so tightly it hurt, and he breathed so shallowly he might as well have been holding his breath.


    Saving Scypha? That thing over there was unsavable. Leaving is the only option.


    That¡¯s what he knew ¨C but despite everything, he did have to try. He owed the damned pink-skin, since she truly had helped Niss. By the god Gromph¡¯s divine decree, debts owed were to be debts paid. Perhaps he could wake her up from her murderous trance, but he had no idea how¡ª


    The screecher''s massive head tilted towards him. Nass''s whole body shuddered as its red, depthless eyes locked onto him, narrowing ¨C and suddenly, there was a human man standing directly in front of him.


    Nass stumbled onto the ground, hastily inching away from him, but at the same time, the man took a step forward, glaring at him with hostility. He wore gilded, spotless armor, shimmering in the light, full plate except without a helmet. He had no sword, but Nass knew with every instinct he had that he was deadly beyond imagining.


    Nass''s vision swam in and out of focus, the world around the man blurring like a nightmare. He kept walking closer.


    Behind the man, everything was distorted. Nass heard Scypha suddenly shriek and fall over herself. She began panting loudly. Her voice seemed far away.


    The man turned away from Nass for a moment, looking at the pink-skin, before settling his furious stare back at him.


    Suddenly, Nass''s survival seemed like a fragile, foolish hope.


    ¡°We are not ready to be allies, yet,¡± the man spoke threateningly. ¡°I told you to run.¡±


    Nass breathed hard, his hands shaking, his heartbeat pounding in his ears. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he gasped. ¡°I had to.¡±


    Nass¡¯s vision flickered and cleared up. Behind the armored man, Scypha slowly got up to her feet before stumbling back down to the ground. Nass could hear her sobbing, praying to her lord god, Vifafey¡­


    As if he could have changed a damned thing.


    The man in gleaming plate armor stared at Nass. ¡°You had to¡­?¡± he asked. ¡°You want to be a hero, is that it?¡±


    A vision of Niss flashed into Nass¡¯s mind. A clear picture of her, battered, bruised, and bleeding. She was tying up her injured leg with torn-up pieces of her rags, holding back tears and wincing in pain. The giant shadow of the screecher fell over her, a monstrous maw opening up and revealing hundreds of rows of dagger-like teeth.


    Suddenly, the vision disappeared.


    ¡°Then what are you waiting for?¡± the man in plate armor asked.


    Nass turned towards him, his whole body trembling. The man quickly vanished into nothing, leaving Nass alone, just sitting on the cold, hard ground. In the distance, the screecher shrieked again, its reverberating sound shaking the earth. It lowered its massive head toward Scypha, and she suddenly fell completely still, gazing into it, dazed.


    It wasn¡¯t too late. If he ran, then maybe ¡­ but Niss¡­


    Nass got up onto his feet.


    Slowly, the tentacles on the monster¡¯s face grabbed Scypha by the arms and legs and began lifting her into the air, towards its mouth.


    Nass turned his head and walked away.

 Chapter 20 - Truce

    ¡°These ones are old,¡± Eletha murmured, standing beside Nelippe on the thick branch of a birch tree, high in the air.


    Nelippe nodded. ¡°Really old. I wonder how they even made it back here.¡±


    Together, they watched as the meat-men clumsily tumbled into the woods, oblivious to her and her sisters'' presence. Their faces were winded and wrinkled, and they were squinting, barely keeping their eyes open. The smell of sweat began to drift up into the air.


    Eletha crouched and sat down on the branch, silently counting the number of new arrivals. Two, four, six ... nine.


    Nine more meat-men entering the dryads'' territory ¨C nine more meat-men they were forbidden from killing and would, in fact, have to feed. If only she hadn''t recognized them, she would have happily loosed a few arrows and saved the forest some pain.


    But ¡­ orders were orders. The Oakmother was still upset at the death of her friend. She was so upset that she had decided to earnestly protect the villagers.


    A warm wind swept past Eletha, lifting her hair and causing it to flow around her face. It carried her seed-sister¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Should I take the lead again?¡± May asked.


    Eletha stretched her hand and placed it on the trunk of the birch tree she was sitting on, sending out a trickle of magic in response. ¡°You are our best when it comes to dealing with meat-men.¡±


    After a few moments, May hopped out of the overgrowth a few hundred feet to Eletha¡¯s left, slowly making her way to the nine new meat-men. After sparing Nelippe a glance, Eletha slid off of the tree and glided towards the ground, landing with one foot on a little pebble. From that one, she hopped to the next, and the next, until she met up with May, and they went together to greet the new arrivals.


    One of them, a black-haired meat-man probably around Berrick¡¯s age, pushed past the rest and looked at Eletha briefly before recognizing May and turning instead towards her. He knelt on the ground and stared at her pleadingly.


    ¡°Lady Maylissena,¡± he said. ¡°I ¡­ We apologize for coming to the forest unannounced. We had no choice. The young ones forced us out of our cave.¡±


    May smiled widely, briefly touching the vines wrapped around her chest and having them tuck in their leaves, exposing her skin. ¡°That¡¯s okay,¡± she said to the meat-men. ¡°Leave your worries outside the forest ¨C you¡¯re safe now.¡±


    ¡°By chance, do you remember his name?¡± Eletha asked, tilting her head close and whispering in May¡¯s ear.


    ¡°Nope, no idea¡ªbut I think he¡¯s the guy that gave me his uncle a few weeks ago, on the last day of accord.¡±


    ¡°Right. I¡¯ll play the righteous one, then,¡± Eletha said. Taking a deep breath, she gazed appraisingly at the meat-men and spoke up. ¡°Humans. Our Oakmother has extended her hospitality to you. Do you seek refuge in our forest?¡±


    May quasi-subtly glanced at the meat-men, then at Eletha, then at the meat-men again, repeating the cycle until they were confused.


    ¡°Um ¡­ Greetings, honored dryad,¡± the black-haired human said to Eletha. ¡°Yes. Please, we do need to seek refuge. We won¡¯t impose much, I promise.¡±


    ¡°What is your name?¡±


    ¡°Irelen, miss.¡±


    ¡°Irelen. Do you swear to honor the forest during your stay here?¡±


    The human hastily nodded. ¡°Yes. Yes, we all swear. We all swear, right?¡± he asked, turning towards the old men and women behind him. Eletha heard a bunch of murmurs and nods. ¡°We will be respectful. We appreciate your help.¡±


    ¡°Alright then,¡± she said. ¡°Nelippe! Come down and greet our guests the nice way.¡±


    A rustle of leaves and a quiet thud sounded behind Eletha. Her shorter sister hopped up next to her, an obviously fake smile plastered on her face.


    Eletha turned to her, then back at the meat-men. ¡°My sister Nelippe will show you the way to your new home. Follow her steps precisely, if you can, so as not to murder the undergrowth on your way. Do not touch what you do not have to. Absolutely never lay a hand on any of our acorns. We will feed you later. Understood?¡±


    The meat-men all nodded again. A whiff of fear began to waft through the air behind all the sweat. ¡°Understood,¡± they said.


    For a few moments, Eletha just stared at them in silence, letting them become increasingly uncomfortable. Somewhere in the distance, a bird began to chirp.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    Finally, Nelippe signaled for them to follow her, and they slowly trudged away from Eletha and May along a pre-prepared path that led past the most delicate of plants on their way toward their clearing by the stream.


    Eletha tapped the ground lightly with her foot, sending Nelippe a final trickle of magic and a message. ¡°Make sure they don¡¯t touch our acorns, sister. I don¡¯t trust them.¡±


    Without stopping or turning back around to face Eletha, Nelippe raised a hand and waved, acknowledging her request. Eletha turned back to May, standing beside her, and they both sighed.


    ¡°Nine more, huh?¡± May asked.


    ¡°Yup. Nine more. They¡¯ll be hungry, no doubt. Damned be these meat-men and their stupid wars ¡­ We should just go out and slaughter those ¡®bandits.¡¯ We could have this all solved in a day.¡±


    ¡°The Oakmother is afraid that there might be too many of them. And that they might try to burn down the forest.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why she ordered us to shoot before they get too close ¨C but will we really be able to keep the perimeter, if half of our sisters are stuck caring for these old people? We¡¯re dryads, May. We¡¯re supposed to protect the forest. What we¡¯re doing here isn¡¯t natural.¡±


    ¡°I know ¡­ but maybe the Oakmother will change her mind. Let¡¯s just give her some time.¡±


    ¡°Yeah ¡­ I guess. Back to work, then.¡±


    May nodded. She glanced to the side, towards the nearest tree. Walking over to it, she placed a hand on it briefly, asking permission, then nimbly climbed up its trunk. Eletha turned around and went in the opposite direction.


    After the sun went down, their work for the day was done. She and May, along with all the others who had toiled during the daylight hours, hopped along the various pebbles scattered on the leaf-covered ground as they made their way to their heart trees. They were tired from a day spent mostly emptily staring at the fields outside the forest.


    Some of their older sisters hopped in the opposite direction, towards the positions they had just filled. They were to be the night''s watch.


    As was usually the case when they were at their sleepiest, Eletha and May started talking up a steady stream of stupid ideas.


    ¡°Thish foresht ish full off woad,¡± May said, making a face. ¡°We needsh it all! It don¡¯t feel nothin¡¯ anywae!¡±


    Eletha laughed as she sluggishly hopped from one pebble to the next, shaking her head and letting her hair fall freely behind her.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever heard a meat-man talk like that!¡± she said tiredly.


    ¡°Some of them do!¡± May replied. ¡°Believe me! I talked to a lot of them on the last day of accord.¡±


    ¡°You sounded like you were trying to talk while blowing mud off your teeth!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s how he sounded!¡±


    ¡°No way. I don¡¯t believe you.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Okay. Don¡¯t believe the expert. Eletha, I¡¯ve talked to easily ten times as many meat-men as you ¨C or any other of our sisters, for that matter. I think I know what I¡¯m talking about.¡±


    Eletha shook her head, suppressing a smile. ¡°Okay, fine, I¡¯ll be open-minded. Try it again.¡±


    May took a deep breath. ¡°Thish here be called a ¡®cart¡¯! Roit noish invenchun! We ushe thish to lug around thingsh¡ª¡±


    Eletha broke into a giggle again, unable to hold a straight face. ¡°May, if I hear a meat-man talking like that, I¡¯ll shoot an arrow into him just to save his soul ¨C and I don¡¯t even want their souls to be saved.¡±


    ¡°Ha! Anything can pass for an excuse, just so long as we get to kill one of them.¡±


    Eletha suppressed a yawn. ¡°Indeed! Or more than one. Hey, I¡¯m sorry, my heart tree¡¯s right over there. I¡¯ll see you at sunrise?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m exhausted. Good night, Eletha!¡±


    ¡°Good night!¡±


    May gradually moved ahead of Eletha, eventually vanishing from her sight and being enveloped by the darkness of the night. Eletha gazed upward, eyeing the full moon behind the layers of the forest¡¯s leaves. If she strained her ears, she thought she could hear the singing of a few crickets. If she was right, they had arrived early. Spring was only just beginning.


    It wasn¡¯t just crickets, though. She heard the rustling and swaying of the undergrowth, caught in a gentle breeze, and the slow breathing of hibernating animals ¨C hedgehogs and squirrels, mostly, hiding in their little dens.


    As she made her way toward her heart tree, however, she also heard the quiet muttering of a female meat-man.


    She grimaced. ¡°It¡¯s still not over?¡± she grumbled.


    The villagers they had taken in were not given permission to come to this area ¡­ and yet, despite their trespassing, the Oakmother would likely not give Eletha leave to kill them.


    Hopping quietly along the pebbles, she made her way to her heart tree. In fact, she found that two humans kneeled on the ground there, not only one. One was big, the other small. Eletha recognized them ¨C they were Berrick¡¯s kin.


    ¡°Good evening,¡± she said unenthusiastically.


    The two of them both turned to face her and quickly got up from their knees. Their eyes searched for her unseeingly through the darkness.


    ¡°Good evening, honorable dryad,¡± the big one, the woman said. ¡°We were¡ª¡±


    Eletha tried to remember the woman¡¯s name, but she came up blank. Either because she was tired, or because she didn¡¯t care to remember it. ¡°Were you given permission to come here?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Y-yes. The, um ¡­ Oakmother led us here herself. She said we could stay and pray, so long as we didn¡¯t touch anything. We did as she asked, and we didn¡¯t touch any of the acorns. We promise.¡±


    ¡°When did the Oakmother say this? How long ago?¡±


    ¡°A while, by now. It was in the afternoon.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Eletha said. She failed to suppress a yawn. Dryads weren¡¯t meant to stay up so late¡­


    ¡°We can leave,¡± the woman replied. ¡°We didn¡¯t before, because we thought we¡¯d be wandering the forest unwatched, and you wouldn¡¯t like that. We just need to finish our prayers ¨C if you would be so kind?¡±


    Right ¡­ Their names are Jennah, and ¡­ Luvelye, Eletha remembered. She seemed to be cursed with useless knowledge.


    ¡°Go ahead. Pray. I¡¯ll be nearby.¡±


    Jennah nodded, her cheeks trembling slightly. Eletha wondered why they did that ¡­ but it didn¡¯t really matter. She hopped ahead a few feet, past her and her son. She heard them whispering some words of prayer to their lesser deity and then marking symbols on their foreheads. She looked around at their surroundings, seeing if they had, by chance, trampled over and murdered all the flowers she had planted around her heart tree.


    It turned out that, by some miracle, they hadn¡¯t. Next, she inspected her heart tree, looking over all of the leaves ¨C and especially, the acorns.


    Luckily for everyone, as far as she could see, they hadn¡¯t lied. The acorns were all still there ¡­ and nobody would die.

 Chapter 21 - In her head

    Scypha blinked. The cold, moist air of the forest woke her up from her reverie, and she found herself kneeling on dew-covered moss in the shade of a tree.


    She looked around but, in so doing, gained no sense of direction. She had no idea where she was. The landscape around her was unfamiliar and disconcerting, providing no clues or landmarks to orient her. The familiar slave carts were gone, the road was nowhere to be seen ... she was well and truly lost.


    Suddenly, a sharp pain pierced through her mind, and she felt something crawling in her head. She covered her face with her hands and forced her eyes tightly shut, trying to escape the throbbing ache. An agonizing screech echoed in her brain, reverberating like nails on a sheet of metal, followed by the scuttling of a hundred tiny, little spikes. Inside, she felt something bite her.


    After a while, the pain gradually began to fade. She felt a cold wind blow on her exposed neck and hands, and her breathing finally calmed down. She let her hands fall back down to her sides, swallowing hard, and turned away from the cold, trying forcefully to relax herself.


    She saw the prophet, her knight in shining armor, standing right in front of her, watching her closely. He had a slight stubble on his chin, as though he had recently shaved, perhaps just before he had appeared to her. Forcing herself to push the agony to the back of her mind, Scypha smiled warmly and walked a few steps forward, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him tightly. He felt larger than life, and her raging heart calmed down as they touched.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re okay,¡± he whispered. His breath was warm against her ear as they stood entwined in each other¡¯s embrace. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about the pain. I hope it will get better.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s no tradeoff at all. I ¡­ I don¡¯t feel the urges anymore. I feel like I¡¯m all there, I¡¯m ¡­ lucid. I¡¯ll be grateful to you for the rest of my life.¡±


    ¡°Those urges might come back,¡± the knight whispered. He gently pulled away, his stubbled cheeks slipping apart from hers as he gazed into her eyes. ¡°As might the memory loss. I don¡¯t want to lie to you, Scypha. I¡¯ve never done this before. I don¡¯t know the limits to my influence on you ¨C and all of it comes at a price. Truly, the last thing I want is to hurt you, but what I¡¯ve done is dangerous. You could die.¡±


    Scypha shrugged. ¡°Well, at least no one else will,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m so glad we could free all of those goblins without violence. By my lord god, Vifafey, how did you convince those slavers to let everyone go?¡±


    The knight shook his head, seemingly suppressing a laugh, then smiled. ¡°It wasn¡¯t just me. You helped me quite a bit, yourself ¡­ My lord god told me the truth. You¡¯re really not just a name and a cute little face.¡±This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Scypha suddenly found herself looking away from the knight ¡­ and blushing, slightly. Her cheeks started feeling a little hot.


    ¡°I¡¯m ¡­ sorry,¡± the knight said. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have said that. I know now is not the time. Anyway, we have work to do. Like I said, my people need us. They¡¯ve been enslaved by a shard of the divine, but we can free them ¡­ if we work together.¡±


    Scypha nodded, a feeling of elation clouding up her head. ¡°I¡¯ll do it,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ll do anything you ask.¡±


    The knight smiled. ¡°Thank you. I truly appreciate it. And I, um ¡­ I won¡¯t try to convert you to my religion if you don¡¯t want to. Just know that, if you do ¡­ I know Vifafey has never listened to your prayers, but ¡­ my god would welcome you with open arms. I swear it.¡±


    Scypha shook her head. ¡°I¡¯ve always worshipped Vifafey. It¡¯s mainstream, I know, but I¡¯m a priestess¡¯s daughter. I can¡¯t convert.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡±


    Scypha smiled. Most people tended to ask how her mother, a priestess, came to have a child, and then she¡¯d have to explain that she was a bastard. She wondered if the knight already knew, or if he simply had tact.


