Sadie held her small vial to the light of the evening sun. The contents were a luminous purple. As she tipped the vial back and forth the substance pooled like a thick liquid, before swirling like a mist only to pool once more at the other end.
Sadie had never seen anything like it.
Sadie intended to take it to Sister Carmine for examination, hoping she might have some insight on exactly how the spirit essence might be used.
But first, a bowl of stew and a hot bath.
After turning over the spoils of her hunt to the butchers' station, and returning her bow to the armoury, Sadie trod the narrow marble stairs up to her room in the ranger's quarters, locking her door behind her.
With a full stomach, Sadie piled her dirt-stained clothes into the bathing room hamper and twisted the taps of her copper tub. Sadie tipped in a generous cup of salts and ground ferns to help soothe both muscle and nerves.
Night was falling as she climbed into the tub, relishing the heat and fragrant steam. Sadie had long ago dragged the tub from its proper position so she could see the stars through the small window set high in the stone walls. On clear nights, like tonight, she could spend hours watching the moon cross the sky, and whisper wishes on a rare shooting star or two.
Tonight, however, Sadie contemplated the glowing contents of the quartz vial. In the dark of her bathing room, Sadie could see that the substance was composed of tiny, ever shifting beads of light, twinkling like galaxies within the liquid mist.
Curiosity getting the better of good sense, Sadie uncorked the top to better see the spirits. The substance merely settled to the bottom of the vial as she peered in, mesmerised by the shimmer.
Is this what lay within every living creature? Or were these lights unique to the creatures dwelling in the deepest Darkwood? Sadie wondered what her own spirit lights might look like, if indeed she had them at all.
Sadie tilted her hand, examining the smooth skin of her wrist and pondering whether spirits lay within. The movement disturbed the liquid, which rose in a cloud of mist out of the vial and hung suspended in the air.
Sadie cursed, holding the vial to the cloud, willing the purple mist to condense back into the container. The mist simply swirled like a small storm before drifting towards Sadie's face. She inhaled the mist before she thought to hold her breath. The mist was warm and tingled on the back of her tongue. Squeezing her eyes shut, Sadie waited for something to happen.
Several moments passed. Exhaling slowly, Sadie opened her eyes. She gasped, for the room was bright as day. Looking out at the night sky, the stars shone like midnight suns, brilliant bursts of gold and diamond light illuminating the shadows.
Sadie took a stuttering breath. The spirit essences worked. She had the fox's eyes.
Sadie almost slipped as she clambered out of the bathtub, drying herself roughly before donning a new set of hunting clothes. Each thread of fabric was visible as she laced her boots, every faint stain of dirt from past hunts that had never quite washed out bloomed like bruises across her shirt.
It was too late now to collect her ranger-issued bow from the armoury without raising questions she preferred not to answer. Instead, Sadie sheathed a hunting knife to her belt and fetched her own personal bow of black wood from her storage chest.
Finally, she clipped her pouch of quartz vials to her belt.
It was time to hunt.
✦✦✦
Sadie waved to the guards as she exited the main gates of Grimwood Village, making her way across the crystal Ring Road and into the forest. The trees were more sparse here, close to the boundary of the Darkwood.
Sadie took a long look at the village behind her. Tight clusters of tall stone and wood houses littered the hills, rising all the way up to the Grimwood Palace built into the eastmost mountain range. The golden glow of lantern lights illuminated the black cobble streets and glittering quartz windows. A village of stars, all the brighter to the eyes of a fox.
If she listened carefully, Sadie could still make out the crash of the Great Fall in the distance, feeding the Grimwood river which was just out of sight further south. The sound mingled with the chirp of nearby crickets and rustle of small tree-dwelling critters as they scurried through the canopy.
The sweet scent of mossmire blossoms filled the chill air. The forest was bright and alive with movement as Sadie wandered the familiar trails. She felt elated. If the spirits of the animals they hunted could be utilised, the rangers of Grimwood could enhance their senses beyond human capability. They could hunt even more skillfully, more effectively. There would be less waste. Less fear. Less pain.
Sadie's teeth clenched as she recalled her very first hunt in the Darkwood. She had been too impatient, too anxious to please her teacher. Too eager for big game. The way the stag had screamed as her clumsy arrows pierced its hide still echoed in her nightmares.
Sadie watched a hare scurry beneath a bush over a hundred yards away. Each detail was crisp in the starlight. Grinning, Sadie notched an arrow, tracing the hare's movement for just a moment before letting fly. She hit her mark with ease.
Sadie laughed out loud, causing several small critters to scurry away. The hare hadn't even had time to be afraid. Wasn't aware it had been stalked and hunted. Wouldn't have even felt the arrow pierce the skin of its neck. Sadie practically skipped across the forest floor to collect the hare.
Intuitively she knew there would be no spirits. She wasn't deep enough in the forest for that. The atmosphere of the woods was light, unburdened by the sorrows which lay further down the winding trails.
Feeling confident, Sadie ignored the fatigue in her limbs from the day's hunt and delved deeper into the woods. Even as she approached the heart of the Darkwood, the light only dimmed slightly. The faint glow of moss and mushrooms was more than enough to illuminate her path.
Able to see her footfall clearly, Sadie left the hunter's trails, stepping over sticks and roots, easily avoiding anything which might alert her presence to prey.
Though she could see with crystal clarity, Sadie didn't spy any of the mysterious gold and blue flowers as she ventured through the wood. She was beginning to wonder whether they existed at all.
Still, Sadie continued until a brighter light glimmered ahead. A clearing in the trees. Between the vast trunks of rough bark, Sadie could see the movement of a lone deer grazing on the ferns.
It looked small enough for Sadie to carry on her own. After a moment's deliberation, she let fly another arrow, marvelling at the ease with which she was able to hit her mark with the fox's vision.
