The creatures moved through the forest quickly and efficiently, even though they were avoiding roads as much as possible because Isabelle thought it was safer that way. They only stopped to eat, drink, or rest. Isabelle knew the further they got from civilization the more untamed the wilderness would become.
Isabelle didn’t know much about things outside of her hometown aside from the rumors she heard and the random knowledge she acquired. However, she was aware about an enormous mountain range that spanned across an enormous distance; her creatures were heading directly for it. Crossing it would be tough. She didn’t know anything about crossing mountains, much less where the best location would be to cross for this specific one. It was unfortunate, but she’d just have to wing it.
The creatures turned out to be very adept at hunting fish. So far, it was their main source of nutrition. Isabelle surmised the reason they liked fish so much was because it had a lot more nutrients in it that grass did, which was what they mostly ate up until now. Along the way they had encountered people but Isabelle told her children to stay away.
The creatures skittering across the forest floor suddenly halted. They became as still as statues, but Isabelle wasn’t sure why. She deepened her connection with one of them and could feel its fear. Danger was the only thing it thought.
The reason for its fear became clear soon enough. A massive bear was tearing its way through the bush with a group of cubs following behind it. It spotted the creatures and turned to face them.
There was an enormous size difference between the bear and the creatures. However, the creatures had a numbers advantage. There were far more of them than the bear, even if its young cubs were included in that number. The bear stood up and that difference became even greater. Its frame was huge and it stood far taller than the creatures staring up at it. Each of them had their tails poised up, dripping with venom, and hissed at the bear in unison. The bear didn’t back down. It opened its mouth, dripping with saliva and filled with rows of sharp teeth, and screamed at the creatures in front of it. They stood firm against the bear. Meanwhile, Isabelle was sweating bullets with worry. Not only for the creatures she gave birth to, but for herself.
Thankfully, the bear went back down on all fours and backed down. It shuffled off into the distance, leaving the creatures to themselves. Isabelle thought that the creatures would have probably won with their poisonous stingers, but they could have been easily killed off by the massive bear. By the time the poison took effect, the bear may have crushed them all like bugs.
The creatures reached the base of the mountain and Isabelle looked at it through their eyes. It was huge and spanned a great distance.
Crossing it took weeks. The group of creatures got turned around more than once while navigating their way through the difficult mountain terrain.
Halfway through the trip through the mountains, the creatures were walking at the bottom of a tall cliff. It split off into a large crevice. As they were walking past the crevice, they turned to look inside of it. At the end of it was a large wyvern with a wingspan that had to be at least 15 feet long. It was bending over and readjusting a nest with three large blue eggs. It finished and curled up on top of the nest, its wings spreading across the ground. A second wyvern flew down, blowing a gust of wind towards Isabelle’s hiding creatures. It had a similar color pattern to the first one, but it had wounds all over its body.
Wyverns are said to be very territorial, Isabelle remembered hearing from someone.
It craned its neck to nuzzle the other wyvern and they both made a soft yet deep rumbling sound. It curled up next to the other wyvern and closed its eyes.
Go! Now! Isabelle loudly communicated to her creatures all at once. They quietly rushed past the crevice, escaping the mating wyvern pair’s notice.
Once they covered some distance on the other side, by pure happenstance, they happened to come across a wyvern collapsed on the ground, seemingly dead. The creatures cautiously approached it and inspected it until they were certain it was dead. They started gorging themselves on the dead wyvern, a lucky find since meals were scarce this high up in the mountains. With each bite they took, Isabelle felt satisfaction, but she wasn’t sure why. She felt something flowing into her through them that she didn’t understand. When they were done gorging themselves, they rested, and kept on going afterwards.
Once they stumbled upon a large grass clearing in the middle of a wild forest, Isabelle decided it was time to stop. It was a beautiful sight. This would be good enough, and she communicated this to them.
Stop. This will be our new home, she told them. They did as they were told and finally stopped the long trek.
The place she decided would serve as a new home for her creatures was a large clearing full of tall grass in the middle of a large, dense forest. It was uphill to a river for easy access to water. The average height of her creatures was just above three feet now; they were getting quite large, and growing fast. Every day, they appeared more ferocious..