    ¡°Hey, do you know where all the goblins went?¡± she asked suddenly. ¡°The slavers said they were going to try to repent for what they¡¯d done, right? I remember the funny looks on their faces. But ¡­ my memory is all fuzzy. What happened to the goblins?¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± The knight shrugged. ¡°The goblins are ¡­ goblins. They went in every which direction they could. We¡¯ll probably find a few of them on our way down south to Ryzayah. I know some of them were kind to you. They¡¯re okay¡ªand part of my god¡¯s plan, in fact.¡±


    ¡°Oh? And ¡­ Ryzayah? Is that where we¡¯re going?¡±


    ¡°Yes ¨C although we might take a few detours on our way. Have you heard about it? It¡¯s a big city. Full of humans, goblins, and the like. Mostly humans, at this point.¡±


    Scypha nodded. ¡°My mom told me a few things about it when I was back home. Some traveling merchants did, too ¡­ but none of what I heard was good, to be honest. They said the place was ¡­ strange. Full of heathens.¡±


    The knight smiled, suppressing a chuckle. ¡°I can see your mother expressed herself a little more colorfully than that ¡­ but she did tell you the truth. It is a strange place. Hundreds of my people are being forced to live somewhere in there, under unholy tyranny. Goblins, too, of course.¡±


    ¡°Well ¡­ we¡¯ll save them all. I promise.¡±


    The knight gazed into Scypha¡¯s eyes, softly smiling and mouthing a silent thank you.


    There had never been a more beautiful moment.


    But then suddenly, Scypha began trembling, and the warm feeling of happiness in her faded in an instant, quickly being replaced by horror. Her breath came in deep, raspy gasps, and her heart began pounding in her ears. She saw death all around her: corpses, torn-apart trees, blood everywhere¡ª


    The knight darted towards her, quick as a breeze, and held her by the cheeks. He stopped mere inches away from her.


    ¡°Shh¡­¡± he whispered. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Scypha. You don¡¯t have to see that. You don¡¯t have to feel it. Just relax. Let me take it away...¡±


    A searing pain shot through Scypha''s head again, seizing her thoughts and leaving her stunned and confused. She winced as it got worse, closing her eyes and clutching her head in her hands. Again, she felt that unsettling sensation, as if something were squirming beneath her skull, slicing open and biting into her brain. She began bleeding out of her nose, the red droplets dripping onto her arms. Something massive and snakelike was towering over her, shaking the ground and screeching louder than an earthquake. Then even her eyes filled with red, and¡ª

 Chapter 22 - Nature calls

    While Eletha hopped on pebbles along the forest path, Luvelye followed her like a baby duck following its mother ¡­ which was strange and annoying, considering the little meat-boy already had a mother. After so many days without a break, Eletha was growing tired of maintaining a kind, understanding expression on her face, catering to the whims of one meat-man or another.


    Truly ¡­ it was no wonder that her sisters were starting to grumble behind the Oakmother¡¯s back, muttering that by protecting the villagers, she was making a mistake, demanding too much of them, and going against the very natural order of things.


    Eletha shared their feelings ¨C every one of them. Still ¡­ she had faith ¡­ and at the very least, if any of the meat-men starved to death in the forest, their corpses would already be half the way to her heart tree. That¡¯s what she told herself.


    The little meat-boy hopped on the pebbles just behind her. Unexpectedly, he was getting pretty good at it. It was clear that he was making an effort ¨C perhaps only because his mother had convinced him to ¨C but still. He was no more harmful to the trees than animals were ... for now. In Eletha¡¯s eyes, his life was worth more than those of half the other meat-men combined. His flesh, on the other hand, was worth very little, as he was really quite small. There wouldn¡¯t be much fertilizer out of him unless he¡¯d be allowed to grow up.


    Fertilizer, however, was also precisely the reason he was currently following her and May around.


    Eletha leaped onto a final pebble, a smooth, white one, which stood out clearly against the undergrowth. There, she paused, taking in her surroundings, the crystal-clear stream slowly flowing in its bank to her left, the dappled sunlight filtering through the canopy of foliage above her. She slowly nodded as the meat-boy caught up to her, flanked by her seed-sister.


    ¡°Alright, Luvelye,¡± she said, turning to face the two of them. She had even remembered the boy¡¯s name. ¡°Here is the place. Empty your bowels wherever you want.¡±


    Luvelye looked up at her. She saw his throat move up and down as he swallowed hard. For a few long moments ¡­ nothing happened.


    Eletha frowned. She didn¡¯t think she¡¯d misunderstood his need, earlier. He was small, but he was a meat-man. He needed to leak water and feces somewhere ¡­ but he was gazing at her in what could likely only be described as fear. Perhaps she had nevertheless gotten something wrong.


    ¡°Is there a problem?¡± she asked.


    The boy didn¡¯t answer. He did seem to be a rather quiet one, constantly letting his mother talk for him, but it still struck her as odd. She glanced up at May, shrugging.


    May shrugged herself, apparently just as clueless, then laid a hand on the vines covering her chest, asking them yet again to tuck in their leaves. They did, and in a few moments, she stood behind the boy nearly completely bare-chested.


    Eletha remembered what May had once told her: ¡®Show skin ¨C show them that you look like them.¡¯


    It was becoming a daily necessity.


    May hopped over to Eletha, then turned to face the little meat-man. His eyes fluttered toward her exposed, human-like breasts ¨C just as May had planned. As his face turned a shade of dark red, she crouched down to his level and smiled.


    ¡°Hey, Luvelye,¡± she said, apparently having also successfully remembered his name. ¡°We came here because we thought you needed to empty yourself. Were we wrong?¡±


    Luvelye quickly shook his head.


    ¡°All flesh-things do it. Don¡¯t be shy, just pick a spot. I¡¯m sure the plants will be grateful.¡±


    Luvelye nodded, slightly and awkwardly, then began to look around. May and Eletha smiled at him encouragingly.


    ¡°Could you ¡­ turn around, please?¡± he stammered. ¡°I am ¡­ humans are shy.¡±


    Eletha and May exchanged a look, then shrugged and did as he asked. ¡°Just make sure you don¡¯t step on anything fragile,¡± May said. ¡°We trust you.¡±This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    ¡°And don¡¯t touch the acorns,¡± Eletha added. ¡°That¡¯s Nelippe¡¯s heart tree over there, she¡¯ll kill you if you do.¡±


    May turned her gaze conspiratorially to Eletha. ¡°No, she wouldn¡¯t,¡± she whispered, leaning to her ear. ¡°I would.¡±


    Eletha chuckled. ¡°Absolutely not, seed-sister ¡­ I would have him dead before you could lay a finger on your bow.¡±


    ¡°Shall we find out?¡±


    A good question, Eletha thought.


    Behind them, they heard the rustling of cloth and, a little while after that, the trickling of water.


    ¡°I bet Nelippe would make us give her half, though,¡± May said. ¡°The greedy little sapling.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, probably true. But it would be her acorn.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    Eventually, Luvelye completed his work, the sun began to set, and the undergrowth had received some fresh nutrients and moisture.


    Eletha and May spoke a few kind words to the boy, then patted him on the head and led him back in the direction of the meat-man camp.


    Despite the few arguments that could be made in its favor, the ¡®camp¡¯, as far as Eletha was concerned, was a place that should never have existed.


    All her life, she and her sisters had guarded the sacred forest and its inhabitants from meat-men. Now, they provided them with a home inside it.


    Moral truths seemed to be unconcerned with her opinions, however. She and May led Luvelye to the small clearing by the stream, where the rest of his kind sat around and waddled about, freely trampling on the little plants struggling to rise up out of the soil. Her sisters hadn¡¯t been able to move them all before the meat-men were settled. Though rules were put in place, the damned meat-men weren¡¯t fully capable of following them. Thus was their nature ¨C and so the fragile little lives under their feet weakened and ended ¨C and the meat-men didn¡¯t even notice, let alone care.


    Eletha frowned, watching the chaos as she entered the clearing, and marked the symbol of the goddess Phosyphia on her chest. May had the same idea. Together, they muttered a short prayer.


    The meat-men were beginning to create evil things with the dead trees they had been provided. Shelters for them to sleep in, mostly. They were small, alien constructions, apparently meant to block the wind. They showed the wood no respect at all. They were worse than any other kind of animal.


    Eletha felt an itch and turned away before her restless fingers could grab hold of an arrow.


    Luvelye hopped ahead of her, landing lightly on a little pebble. She was just about to half-heartedly congratulate him on his efforts when he started to lose his balance, flailing his arms wildly before tumbling to the ground.


    And so, the little sapling behind him was squished. At least he was light enough that it would quickly recover ¨C so long as the leaves weren¡¯t torn.


    The little meat-man glanced up at her and May in fear, probably saw them both glaring, and got back up.


    ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry,¡± he stuttered. ¡°I¡¯m really sorry, I fell ¨C¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± May interrupted, sighing. ¡°That¡¯s hardly the worst of the atrocities I¡¯ve seen today.¡±


    Unfortunately, she was telling the truth.


    ¡°So, Luvelye. Do you know now where to go, whenever you need to relieve yourself?¡±


    He nodded quickly.


    ¡°Good. Then, take the knowledge you''ve been given and share it with the others of your kind. We have better things to do than lead meat-men around our forest all day.¡±


    ¡°M-Meat-men?¡±


    Eletha smiled widely, realizing her mistake. ¡°Humans.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Okay! I¡¯ll do it ¨C and we¡¯ll be really careful when we go there. We won¡¯t step on anything but rocks.¡±


    ¡°Excellent. Might you know where your mother is?¡±


    Luvelye looked around the camp, his eyes stopping briefly on all of the meat-men lying around. ¡°Um ¡­ I thought she was here, but ¡­ no.¡±


    Beside Eletha, May leaned in. ¡°Perhaps she¡¯s with the Oakmother again,¡± she whispered into her ear. ¡°They do seem to spend a lot of time together, reminiscing about old Berrick.¡±


    Eletha nodded. It seemed plausible. ¡°Just so long as she¡¯s not by my heart tree again¡­¡±


    ¡°One more thing, please!¡± Luvelye said, stuttering. ¡°Before you leave!¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s about the camp. Some of the old people said they wanted to ask if they could start a fire. It gets cold at night, and they¡¯re too weak to live without one. That¡¯s what they said. They said they were going to petition the Oakmother because it¡¯s still winter, but I thought I¡¯d tell you because ¡­ you¡¯re nice¡­¡±


    ¡°Absolutely not,¡± Eletha snapped. ¡°If any of my sisters or I spot a fire, we¡¯ll shoot down the one who started it ¡­ and perhaps not only the one.¡±


    ¡°I ¡­ I understand,¡± Luvelye said. ¡°I¡¯ll tell them ¡­ Quickly. Thank you, honorable dryad.¡±


    Eletha rolled her eyes, glaring at the little meat-man.


    ¡°My name is Eletha,¡± she said. ¡°I believe I¡¯ve already told you that, boy. This here is Maylissena.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry! Eletha. And Maylissena.¡±


    ¡°Just May,¡± May corrected. ¡°Anyway, I really don¡¯t think we¡¯ve been very demanding of you people. Stay in the clearing, don¡¯t go about hurting and murdering things, don¡¯t touch our heart trees ¡­ is it really so difficult? Tell me, little Berrick.¡±


    Luvelye nervously shifted from one foot to the other, his gaze falling towards the ground. ¡°No¡­¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    May shook her head. ¡°All right¡­ Well, is that all?¡±


    Luvelye glanced back up, nodding, but then his eyes suddenly wandered past Eletha and May.


    ¡°Fire,¡± he said.


    ¡°What?¡± Eletha asked.


    The boy swallowed hard and lifted his arm between May and Eletha, pointing somewhere behind them.


    ¡°Behind you. It ¡­ it wasn¡¯t me, or any of us, but I see fire!¡±

 Chapter 23 - Fire

    Eletha and May darted between the trees, fallen leaves crackling beneath their feet as they hurried toward the orange glow in the distance.


    As they ran, they sent tendrils of magic into the ground, warning their sisters of the danger and asking for the forgiveness of the saplings they stepped on during their rush.


    As they got closer to the light, the thick scent of smoke began to permeate the air. They ran forward, their hearts pounding, and caught sight of tall, orange flames spreading through the undergrowth.


    The fire hissed and crackled up to waist height, consuming the smallest and most vulnerable of the plants near it and slowly spreading to the larger ones. A birch tree was already burning alive.


    Behind it, an old meat-man stood with his back to Eletha and May. He was holding aloft a burning stick. The two of them hastily stopped their frantic dash and found themselves stunned in confusion for a moment before they both simultaneously took up their bows and shot arrows at the meat-man¡¯s shoulders.


    The old man howled and tumbled to the ground, his burning stick falling with him, spreading the fire further.


    Eletha and May shared a quick glance, then ran towards the nearest trees, pressing their hands against them and sending out another cry to their sisters for help.


    ¡°There¡¯s a fire, near the meat-man camp! We need water, now!¡±


    ¡°Wait ¡­ Damn it!¡± May cried, her voice shrill. ¡°Eletha, look!¡±


    Eletha quickly glanced at her, then turned her eyes to the direction she was pointing at. In the distance, she spotted another glowing orange light. Another fire. ¡°There¡¯s more?!¡± she shrieked.


    May nodded, grabbing Eletha tightly by the arm and pushing her forward. ¡°Go! I¡¯ll take care of this one!¡± she said.


    Eletha darted off in the direction of the other fire, moving as fast as she could while nocking an arrow. Through the ground, she could feel her sisters begin to answer her and May¡¯s calls, running towards the stream where the water lilies grew.


    They would supply the water to dowse the flames. Eletha would slaughter everyone involved in creating them.


    She arrived at the second fire soon and found another gray-haired meat-man holding a burning stick. He was deliberately spreading its flame to a pile of dry wood lying stacked next to an oak tree. All the undergrowth around him was turning black, hissing and smoldering.


    Eletha aimed her bow in a mere moment before letting the arrow loose.


    It whistled through the air and hit the meat-man square in the stomach, just as she had intended. Fatal for an old meat-man with graying hair, but not instantly so. He rumpled down to the ground, groaning in pain.


    Eletha nimbly ran up to him, fearfully eyeing the growing flames. The man locked eyes with her. He appeared terrified.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he whimpered. ¡°We had to, they have our¡ª¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡± Eletha shouted, forcefully kicking him in the face. As he flailed around, she quickly bent over him and wrapped her arms around his back, then lifted him into the air. With her feet, she quickly scattered the pile of wood he had set ablaze, then dropped him onto it, using him as a smothering log to suffocate the flames.


    The meat-man howled as the fire licked his back, searing his flesh and sending wisps of black smoke spiraling from his charred skin. The smell was awful, but the fires she rolled him over did start to shrink ¨C if only slightly.


    She kicked him over onto his stomach, making him roll onto the larger flames, then moved him around as was necessary to choke them. Around her, the undergrowth continued to burn.


    I can¡¯t get to them all, she realized. There were too many little fires.


    Even the oak tree behind the screaming meat-man started to burn. She could only watch in horror, calling to her sisters to bring water while trying to save what little plants she could with the charred body of the dying murderer.


    Suddenly, she saw the familiar leaves surrounding her, and she realized where exactly she was. The oak tree in front of her was not an oak tree at all. It was Nelippe¡¯s heart tree.


    More enraged than ever, she screamed and brought her foot down on the old meat-man¡¯s searing head.  She held it down stiffly into one of the fires, watching his skin bubble and melt. He began to gurgle, losing his voice to the fire and the agony. His arms flailed around wildly, but it was of no concern to Eletha. She jumped into the air, noticing one of the lower branches starting to burn, and quickly plucked the acorn she saw there. Nelippe would want that kept safe ¡­ but it would have been best if she had come herself.


    ¡°Nelippe!¡± she screamed, forcing tendrils of magic into the ground again. ¡°Come to your heart tree this instant!¡±


    ¡°What is it, Eletha? We¡¯ve got a fire to deal with!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s another, right here, at your heart tree! I¡¯ve already taken one of your acorns, but get here now!¡±


    Even through the distant connection, she could feel her younger sister¡¯s panic.


    The meat-man groaned weakly beneath Eletha¡¯s feet, his attempts to move his arms growing weaker. Eletha grabbed him roughly by the waist and turned him back around onto his stomach, then laid him squarely onto the fire again. He was very nearly dead already, but it¡¯d be possible to make him last a little longer. Nelippe would want him to suffer.


    ¡°Oh, no, no, no!¡± shouted a new voice out of the trees, that of one of Eletha¡¯s sisters. ¡°The meat-men! There¡¯s more of them! They¡¯re hostile! It¡¯s those bandits, they¡¯re coming now! They¡¯re setting fire to their arrows!¡±


    ¡°Shoot them! Kill them all!¡±


    More fire, Eletha thought. Her sisters wouldn¡¯t be able to put it all out if the meat-men spread it across the entirety of the forest. Those bandits meant to exterminate them.


    With a burst of wind, Nelippe suddenly dashed in front of Eletha, eyes wide and breathing hard. She carried a large water lily on her back, its edges tied together with ivy vines. Quickly, she untied the vines and threw the water contained within onto her burning heart tree.


    A flurry of sparks flew from the bark, creating a plume of black smoke that rose into the air. Green sparks of magic began to sizzle out of the tree.


    Eletha grabbed Nelippe¡¯s shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s not going to be enough, sister. I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll get more!¡± Nelippe shouted. ¡°Let ¨C Let me go, Eletha! Help me! We need more water!¡±


    ¡°I will ¨C but take your acorns first!¡±


    ¡°What?! No!¡±


    ¡°Do it, Nelippe! Take them, now! Before it¡¯s too late!¡±


    ¡°It won''t be too late if we just get more water!¡±


    Eletha shook Nelippe roughly, then jumped right in front of her and embraced her tightly. ¡°Now¡¯s not the time!¡± she said. ¡°It''s probably already too late! You need to gather your acorns, Nelippe! Do it! I¡¯ll get the water!¡±


    Her younger sister resisted for a few moments, trying to push her away ¡­ then started sobbing. Eletha held her tightly for as long as she dared, then quickly let her go.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she said.


    She took the water lily from Nelippe¡¯s hands and dashed as quickly as she could towards the stream.

 Chapter 24 - The right thing

    The black smoke rose steadily from the smoldering trees as Eletha ran toward the water for the fifth time.


    As time passed, the fires set by the bandit meat-men had spread, consuming more of the sacred forest than she or any of her sisters had ever imagined possible. The scorching heat of the flames could be felt even when far away, and the smell of burning wood lingered in the air like an evil cloud. In every direction, meat-men screamed.


