The Shallow Stream

The spirit woman came so a soft stop as the blood showed on the earth in front of her. In the shallow river ahead she watched with sad eyes as two stags faught with their blades of antlers over a small fawn. Her lips turned down slightly when she realized they were the two harts that she had told off before. Stepping from the shore, she allowed the water to reach her toes as she held up her hand.

Looking at her arm, the woman noticed a black cloak covering her arm. She felt the black lace covering her hair and she caught a tear as she knew what must be done. "I have warned you before, and you have broken the oath you made to me. I am sorry for what I must do, but it must be done." The pale glow of the woman began to strengthen as she neared the two male deer.

She held out her palm and one of the deer walked to her and placed his nose in her hand. "I, Amitola, grant freedom to your spirit, and banish you from the land this fawn walks on. I hereby rest your soul forever more." she whispered, tears falling from her closed eyes. Turning to the other stag, she smiled and offered her hand as the first lay down and a light faded from it's body, the deer vanishing. "Please, come, it is painless, I promise." she lowered her head and took a step into the water, the stag, bleeding heavily, stepped up and copied the older male. "I, Amitola, grant freedom to your spirit, and banish you from the land this fawn walks on. I hereby rest your soul forever more." The male deer lay beside where the other had laid, and he too, vanished.

The fawn gave a small flick of it's tail and ran to the side of a female standing by the edge of the water. "I need no favor in repay for the life of your daughter. I have done what I had to." she swept her long black cloak around her and sllowed the tears to fall as she turned from the fawn and doe, hearing them jump away.

The girl's green eyes opened and she smiled, looking down at her hands, once again sheeted in white fabrics. "Of course I am, Shayce-Erinna." she said softly, turning around and meeting the eyes of the fae. Silently willing the wolf to correct the spirit of her name, she smiled. "Did you have a kind journey here?" she asked, still waiting for a correction.

The blue butterfly fluttered over to the lady and she smiled, lifting her slim arm to point towards the thin parts of the forest, "he flew towards the plains in search of you," she whispered, blowing a kiss to the insect as it flew away. Laughing softly she turned back to Shayce-Erinna. "I do believe a correction of my words is in order," she said, waiting for the wolf to speak her name.

The goddes smiled, "of course you may create a pack here, Shayce." she lifted her palm and the body of the last deer vanished, melting into the earth and dissolving into mist. "I see no reason that you cannot, as long as you take only what is worth taking." The spirit woman nodded her head once and waved her arm to the forest beyond the wolf.

"What was only mine and the creatures, now lives within and around you as well. We share this forest, but remember, if you hurt it, you must be punished." then she smiled once more and spoke quietly, slyly, "I should think that to the north, a fine camp awaits you for the coming season." she pointed towards the hills and outstretched her hand to Shayce, "shall we?"

Tha girl strode in silence, her feet hardly touching the grass. There was a bird call from the distance, which drew Amitola's attention away from her steps and towards the sound. Her head trned up just in time to see a large vulture sweep over her head and the spirit's eyes widened. "Something has died, and I did not feel it. I must go, I will return to you unless you wish to follow, but travel with haste." With that, the spirit woman turned and began to float towards the trees, where the vulture had begun to circle. Her beautiful ivory dress taking on a shade of darkening grey.

She slowed as her cloak took a dark colour and found a young fawn, the fawn that she had saved earlier. At the sight, she smiled, and her cloak faded back to a white. "Dear little fawn, why are you alone?" she asked quietly. The animal bent it's head down in a bow before meeting Amitola's eyes. The creature pointed it's nose over and Amitola saw the pleading look in it's eyes. "I will follow you," she said softly. The goddess had failed to realize that the fawn was alone until now, and she was beginning to worry once more.

Refusing to allow her cloak to return, she strode beside the fawn until they came to a small clearing, the mother was there. She was bleeding heavily from her hind leg and a large metal contraption wa attached. "Filthy humans." she said angrily, her hair taking on a blue tint. "I told them to stay away from my forest. I told them. I warned them. When they return, if any animal is ever harmed, I will kill the human. I will burn him. I will make it hurt."

Amitola's ice locks were now a deep purpley blue and she was angry. "I told them to stay out!" she snapped, waving her hand violently at the contraption and watching it shatter. She walked towards the doe, the rass turning black beneath her feet. "I told them, that I would burn them." she said, her hair lightening and her hand waving gently over the deer. "Your wound is not fatal. It will heal." When she removed her hand, the wound was dried and clean. "Now rise, and be wary of any other traps." she said kindly, though her smile had disappeared. "Thank you for helping me little fawn." she said as the vulture above flew off.

A gentle laugh turned to the ears of the male wolf, her darkening strands of hair turning a gentle white,her eyes fading from red to green her dress repaired itself and all was back to normal. Amitola waved her hand, the blood from the fawn's mother dissolving into the earth and the dead grass renewing. She strode calmly to the grey wolf and smiled. "Oh, but Akau, you are not trespassing, you are merely exploring. You have not eaten or damaged the territory, and therefor your traces are not worthy to be named those of a trespasser."

Her calming smile faded as, in the distance, a wretched lurch shredded through the forest, followed by a crack and a boom. "Do you recognize that sound?" she asked them, her voice perfectly calm, so calm that it was threatening. "That is the sound of humans, disgusting creatures," she paused, "and they are asking for a penalty. All care dissolved and she turned with a surprisingly wolf-like snarl to the sound as it repeated. "They are tearing down my forest!" she shrieked, raven black feathers growing from her sleeves.

She tilted her head upward. "This is when you defend your territory alongside me. This is when we take back what they want to steal from us!" she snapped into the air and owls took flight, followed by ravens and crows of all sizes. She turned to the wolves and stared at them. Her eyes were a deep, bloody red instead of the gentle green, her clothes were black and torn with feathers shrouding her body, and her normally soft looking piece of lace that she wore around her throat was no transformed into a threateningly dark metallic battle piece of obsidian. She flexed her hand and a long, dark staff seemed to expand from it. "Let's go fight for what belongs to us." she hissed, turning and thrusting the staff forth to direct the still-flocking masses of avians.

To The Stolen Lands (Year Round)