Now that she’d decided on a place for her creatures to live, she wasn’t sure what to do. She hadn’t given it much thought, she’d mostly been concerned about getting them here—safe and sound—and away from her family. This place in the middle of nowhere was their new home, so something should be done to make it comfier. But is that even necessary?
Isabelle grinned to herself as she watched the growing creatures eat away at the tall grass in the field. They were like living mowers, soon the entire field of grass would be cut down with only their teeth.
After they cut out large swathes of the tall grass, they started digging up the ground. She wasn’t sure what their goal was. Tunnels, perhaps? Without anything else to do, she watched them do their work with anticipation. She didn’t realize they’d do something like this, but she realized she should’ve. This is a bit silly. I can’t believe watching these things build tunnels is what I consider entertainment now, she thought. I miss people.
Isabelle was watching through her creatures eyes when she noticed the two creatures that were born with different, more dextrous claws doing something weird. What are they doing? she asked herself and took a closer look. The creatures were vomiting a black substance around the circumference of where they dug that hardened over time. It darkened the surrounding soil.
The next few weeks were hectic for the busy creatures. They continued clearing out the tall grass and were erecting a structure made of the black goo that two of them produced. Their constant business and nature of working together reminded Isabelle of bees or ants. The creatures eventually moved on to the trees surrounding the clearing. The larger ones, presumably warrior types, sprayed something onto the trunks. They didn’t chop them down, though, instead they applied the black goo directly onto the tree trunks. It seeped its way into the trees and slowly corrupted them, turning them into something else entirely. The black goo went as far as to infect the soil. It seeped out of the infected trees and through the tunnels and structure into the surrounding area, transforming it. Even the air changed into something different.
Most of the creatures began clearing out trees or moving dirt around. They spent almost all their time on it. Isabelle noticed that the two creatures with fingers that were more dextrous were the ones most often digging the tunnels, while the others would cut down trees, move dirt, or either patrol around or gather fish from the river.
The creature from the largest egg that hatched most recently always had at least two other creatures with it regardless of where it went. Isabelle thought that behavior was unusual and wondered why that was. Maybe that one is special, somehow?
The creatures working on the structure had been working on adding walls within the circular spot they cleared out of the ground or expanding the base. It was over 100’ in diameter and all of the tunnels built thus far reached underground from within the structure. The tunnel edges were hardened by the substance the creatures produced. It coated the walls, supporting it and preventing a collapse.
While Isabelle observed them go about their work, she caught a glimpse of something weird happening with one of them. A creature stood in the back of the tunnels and looked like it was exerting itself, but it wasn’t moving from its spot. Isabelle could tell from the shape of its body that this one was born the latest, from the largest egg. She paid close attention to it as it finished doing what it was doing and turned around. On the tunnel floor was an egg similar to the kind the creatures hatched from.
Is that an egg? she thought to herself. It cleaned the egg off with its tongue and left the tunnel, followed closely by the two other creatures that typically followed it around. Oh, I get it now. That’s why that one came from a bigger egg, because it’s supposed to have babies, she thought. Then she remembered she was the one who laid that egg and metaphorically shivered. Gross.
Isabelle had been growing increasingly more bored over the past month she’d been out here. She felt trapped; she didn’t even have a body. Her only method of reaching the world was through the creatures she spawned by accident. And out here in the wilderness there weren’t any people she could watch to feel some semblance of normalcy. It’s not like her creatures were capable of language. At least, not in a human sense. She was lonely.
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To remedy her boredom and loneliness, Isabelle thought she would try to find some people. It was a bad idea, a really bad idea. She knew it was. But her weak heart couldn’t resist, so she told one of the creatures to follow the river downstream and look for signs of humans. The chances it’d find anything were slim, she’d checked the woods beforehand and didn’t find anything. But she hadn’t been very thorough; hopefully that wouldn’t come back to bite her. Rivers meant water and water meant people, civilization couldn’t exist without it.
People always build near rivers, she thought.
It only took a few hours for the creature scouring the riverbank to find a human settlement. It was a tiny village that housed at most a hundred to a hundred fifty people. Still, it was quite a large number of people living so nearby.