    Eletha darted towards the stream, two water lilies spread out on her back, ready to be filled ¡­ yet a voice in the back of her head told her it was futile.


    The forest will burn, that voice said. All of it will turn to ash. Gather your acorns. Save yourself, Eletha.


    Furious at herself for having had such thoughts, Eletha leaped the final stretch of the distance towards the stream, tossed the water lilies into the water, and pushed them under the surface.


    Nelippe appeared beside her a moment later, doing the same thing. ¡°Hurry, hurry,¡± she muttered to herself, her fingers trembling, her breathing shallow. ¡°Come on¡­¡±


    ¡°Nelippe,¡± Eletha said. ¡°It¡¯s going to be okay. You¡¯ll come back, after the long rest.¡±


    Nelippe turned to her, her face quivering. ¡°I can¡¯t do it. I¡¯m not strong enough. I don¡¯t know if my acorns absorbed enough¡ª¡±


    ¡°They did,¡± Eletha interrupted. ¡°Trust me ¨C they did. They had to have. You¡¯re as strong as life itself. Now you should start deciding where to put them.¡±


    Nelippe hesitated for a couple of moments, then nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve still got half a day to choose,¡± she said. ¡°One I won''t remember later. I want to spend it helping the rest of you.¡±


    With her hands, she grasped the sides of her water lilies, lifting them up to trap water in their centers, then tied the sides together with vines. She ran off like a storm, delivering water to one of their sisters somewhere.


    Eletha held back a tear, watching her go. Then she did the same.


    But the forest kept burning. No amount of water could save it. It was when Eletha and her sisters were at their most hopeless that the Oakmother finally gave the order.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, my daughters,¡± her voice echoed through the trees. ¡°Our forest is lost. Whoever hasn¡¯t done so already, gather your acorns now.¡±


    Although Eletha had already halfway expected to hear them, the words hung in the air like a blanket of fog, leaving her utterly stunned.


    ¡°It¡¯s really happening,¡± she stuttered. ¡°The meat-men really came ¡­ and destroyed everything.¡±


    Time seemed to stand still as she stood motionless amidst burning trees, her mind succumbing to a wave of numb despair.


    ¡°Gather your acorns, my daughters,¡± the Oakmother¡¯s voice repeated. ¡°Gather them quickly. Then, we meet at the stream and offer one last prayer, before our long rest.¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Eletha ran towards her heart tree, to gather her acorns.


    It stood amidst a plume of black smoke and hissing orange flames. The leaves she had previously so meticulously organized had already shriveled up, turned black, and crumbled away. The flowers she had planted at the base of the tree had been reduced to ash, gray and lifeless, like the remnants of a forgotten dream.


    Her heart tree¡¯s trunk was charred and crackling, already halfway devoured by the fire. She leaped onto it anyway, rapidly climbing as the flames seared her palms and fingers.


    Swiftly, she leaped onto one of the branches and grabbed her first acorn, then climbed higher and did so again and again, until there was only one left.


    The last acorn smelled of smoke, just like the others. It hung on the highest branch of her tree, where it must have been used to seeing the sun.


    It ¡­ it would never do so again.


    She grabbed it, held it close to the others, then leaned her forehead against them all and whispered a prayer, trembling.


    ¡°Goddess Phosyphia, bless the seeds in my hands. Take me, protect me, and carry me to my new life, so that I may yet defend again against nature''s enemies.¡±


    Eletha remained silent for a few moments, listening to the crackling of the fires surrounding her. Standing perfectly still, she allowed a single tear to slip from her eye. It glistened in the firelight as it descended, then landed softly on the smooth surface of one of the acorns, pooling like a tiny droplet of silver on top of it. She pressed her hands together, her fingers wrapped tightly around the acorns, and shook. Her head began to ache as magic sizzled out of her heart, sparkling as it twisted and curled through the smoky air and enveloped her acorns.


    ¡°To my heart tree,¡± she said, ¡°There are no words to describe how sorry I am. I will never put my faith in a meat-man again.¡±


    The tree offered no response.


    ¡°Die with grace, old friend,¡± she whispered, choking back a sob. ¡°The goddess waits for you in the forest beyond.¡±


    Eletha¡¯s head suddenly exploded in pain, and she lost her footing. The air swirled around her and she fell and crashed to the ground, her body quickly growing stiff and numb. Her vision blurred for a moment, her senses dulled.


    Yet she could see a figure standing over her. From far away, she heard the sound of crying.


    ¡°Eletha, get to the stream!¡± cried a voice. It was May, her seed-sister ¡­ but she was really far away. ¡°Eletha, come quickly! We¡¯ve got to start the ceremony!¡±


    After a few moments, her vision cleared up, and she saw Luvelye standing over her, trying desperately to pick her up off the ground.


    ¡°Dryad!¡± he shouted. ¡°Honored dryad, you have to get up! Get up, they¡¯re coming! They have fire, they¡¯re coming!¡±


    Eletha grimaced, roughly pushed the little meat-man aside, and climbed to her feet, her hands searching for her bow and an arrow.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I can still make it,¡± she replied to May, sending magic through the ground. ¡°I¡¯ve already started infusing my acorns ¡­ they¡¯re sapping my strength.¡±


    ¡°What? That¡¯s too early!¡± May shouted through the magic.


    ¡°I know, but they were charred! I thought I¡¯d have more time, but ¡­ I¡¯m weak.  I should have fed my heart tree better.¡±


    ¡°No! Don¡¯t say that, Eletha! Tell me where you are, and I¡¯ll come get you! I¡¯m not going to leave you behind¡ª¡±


    A stab of agony shot through Eletha¡¯s head, and she lost her grip on the magic. Her connection with May disappeared in an instant.


    ¡°Dryad! Get up!¡± Luvelye cried in front of her. ¡°We have to go!¡±


    Eletha ignored the little meat-man. Looking around the smoldering ground, she quickly got up, then found and picked up her acorns. She tucked them into a small pocket formed by the leaves and vines wrapped around her hips, then took up her bow. Over the crackling of flames, she could hear heavy footsteps approaching.


    As her headache worsened, she squinted and spotted a group of four meat-men bandits approaching. They were smelly, ugly things. They held longbows, with arrows nocked that were aflame. Little Luvelye panicked at the sight of them, scurrying behind Eletha and trying to pull her away as she raised her bow and took aim at them.


    ¡°I always knew the accord was a mistake!¡± Eletha hissed.


    As her arrows flew, beautiful as the dying screams of nature''s enemies, she knew that for once in her life, she was finally doing the right thing.

 Chapter 25 - Uncertain

    74 miles south of Lyerateh, spring of year 874


    Scypha stepped into the goblins¡¯ camp, trying to move with the innocent, frightened steps of a lost young woman explicitly not eager to kill anyone.


    The short, green-skinned people turned to her, eyeing her with suspicion before noticing her ruffled, unkempt hair, her tattered clothing, and her ¡­ smell.


    It was awful, she knew. It had been months since she had bathed ¨C ever since the day before she¡¯d left her mother¡¯s temple for her coming-of-age journey to Lyerateh.


    ¡°But by now, my mother must be worried sick,¡± Scypha murmured to herself aloud, a recent habit she had picked up. ¡°She must be going crazy, looking for me¡­¡±


    The goblins started to say something.


    Scypha¡¯s vision clouded until she saw nothing but thick, pink-red fog, then cleared up again.


    She shook her head. She must have moved, because as soon as she blinked, she was no longer standing in the same place. She sat on a wooden log next to two younger goblins, both girls, in front of their campfire. More goblins stood around, stealing nervous glances at her. She held a splintery skewer of rat meat in her hands.


    ¡°What did you say?¡± the girl on her left asked, biting into her own skewered rat. She had a northern accent, probably from Gull¡¯s landing. She was staring straight at Scypha, expecting an answer.


    Scypha hesitated, having no clue as to what she¡¯d said. She noticed herself beginning to shake, so she shook her head and began humming a tune to try to cover up her rising anxiety. Her jaw began twitching. She knew full well the goblins would be quickly starting to think her insane, but that was the least of her concerns.


    The girl to her left grimaced. ¡°Those cursed slavers must have hurt you bad,¡± she said. ¡°Did they hit you in the head?¡±


    Scypha nodded, though as far as she knew, they hadn¡¯t.


    Suddenly, her fingers started to tingle and itch, hot and cold at the same time. Her gaze settled down on her skewer. The rat meat hung onto it untouched ¡­ She blinked, and it was half-eaten.


    A thought occurred to her ¨C if she stabbed the girls beside her in their mouths with it, would they taste the rat, or would they be in too much pain?


    ¡°Where are you headed, anyway?¡± Scypha heard the girl on her left ask. ¡°Ryzayah? That¡¯s where we¡¯re going.¡±


    ¡°Shush, fool. She¡¯s not going to join us,¡± said the girl on the right.


    Scypha noticed that she had begun tapping her foot. She felt the subtle vibrations travel up her leg ... she was growing more and more nervous.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you, pink-skin?¡± the girl to her right asked. Her voice had a strange, shaky quality to it.


    Scypha shook her head. ¡°Where are you, my knight?¡± she thought. ¡°I think I¡¯m losing it!¡±


    Her knight in shining armor was nowhere to be seen. He said he had gone to hunt ¡­ and she had been stupid, utterly stupid, thinking she could handle herself without him.


    She shook her head again, trying to muddle up the evil thoughts swirling around in it. She just had to keep still until the knight came back and set her straight. Keep completely still.


    A wave of unease roiled through her, causing her to wince, and her stomach to twist and turn. A blackness appeared at the edges of her vision.


    She felt her mouth open without her say-so. ¡°You should all be running,¡± she said.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    The two goblins on either side of her looked at her nervously. They were still eating the rat meat off their skewers, unnerved, but still blissfully ignorant, like sheep before a slaughter.


    ¡°Get away from me,¡± Scypha said. ¡°Run.¡±


    The girl on her left suddenly stood up, grimacing and pointing at her. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you?¡± she asked angrily. ¡°Poxy pink-skin!¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s sick in the head,¡± said the other girl, the one on Scypha¡¯s right. She slid a few feet away from her on the log. ¡°But don¡¯t be mean, Tenna. It¡¯s not her fault, it¡¯s the slavers doing.¡±


    ¡°You believe that idiocy? When has a pink-skin ever been put in a cage with us? I bet she just wants to eat our food. Just like all the rest of them, she feels she deserves it more than us!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not it!¡± Scypha shrieked. She looked down towards her hands and saw them trembling. Her whole body was beginning to vibrate, and her vision, too. Everything was turning blurry. The black corners at the edges of her vision were expanding, her grip on reality weakening with every heartbeat that shook her and pounded in her ears.


    Suddenly, the ground beneath the log began to rumble and shake. The goblin girls panicked, jumping to their feet and running off, shouting obscenities at Scypha and quickly leaving her behind.


    Then, a wave of relief flooded over Scypha, and the blackness retreated back to the very edges of her vision.


    Peace. Utter peace¡­


    She looked up towards the sky, finally allowing herself a deep sigh of relief. Her knight in shining armor was coming back. She didn¡¯t know where he¡¯d gone, but he had returned, to save the day.


    A sharp pain pierced her skull, and she winced. There was something horrible in there, scuttling and biting the meat of her brain.


    A strong force pushed her backward, then, and she felt the wind blowing on her neck as she fell off the log she was sitting on. Then all went black.


    An unknown amount of time later, she awoke to a headache.


    She sat up on the cold ground and pressed her fingers against her forehead, trying to disperse the muddled flashes of light in the back of her eyes.


    Something large and soft unfurled behind her, helping her remain upright. It felt like a giant, curving pillow, bigger than a boulder. She couldn¡¯t see it, for some reason, but it felt like it was invisibly wrapped all around her.


    Even despite it, though, her body felt wrung out, like a piece of damp cloth twisted into knots with all the water squeezed out of it. She gritted her teeth, thinking up a prayer as another wave of dizziness washed over her.


    After some time, she was able to slow the horrid drumming of her heart, and she calmed down enough to be able to look around.


    She was still in the goblins¡¯ camp, in the same place she had been before. The log was a few feet behind her, and her skewer of rat meat was stuck into the ground, covered with ants.


    Ants¡­?


    She allowed herself a smile.


    Not everything is dead, she thought. Spring was finally coming.


    She heard footsteps approaching. After a few moments, a thick mist began to appear between the trees at the edge of the camp, and her knight in shining armor stepped out of it. He spotted Scypha and slowly approached her, then crouched down in front of her, his hands on his knees.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad to finally see you smiling,¡± he murmured. He took off one of his gauntlets, extended his arm, and softly placed a warm finger against her cheek. ¡°In your sleep, you never stop frowning ... Are you still afraid?¡±


    Eletha gently grasped his fingers with her hand and slowly shook her head. ¡°No,¡± she said. ¡°Not now that you¡¯re here. Where did you go this time?¡±


    The knight merely shook his head, then smiled. ¡°Your fear runs deeper than conscious thought,¡± he whispered. ¡°Your body, at least, if not your heart ¡­ it thinks that you¡¯re sick. That you¡¯re dying. It must be so very confused.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you just have that effect on people, my knight.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not me ¡­ It¡¯s you. You¡¯re growing stronger with every passing moment. You¡¯re right on the cusp¡ªjust one more step forward, and you¡¯ll be out of my reach forever.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Scypha asked.


    Suddenly, a sharp, searing agony ripped through Scypha¡¯s mind. Something slithered beneath her skull and stirred violently, scratching and biting down with vicious hunger, tearing into a piece of her. She gasped, her fingers clawing at the sides of her head.


    The knight gazed at her softly, his expression unreadable. He said nothing, but scooted over beside her, his armor clinking softly with the movement. He leaned her trembling shoulders against his, letting her rest against the cool armor.


    It barely helped. The scratching and biting only got worse, and it was excruciating. She winced in pain, her holy body shaking, the very blood in her veins recoiling like a wounded beast. Darkness began to envelop her vision. In the back of her mind, she saw the black stain on her soul chipping away the white.


    ¡°Lean back, Scypha,¡± the knight whispered into her ear. ¡°Focus on my voice. Relax, and don¡¯t fight it. I¡¯m doing this to help you.¡±


    She tried to obey, but the darkness inside grew and grew until it spilled out into the world around her. The goblins¡¯ camp, even the knight in shining armor, all disappeared behind a sea of black. Breathing heavily, she lost all rational thought to an overwhelming urge for violence.


    ¡°My lord god,¡± the knight said. ¡°This will not serve. There is a better way.¡±


    Scypha tried to speak, but the overwhelming pain made her jaw clench so tightly that she almost bit off her own tongue. All the sights and sounds of the world became muddled and incoherent.


    She felt the knight hold her tightly while she squirmed, but it hurt.

 Chapter 26 - Lost and Bleeding

    The damp ground squished under Nass¡¯s feet like a sponge. the all-encompassing mud covered solely by a thin layer of moss of a deep green color, slightly duller than Nass¡¯s skin.


    If he¡¯d gather a bunch of it, he¡¯d probably be able to use it to build a hiding place or something somewhere in the woods ¡­ though he didn¡¯t have time for such childish pursuits.


    He trudged through the wet forest full of dirty and melting snow, looking towards the rising sun to orient himself while his twin sister Niss shuffled slowly and clumsily behind him.


    He stopped for a couple of moments to let her catch up. Her injured leg was costing them a lot of time, and time really was a luxury that they could scarcely afford, given they were slowly starving to death ¡­ but there was nothing to be done about the situation.


    He sniffed. ¡°Niss, take a breath,¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯re in no rush.¡±


    Niss breathed tiredly and deeply and then looked up from the ground, staring at him for a moment before shaking her head. She looked like she was about to hurl.


    Nass met her gaze and dashed over to her, then grasped her shoulders and helped prop her up before she could trip and fall.


    ¡°You¡¯re pushing yourself too hard,¡± he muttered. ¡°You should be taking it easy right now.¡±


    ¡°Well, I can''t. We need to get away from this place. There are screechers around.¡±


    ¡°Those aren¡¯t our biggest problems right now. Stop, Niss. We¡¯re going to sit down for a while.¡±


    Niss protested, but Nass didn¡¯t hesitate to use the superior strength of two uninjured legs to enforce his will. Before long, Niss was on her fat, green butt, sitting on the spongy, damp moss, wordily complaining and refusing to admit that she was tired.


    Nass crouched down in front of her and faced her. ¡°I, for one, am exhausted,¡± he said. ¡°And you wouldn¡¯t dare leave me behind, would you, sister?¡±


    ¡°Sure, I would,¡± Niss said. ¡°You¡¯re so annoying¡ªI¡¯d actually love to. It¡¯d be such a relief!¡±


    She was grinding her teeth slightly. Nass frowned.


    ¡°Then who would you come crawling to so you could get your bandages replaced? Come here, damn it. Stretch your leg.¡±


    ¡°I am not ¡®coming crawling¡¯! Hey¡ªNass! You¡¯re coming to me! And I can¡¯t stretch it. It hurts.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Nass murmured, sitting down in front of her and placing her dirty foot onto his lap. Gently, he untied the brown rag that covered her stab wound. It clung to her as if it were glued.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°Ouch!¡± Niss yelped, flinching.


    ¡°Sorry. I¡¯ll slow down ¡­ but bear with me, okay?¡±


    Niss nodded, trembling slightly.


    Nass slowly peeled off the makeshift bandage. As it came off, it quickly became obvious that the normal brown of the cloth was covered by the unsettling black of dried blood. Nass turned away from Niss, lifted the thing up to his nose, and sniffed.


    He grimaced in disgust. Rot.


    ¡°Is it bad?¡± Niss asked. ¡°It¡¯s bad, isn¡¯t it? It feels bad.¡±


    Nass swallowed hard, turned back towards her, and smiled widely. ¡°Good news, sister. It smells no worse than the rest of you. I think you¡¯ll be just fine after you bathe.¡±


    With her wounded leg, Niss lightly kicked him in the chest.


