Chapter Five

Terra stumbled back to the tent, nearly blind from the stinging tears in her eyes and the darkness surrounding her. Another howl, this one much closer, sent ice through her veins. Her chest hurt; the pain of losing the man she loved was almost unbearable, but the fear of the monsters in the forest drove her to push it to the back of her mind. She had to live, not for her sake but for her daughter’s.

The inside of the tent was pitch-black. She and Vic had been asleep when the worgs attacked and hadn’t had the time to light any candles before he pushed outside. Time was still short. She felt her way across the floor; on her hands and knees, she patted the thick furs that made up their bedding, desperately searching for her purpose for living.

Soft cries led her to it.

Terra scooped up the small bundle and brought it to her chest. Gently brushing the infant’s forehead with her hand, she shushed the baby, urging her to remain silent as she rushed out of the tent and into the night.

At first, she hated the life she had been forced to live. She had been happy before, traveling from village to village with her father, peddling what little they could, earning just enough gold to make a living. Her mother had died during childbirth, leaving her father to raise her. She grew up on stories about her mother, how she looked just like her, how kind and giving she was, and how her father had worked for years to earn her eye. Although nothing could replace the love of a mother, the stories had been enough for her.

She still had her father, and they were happy together. Then, one day, the bandits appeared on the road before them.

It wasn’t uncommon. Every few months, when the bandit’s supplies ran low, they stalked the roadway between villages, taking what they could. Usually, the merchant or farmer would pay a toll of half their goods, passing them by with just enough to break even. It wasn’t ideal for those traveling between towns, but it was the cost of living.

But that day, they took much more than half.

She had just blossomed into womanhood, her beauty rivaling her mother’s. At least, that was what her father had said. It must have been true because once the bandit’s leader laid eyes on her, her fate was sealed.

She was taken from her father and abducted from the roadside without a second thought as her father pleaded with the vagabonds for her life. He was ignored. His cries still echoed through her mind ; the haunting sound her father made as the bandits dragged her through the forest.

That was the reason she had hated Victor so much back then. Not because he was a bandit and murderer or because he took out his frustrations on the others around him -even her now and again- or for the fact that he hardly said two words to her most days. It was solely the fact that he didn’t let her say goodbye to her father.

But slowly, she learned to love the harsh man, just like he had learned to love her in his own way.

The trees whipped past her as she ran, not just for her life. Her dress snagged on every thorn and wayward twig in the forest, tearing the already threadbare dress Vic had allowed her to have into an even more ragged state, slowly whittling away at her speed. The howling was growing closer, and she had trouble differentiating the thunder of her heart and the encroaching footfalls of the monsters baying for her flesh.

She tripped.

The fallen branches and brambles had finally succeeded, pulling Terra and her infant down onto the powered forest floor. The light dusting of snow burned her hand as she used it to catch herself, rolling onto her back so as not to harm her daughter. She was only a few weeks old and sickly at that, much too fragile to handle a nighttime run through the woods, let alone a fall to the ground.

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“Shhh. Shhh. It’s ok,” Terra cooed, her throat raw and on fire. “It’s ok… it’s ok.”

She clutched her daughter tightly to her chest, her soft whimpers lost amongst the howling and hungry growls nearly on top of her. Terra knew that her time had come, that death was only just beyond the tall trees of this dark and horrible forest. She was ready. She’d been ready since that day on the side of the road, her father begging for her return.

Maybe she would see him again if the gods were willing.

Terra pushed back the cowl protecting her daughter from the winter cold, exposing the infant’s soft and vulnerable skin. She pressed her lips to the baby’s forehead, taking in her scent a final time. “I love you. I love you so much.”

Terra removed her cloak and bundled her daughter up as tightly as possible without another thought or wasting a moment . She could feel the hot and fetid breath of the worgs on her neck as she tucked her baby between the twisting roots of a nearby tree. It hurt her to know that this was the only bassinet her daughter would know, but she thought it better only to know the cold rather than the fear of tooth and claw.

That was something no child should ever have to face.

With a final, mournful look, Terra took off into the night toward the braying hounds.

They peered down at the squirming, soiled cloth tucked between the thick roots. They continued to stare even as the sounds of the monsters reached a feverish crescendo of triumph. They were sickening sounds but didn’t distract from what lay before them.

The fawn’s mother had left them there, not out of any notion that they would survive but out of desperation and sacrifice. Something that they knew all too well. They had been bogged down by desperation when the world tore itself apart, when the devils swarmed over the land and across the seas. They had fought, like the woman had run, and they both had failed miserably.

There was nothing for her to do against the monsters that hunted her and her child through the woods; just as the devils had devoured the world, the worgs had caught her in the end. But she had left her child behind, sparing her from the horrible end promised by the monsters’ teeth and claws, just like the world left them behind.

They knew it wasn’t a proper comparison, but they couldn’t help but feel some odd kinship with the mewling fawn before them. They could not save the world’s life from the devils’ rage, but they could save this infant from its fate.

Their paws unraveled, the vines and roots moving across the ground and over the tree’s roots like a bed of snakes. They had found it impossible to take on any form they hadn’t absorbed, but it was still possible for them to will their body into unassuming shapes and what was simpler than a small lump. Their legs soon followed their paws in unraveling, then their body and head undone themselves just as quickly.

Reforming into a solid wall of wood, they covered the tiny infant completely, roots and all. They made certain to keep their body tightly woven together, cutting off any sounds or scents for the beasts to track. They had confidence in their ability to kill the monsters but not in protecting their small charge while doing so. It wouldn’t do any good if they were discovered.

With the infant cut off from the outside world came another danger. Their body was cold, not made of flesh and blood that would provide the warmth the small child would need to survive. Perhaps, if the babe were bigger, a little stronger, they would be able to weather the clawing chill of the night, but that was not the case. They were so small and vulnerable that it was a miracle that they had survived as long as they had.

There was only one thing for them to do.

With a thought, they moved their core, the seed they had planted so long ago, from deep inside them, out of the protection of their woody body and closer to the sickly infant. Emerald light, with golden streams continuously swirling like oil in water, shone brightly down onto the infant with a radiance not seen by any before. The living light brought a warmth that steadily beat back the creeping cold, soothing the fussing infant into a comfortable sleep.

It would be a long night, the sun still many hours away, but they would stand watch over this little bundle of life, just like they had done for the world countless years ago.