Isabelle had the creature do some scouting overnight from a cautionary distance. It seemed the primary occupation of the villagers was farming, but that was almost a given. For a place this remote, they’d have to farm their own food. There'd almost be no way to sustain themselves otherwise. The village also ran a large lumber mill that many of the villagers worked at. She told her creature to hide out of sight of the village people but not far enough away to not be able to see them. Having been alone for so long, Isabelle was happy watching the people go about their day, even if she couldn't talk to them. The people of the small village walked down the streets, talked amongst themselves, and worked.
She used her creature to look through the buildings and observe the people even more closely in their homes. She scanned a few houses before she found one that gripped her attention. A woman seemed to be angry about something. She was yelling and making all sorts of gestures with her hands. A young boy stood there, listening to her. It seemed like it was his mother, but she wasn't sure. She hit the boy across the face. Isabelle was shocked and half-prepared to intervene.
That’s not very nice to do to your own son. Maybe I should intervene? No, I’d better not. That would make things worse in more ways than one, she thought. Isabelle made a mental note to check on the boy next time she ordered one of her creatures to the village. To make sure he’s okay. Having seen what she wanted to and growing bored of her spying, she ordered her creature back to the base. As it made its way back, it spotted people walking through the woods. There were two of them, a middle-aged man and a young freckle faced girl. Each of them had a bow slung across their back, daggers at their belt, and were carrying small game. Hunters, it would be bad if they noticed the creature. Thankfully, they were talking and didn't notice the creature while it hid itself. Isabelle figured they were probably from the village. She told her creature to avoid them and continue making its way back. Meanwhile, back at her base, she noticed that the same creature that laid an egg before was laying another one, right next to the other one.
Another egg? Is it going to lay another egg every day? Isabelle thought. The one laying eggs seems unique, I should name it. Hmmmm. I know! Betty. I’ll name it Betty. Betty finished cleaning the egg she just laid and left the tunnel with two of the creatures following behind, like usual. Ha! And those are the royal guards.
Later that night, Isabelle was thinking about what to do for winter.
Winter’s going to be here soon. Well, relatively, in a few months. But now’s the time to start preparing. I’ll tell my creatures to collect a surplus of food and well actually that won’t work because it’ll rot. They’ll have to pickle fish… but there’s no vinegar. Drying should work as long as it's cut into thin strips, but I need to get some salt to make sure it’s effective. For the fruits, drying should be fine. I saw plenty of them out in the forest.
A little over a month had passed. Isabelle’s creatures were sending out a warning — something was encroaching on their territory. Their territory had grown considerably in the past month, by itself, through the corruption of the Earth. It was most potent near the source, the structure Isabelle's creatures were making. At the edge of the tall grass field, the trees were being slowly corrupted. They turned black and sinister. The local wildlife would occasionally encroach on her territory, but they were easily scared off. Or killed if they decided to pick a fight. Isabelle looked closer through one of her spying creatures. Something tall was and lean was tramping through the woods. It had to be humans, and they were encroaching on Isabelle’s home. There was a possibility it could be elves, but Isabelle had never met one, and they didn't live anywhere around here. She couldn't make out any more details, so she just told her creature to keep a close eye on them from a distance. Luckily, they hadn’t found her base but she knew if they did it would immediately garner their interest.
I should have expected this. It’s impossible to hide forever from people. But what are they doing here? It’s starting to get cold and this is deep within the forest, she thought. Don’t hurt them unless absolutely necessary, and hide inside the tunnels for now, Isabelle commanded her creatures as their anticipation grew and they made strange chattering noises. Betty stayed near the eggs with most of the creatures. She had laid slightly over a hundred eggs so far, and a dozen of them had hatched.
Once they got closer she could tell who it was. It was the two hunters from the village, the young girl with freckles on her face and an older man. They were getting closer to the clearing.
Isabelle watched through her creatures eyes as it spied on them, close enough to hear them but not be detected. The two hunters entered the clearing and stopped. They were looking directly at the structure Isabelle’s children were building. At this point, it was over thirty feet tall and at least two hundred feet long at the base. However, the structure was bare bones. It was obvious to any observer that it was still under construction. The ground was darkened and the grass looked corrupted. The areas that were missing grass looked hard and made of the same substance as the towering structure they stood at the edge of.