    ¡°You¡¯re lying,¡± she said, cringing. ¡°Give me that bandage.¡±


    ¡°No. All you need is a new one. Wait a moment.¡±


    ¡°Why not give that to me, if it smells fine?¡±


    ¡°Because I¡¯m a pervert, and I want to keep it for myself. Didn¡¯t you know¡­? Hey! Back off with those smelly legs. I can run faster than you right now.¡±


    ¡°Urgh ¡­ May holy Gromph damn you, brother.¡±


    ¡°You too.¡±


    Niss looked up thoughtfully into nothing. ¡°You think we¡¯d be damned together?¡± she asked. ¡°That wouldn¡¯t be so bad...¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s to say we aren¡¯t already?¡± asked Nass, grinning.


    He grabbed the edges of his tattered tunic and ripped off a strip of cloth, the cleanest section he could see. Then, he grabbed Niss¡¯s leg again and held it still before tying it up tight ¡­ far tighter than he would have if she really were ¡®fine¡¯.


    Niss winced in pain as he made the final knot, then gazed into his eyes, an uncertain expression on her face. She could tell the difference.


    ¡°Time to go?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m sorry if it hurts ¡­ But no more arguing, Niss. I¡¯m going to help you from now on. Let''s get moving.¡±


    They walked for hours, going in the direction to the left of the rising sun. Hopefully, that was north, but he wasn¡¯t entirely sure.


    Niss finally allowed Nass to help her, for once in their miserable lives. They walked side by side, arms entwined, with her left foot on top of his right. Moving that way wasn''t easy, and it certainly wasn''t fast, but it worked.


    Eventually, they arrived at a dirt road that ran through the endless forest, and they both breathed deep sighs of relief.


    ¡°Do you recognize this road?¡± Nass asked.


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t either,¡± he said, sniffing from the cold. ¡°But even if we have gone through here, the whole place would have been covered in snow back then, anyway. There¡¯s no use trying to work from memory. I¡¯m sure we¡¯re going in the right direction.¡±


    ¡°If north is the right direction,¡± Niss said, shifting on her feet under his arm.


    ¡°Of course it is. Niss, this is a huge milestone for us. We¡¯ve made it past the screechers. Now we just need to follow the road, and we¡¯ll get to Lyerateh.¡±


    Niss smiled weakly and nodded. ¡°Maybe there¡¯s still hope for ¡®us¡¯ after all.¡±


    The way she said ¡®us¡¯ made Nass¡¯s blood run cold.


    He shivered, and goosebumps appeared all over his arms, with little brown hairs amidst the green, all standing on end.


    ¡°What if we meet another caravan of slavers?¡± Niss asked.


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll kill them and get you some clean bandages ¡­ or reveal our true identities, maybe.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d go back to Father? To Ryzayah?¡±


    ¡°Very unwillingly, but for you ¡­ yeah. We¡¯re running out of time and options.¡±


    Niss smiled at him sadly. ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be, you idiot. Seeing as you¡¯re injured, it¡¯ll be me making the damned choice. Anyway, do you feel like you can keep going? If this is that same road we traveled before, we¡¯ll probably need another three days to get back to Lyerateh.¡±


    ¡°I can keep going,¡± Niss said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t lie to me, damn it. Tell me the truth. I need to know.¡±


    Niss hesitated a moment, then shook her head.


    ¡°Okay. That¡¯s fine ... I¡¯m tired as hell, anyway. Let''s find a spot to sit down, and I¡¯ll start a fire.¡±

 Chapter 27 - Restless

    Nass never did manage to fall asleep.


    He tried to. For hours, he lay perfectly still on the soft little pile of moss he¡¯d gathered and bunched up, sharing his body heat with Niss and lazily counting stars. With all the dirt and lichen he had surrounded them with, his butt wasn¡¯t even all that cold or uncomfortable ¨Cand granted, the way Niss kept softly exhaling into the side of his neck made him tickle, but apart from that, he couldn¡¯t complain.


    Still ¡­ he wasn¡¯t tired. There were hundreds of things that he couldn¡¯t stop thinking about. There were so many problems to solve and so little time to solve them ¡­ and yet his twin sister did need to sleep, so they¡¯d all have to wait.


    Perhaps I don¡¯t, though, he thought.


    He slowly sat up, then, for a while, remained perfectly still, listening to Niss¡¯s breathing and making sure he hadn¡¯t woken her. Afterward, he extricated himself from their mossy bed and got to his feet.


    The forest was quiet, but surprisingly, it wasn¡¯t very dark. There was a full moon in the sky, shining its blue light through the gaps in the foliage.


    ¡°The sun set over there,¡± he murmured to himself, ¡°so north must be ¡­ that way.¡±


    He looked down at Niss again, then began to cautiously walk away from her. He was being so careful, trying not to make a sound, that he missed the small shadow of a tree branch directly in front of him.


    The branch ended up scratching his face, and he suppressed a yelp, but after swatting it aside, he managed to make his way towards the nearby road unimpeded.


    The stony path cut through the forest in a nearly straight line, illuminated by moonlight. It was unfamiliar ¨C he still couldn¡¯t tell if he had traversed it on the slavers¡¯ wagon or if he¡¯d never seen it before. There were no landmarks with which he could have oriented himself.


    For a while, he shuffled along the road, looking for any sort of waypost or sign of civilization. He found nothing.


    After what felt like an hour, instead of becoming tired, he only became more awake. For some reason, he found himself flinching at every sound, as though something might jump out of the darkness and eat him. It was unnerving. He¡¯d never been afraid of the dark before, but now, he found himself shaking.


    Swallowing hard, he turned around and quickly began walking back in the direction of the little spot where he¡¯d left Niss, before he could wander too far and get lost. Once he neared the spot, he went around and started gathering sticks. He found a bunch of them soon enough, and after that, he started picking at rocks along the road until he found a flintstone. Then, just as he was getting up, his hair suddenly started standing on end as a couple of pine needles rustled at the side of the road, and a pair of tall, human-looking silhouettes stepped into the moonlight.


    He heard some unintelligible whispering, then abrupt silence. The two humans stopped in front of him.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°Good ¡­ evening?¡± asked the one to the Nass¡¯s right. He was taller than the other and, judging by his voice, male. ¡°Vifafey¡¯s blessings to you, traveler.¡±


    Nass cringed, trying to discern the humans'' features in the dim moonlight, but it was too dark, and the moon was behind them. He turned his head to the side and spat on the ground.


    ¡°Your god of bigots can go to hell,¡± he replied. ¡°Good evening.¡±


    He heard their voices catch in their throats. A moment passed in silence.


    ¡°Right ¡­ um, respectfully, hello, then!¡± said the man to the right. He bowed his head slightly ¡­ clearly, he didn¡¯t know that Nass was a goblin.


    ¡°Calm yourself, Kelyn,¡± said a woman¡¯s voice, coming from the second dark silhouette, the one to Nass¡¯s left. ¡°I feel we are in no danger. We are among friends. Aren¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Nass said. ¡°I¡¯ve no plans to rob you ¡­ After all, you¡¯re going to freely give me what I need.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? And what exactly do you expect to gain from two clerics traveling backroads by night?¡±


    Nass snorted. Apart from the ¡®cleric¡¯ part, the woman had just described the perfect targets for a robbery. Only those with riches took steps in order to hide them. But ¡­ he currently had more important concerns. This time, the ¡®cleric¡¯ part was the very one that was crucial.


    ¡°I need clean bandages, honey, and salt,¡± he said.


    ¡°You have wounded?¡± the woman asked.


    ¡°Yes. And her wound is infected¡ªso give me what I need, and I¡¯ll tell my other friends to let you pass without knives at your throats.¡±


    The woman breathed a deep sigh. ¡°Unfortunately, we don¡¯t have any of the basic healing supplies. All we can offer is the god Vifafey¡¯s blessing.¡±


    Nass frowned. ¡°You expect me to believe that?¡±


    ¡°By my lord god, what I say is the truth. We are not merchants looking to sell our wares in Lyerateh, merely acolytes on a mission of divine importance.¡±


    Nass rolled his eyes at the nonsense, then thought for a couple of moments, wondering what would be the best next step. The woman seemed remarkably calm. She didn¡¯t even see him as a threat. If only he had a weapon ¡­ but he didn¡¯t.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t discount the value of Vifafey¡¯s blessing,¡± said the taller silhouette, the man. ¡°It¡¯s worth much more than most people think. My mistress is devout, she has been given favor¡ª¡±


    ¡°Hush, Kelyn!¡± the woman said. ¡°Do not speak out of turn tonight.¡±


    Nass shook his head. Pink-skins ... He knew that certain priests held real power, but he could only wonder if a blessing from Vifafey would work on a half-goblin. Would it turn into a curse instead? He did so truly despise dealing with pink-skins ¡­ but perhaps if they believed that he and Niss were pink-skins themselves, he could count on a measure of camaraderie ¡­ If he changed his tune.


    ¡°How far is it to Lyerateh?¡± he asked.


    ¡°To Lyerateh? Two days¡¯ walking,¡± the woman said.


    Nass sighed.  Gods were fickle, evil things¡ªexcept for Gromph, of course¡ªbut he likely had no choice but to put his faith in them, given how poorly Niss was doing. Healers didn¡¯t often willingly work for free ¡­ would he and Niss truly have to run down south to Ryzayah and beg for help from Father?


    A couple of wolves howled in the distance. Instantly, Nass¡¯s whole body was shaking, covered with goosebumps. Suddenly, he almost panicked, his vision blurring, though he had no idea why. He shook his head ¡­ and just like that, the feeling was gone. There was nothing but silence.


    Silence and pink-skins.


    He grimaced, then shamefully made his choice and bowed deeply in front of the two clerics. He was already shorter than them, so he practically descended down to the level of their knees.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for the way I¡¯ve treated you just now, honored clerics,¡± he said. ¡°I beg you, please, spare a blessing for my sister.¡±


    Looking up, he saw the two silhouettes turning their heads and looking at each other. The dim moonlight revealed pink skin, just as he¡¯d expected.


    ¡°This is highly unusual,¡± the woman said after a few moments of pause. ¡°But by the way this day has gone, I cannot help that our god Vifafey himself has led us to meet each other. Lead the way.¡±

 Chapter 28 - Making friends

    Golden tendrils of divine magic slithered through the damp, cold morning air, leaving the pink-skin priestess¡¯s fingers and settling on Niss¡¯s wounded leg.


    ¡°Vifafey, I beseech you, heal your daughter,¡± murmured the priestess. ¡°She has fallen on hard times. Help her now in her time of need¡­¡±


    Nass cast a furtive glance at Niss, feeling himself growing nervous as his breath quickened. Kelyn, the younger second priest, who was apparently an apprentice to the woman, stood at his side and laid his hand on his shoulder.


    ¡°This will work,¡± he whispered. ¡°My mistress is favored by Vifafey. He answers her prayers, I¡¯ve seen it many times.¡±


    ¡°How often were those prayers for goblins?¡± Nass asked.


    Kelyn said nothing. Nass hadn¡¯t expected him to.


    ¡°How do you feel, Niss?¡± he asked aloud, taking a step forward, warily eyeing the snaking magic.


    Niss smiled at him lopsidedly from the ground before looking back up at the priestess crouching over her. ¡°Tingly,¡± she said. ¡°Or ¡­ maybe itchy. It¡¯s strange, but it doesn¡¯t hurt.¡±


    ¡°Heal this child, so that she may shine upon the world,¡± continued the priestess, with her eyes closed.


    Nass looked again towards the golden tendrils of magic snaking around Niss¡¯s wounded leg. They were pushing themselves into her skin. It was completely bizarre, unnatural even. He couldn¡¯t suppress the horrible, sinking feeling in his head, the voice that told him that it wouldn¡¯t work ¡­ but if it did, he¡¯d be grateful forever.


    By the time the sun had finished rising over the horizon, it really was done. The warmth of the glowing magic disappeared as it vanished, the priestess opened her eyes, and Niss began fooling around with her previously injured bare leg, lifting it into the air and twisting it every which way. The messy brown rag she¡¯d had wrapped around her wound slid from her olive-green lower thighs down to her calves, useless, forgotten, and smelly.


    Niss bent her legs and reached out a hand toward Nass. He grasped it tightly and pulled her to her feet. She didn¡¯t stumble in the slightest.


    ¡°Wow,¡± she said, looking around with wide eyes. ¡°It worked. Nass, it worked! It doesn¡¯t hurt at all! It¡¯s like it never happened. I ¡­ I feel like I¡¯ve just woken up from a bad dream!¡±


    Nass smiled. ¡°Well ¡­ please don¡¯t ever dream like that again,¡± he said. ¡°I was starting to get worried.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m okay! We don¡¯t have to go begging to Father!¡±


    Nass breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°You¡¯ve no idea the relief I feel for that. I¡¯m glad you¡¯re okay, Niss ¡­ and for the first time in my life, I¡¯m also glad to have met a pink-skin. Thank you, priestess.¡±


    The woman a few feet away wearily brushed the dust off her rumpled clothing and stood up. ¡°Don¡¯t thank me, boy, I just said some words. It is the god Vifafey to whom you should be grateful.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°Many thanks to Vifafey, then. For once in his long existence, he finally ¡­ never mind. I am truly grateful.¡±


    ¡°As am I,¡± said Niss. ¡°That was painful ¡­ I was worried I wouldn¡¯t be able to walk anymore.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll face no such problems now,¡± the priestess said. ¡°My god himself has blessed you ¡­ uncannily, in fact. Rare are the times he makes his will quite so apparent.¡±


    She and her apprentice exchanged a meaningful frown, looking at each other with concern.


    Nass grimaced. ¡°Meaning?¡± he asked.


    The priestess turned her gaze towards him, looking considerably more troubled than she did before, while she was healing Niss. ¡°Meaning, I wasn¡¯t expecting my blessing to heal your sister so rapidly. My lord god expensed quite a bit of power on her,¡± she said. ¡°Thoroughly unexpected ¡­ If I didn¡¯t see that you were goblins, I¡¯d say you were my lord god¡¯s prophets.¡±


    Cursed Father, Nass thought.


    He smiled maliciously. ¡°Ah, but of course, a prophet of Vifafey couldn¡¯t possibly be a half-goblin.¡±


    ¡°No ¡­ though it is clear nevertheless that he deems you thoroughly worthy of aid ¡­ What were you two doing before we met?¡±


    Nass shrugged. Honesty with pink-skins rarely did anyone any good, and religious zealots had a tendency to be on another level entirely.


    ¡°I was taking a leak,¡± he said. ¡°Answering nature¡¯s call.¡±


    The priestess frowned and rolled her eyes.


    Niss, by Nass¡¯s side, lay her hands on her hips, looking angry. ¡°Nass, for Gromph¡¯s sake ¡­ they just helped us! I think we can trust them.¡±


    Trust is for idiots, Nass thought, but he threw his hands in the air and told her to do as she liked.


    ¡°Priestess,¡± Niss said, ¡°we were ¡­ well, we were originally looking for a shard of the divine. I know it¡¯s not exactly a good thing¡­¡±


    ¡°A shard?¡± the priestess cut in. ¡°Of which god?¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t one of Vifafey¡¯s. It was, um ¡­ Aru.¡±


    ¡°The god of freedom?¡± Kelyn asked, frowning and sharing another look with the priestess. ¡°There may be shard-seekers aplenty in the world, but what would one want with a piece of Aru?¡±


    ¡°Well, we heard a rumor that it was near where we were going, and¡ª¡±


    ¡°Trust is ¡­ earned,¡± Nass exclaimed, looking at Niss and smiling widely. Please don¡¯t spill your guts, that smile said.


    Niss glanced at him nervously and shrugged, then smartly shut her mouth. Nass noticed the dirty brown rag still tied around her previously injured leg and walked over to untie it.


    The priestess and her apprentice whispered something amongst themselves before coming closer and staring.


    ¡°Your reasons may remain your own,¡± the priestess said, ¡°but I believe Vifafey himself has blessed you to succeed in your mission. You may be the ones we¡¯ve been searching for. Given that we can''t confront the real issue directly ¡­ we will help you.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t recall¡­¡±


    Niss lightly elbowed Nass in the stomach.


    ¡°That shard you¡¯re looking for is in Lyerateh,¡± the priestess continued. ¡°It¡¯s supposed to be a well-kept secret, though rumors have spread in the past. It is said to be an uncommonly powerful shard¡ªwith it, one can communicate with the god himself.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve heard,¡± Nass said. ¡°But why exactly would a pair of pink-skin clerics offer to help our kind? Down in Ryzayah, we¡¯re not even allowed in your churches.¡±


    Niss placed a hand on Nass''s shoulder and leaned in closer to speak into his ear. ¡°Nass, they just healed me. Come on.¡±


    ¡°No, you ¡®come on¡¯, Niss,¡± he replied. ¡°They¡¯re pink-skins! Priests of the bigot god, preaching that humans are above us!¡±


    And enemies of a certain species of man-eating monster that helped us escape slavery.


    ¡°I know ¡­ but ¡­ I owe them, too.¡±


    ¡°You take ¡®paying your debts¡¯ far too seriously, Niss.¡±


    ¡°Well, I consider that a virtue. And we are a package deal, aren¡¯t we?¡±


    Nass rolled his eyes.


    Niss scowled at him. ¡°You¡¯re being even more paranoid than usual. Come on, can¡¯t you see the opportunity? They mean to help us get the shard!¡±


    ¡°So they said. Like scorpions to frogs.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a frog,¡± Niss said, smiling smugly. ¡°You¡¯ve got the color right.¡±


    ¡°So do you, sister. But fine, whatever ¡­ together then, to Lyerateh.¡±

 Chapter 29 - The Northern Third of Ryzayah

    ¡°Greetings, honored merchants!¡± Speaker Reven said. ¡°You have come to the best city in the world.¡±


    The group of slavers walked through the large, bannered city gateway, scowling at him as they approached. Evidently, they were newcomers to the Northern Third of Ryzayah.


