“Ow, ow! I’m awake. I’m awake! Stop that.”

Gwahin sits back up on Nathan chest and stops slapping him, she reaches on the ground and produces a small gourd.

“Here, drink this. “

Nathan swallows the vile mixture as fast as it could go down and waits for the inevitable migraine to hit. Yep, there it is. He winces.

Toothy is hovering above his face wearing an expression of calm expectation, or perhaps, contempt. Faces are somewhat hard to read from a low angle.

Gwahin had tasked him to deceive Toothy only using his natural ability while the Sylvan was doing the same. Surely there is no shame in being ridiculed by a pint-sized voodoo doll that was almost literally born yesterday, right? Right? Right. No shame at all. He is probably magical by nature. That’s cheating, is what it is.

“Enough with weaving practice, you should never risk going blank twice in a day. Instead, I will attempt to show you how to stab something.”

“Any advice on how to win against the little guy?”

“Wait, human. Wait. You actually believed you had a chance?”

“…”

“Hahahahhohohohohoho you are just too much. No, there is no hint, no strategy. You are thinking normal human while you should be thinking Yol. Or Jedi!”

“You spend too much time watching TV.”

“Silence! Do not interrupt me when I am lecturing you. You are not meant to win, you are meant to practice until this weaving of yours is engraved in your being, until it comes as naturally as breathing. That is your goal. Also! For the record, no human can catch a Sylvan in a forest. They are too good, and too fast. Get this idea out of your head.”

“But I do catch him sometimes, like when he was tying my store leader’s shoes together.”

“Only when he lets you.”

Toothy abandons his current attempt to discreetly lift Gwahin’s gourd and nestles in Nathan’s collar. It’s getting cold.

“He defended me two days ago, you know?”

“Oh? Someone died?”

“Not exactly. He bit a woman’s dog. Took out a chunk of flesh and that made it bite her in return.”

“Hahahaha what a prankster.”

“The thing is, the dog wasn’t attacking me, the woman was. And she was not even dangerous.”

“She probably wasn’t. It is, after all, an enlightened age. But. What was your intent?”

Gwahin walks to Nathan and never since her attempts to dominate him had he felt her otherness so much. Her steps are predatory, and although her body is the same she feels bigger, larger, and absolutely lethal. Nathan feels the flow uncoil and stretch around her, like a cat waking up. There could be a house a few minutes walk from here. There might even be other humans somewhere, but right now, it doesn’t feel that way. The forest grows around them to infinity and its queen stands before him. Gwahin’s voice grows strong and seductive.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“You wanted to kill her, but before that you wanted to maim her and make her and the others understand that you are not to be trifled with. You would have seen the disbelief and the fear in her eyes as her life slips away from her and you would have reveled in it, and instead you controlled yourself out of habit and internalized rules, but not out of belief. You did not believe that she should be spared, yes? The flow hates hypocrisy.”

“I did not attack her because she was no danger to me even though she was a bitch. I do not let my emotions and my instincts drive me, that is the domain of beasts and monsters.”

“Nathan, Nathan…. What is your polite society’s stability based on? Internalized rules. Enough of you respect the rules that transgressors can be contained by those of you dedicated to the enforcement of said rules. Yes? Most of you uphold this and the rule breakers are crushed with overwhelming force. When you faced that woman you did not stop yourself out of belief but out of fear, Nathan Mordred Turner, and the Sylvan acted because your fear is a lie.”

“The police busting my ass for violence is not a lie.”

“But they could not because there would be nothing to “bust” you for. Your “Toothy” hurt that person. Were you arrested? No. Again, the rules only apply because no single man can stand against ten others without facing overwhelming odds. You have weapons that act as equalizers, ways to coordinate, to hunt down those transgressors I mentioned, but what happens when a man can stand against a hundred warriors and win? What happens when a man can hurt another and never be caught? Those internalized rules no longer apply. Weavers are such individuals. The next time you face such a situation, you should control yourself out of belief and not out of unfounded fear, because the Sylvan’s power will only grow and so will yours, and the next punishment might be death. Nathan, you must act out of belief,not control and believe in your acts, or the Weave will punish you.”

“This… This means that other natural weavers might just decide to, you know, let go. Follow their most basic instincts”

“There will be some.”

The moment loses its gravity and the glade returns to normal.

“Wait. Wait… I never believed that the dog was a threat! Why did Toothy attack the dog then?”

“Aaaaah humans and their rules of war. Your kind have many rules about what should and should not be done in conflict and you cannot even agree on them among each other. Apparently, for you, an animal belonging to the enemy should not be harmed, yes?”

“Yes well I mean, it’s not like it’s their fault.”

“I would prefer to be honest with you. If someone attacks me or my kin, they, their families, pets, livestock and belongings are all fair game."

"I really hope it doesn’t come to this."

"Oh it will, but do not worry. I am not vengeful enough to actually go after their family after they have died. My point is, your rules of war only apply to those who believe it. That would be some humans. Do not expect other races to act the same way."

"So Toothy will go after pets?"

“Toothy” will act according to his nature, and he is not human."

"You know, out of the three supernatural species I have met, two have tried to hurt me seriously and the third has nested in my favorite teapot. Those are not good odds."

"What are you talking about human, those are excellent odds. You are very lucky."

"If you say so. Gwahin, I need to talk to you about what to do. If I want to kill the Varogs and I mean actually killing them, I need an infused weapon. Or two. Can you teach me how to make one?"

"I will, but we should create it a day before the battle. You will understand why when we do it. And it will be a living weapon, a Yol weapon."

"Like that bow of yours, the one I saw you work on?"

"Yes. I am sure human hunters have their own ways but… I do not know them."

"But you said it’s about doing it yourself when Henkel was here."

"Yes. By this I mean that it cannot be built by a factory. It must be made with, well, intent."

"Would that be enough?"

"I suppose not. I am afraid you would have to question hunters to know more."

"Could normal weapons be made more effective against Varogs?"

"Yes, I suppose, although they would never be as effective as a proper Makka. The weapon must be yours. People who see it must know at first glance that it belongs to someone. Customizing it helps, as well as using it, cleaning it, spending time on it. It goes without saying, but natural weavers like you will make weapon much more effective."

"Hmmm, what about arrows or bullets? Would working on them make them more effective?”

“Yes of course. Hah. Your friend the police officer will assist you then?”

“Yeah that’s what I was thinking about. If I can infuse bullets, even a little bit, it would help a lot. Between this and the infused weapon we should be able to take on two of those creatures.”

“I sure hope so Nathan Mordred Turner. I also hope there will only be two of them.”

“Don’t jinx it.”