"That's new," the young girl said to the man. Isabelle overheard her through her creatures, which were focusing on them.
"What is that? What happened to the land here?" the man asked nobody in particular. The young girl turned her head and looked at him.
"Can we go check it out?" the young girl asked. He looked inquisitive for a moment before he gave his response.
"Sure, but be careful. We don't know what built this." They walked across the field towards the structure and got close enough to touch it. The young girl touched it first with the man following closely behind.
"This stuff is as hard as a rock," he said. They peered inside of the giant opening at the side of the structure. It got darker the deeper you went but they could see some side hallways and rooms. It looked completely alien in design.
"Looks empty," the man said.
"This place is creepy," the young girl said, a frightened yet inquisitive look on her face. "Let's go inside."
"There is no way I'm going in there. This is like a gateway to the underworld," the man said. The girl scrunched up her face, he was right.
Isabelle was thinking. What if they tell someone about this place… but maybe it's better they don't see anything alive, just the structure. Although, it would be nice to have human friends. I'll send the newest hatchling to follow them, screw the consequences, she thought and sent the newest born hatchling from Betty to the visitors.
The hunters were looking down the tunnel when they saw a figure begin to emerge. It was only half a foot tall but it looked like death itself, and they recoiled slightly in fear. It didn't appear menacing, so they quickly regained their composure as it stopped a few feet in front of them, analyzing them. Isabelle was doing her best to make the creature look as non-threatening as possible, but that didn’t magically change its appearance. She tried to make it look scary cute, hoping that would help.
"That thing is scary, I almost peed myself. But it seems friendly enough," said the girl as she bent over and put her hand out. "Come here little guy, I won't hurt you so please don't hurt me."
"Careful Fae, it might try to bite you. And don’t antagonize it, there could be more of them. Well, judging by the size of this place there definitely are," the man said as he scanned the structure again.
So that’s her name! Fae. Fae is a good name, Isabelle thought as Fae placed her hand on the creature's head and started petting it.
“It’s kinda cute, don’t you think?” Fae said.
“Ehhh, no,” the man responded. “Let’s get out of here before more of them come. Could be dangerous. The other hunters will be very keen to hear about this.”
Not good, I don’t want word to spread too far. But realistically, I can’t do anything about it. I’ll just have one of the small ones follow them. Isabelle found an appropriate creature and communicated with it, follow them my child! Oh, wait, you’re actually Betty’s. Follow them Betty’s child! After realizing she called the creature her child, Isabelle felt herself recoil a little bit.
The hunters were walking away when one of the creature’s started following them. It took them a few moments to notice and when they did, the man wasn’t happy about it.
“Shoo! Get outta here!” he said to the creature following him. It stopped, looking unsure, but then kept following him. Fae had a beaming smile. The man sighed.
“Eh, I’m sure it’ll stop following us once we reach the treeline,” he said. They passed the treeline and it kept following them. He tried to shoo the creature away a few more times, but eventually gave up. The two of them setup camp as the sun dipped below the sky and the forest darkened.
"Can I keep it uncle?" Fae asked her uncle Bara as they sat near the campfire, feeling its warmth. A sky full of stars glittered above like diamonds, something that skipped their notice.
So that's his name! And he's her uncle, thought Isabelle who had overheard the conversation through the creature that followed them. I guess this is what counts as human contact now. At least I’ll be able to see other people now.
Fae’s uncle instinctually sighed upon hearing another of his niece’s absurd requests.
“Sure, you can keep it. Poor thing probably lost its parents, but hell if I’m gonna go back there to find out. Just be careful. And keep it out of the house,” he said. Fae’s face lit up and her eyes twinkled like diamonds.
“Thank you uncle!!!” she said and gave the creature a head pat. Her uncle smiled at his niece's exuberant display.
“Well, what are you gonna name it?” uncle Bara asked. Fae put her hand on her face inquisitively.
“Ummm, what about Bo?” Fae asked.
“A bit short, but sounds good to me,” her uncle said.