    ¡°You are the guide that was appointed to us?¡± said the one leading them, a tall, black-haired, and muscular man. ¡°A guardsmen told us about something like this.¡±


    ¡°Exactly! My name is Speaker Reven. I¡¯ll be showing you around the city, helping you find the proper market for your wares. It¡¯s a big place, you see. We¡¯ve found that helping newcomers find their way is a profitable affair for everyone. I see that you have humans in your carts, both young and old, male and female. Is there anything else you mean to sell?¡±


    ¡°Cheap jewelry. Household items,¡± the slaver said. ¡°I don¡¯t think we need a guide. We¡¯ve always managed without¡ªand we¡¯re not going to pay you a dime.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I assure you, I don¡¯t want your money! All of my expenses are being paid for by the Lord Korreh Dremon and his wife, the lady Phyree! They are the rulers of the Northern Third. We live and breathe here by their grace. Anyway, I must insist on joining you. Esteemed merchants such as you and your group are not permitted to walk the city without a guide.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like a whole lot of rubbish.¡±


    Speaker Reven kept the wide smile plastered on his face, though human garbage always did have a way of testing his nerves. ¡°If you¡¯d like to try your luck with the city guard,¡± he said, ¡°you may yet ask me to leave. Otherwise, please permit me to be of service to you, as is decreed by the lord and lady of the Northern Third.¡±


    ¡°Scamming bastard,¡± one of the other slavers said, walking up to the first one. ¡°This is a shakedown.¡±


    Speaker Reven looked toward a pair of armed guardsmen standing beside a long banner, focusing on them for a moment. A flash of pain stabbed through his head, causing him to flinch, but right after, the two guardsmen looked his way and quickly started walking toward him.


    Speaker Reven turned back toward the two pieces of garbage and smiled.


    ¡°Not a shakedown, a tax,¡± the first one said. ¡°Alright, fine then. We¡¯ll work with you if we don¡¯t have a choice. We need to get to the slave market. Know where it is?¡±


    ¡°Of course! Follow me,¡± Speaker Reven said. He turned around, nodding to the two guardsmen, and led the slavers through the bustling streets of the Northern Third. They followed slowly, eyeing the passerby with suspicion as their horse-drawn carts with slaves rolled behind them.


    They passed the welcoming area soon, pushing past the crowds, and made it to Freedom Square, a large marble plaza atop a small hill, surrounded by gilded columns and shrines to most of the world¡¯s various gods. A large statue in the center of it depicted a nude Aru, the god of freedom, delivering a devastating blow to the tyrant Cerazok. Below the statue, an old, run-down wooden staircase led underground to where the tyrant bled ¡­ according to legend, at least.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    Speaker Reven walked up slowly to the statue, proud to see the huge crowds of men and women graciously parting to allow him and his followers access. Many smiled as they saw him and his retinue of garbage, others offered thanks to the various gods they favored, and guardsmen discreetly gathered up around them with practiced eloquence.


    ¡°This place truly is beautiful, don¡¯t you think?¡± Speaker Reven said to the head slaver, realizing he¡¯d never asked the man¡¯s name. ¡°Truly, a testament to the glory of the human spirit!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s awful pretty, yeah,¡± the man said. His voice was gruff. ¡°Very expensive-looking. But I don¡¯t see a market.¡±


    ¡°Fear not!¡± Speaker Reven said. ¡°We will soon arrive at our destination.¡±


    ¡°I hope so. I think we¡¯d all like to be done with this by sunset. I¡¯m done feeding those mewling kids.¡±


    Speaker Reven smiled and sauntered over to the statue of Aru, slowly becoming enveloped by the presence of the gods. He relaxed quickly. The breath in his mouth became warm, his feet became light, and all the problems of the world seemed to go away. It was as though a light had shone down on the world¡ªeverything just became so bright.


    ¡°Praised be our gods!¡± he shouted. ¡°Praised be they all who bless and protect our home. Praised be their prophets, who speak with their words!¡±


    ¡°Hell, another religious nutcase¡­¡± one of the slavers behind him muttered. A few of the others murmured responses. ¡°Where is the damned market?¡±


    ¡°Where have you brought us?¡±


    ¡°Bloody fanatic¡­¡±


    Speaker Reven turned around and scowled at the slavers in front of him. He lifted his hands into the air and felt twenty little needles dig into his brain, biting him deeply and tearing out parts of his head. It hurt terribly. His vision clouded, agony flooded his thoughts, and he felt himself bleeding inside ¡­ but he kept his hands up. The gods demanded a price for their interventions¡ªbut they were worth the cost.


    When his vision cleared up, he turned his gaze back on the slavers.


    ¡°You scum have no need for markets!¡± he shouted. ¡°There is but one place in this world for garbage like you! Come hither!¡±


    A blast of energy torrented out of his head, stunning both him and all the nearby slavers. The presence of the gods became overwhelming, reaching a fever pitch and causing the marbled ground under his feet to rumble and shake.


    The slavers quickly grasped at their heads and began screaming in pain, staring down at the shaky ground. Then, after a few moments, they began to obey.


    With wide eyes unseeing and downcast, they trudged towards Speaker Reven, muttering nonsense while spit drooled out of their mouths. Behind them, guardsmen rushed toward the cages carrying slaves, warning the people inside to stand back before pummeling the metal bars and doors with axes. The crowds gathered around on the plaza cheered loudly enough to deafen a thunderstorm. The former slaves walked out of their cages, startled and confused, but free.


    ¡°Blessed be the gods and their prophets!¡± speaker Reven shouted. ¡°Blessed be the lord and lady Dremon, of the Northern Third!¡±


    The crowd¡¯s cheering got louder and louder until the gilded marble columns shook as wildly as the ground, and speaker Reven heard the gods themselves command the people to stop before they could lose their hearing.


    Everyone laughed heartily and embraced each other. Finally, Speaker Reven turned back to the vile human garbage, and he ordered it to go down to the creaky wooden stairway that led under the statue of Aru.


    After the slavers had all disappeared into the darkness there, he closed the door behind them and locked it.


    Feeling the gods¡¯ blessing, he leaned his head against the door. He heard the garbage scream in terror. Then ¡­ screeching.

 Chapter 30 - A stop in a nice place

    Scypha lay on her stomach on the wooden floor next to the inn¡¯s fireplace, holding a stylus in her hand and anxiously writing on a borrowed wax tablet. With a frown on her face, she scraped away with the metal pin, twisting it in her shaky fingers and struggling to get the lines right.


    ¡°I can¡¯t remember the marks,¡± she whispered to herself. Her head felt remarkably clear for the first time in weeks, but at the same time, she found that her memory was going completely blank. ¡°Why can¡¯t I remember the marks? I¡¯ve been writing them all my life¡­¡±


    The worn wooden floorboards beside her creaked and bent as the innkeeper, a man called Pyren, made his way toward her. He was a hefty figure, with a large, round belly and thick, greasy long hair haphazardly flowing past an unkempt beard. He approached her, holding a bowl of steaming food in one hand and a scratched-up iron cup in the other.


    ¡°You going to eat lying down?¡± he asked. His voice was deep and raspy. ¡°We¡¯ve got tables.¡±


    Scypha looked up at him, arching her back madly to see his face¡ªhe was very tall. She nodded. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I hope it¡¯s okay,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m ¡­ I¡¯m having some trouble with these lines, I don¡¯t know why.¡±


    The floorboards groaned again. The large innkeeper shrugged and crouched down beside Scypha, gently placing the plate and cup beside her. He breathed remarkably heavily, his breath smelling faintly of garlic.


    ¡°It¡¯s an old tablet,¡± he said. ¡°I bought it for my daughter years ago, the wax must have hardened to stone.¡±


    Scypha shook her head, looking back at it, sitting in her hand. ¡°No, that¡¯s not it. It works fine, it¡¯s still soft enough, I just ¡­ I don¡¯t remember how to write ¡®Vifafey¡¯. And I don¡¯t understand why not, I¡¯ve been doing it my whole life, but my mind keeps going blank ¡­ Could you help me?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, miss. Us country barkeeps are not well-known for being literate. That¡¯s more for you clergy people from the cities.¡±


    The innkeeper slowly got back up, towering over her again. Scypha glanced back up at him and smiled. ¡°Oh. Well, thank you for the food again, sir,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ll pray that Vifafey blesses you and your family.¡±


    He nodded. ¡°Eat it before it gets cold. The drawing can wait until you¡¯re finished. After that, we¡¯ll see to your accommodations.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t mean to impose¡ª¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s no bother. I¡¯ve got vacant rooms and no one to sleep in them. And maybe one day, you¡¯ll come back here and return the favor.¡±


    ¡°I promise,¡± Scypha said.


    ¡°Good woman. Have at what you want. I¡¯ll go fetch some more wood for the fire.¡±


    As the innkeeper walked away, Scypha looked over at the bowl placed beside her.


    Utensils ¡­ She had utensils again. It had been so long since she¡¯d last used them ¡­ Not since the slavers had captured her. She wondered if she still knew how to properly hold a spoon. The bowl it was lying in contained a thick, steaming broth filled with what appeared to be onions, carrots, potatoes, and some type of meat. It was twice as murky as what the slavers used to give her, and it would likely be twice as filling. She was impossibly grateful. The innkeeper was truly a good man, giving her so much for nothing in return.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    She slowly dipped her pinky finger into the broth, only to yank it out an instant later, slipping it into her mouth with a sharp inhale.


    Hot. Very hot.


    She shook her head and tried to return to her writing. She felt that she still knew the entire Telezian alphabet. Only when she tried to put the symbols together to spell ''Vifafey'' would her mind go blank, and she would somehow forget how to move her hands. Again, she ended up with nothing but a mess of jumbled lines and wasted wax. She felt guilty for squandering the innkeeper¡¯s possession.


    ¡°Vi-fa-fe-y¡­¡± she mumbled to herself, starting over and urging the symbols into the wax tablet. Her vision grew fuzzy and cloudy, she heard a ringing in her ears ¡­ and the marks were gone. Her hands had moved to the tablet''s sides without her knowledge, and the stylus was lying a few feet away from her on the floorboards. Her eyes were affixed to the dying fireplace in front of her.


    She sighed deeply, regaining control of herself and laying her head on the floor. It was so strange, the way she kept blacking out ¡­ but at least she wasn¡¯t hurting anyone anymore. There wasn¡¯t a violent urge in her head. Her knight in shining armor had come through. Really, so what if there was a little brain damage?


    The floorboards under her creaked and groaned as the big innkeeper walked past her again on the way to the fireplace. He carried ten chopped-up logs in his arms, altogether probably heavier than she was. His pants were sagging in the back, a size too big for him, though they¡¯d likely fit three normal-sized individuals.


    ¡°Miss,¡± he said, laying the logs onto the floor, ¡°I ought to tell you ¡­ I¡¯ve just received word that a screecher hole has been sighted nearby. You¡¯re definitely still welcome to stay here for the night, but if you want to move on to another town, that could be a good idea, too. The choice is yours.¡±


    ¡°A ¡­ screecher?¡± Scypha asked. The hair on the back of her neck began to stand on end, and she quickly marked the symbol of Vifafey on her forehead ... she thought. As soon as she had done so, she forgot if she¡¯d moved her fingers correctly. She shook her head.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t those the beast god¡¯s children?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Chi¡¯orat¡¯s, yeah. His very favorite monsters, according to you clergymen. They come through here, from time to time, eating merchants and travelers ... Every year, a new sad story.¡± He laid the logs onto the fireplace and walked back over to her, standing over her. ¡°But say, I know that symbol you drew there,¡± he said. ¡°There, on the top left of the tablet.¡±


    Scypha frowned, looking from the innkeeper back toward the wax tablet on the floor. Amidst all the scribbled lines and wasted attempts at writing, a single word was written in perfect Telezian script.


    ¡°Daughter,¡± Scypha read. She blinked ten times, trying to see if the word would go away. It didn¡¯t.


    ¡°Yeah ¡­ That¡¯s right, isn¡¯t it? ¡®Daughter¡¯? I know that one. My wife taught me to write it after our third ¡­ Well, I never managed to draw it quite as prettily as you. I guess you really are a priestess. I was starting to doubt.¡±


    Scypha shook her head, frowning. ¡°I¡¯m just an apprentice,¡± she replied. ¡°My mom is ¡­ well ¡­ never mind.¡±


    I¡¯m a bastard, she thought to herself. But she¡¯d rather not tell the kind innkeeper.


    ¡°Well, your mom did a good job teaching you, miss. Is she waiting for you down in Ryzayah?¡±


    Scypha¡¯s vision flickered and clouded again, and she shook her head, trying to clear it up. Sometimes, that helped ¡­ and it did this time, too, though she still felt herself trembling. She hoped too much time hadn¡¯t passed.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± she said to the innkeeper.


    He was still there, standing over her. She arched her back to meet his eyes. He looked at her curiously, not saying anything.


    Finally, he shrugged.


    They spent the whole evening eating and talking by the crackling fireplace, and then they went to sleep, each to their own rooms, where she was sure it was perfectly safe.

 Chapter 31 - On the road

    Nass passed the signpost at the crossroads, shivering like a crazy person, and finally entered the Lyerateh forest.


    Flanked by Niss and the two pink-skins, he trudged at a small incline past oak and larch trees, eventually reaching a small shrine to Vifafey atop the hill. He passed that as well without a moment of pause, and, gazing at the dull gray sky overhead, he smiled. He could already hear the two pink-skin clerics muttering complaints under their breath.


    ¡°Slow down!¡± they would soon be calling. ¡°Wait for us, just a quick prayer!¡±


    He wouldn¡¯t give them any time. He¡¯d just keep on walking, and¡ª


    ¡°Smiling?¡± Niss asked. She leaned forward and peeked at him from his side, mimicking his steps. ¡°Must be the first time in a tenday.¡±


    Nass snorted. He hadn¡¯t meant to get caught. ¡°You¡¯re right, Niss,¡± he said. ¡°What was I thinking? I should be upset¡ªwe are being followed by pink-skins, after all. And we¡¯re headed to a pink-skin town, and a holy place to the bigot god, at that.¡±


    Niss frowned. ¡°And, just like that, the smile is upside down again. I didn¡¯t mean to scold you.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡±


    ¡°Then... can you rotate that frown again? Seeing you smile makes me smile.¡±


    Nass shook his head. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t fit the mood. Gloomy and moody suits this place far better.¡±


    ¡°No, it doesn¡¯t. So, what were you smiling about before?¡±


    ¡°The thought of leaving you behind, striking out on my own, finding a quiet place ¡­ Maybe even a piece of a god in some random cave somewhere.¡±


    Niss rolled her eyes at him, then turned around and started walking backward, looking at the two pink-skin clerics behind them and nodding at the male one. Nass grimaced and started watching where she was going, making sure she wouldn¡¯t trip.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s more likely we¡¯ll find the shard in a temple,¡± Niss said. ¡°Most gods want their things to be found, remember? Why else would they leave them lying around? So, it probably already has been found.¡±


    Nass grunted.


    ¡°Maybe they¡¯re bored up there, if they really are in the clouds. They just want to mess with things and see what happens.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Is that blasphemy? Coming from you, Niss?¡±


    ¡°No, of course not. I love our lord Gromph will all my heart. He would never do such things. I¡¯m just talking about the other gods.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°Ha. You mean Chi¡¯orat, then, and his giant, spiky, mind-controlling worm monsters that he uses to rescue us goblins?¡±


    ¡°Yup. Hey, um ¡­ Nass ¡­ Back then, you never really told me what happened to Scypha.¡±


    Nass abruptly stopped and thrust a hand in front of Niss, halting her mid-step before she could hit the back of her foot on a stray root and trip over herself.


    Walking backward on dirt roads truly could be perilous to one¡¯s ego.


    Niss looked at him briefly, mouthed a ¡®thank you¡¯, and turned back around, walking beside him normally.


    ¡°So?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I did tell you what happened to her,¡± Nass said. ¡°Here, I¡¯ll tell you again¡ªshe died.¡±


    Niss frowned, went behind him and grabbed hold of his shoulder, her fingers curling around him as she dug her feet into the dirt road. The dry earth scuffed beneath her, little clouds of dust puffing up as she forced him to slow down.


    ¡°In more than one sentence, I mean,¡± she said, leaning towards his ear. ¡°How did it happen? I know you said you wouldn¡¯t take any risks, and I¡¯m happy you didn¡¯t, since it¡¯s probably why we¡¯re alive, but ¡­ what happened to her? What did the screecher do with her? Before I got injured, it honestly looked like they were ¡­ talking to each other. Communicating, somehow, though not with words.¡±


    ¡°Curious, that. I was thinking the same thing ¡­ but in the end, screechers only want one thing.  It peeled the skin off her head and ate what was inside.¡±


    ¡°Did you see that happen?¡±


    Nass cringed. ¡°Why are you asking me this?¡± he asked, turning around.


    ¡°Because ¡­ you know why, Nass. There was something different about her. Ever since we met her, I¡¯ve felt it. This dread ¡­ like a pit in my stomach, like I know something horrible is about to happen, and it''s only a matter of time until it does. Like the only thing I can do is close my eyes so I don¡¯t see it. You feel it too, don¡¯t you?¡±


    Nass suddenly found himself shaking and staring at Niss wide-eyed. He hadn¡¯t even noticed it at first, and hadn¡¯t wanted to admit it was there, but ¡­ she knew. She¡¯d put her finger on it perfectly.


    A pink hand suddenly appeared beneath Nass¡¯s chin, turning his head away from his sister and towards the right. The pink-skin priestess was there, examining him closely with a discerning scowl.


    ¡°I heard that last bit,¡± she snapped. ¡°I don¡¯t appreciate being kept out of the loop. Tell me what this is about.¡±


    Nass grimaced and batted the pink-skin¡¯s hand away, walking a couple of steps away from the tall woman. The apprentice hurriedly walked over to her side, while Niss glanced at Nass with a worried expression on her face.


    ¡°You feel it, is that right?¡± the priestess asked. ¡°The god¡¯s horror? Did I not mishear?¡±


    ¡°Feel what?!¡± Nass asked. ¡°Stay away from me.¡±


    ¡°Nass¡­¡± Niss said from the side.


    ¡°You¡¯re afraid,¡± the priestess said. ¡°But you don¡¯t know why. You¡¯re restless and paranoid, you want to keep moving. You feel like there are eyes watching you. Like the ground itself is trying to trip you. You see horrible things in the corners of your vision, but they disappear when you notice them. You feel so cold that your bones shake, even when it¡¯s warm. How much of this sounds familiar?¡±


    Nass gulped.


    ¡°All of it,¡± Niss said. ¡°Every word. It was worse before, but ¡­ I remember it all.¡±


    The priestess turned from Nass toward his sister. ¡°Then you¡¯ve been marked,¡± she said. ¡°You¡¯ve been in contact with our enemy.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what dung you¡¯ve been breathing in,¡± Nass said. ¡°And I don¡¯t know your enemies, but I feel fine. Talking about ¡®scary¡¯ makes you feel ¡®scary¡¯. That¡¯s all.¡±


    Niss stepped forward and grabbed Nass by the hand. ¡°Nass, I think she might have a point. What if it¡¯s that screecher that ate Scypha? It was huge.¡±


    Hearing those words, the pink-skin woman¡¯s eyes widened, and she visibly trembled. The apprentice looked at her in a panic.


    ¡°No,¡± the woman said. ¡°You¡¯ve met Scypha?¡±

 Chapter 32 - The barn

    The earthy smells of the old barn beside the inn reminded Scypha of home. Dried straw, dust, sweat and bird droppings ¡­ each scent was connected with a memory of her childhood, and then there was also the high-pitched squeaking of rats hiding amongst the disorder.


    As soon as she came in, stepping on the old and dry wooden floorboards, she found herself smiling, and she felt that she was among old friends. Memories surfaced¡ªonce, when she was six, she¡¯d spent weeks playing with the rats in a neighbor''s barn while her mother was too busy with sermons to care for her. They were cute, furry little things, much like cats, only far more misunderstood. People said they were spies of the beast god Chi¡¯orat, bringers of plagues and death ¡­ but Scypha didn¡¯t believe them. Those little black furballs were far too cuddly and adorable, and they had never done any harm to her. She had cried when the neighbor let loose his dogs on them. She lost many friends that day.


    The rats in the innkeeper¡¯s barn were similar, but far more timid. Perhaps it was because she had grown. They scurried across the aged, straw-covered floorboards and hid in various holes and piles of hay. As she approached their hiding spots, they squeaked with fear. Scypha decided against trying to pet them.


    She looked around for the sealed barrel of apples that the innkeeper had mentioned the night before. He¡¯d said he would need some of its contents for the morning meal.


    She found it after a little while, standing in front of the far wall of the barn, where it was darker and drier due to a lack of openings or windows in the wooden walls. It really was still sealed, but there was a small hole at the bottom of the barrel, just large enough for a hungry rat¡¯s little snout.


    Suddenly, the floorboards under her feet began to tremble and shake, and she stumbled, losing her balance. She waved around with her hands to keep from falling. Regaining her balance as the minor earthquake stopped, she looked around. Around her, a small cloud of dust was silently rising into the air. Her knight in shining armor walked out of it.


    His armor glinted in the golden morning light, clinking softly as he moved. He blinked rapidly several times, gave her a sleepy smile, and yawned, covering his mouth with a beautifully gauntleted hand, palms cupped in velvet.


    ¡°Good morning,¡± he and Scypha said at the same time. ¡°I was just ¡­ I ¡­¡±


    The knight laughed. ¡°You go first,¡± he said.


    ¡°I ¡­ um¡­¡± Scypha stammered. ¡°Well, now I don¡¯t know what to say!¡±


    ¡°Did I take your breath away, then?¡± he asked.


    Scypha''s heart jumped, and she quickly turned back around to face the barrel of apples without answering. After taking a moment to collect herself, she tightly grabbed the barrel¡¯s stopper, trying to remove it ¡­ but it was stuck to the lid incredibly tight.


    She heard the knight chuckle again. ¡°You can do it,¡± he said, walking closer. ¡°You¡¯re far stronger than you know.¡±


    ¡°It ¡­ doesn¡¯t feel like I am,¡± Scypha said, straining herself. ¡°This thing is a force of nature.¡±


    ¡°Friction? Well, yes. It is.¡±


    The knight approached, his armor clinking behind Scypha¡¯s back. He reached the other side of the barrel and stood facing her. He smiled brightly as she tried again, futilely, to unstop it.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°How do you feel?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Good,¡± she said. ¡°Great, actually. Completely normal. Sane.  I ¡­ know I have you to thank.¡±


    ¡°No urges? Hallucinations, or blackouts?¡±


    ¡°Not that I know of. Not yet. My mind feels clear. Not a cloud in sight, nor any ¡­ blackness. Or red.¡±


    The knight slowly nodded as Scypha gave up on trying to unstop the barrel and lifted her gaze toward his blue eyes.


    ¡°No blackouts? Not even one? Are you sure?¡±


    Scypha raised an eyebrow at him. ¡°Yes ... of course, I¡¯m sure. It¡¯s been a lovely surprise. Why?¡±


    The knight shrugged. ¡°No reason. In that case, congratulations! You¡¯re a sane individual. So, what are you doing here?¡±


    Scypha tapped the lid atop the barrel. ¡°Last night, Pyren¡ªthe innkeeper¡ªmentioned that he wanted to prepare a fruit stew for breakfast. I thought I¡¯d help him since he¡¯s been so kind to me. I haven¡¯t seen him yet today, though, so I might have misunderstood when he said ¡®morning¡¯. I might already have everything ready by the time he gets out of bed.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯ll be a nice surprise ¡­ He must be used to making food for other people every morning. He¡¯ll appreciate the switch-up.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. That is if I can get this barrel open¡­¡±


    The knight stared at Scypha unblinkingly for a few moments, then stood up straight and walked over to her side of the barrel.


    ¡°Allow me,¡± he said.


    She cringed, then poked him in the shoulder. ¡°You¡¯re astral projecting, you can¡¯t interact with things.¡±


    ¡°Sure I can. Just ¡­ stand back.¡±


    Scypha shot him a look, but took a step backward.


    ¡°A little further,¡± he mouthed, devilishly smiling, without actually making a sound.


    Rolling her eyes, Scypha walked backward all the way to the other side of the barn, just to spite him.


    He smirked and turned away from her, toward the barrel. The ground under Scypha¡¯s feet began to shake wildly. Another earthquake. She staggered forward, barely managing to catch herself before she could fall on her face. Her vision flickered and grew cloudy, she heard wood splintering and cracking, and then ¡­ nothing. Everything went quiet. As though nothing had happened.


    As she regained her bearings, the knight walked back over to her and bowed.


    ¡°There,¡± he said. ¡°The barrel is open.¡±


    Scypha looked. The barrel was decidedly not open¡ªit was destroyed. It was ripped apart and in pieces scattered across the floor, a pile of debris beside a huge, spilled pile of apples. The lid was cut in two, lying a few feet away, where the floor seemed to be ¡­ gone. Just gone.


    She stared at the knight in disbelief.


    He shrugged, his cheeks growing slightly red. ¡°Okay, so I¡¯m not really used to being gentle. I tried, though.¡±


    ¡°Did you just use magic to pulverize this entire barn?¡± she asked.


    The knight glanced up into the air sheepishly, raising his hands. ¡°No?¡±


    ¡°Sir Knight! What are we going to tell the innkeeper?¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t planning on telling him anything. You, on the other hand, you might want to. Perhaps you could distract him, say something like: ¡®Hey! I got you these apples!¡¯ ¡­With a little luck, he¡¯ll forget all about this mess.¡±


    ¡°With a little luck?¡±


    ¡°A lot of luck, then. Anyway¡ªyou¡¯ve got company.¡±


    Scypha frowned and turned around to face the open exit of the barn, where the knight had begun pointing. A human-shaped shadow appeared after a moment, and after that, a limping, short old woman. Scypha wondered how the knight had noticed her before she¡¯d even come into view. Probably something to do with magic.


    The old woman trudged along toward the entrance to the barn, then stopped in front of it, holding the splintery door to stabilize herself. She glanced over at Scypha and scowled.


    ¡°Hey there, girl! I thought I¡¯d heard some noise coming from over here. What are you doing?¡±


    Scypha looked briefly toward the knight before answering. ¡°I¡¯m gathering apples for the morning stew, miss,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m sorry if I caused a racket, some of them, um ¡­ fell.¡±


    ¡°This is Pyren¡¯s barn, you know? You¡¯d best be on your best behavior!¡±


    ¡°I know, miss. I¡¯m helping Pyren. Or ¡­ trying to.¡±


    ¡°Do you work for him? Do you know where he is?¡±


    Scypha shook her head.


    ¡°Well, tell him he has new guests!¡± the old woman snapped. ¡°Damned pukes are making their way through the village. Poor ones, too¡ªnot a single coin among them. They can¡¯t stay with me! All these damned newcomers, all pukes, murderers, and screechers¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell him,¡± Scypha said. She quickly picked up a couple of apples off the floor, then almost tripped over nothing as she made her way out of the barn.

 Chapter 33 - Reading minds

    ¡°I wonder where he¡¯s gone,¡± Scypha said, with a slight tremor in her voice. ¡°The goblins should be arriving soon ¡­ Sir Knight, do you think he¡¯d be okay with me welcoming them myself? I only came a few days ago myself, but someone has to do it.¡±


    The knight sat cross-legged on the wooden floor, staring at nothing and looking startlingly large and out of place in her room, dressed in his gilded, ornate plate armor.


    Suddenly, he shuddered. ¡°Hmm?¡± he asked. ¡°Sorry, I wasn¡¯t paying attention.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I¡¯m being neurotic ... Anyway, want to try again?¡±


    ¡°Please.¡±


    Scypha rolled her shoulders back, making herself more comfortable, and laid back down on her stomach on the floor in front of him. She shook her head, pushing away the thoughts of what could, theoretically, have happened to an innkeeper that she hadn¡¯t seen in half a day. She squinted and focused her gaze on the knight¡¯s bright blue eyes.


    After a couple of moments, she shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s working,¡± she said.


    ¡°You¡¯re too distracted. Pyren is okay, Scypha. I promise. You haven¡¯t seen him in a while, but he¡¯s fine. Now keep trying¡ªfocus.¡±


    ¡°Right ¡­ right ¡­ I¡¯m reading your mind, now¡­ I¡¯m ¡­ doing it¡­¡±


    ¡°Are you ready?¡± the knight asked. ¡°I¡¯m going to pick cloth.¡±


    Scypha winced as her vision suddenly clouded, and a stab of pain shot through her head. For a mere moment, she hallucinated a small knife, hovering in the air right in front of her eyes. Then it disappeared.


    ¡°Okay, I think I¡¯ve got it,¡± she said.


    ¡°Very good. Right then, stone ¡­ cloth¡­¡±


    ¡°Knife!¡± Scypha finished. She quickly closed her fist to show ¡®stone,¡¯ fully expecting to have won their game.


    But the knight¡¯s palm was open. He¡¯d picked cloth, just like he¡¯d said he would. She¡¯d lost.


    ¡°Urgh ¡­ again?!¡± she asked. ¡°By Vifa ¡­ Vifa ¡­ By Vifafey¡¯s holy name, you always pick cloth!¡±


    ¡°Are you okay, Scypha?¡± the knight asked.


    Scypha winced, retreating into herself and numbly dissociating for a moment, then snapping back to reality. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine. Just ¡­ a little lapse. Anyway, you keep picking cloth!¡±


    ¡°You keep picking stone. I am literally trying to help you win this, Scypha. I told you what I¡¯d pick, so that you¡¯d have an easier time of it!¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    ¡°Well, I saw something different¡ªand I did see something this time. My head hurt, just like you said it would. Like something bit me.¡±


    ¡°Really? It did? Damn it ¡­ let me take another look at you, then, okay?¡±


    ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    The knight gazed into Scypha¡¯s eyes, intently focusing on her. For a moment, it was like he¡¯d challenged her to a staring contest, and she stared back¡ªbut she couldn¡¯t hold his gaze for more than a moment. He was damned unbeatable ¡­ and beautiful¡­


    Finally, he blinked. Then, he blinked twenty more times.


    ¡°Oh. I¡¯m sorry, Scypha,¡± he said.


    ¡°Sorry? About what?¡±


    He remained quiet, gazing at her like he¡¯d frozen in time.


    For a long time.


    ¡°Spontaneous apologies make me a little paranoid,¡± Scypha said after a while, nervously reaching behind herself and scratching the back of her neck. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, too, though. I am trying.¡±


    The knight blinked again, and the world around Scypha became blurred, growing foggy and unclear. There was no pain, though ¡­ and a moment later, everything instantly returned to normal.


    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s not your fault that you can¡¯t do it yet,¡± the knight murmured. ¡°I can see that you want to. It¡¯s just that the animal part of you is thrashing about, desperately trying to protect you. It doesn¡¯t want to participate in our games.¡±


    ¡°The animal part? I have been feeling lately like there are two of me ¡­ though I don¡¯t know why, or what that actually means. But, well, how do we turn it off, then? Or force it to participate?¡±


    ¡°There is only one way, unfortunately, and it¡¯s too dangerous. I won''t lie, I was hoping that you¡¯d be capable of accessing my powers, but if not ¡­ so be it. We¡¯ll im-pro-vi-se-ee.¡±


    The world began to slow down.


    Scypha¡¯s body began to shake, and as she closed her eyes to blink, a vibrating wave of red washed over her, all that she could see. It covered the room, covered her hands, then the space right in front of her eyes¡­


    Then, it was like it¡¯d never happened. The red was gone.


    She was staring at the empty space just beside the knight sitting in front of her, struggling to blink.


    But ¡­ her eyes were wide open, and she felt more awake than she had ever been. The world around her was so slow, it seemed frozen in time.


    ¡°There¡¯s something crawling in my head,¡± she heard herself say. ¡°Little spikes, stabbing into my brain. You¡¯ve infected me, curr.¡±


    The knight grimaced, then looked at her worriedly. ¡°You, again,¡± he said. ¡°You needn¡¯t fear, Scypha. Everything is okay.¡±


    Scypha suddenly regained control of her senses, snapping back to the real, cold world. With a slight tremor coursing through her body, she carefully pushed herself off the cold, hard wooden floor and sat up, taking a moment to steady herself as she surveyed her surroundings.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± she asked, looking around at the unfamiliar room. ¡°I¡¯m feeling weird again¡ª¡±


    Her body shivered, and after another momentary torrent of red, she found herself back on the floor, curled up into a ball. Her senses slowly came back to her ¡­ it didn¡¯t seem like she had moved much. She was still in the same place ¡­ But it was strangely light, as if the world had suddenly become brighter.


    ¡°Sir Knight?¡± she asked, pushing herself off the floor again. ¡°Are you still there? No ¡­ Am I still here?¡±


    A blanket of fog appeared in front of her, covering the whole room, and then forming itself into the shape of the knight. As the cloudy wisps formed to create his head, he looked at her worriedly. ¡°Not exactly,¡± he said. ¡°Please, Scypha, I need you. Be strong. Try to fight it.¡±


    ¡°Be¡­¡± Scypha¡¯s vision began flickering again, and she shook her head. ¡°I feel like it¡¯s all coming back! Can you see this?!¡±


    ¡°Focus, Scypha. See what? You¡¯re pushing me away¡ªby Chi¡¯orat, you¡¯re strong.¡±


    ¡°I see ¡­ It¡¯s that stain I told you about. It¡¯s growing¡ªthere are all these white flakes floating around me...¡±


    The knight fully materialized from the misty cloud. Quickly, he ran over to Scypha and extended his hands toward her, helping her rise. He shook his head.


    ¡°This really isn¡¯t going the way I wanted it to,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Scypha, I¡¯m going to do it after all. This might hurt¡ª¡±

 Chapter 34 - Reborn

    Eletha awoke inside the womb of a budding heart tree, feeling foreign soil under its roots and warm, dry air blowing around its leaves.


    She heard the sounds of splashing water and stones knocking together, of cutting, and desperate-sounding cries of animals she couldn¡¯t recognize. And above all that ¡­ chatter. The all-encompassing, almost comprehensible chatter of a thousand meat-men voices. Memories surfaced in her mind, dim and foggy, but gradually becoming clearer.


    She opened her eyes ¡­ and was horrified.


    She lay inside a large heart tree growing right in the middle of a huge meat-man settlement, near to a ¡®house¡¯ made of broken birch wood. A border was constructed around the house and her tree, also made of tortured wood. It¡¯d be called a ¡®fence¡¯, if she recalled a certain old man¡¯s words correctly. Once she saw it, she couldn¡¯t look away. It was too terrible.


    Trying to force her heart tree¡¯s magical eyes closed, she opened her mind to the soil beneath its roots, quickly sending out a wave of magic to the surrounding area. A distress signal. She got no response.


    She tried again.


    She got no response.


    And again, and again, and again. And there was nothing.


    She was alone ¡­ all alone ¡­ amidst meat-men.


    Her eyes began to fill with water and sap.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to come get you!¡± screamed May¡¯s panicked voice, echoing in her head. ¡°I¡¯m not leaving you behind¡ªtell me where you are!¡±


    Eletha wildly looked around ¡­ but she saw nothing but small plants struggling for life in a place dominated by meat-men.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± she screamed. ¡°May! May, are you there?¡±


    Her voice echoed through her heart tree¡¯s roots, then through the dirt ¡­ and faded to nothing.


    Eletha lifted her gaze before she could tear up again, sniffed, and connected herself deeply with her heart tree again. Feelings flooded over her. Everything seemed completely foreign¡ªthe warmth, the dryness, the composition of the soil, the ¡­ the fact that she was surrounded by meat-men. There was not a forest in sight. A few trees, yes, but they were all fast asleep.


    Her breath suddenly caught in her throat. She saw a small, burnt little acorn in the very center of her heart tree.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t make it,¡± she murmured to herself, feeling an intense heat around her as more memories of her previous life flooded out of the acorn, into her mind. ¡°May ¡­ never found me.¡±


    She shook her head, overwhelmed by the torrent of feelings and images. Surprisingly, she was able to do so completely unimpeded. Her new heart tree had grown to be large. Surprisingly large, in fact ¡­ how much time had passed, since her previous one had died? How long ago had her acorn been planted¡ªand who had fed it with corpses?Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    She looked around, searching for answers, but she found none.


    More memories flooded out of the acorn. Her first time emerging out of a heart tree, right behind May. The stunned expressions of their sisters. Meeting the Oakmother, who¡¯d told them they were special. Caring for the flowers growing in the shade. Tending to grass that was covered by the snow. Protecting the forest¡­


    Eletha stopped breathing. All of that was over ¡­ Inside the womb of her heart tree, she tucked her head between her knees and cried.


    As the next three days passed, she tried sending many more distress signals, probing the soil for any sign of another dryad. Her strength built up astonishingly quickly, as if the goddess Phosyphia herself had commanded the soil to deliver her nutrients, but she never found a sign of her sisters.


    Even the grass and the small bushes surrounding her heart tree seemed to ignore her desperate, trembling pleas.


    The horrible sounds of meat-men, however, were never-ending.


    On the fourth morning, two of them came into view. They struggled to carry the corpse of a fat, pink animal by its legs as they trudged out of their ¡®house¡¯. The morning dew sat on the blades of grass in front of their feet, bringing the little plants some small measure of happiness ¡­ before the meat-men cruelly trampled all over them.


    Eletha scowled at the monsters, rapidly growing angry. It¡¯d be just a little longer, she knew, and her body would be ready. She¡¯d be walking out of her heart tree very soon.


    Throwing a torrent of magic into one of its branches, she willed it to take the long, curving shape of a bow.


    The two meat-men didn¡¯t notice. They trampled the grass under their feet, lugging the corpse of animal to her heart tree and dumping it there. They sighed loudly and wiped the sweat from their brows.


    ¡°Another, right, Tennen?¡± one of them asked.


    ¡°Yeah. Damned swine flu. That¡¯s months of work down the gutter¡ªget one of your boys to bury it.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing. In the name of the prophets.¡±


    ¡°Dremon is their name.¡±


    The two meat-men left and shortly thereafter returned with another dead ¡®pig¡¯. Then came a third, a younger one, with a long piece of wood horridly skinned and fastened to a molded piece of rock. He used it to dig a large hole in the ground, muttering complaints about Eletha¡¯s heart tree¡¯s roots, and buried the two dead pigs in it. Once the hole was filled back in, Eletha asked her heart tree to strangle the corpses with its roots. It did, and more nutrients started to flood into her.


    Eyeing the retreating meat-man, she felt sad and angry in equal measure. Sad for so utterly failing in her previous life, and angry at the meat-men who were complicit in causing her downfall.


    She shook her head, letting the thought drift away from her. It¡¯d be foolish to blame the meat-men for following their nature. Murder was in their design, as natural to them as breathing. It wasn¡¯t personal¡ªit was who they were.


    But ¡­ so what?


    That didn¡¯t absolve them of the harm they caused. Their nature didn¡¯t make their actions any less destructive, any less deserving of consequence. They still had to be stopped. And her anger, hot and unyielding as it was, was not a burden to be quelled; it was a weapon. Fury was a tool, one she could refine, sharpen, and wield. With it, she could carve the world into something better, something just, something deserving of the life the goddess Phosyphia had given it.


    She asked her heart tree to release her from its sappy womb. Slowly, with a message to be careful, it acknowledged her request and began to unwrap her.


    With her hands and feet, Eletha gently prodded the inside of the wood and bark, giving it time to create an opening. Once that was large enough, she stepped out of the heart tree into the dry, fresh air.


    ¡°This time,¡± she said, to herself and her new heart tree, ¡°I am not playing nice. This time, I¡¯m doing the right thing.¡±

 Chapter 35 - Doing fine

    ¡°You know I appreciate it, Scypha, but you don¡¯t have to spend the entire night helping me,¡± Pyren said, rapidly moving to and from the scratched-up wooden bar. He quickly delivered another couple of horn mugs of ale to a table of goblins seated in the inn¡¯s dining area. ¡°With all the work you¡¯ve been doing, I already feel like I should be paying you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s no bother,¡± Scypha said, shaking her head and delivering a handful of filled-up, frothy mugs herself. She was slowly getting comfortable with holding six of them at once, three in each hand. She needed every one of her wet, sticky fingers to do it.


    ¡°I¡¯m just saying,¡± Pyren said, ¡°If you¡¯d like to take a break, I won¡¯t hold it against you.¡±


    ¡°Sure you will. We are barely keeping up as it is. Besides ¡­ watch out!¡±


    The innkeeper instantly froze behind the bar, then looked at Scypha questioningly.


    She nodded towards the line of mugs she¡¯d already filled and carried over just behind his elbow.


    ¡°You almost spilled that,¡± she said. ¡°Anyway ¡­ I feel like I want to take my mind off things. This is helping.¡±


    Pyren shrugged and smiled. ¡°Alright. I can understand that, with everything that¡¯s been going on lately. I certainly won¡¯t complain about the help. Thanks.¡±


    Scypha nodded.


    ¡°Table Five needs some more refills,¡± Pyren said. ¡°The greens there seem nice enough. Can I count on you?¡±


    Scypha nodded again, grabbing a metal pitcher full of ale from the counter behind her, along with four empty horn mugs. ¡°Goblins sure do drink a lot,¡± she said. ¡°More than must humans. I wouldn¡¯t have thought, given that they¡¯re ¡­ smaller. You call them ¡®greens¡¯?¡±


    The innkeeper smiled. ¡°Goblins¡¯, then. Same thing¡ªthey call us ¡®pinks¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Right,¡± Scypha said, walking towards the door with the pitcher and mugs. She remembered Niss and her brother really had called her that ¡­ a ¡®pink-skin¡¯. It was certainly better than the apparent other options, ¡®pigs¡¯ and ¡®pukes¡¯.


    Table Five was located outside the inn, deliberately positioned at the same part of the wall where the fireplace was inside. Scypha wondered if any of the warmth really made it through the stone. As soon as she rounded the corner left of the door and the wind blew in her face, she got goosebumps.


    Ignore that, she thought, while a feeling of unease slipped into her mind. You¡¯re fine. The knight will come back. He won''t be long. He will save you.


    Despite her wishes, a vision appeared before her. The whole world went completely white, brighter than snow glistening in sunlight ¡­ but in the middle, a small, pitch-black stain sat in the middle of it, causing flakes of the white to fall upwards and away.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    Grimacing, knowing it was a bad time to hallucinate, she reached out with her hand ¡­ and realized she could feel the white and the black. She tried to scratch away the blackness with her fingernails, to peel it off the white ¡­ but instead, she peeled away the white itself, causing the stain to get bigger.


    She blinked, and the vision suddenly vanished. She stood facing the wind on the wooden patio outside the inn, just beside its stone wall. The pitcher she had been holding tumbled to the ground, splashing ale onto her legs and feet. More goosebumps. Goblins were staring at her from tables in every direction.


    She shook her head, bowed to them apologetically, and picked the pitcher back up. She went back into the inn to fill it.


    ¡°Anything you could spare would be welcome,¡± she found herself later saying to Blan, one of the goblins sitting at table Six. ¡°But if you¡¯ve nothing to give, that¡¯s fine as well. Pyren, the innkeeper, says that drinks are free for you tonight.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Blan asked, his voice low and hoarse. ¡°But where does he get the money, then, to buy us drinks? Are you trying to trick us? We¡¯re not falling for it¡ªfree is free. We¡¯re not agreeing to become slaves again for a couple of drinks and bedrolls.¡±


    Scypha shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s not a trick. I¡¯m staying here for free as well. I ¡­ don¡¯t know the answers to your questions.¡±


    ¡°So the innkeeper just lets people drink and stay here for free?¡± another goblin said. His name was Tren, if Scypha remembered correctly.


    ¡°It seems like it,¡± she said. ¡°He¡¯s very kind.¡±


    ¡°Suspiciously kind,¡± Blan said, grimacing.


    Scypha shrugged, unsure of what to say. With a word of thanks, she took the empty pitcher from a goblin sitting to his right and nodded that she would bring them some water next, but was then stopped again. Blan complained, and she found herself growing restless¡ªher knees started to shake first, then her fingers. Her vision clouded slightly, her thoughts muddling up together and becoming incoherent. She tried to alleviate the discomfort by tapping her foot¡ª


    ¡°You listening?¡± Blan asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry?¡± Scypha replied. Instantly, she snapped back outside of herself. ¡°Sorry, I wasn¡¯t¡ª¡±


    ¡°Listening, yeah. You¡¯re not all there, are you?¡±


    ¡°Hey, shut up, Blan,¡± Tren said. ¡°She¡¯s been bringing us free drinks. Thank you for everything, girl. You can sit down with us if you want. Take a break¡ªyou look like you need it.¡±


    ¡°Do I?¡± Scypha asked, flinching.


    ¡°Yeah, you do. Come on¡ªmake some room, guys. I¡¯ll go and get the water.¡±


    As Tren climbed off the wooden bench by the table, the pair of goblins that sat beside him shifted and made some room for her. She noticed they had little knives tied to their belts. With a nervous smile, she accepted the offered seat.


    Her vision began vibrating.


    Knight, are you there? she thought. Am I really losing it again? I think I feel ¡­ mostly fine. But am I wrong? Am I deluding myself? Where did you have to run off to, again? Please come back!


    ¡°So we invite the crazy to our table,¡± Blan said, sitting across from her.


    Scypha gazed over at him. She noticed he had a cut on his forehead, one that had healed recently. It was discolored, a darker shade of green than the rest of him.


    ¡°Is your blood red?¡± she asked. Her voice wobbled in her ears as if she¡¯d heard it from underwater. It really is happening.


    Blan grimaced. ¡°What do you think?¡± he asked.


    She shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Sorry. I don¡¯t know why I asked that.¡±


    Shortly thereafter, Tren came walking back to the table. He wasn¡¯t even twice as tall as it, Scypha noticed. He was definitely shorter than she was, with big, yellowish eyes and pointy ears. He brought a pitcher and a metal cup. He placed the cup on the table right in front of her and poured water into it as she yawned.


    Why do I feel so fuzzy? she thought. She couldn¡¯t say anything. She just knew that she needed the knight to hurry and come back. She thanked Tren, took the cup, and quickly drank it all. The water was freezing cold.


    She focused all of her attention on that feeling. On the cold. And she tried not to lose herself.

 Chapter 36 - Divine intervention

    By the grace of Vifafey, perhaps, Scypha¡¯s feelings of lightheadedness gradually passed as the night progressed.


    That was something unique to her, as most of the humans and goblins around her were drinking ale and wine and were mentally headed in exactly the opposite direction. Some especially ¡®wasted¡¯ goblins even took to singing¡ª though each one of them sang a different song¡ªat the same time. Badly.


    It was nice, though. Blan, still sitting across from Scypha, turned out to be a nicer person when he was drunk.


    ¡°I¡¯m telling you guys¡ªour lord Gromph loves chicken!¡± he shouted. ¡°Every green in the world knows it, even every pink-skin knows it¡ªso why do we go hunting frogs? Let''s just use chicken bones to make the altar! We¡¯ve got plenty right here!¡±


    Qelev, a rather long-nosed goblin sitting beside Blan, shook his head disapprovingly. ¡°It¡¯s against scripture!¡± he shouted back, struggling to be heard over the terrible, drunken singing. ¡°Gimef used frog bones, not chicken bones!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just because he lived in a swamp!¡± Blan replied. ¡°It¡¯s the shape of the altar that matters, not the type of bones we use!¡±


    ¡°How would you shape the altar, then, Blan?¡± Tren asked, laughing and snorting ale froth through his nose. ¡°Like a chicken?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a chicken!¡± Blan shouted.


    As time passed, Scypha had tried to hold a straight face, to appear the sane one, and to learn more about the goblins¡¯ religion. All she could do at that point was hold her hands over her mouth so those around her wouldn¡¯t see her smiling.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we build one right now and ask holy Gromph what he thinks?¡± Blan demanded.


    ¡°Sounds like blasphemy to me!¡±


    ¡°Totally sounds like blasphemy!¡± Qelev said. ¡°Hey¡ªpink-skin! You¡¯re a priestess, right? Tell us, is that blasphemy?¡±


    Ten pairs of eyes quickly settled on Scypha, and she shrugged awkwardly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m still just an apprentice. I don¡¯t know much about Gromph.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± asked Blan, downing a mug of ale and leaning over the table towards her.


    ¡°I said I don¡¯t know much about Gromph! But ¡­ you could try. Most gods value devotion!¡±


    ¡°Gods value the motion? What motion?!¡±


    ¡°De-votion!¡± shouted Tren, seating himself beside Scypha and slamming two more frothy mugs of ale down on the table. He slapped Scypha lightly on the back with a wet hand. ¡°You¡¯re right about that, Pinky! Go on, Blan! Try it!¡±


    ¡°Get me some chicken!¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    ¡°It¡¯s right there!¡±


    ¡°Give it to me! I can¡¯t move¡ªmy legs are mush!¡±


    ¡°Then you¡¯re not very devoted, are you?!¡±


    After a couple of insults were hurled in every direction, Scypha made her way to the table next to theirs and asked the goblins there if she could take their leftover chicken bones. They eyed her with a mixture of suspicion and confusion, but they did let her take the little things. She felt only slightly humiliated.


    ¡°There we go, that¡¯s what I needed!¡± said Blan. ¡°Thank you, pink-skin. Alright, now, what did that altar in Ryzayah look like? You guys, think of something to pray for!¡±


    Sanity, Scypha thought. Though she¡¯d be praying to the god Vifafey for it, not to Gromph.


    ¡°What about ending the murders?¡± Tren asked. ¡°I wouldn''t mind staying at this inn for free until summer if people would just stop dying.¡±


    ¡°Nah, nah,¡± said Qelev. ¡°That¡¯s a waste of a prayer¡ªthere¡¯s still the screecher, Tren. An ordinary killer is fine¡ªjust so long as that monster goes away.¡±


    ¡°Well then, let''s pray they both leave. Hear us, Gromph! We offer up our ale!¡±


    ¡°Waiiit, damnit!¡± shouted Blan. ¡°I haven¡¯ finished the altar yet!¡±


    ¡°Well, hurry up, chicken!¡±


    Scypha shook her head, noticing her vision start to blur again. ¡°Sorry,¡± she said, ¡°there are people dying?¡±


    Tren frowned and looked up at her from the side. ¡°You haven¡¯t heard?¡± he asked. ¡°You¡¯ve been here longer than us. How do we know and you don¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°Maybe she¡¯s the killer. Playing dumb¡ªyou know how pink-skins are,¡± said Qelev.


    ¡°She¡¯s not the killer,¡± Tren laughed. ¡°Not with those spindly arms. Yeah, Pinky. There¡¯s a killer on the loose¡ªand more importantly, a screecher. One of those giant worm things that get in people¡¯s heads and eat them. But don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll keep you safe.¡±


    Scypha grimaced. ¡°I didn¡¯t know ¡­ I vaguely remember that Pyren told me, but ¡­ I just didn¡¯t think that it was really¡­¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to concern yourself with any of that, Pinky. Stay near this inn, and you¡¯re as safe as a bear in a cave. Nothing will get you in a place this crowded.¡±


    She winced and looked around the crowded patio. Suddenly, the slight breeze blowing on her forehead felt a little colder, even though the overall atmosphere remained warm due to the rowdiness of the goblins all around. She saw Pyren had also finally decided to take a break and stop bringing everyone rounds and rounds of drinks. Perhaps he had run out of stock.


    He glanced over at her, and for a brief moment, they shared a look. She smiled.


    ¡°Okaeyyy, M¡¯done!¡± shouted Blan, slurring his speech. Scypha flinched. ¡°By holey Gromph, I¡¯m startin¡¯ t¡¯feeel sick. But¡¯m done.¡±


    ¡°You actually got the symbol right, if nothing else,¡± said Qelev. ¡°That¡¯s Gromph, over there. Right, Pink-skin?¡±


    Scypha looked down toward the table, toward the mess of chicken bones littered around, skin hanging off, fat dripping onto the wood. She recognized the chaotically put-together emblem of Gromph and nodded.


    ¡°Right, so¡ªwhat¡¯re we gun pray forr?¡± asked Blan.


    ¡°No hangovers,¡± said Tren. ¡°And free breakfast.¡±


    ¡°Life, freedom, and peace,¡± Scypha murmured.


    ¡°Yeh, that souns gudd,¡± said Blan, swallowing hard before standing up, wobbling slightly and raising his hands above his head. ¡°So, w¡¯pray to Gromph¡ª¡±


    Lightning struck.


    For a heartbeat, the whole world turned to searing white. The air split itself apart with a thunderous boom that rattled Scypha¡¯s bones, followed by a hiss of heat so intense it sizzled against her skin. The sharp tang of burned air quickly filled her mouth, acrid and metallic, and smoldering splinters exploded from the wooden table, surging in every direction.


    Scypha instinctively threw up her arms, shielding her eyes. She quickly received a thousand little cuts and burns. She couldn¡¯t see or hear anything, but she was in pain.


    Shock overwhelmed her as something heavy fell onto her legs¡ªmaybe the table. As she toppled over, large hands grabbed hold of her back and pushed her back up. She couldn¡¯t move herself. She couldn¡¯t see. She tried opening her eyes, but everything was completely white¡ªshe was blind.


    Then a voice boomed in her head, low and commanding.


    ¡°You are not of Vifafey or Gromph. You are MINE.¡±

 Chapter 37 - Justice

    Kenn threw away his last bit of dented armor and sprinted across the street toward his brother, his heart pounding in his ears.


    Ganen stood hunched over a pool of blood, breathing hard and bleeding from three separate arrow wounds¡ªone on each shoulder, one on his stomach.


    ¡°Stay with me, Ganen!¡± Kenn shouted as he ran, his voice hoarse.


    Just as he reached him, a sharp impact jolted Kenn¡¯s body, making him stumble. An arrow buried itself deep into his arm, the force twisting him sideways. He clenched his teeth, staying on his feet but seeing blood spurt out of him. He winced in pain, shaking his head.


    ¡°Over there! To the left!¡± he barked at a guardsman who stumbled into view, his face pale and fearful. The man hesitated, his hands trembling as he gripped the hilt of his sword before he charged toward the figure in the distance.


    It was a hopeless effort¡ªlike a lone mouse trying to take down a cat, and Kenn saw it coming before it happened. He had barely opened his mouth to shout ¡®dodge!¡¯ before the arrow hit the unarmored guardsman square in the chest. The man crumpled forward, the sword slipping from his hand as he hit the cobbled road hard, motionless at his killer¡¯s feet. The killer hopped forward lightly, graceful as the wind, and kicked the guardsman¡¯s body with a bare foot before yanking the arrow out of its chest and nocking it again.


    Kenn turned back to Ganen, his mind racing despite the blood loss. There was no time for hesitation. Covering his wound with one hand and grabbing his brother with the other, he began to hobble away from the slaughter.


    ¡°Move! Now!¡± he shouted to Ganen.


    His brother nodded hastily, groaning in pain. They stumbled away from the battlefield, bleeding onto the cobbled main road all the way. Arrows whistled through the air, striking down people in every direction¡ªguardsmen, merchants, even a woman and a child.


    Kenn kept his eyes forward, his arm around Ganen.


    There was nothing he could do. There was nothing anyone could do¡ªnot until that creature ran out of arrows. Nothing even seemed to hurt it, and that was when they could get close enough to fight back. It had the shape of a human, but it didn¡¯t move or act like one.


    What vengeful god had the Ryzayahns angered to deserve such a slaughter? Kenn''s mind churned with the question as he dragged Ganen away from it, his blood-filthy boots slipping on the cobblestones. Had they trespassed into some divine grudge, unwitting pawns in a punishment meant for someone greater? Were the gods angry at the lord and lady Dremon for making a paradise in their city?


    Or was the world simply that cruel?


    Kenn¡¯s breath hitched, his legs burning with every faltering step as he tried to keep both himself and Ganen upright. He was growing weak. His brother was faltering. They both had lost too much blood¡ªbut they had to keep going. They had no other choice.


    Far behind Kenn, the sharp twang of a bowstring snapped, a sound that froze his heart in his chest. The sound of whistling ¡­ and then Ganen violently lurched out of his grasp, tumbling away from him as an arrow sprouted from his back with a sickening thud.


    ¡°Ganen!¡± Kenn shouted, his voice cracking. He fell to his knees beside his fallen brother, grabbing hold of him again ¡­ but he was already gone. The latest arrow had pierced straight through his heart.


    Kenn¡¯s chest tightened, a sob tearing its way out of his throat as he stared down at his brother¡¯s battered body. Then, a new realization hit him like a hammer to the stomach, leaving him completely breathless.


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    It was never meant to be a quick kill.


    Both of Ganen¡¯s shoulders had been pierced, then his stomach, and only then, his chest.


    The sequence had been deliberate. The killer had wanted them to have hope, to try to escape. It wanted them to hurt.


    Kenn took a deep, shaky breath and looked towards the sky, sobbing and letting his tears fall onto his brother. He prayed to the gods, to Aru and Vifafey, for mercy and justice.


    The pained cries coming from all over slowly quieted down, and a deafening silence began to spread over the streets. A shadow stretched across the cobblestones behind Kenn, blotting out the sun. He didn¡¯t need to turn around to know who it was.


    ***


    Eletha grimaced.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that question three times by now,¡± she said, tilting her head to one side and blowing a strand of hair away from her face. She stepped up behind the meat-man, her feet already slick with his dark red blood.


    ¡°W-w-w-why are you doing this? Why? Why?!¡± she mimicked. ¡°You meat-men are hopeless. So desperate for a reason when it comes to your people dying, never giving a damn when it comes to mine.¡±


    Humming a tune, she twirled the bow in her hand before carefully slinging it over her shoulder, letting it rest after a morning¡¯s work. Her cold eyes fixed on the meat-man she¡¯d left for last. The mewling, blood-covered thing was still trembling on its knees. She loomed over it as it sobbed and leaned down so that her breath blew against its ear.


    ¡°You, I¡¯ll tell,¡± she whispered. ¡°And I¡¯ll even put it simply enough for you to understand. You¡¯ve spent millennia tormenting every kind of life that isn¡¯t yours. This ¡­ is justice.¡±


    With those parting words, she kicked the meat-man onto the ground and left him there to bleed to death.


    As she walked away, she found herself enjoying the morning sun.


    A warm spring wind carried the pungent smell of soon-to-be fertilizer, and she sauntered past streets littered with corpses. The meat-men would take care of them on their own time. She¡¯d recently learned that in the place she was, the Northern Third of Ryzayah, they buried their dead in the ground despite the lack of any kind of Accord. That was nice. Perhaps the Goddess had somehow tricked them into such habits.


    ¡°Praised be Phosyphia, lady of life,¡± she said, her gaze flickering to a cluster of small flowers growing defiantly in the cracks of the meat-mens¡¯ cobblestone road. Their petals swayed slightly in the faint breeze. Scypha slowed as she walked past, offering them a sincere smile.


    ¡°Keep fighting,¡± she said. ¡°We¡¯ll make of this place fertile ground.¡±


    Eventually, she thought. The ¡®city¡¯ was still crawling with meat-men, and getting rid of them all would take quite a while. Still ¡­ she had nothing but time.


    She thought for a moment. ¡°Blessed are we all who work in Phosyphia¡¯s holy name,¡± she said. A simple prayer, but one she hadn¡¯t spoken in a while.


    Perhaps it was her Oakmother¡¯s influence that had stopped her. Always so insistent, always preaching about harmony and peaceful coexistence, even while she and her sisters starved, their heart tree¡¯s small and weak ¡­ It hadn¡¯t seemed right back then to pray to the goddess. Not under the Oakmother¡¯s shadow, not while biting her tongue as the meat-men trampled over her home and dignity.


    But now ¡­ Eletha was no longer bound to an Oakmother. That chapter was closed, devoured by flames ignited by the meat-men themselves. Her people¡¯s heart trees had been reduced to ash and smoke.


    Perhaps even ¡­ it was her fault. If she¡¯d never helped that idiot Berrick, never opened her stupid mouth to warn him of the poisoned well, perhaps the meat-men bandits would have simply gotten what they wanted from the village and moved on. Perhaps they never would have turned their greedy eyes toward her people.


    But she had.


    She had told Berrick.


    She had shown kindness to the old meat-man and offered him a warning when he¡¯d needed it, and it had cost her everything.


    It was too late to go back, too late to make the right choice.


    The warm wind blowing on Eletha¡¯s cheeks suddenly turned cold.


    Now, she was on her own. Only the goddess knew how far she was from her sisters or if they were even alive again, as she was. Perhaps it would be decades before their acorns found fertile ground, before they found the corpses they needed to take root and grow into new heart trees. Or perhaps it would be forever.


    As for her ¡­ She was alone. All alone ¡­ trapped among the meat-men.


    There was nothing left for her to do but spill blood. Spill it until her hands were red, until her arms ached. Until the memories faded, the pain in her heart grew dull, and she could forget.

 Chapter 38 - The Song of a dead bird

    My lesser progeny has been fouling up your head, little one.


    Don¡¯t worry. I will fix you.


    Scypha sat up, hot all over, feeling like she¡¯d fed a fire with her skin. She saw red, muddled light, hot as boiling water¡ª


    A cold, wet hand pushed against her chest, gently pushing her down. She found that she was too weak to fight it. It firmly guided her back onto something soft. A bedroll.


    Her vision slowly cleared up, and she saw Pyren looming over her, his sleeves rolled up and his eyes slightly red, the scent of alcohol on his breath.


    ¡°Be still, Scypha,¡± he said. His voice was deeper than usual. ¡°Don¡¯t try to move. I¡¯m almost done.¡±


    Candlelight flickered behind him as a thin braid of smoke ascended toward the ceiling. She smelled something sickly sweet. Above her, Pyren turned away, breathed deeply, and cut something. A moment later, she felt a freezing cold on her stomach. She raised her head to look, but it was difficult.


    He¡¯s helping me, she told herself, hoping it was true.


    She heard Pyren pick up a bottle from the wooden floor, shake it a few times before unstopping it, then spill its contents onto her stomach. It was cold, but it burned when it touched her. She gritted her teeth, trying to withstand the pain and stay still, and she balled her hands into fists.


    A presence began to untangle in her head. ¡°He¡¯s looking too close. He¡¯ll see you, and he¡¯ll hunt you down like the beast you are.¡±


    Scypha shivered, feeling goosebumps cover her arms.


    Pyren put his bottle away and inspected her stomach closely. His thick, long beard brushed against her, tickling her a little.


    ¡°Strange,¡± he said. He raised his head again, then leaned over her face and looked her in the eyes. ¡°You must be blessed by the gods, Scypha. You heal very quickly.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s ¡­ wrong?¡± she asked, trying to sit up again. Her voice was raspy, and it hurt her throat to use it. ¡°What happened?¡±


    Pyren gently grasped her shoulder and once again stopped her from getting up. ¡°You got smashed up a little when the lightning struck. The table split apart, and half of it fell on you. And worse, a bunch of splinters ¡­ but you¡¯re going to be okay. Your injuries look worse than they are. I promise¡ªtomorrow, this will all just seem like a bad dream.¡±


    ¡°The others¡­? The goblins?¡± she asked. ¡°Tren, and Blan, and¡­¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re not having a great night either, but they¡¯ll live. I heard what they were doing. I never would have thought ¡­ but I suppose they¡¯ll be making proper shrines from now on. Gromph must be an angrier god than I realized. I¡¯ve never seen a god smite someone before.¡±


    Scypha slowly shook her head, trying to ignore the pain brought on by doing so. ¡°It wasn¡¯t Gromph,¡± she rasped. ¡°Gromph doesn¡¯t control lightning, he can¡¯t do that.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Pyren asked. ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure you know better than I. Would you like me to bring you a little idol to Vifafey?¡±


    ¡°To who?¡± Scypha asked, frowning.


    ¡°To Vifafey.¡±


    Scypha¡¯s mind blanked. What had he said...? Then, a moment later, she remembered, and she took control of her facial muscles before Pyren could notice her confusion.


    ¡°You¡¯ll want to stay in bed,¡± he said, ¡°but um ¡­ you seem restless. Perhaps you could pray until you get tired. I promise this idol won¡¯t explode.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to,¡± Scypha said. ¡°Please bring it to me?¡±


    Pyren nodded slowly and disappeared from view. Scypha heard the floorboards creak under his weight and his footsteps moving away. The candlelight flickered again. After a little while, Pyren returned, holding a little metal idol in one hand and a worn-out chair in the other.


    The idol looked eerie and unnatural. Scypha stared at it, studied it while Pyren brought it closer, trying her best to recognize the shapes and figures made in the twisted iron ¡­ yet for some reason, she just couldn¡¯t grasp them.


    Scypha looked towards the cobwebbed wooden ceiling above her.


    Deep down, she knew¡ªher rational mind understood¡ªthat she had been looking at those shapes on the idol all her life. In her mother¡¯s temple, at crossroads, and on hilltops, she had even been marking them on her forehead since childhood. Everyone did so. They were Vifafey¡¯s. But now¡­ she couldn¡¯t see them anymore. She couldn¡¯t make sense of it.


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    With his leg, Pyren moved a small table in front of her bedroll and carefully set the weird idol on top of it.


    ¡°Pyren,¡± she asked, suppressing a cough. ¡°Am I acting strange?¡±


    The wooden leg of a chair scraped against the floor, screeching slightly until a moment later when Pyren sat down on it beside the idol.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± he asked.


    Scypha stopped staring at the ceiling and turned to look at him. ¡°Am I weird? Unusual?¡±


    ¡°No more than the next person. I¡¯m quite strange myself.¡±


    Oh, Scypha thought, frowning. She smiled awkwardly. ¡°Funny ¡­ You know, I¡¯ve been hearing that my whole life. But everyone else gets a different answer.¡±


    Pyren shook his head. He seemed to smile at her maliciously, holding back laughter. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯re a nice girl, and everyone is a little eccentric in their own way. You¡¯re certainly agreeable enough for me, so you¡¯ll get by. Just focus on recovering.¡±


    Scypha winced in pain. ¡°Please, don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t what?¡± Pyren asked. His wicked smile widened.


    ¡°It sounds like you¡¯re taunting me,¡± Scypha said.


    ¡°Why would you say that?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. It just ¡­ does. I¡¯m sorry, I know you¡¯re not like that. But ¡­ the way you¡¯re looking at me right now...¡±


    Pyren looked her over, then extended a hand and placed it on her forehead, apparently checking her temperature. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you mean,¡± he murmured. ¡°But you¡¯re okay, Scypha. Just relax.¡±


    She tried to. For a time. But she kept hearing the way Pyren was holding back laughter.


    ¡°How am I weird?¡± she asked. ¡°The goblins said I was acting strange before. What were they talking about? What did they see?¡±


    Pyren shook his head. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter.¡±


    ¡°Please. What did I do? All I remember from tonight is ¡­ I spilled some ale. I, um ¡­ I cleaned the tables, and I brought people food and drinks. Did I do anything else?¡±


    ¡°You really don¡¯t remember?¡± Pyren asked.


    Scypha slowly, painfully shook her head. ¡°No. What did I do? Was it something bad?¡±


    ¡°No, no. Nothing bad. You just ¡­ froze ¡­ for a little while. It looked strange and out of place, and people started gawking ¡­ but that¡¯s all. You fell asleep on your feet, mumbling about something. I really must have overworked you. I¡¯m sorry about that¡ªif you ever decide to help me again, I¡¯ll insist on you taking those breaks.¡±


    Scypha glanced over at Pyren and saw him staring at her with another knowing smile. Her vision flickered, and she looked up at the ceiling again.


    She didn¡¯t feel insane, but how could she know? She did feel a little dizzy.


    Where are you, my knight? she thought. I thought you¡¯d be back by now. Where did you go? You never tell me. I need you now. I really need you.


    She got no response.


    ¡°Do you feel any ringing in your ears?¡± Pyren asked her. ¡°Are you seeing things, anything like that?¡±


    Scypha shook her head. ¡°Not right now.¡±


    Her vision flickered and grew foggy.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t see any head injuries. I could check again, but ¡­ I wouldn¡¯t know what to do about them if there were any. Try not to move around too much.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Hey, um ¡­ if I really am just seeing things ¡­ thanks, Pyren.¡±


    ¡°Hm? Oh, you¡¯re welcome, I guess.¡±


    ¡°Just ¡­ thanks. Really ¡­ If you start running now, you might survive.¡±


    ¡°What¡ª¡±


    Scypha jolted awake, stumbling backward, and she was not in her room.


    She felt a cold wind blowing on her back. She stood upright, her eyes wide, and she was staring at the red morning sun, watching it rise over a thicket of bushes a few feet in front of her.


    The wind tousled her hair, wrapping itself around the small of her neck and making her shiver. The damp and soft ground under her bare feet smelled of wet grass, mud, and something else. Leaves rustled overhead, obscuring the rising sun. She heard the distant, cute chirping of a couple of songbirds.


    ¡°Where am I¡­?¡± she asked, slowly turning around. Wet soil squished between her toes.


    She looked around in every direction, trying to gather her bearings. She didn¡¯t know where she was, but she saw a large wooden building behind her, past a copse of trees.


    The barn. She recognized that. A trail of dark red stains and puddles led in that direction, starting exactly where she stood.


    The image of a small bird flickered into view for a moment, but as soon as she saw it, it was gone. Shaking her head, she turned around again. Looking down for a moment, she immediately stumbled to the ground.


    Just in front of her, sprawled across the mud, lay a large, mutilated corpse, gored into a state nearly beyond recognition. Its flesh was twisted and torn apart, covered with jagged cuts and stab wounds. Its entrails spilled out of its belly, glistening with a grotesque, crimson sheen, oozing a dark, viscous liquid that pooled into an expanding puddle around the body.


    Suddenly, the air around Scypha felt thick with an overpowering, putrid stench that clung to her nostrils and twisted her stomach. The scent of bile was unmistakable, acrid, and sour, cutting through the heavier notes of the spilled blood. Every breath she took brought with it a sickly sweetness, stuffing itself in the back of her throat, threatening to choke her.


    She felt like a cloud had settled into her head. After a moment, she found herself on her hands and knees, shaking uncontrollably. Swallowing hard, she crawled away from the body.


    It was Pyren.


    Nausea started to rise in her throat, and she lifted her hands to cover her mouth so she could stop it. Her stomach churned even further as she saw her sticky, red palms. Blood soaked them, warm like oil, and it dripped from her fingers in beautiful rivulets. Just behind her ears, she heard the ghostly chirp of a bird, then ¡­ silence.


    And then, in an instant, all the unpleasant feelings disappeared. She was completely fine.


    She stopped shaking.


    The stench disappeared.


    Her stomach settled, and her breathing calmed.


    She saw things clearly for the first time, and it was ¡­ amazing. She could hardly believe what she was seeing ¡­ it was such beauty.


    A voice screamed at her in the back of her mind, but it was distant and muffled. She crouched down over Pyren¡¯s savaged corpse, her fingers curling around the tangled intestines. Their oozy warmth pressed against her palms, pleasant to the touch.


    And then, for the first time in her life, she really felt it. Acceptance. Approval ¡­ The warm, comforting caress of her father¡¯s love.