The deer collapsed, and Sadie hurried to its side. As the spirits of the deer emerged and took form, Sadie realised there were too many to collect in time. More than she even had enough vials to capture.
Sadie felt a rush of panic, cursing her thoughtlessness. Should she try to collect as many spirit essences as she could now with her vials? That would waste the rest, and she hated the idea of wasting anything of her prey. It felt too disrespectful, now that she was aware this other dimension of the animal existed.
No, she would claim it all.
If the spirit was wholly formed, could she lead it to the alchemists stations for them to study in full?
But how to get the spirits to follow her? She tried clicking her tongue at it, like she would a horse. No response. She tried whistling to it, like she might with a dog. But the cluster of spirits paid her no mind.
Bristling with anxiety, Sadie hoisted the deer's carcass onto her shoulders, so she would be ready to flee when the ferrifae arrived. It wouldn't be much longer now, and Sadie was completely unsure of how to proceed.
As she stepped back under the weight of the deer's body, the spirits turned towards her. Hardly daring to breathe, Sadie stepped back again. The deer took a wobbling step forward, its spirits reforming chaotically as it moved, unsteady as a newborn fawn.
Sadie took another step back, then another. The spirits continued to follow. Sadie held still as the ghost approached the body Sadie carried, nuzzling the fur. Almost as if seeking a way back in.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
Sadie took several more hasty steps back through the underbrush and the deer cantered persistently after her. "Gotcha!" Sadie whispered.
Shifting the deer's weight to settle more comfortably across her shoulders, Sadie moved as quickly as she could towards the familiar trails, not caring now whether she snapped twigs or rustled leaves.
Compulsively checking that the spectre was still following, Sadie reached the better worn paths and began to run as fast as she could beneath the weight of the small deer.
The spirits trotted along behind her, a tumbling cluster of light and colour, stretching out its multihued muzzle towards the still-warm flesh.
The forest was becoming darker, and Sadie struggled to see the path ahead.
Her fox vision was fading.
Even so, Sadie could see the trees beginning to thin a little further ahead. She was nearing the edge of her regular hunting range. Sadie sprinted faster, desperate to reach the edge of the forest before her vision returned to normal.
Sadie felt the heaviness of the forest's presence fading, and sighed with relief as reached the threshold of the Darkwood. Sadie laughed and turned to check on the deer.
It was gone.
"No!" Sadie dropped the deer carcass. "No, no! Where are you?" Sadie retraced her steps back towards the deeper forest, but the glowing lights of the deer's spirits were nowhere to be found. The spirits were lost.
Had a ferrifae claimed it? No... Sadie hadn't felt the unmistakable presence of their siren song... and it wasn't the sort of thing one could ignore.
Had it simply... dissolved? The spirits dispersing on their own?
Feeling confused, defeated, and utterly exhausted, Sadie returned to the deer carcass. She placed a coldstone in its mouth to prevent its meat from spoiling, then hoisted it over her aching shoulders once again.
Sadie re-entered the Grimwood Village gates and carried her deer up the hill to the butchers’ workshop.
"Working the late shift, eh, Sadie? Lose a bet?" Journ grinned as Sadie carefully unloaded the deer onto a clean bench of dark bone marble, before untying the hare from her belt.
Sadie blinked at him, then chuckled through her fatigue. "I was trying to scavenge a rare flower and got lucky with these. Didn't find the flower, though." It wasn't a complete lie.
"Ah well, better luck tomorrow. Or maybe the day after... you look beat, sweets," Journ peered down at Sadie with concern.
Sadie nodded wearily, stifling a yawn. "I'll be fine after a solid night's sleep. G'night, J." Sadie waved as she stepped out the door.
Too exhausted to take another bath, Sadie simply tossed her grimy clothes into the hamper with the others and collapsed into bed.
✦✦✦
It was several days before Sadie worked up the nerve to hunt spirits again. While disheartened by her previous failure, Sadie was resolved to try again. The potential was too exciting.
Sadie considered speaking with her fellow rangers, or at the very least Sister Carmine. But she wanted to be sure she could repeat her success before telling anyone else.
Sadie didn't want to risk this opportunity by tainting it too soon with public failure. If she could prove the utility of spirits, perhaps Sister Carmine would approve Sister James’ research proposal. Sadie might even be allowed to join the expedition team, if she proved her skill.
Last time, Sadie had been shamefully unprepared. She was still too eager. Too rash. She had been wasteful. Sadie hated the cruelty of wasting her kills, second only to causing her prey pain.
This time, Sadie had a plan.
She would hunt a smaller animal. One with fewer spirits, like the first hare, or the fox, so she could capture all the essences in her vials.
As Sadie approached her ranging designation, she waited until her fellow rangers were out of sight before striding purposefully along the deeper trails, towards the heart of the Darkwood.
She would kill from as close a distance as she could without startling her prey. She would work quickly and precisely, removing vials from one pouch, collecting as much spirit essence as would fit, before stoppering the vial and placing it in a second pouch. Rinse and repeat.
The trail ahead narrowed as Sadie reached the end of her ranging territory. She was still a ways away from the deepest Darkwood, but the trees were beginning to thicken.
Once she had collected all the spirits, she would grab the carcass of her prey and flee the area, ideally before the ferrifae even appeared.
The air became damp and chill as Sadie crossed the threshold into the heart of the Darkwood.
She didn't know whether carrying so many spirits with her, even in quartz vials, would attract the ferrifae to pursue her. It was too great a risk.
So first, she was determined to find the gold and blue flower, hoping it was enough to protect her.
It took several hours to spot the glimmer of gold petals, edged with sky blue. Sadie had seen the occasional eerie glow of ferrifae winking in and out as she ranged the forest, avoiding them as best she could. Even so, the call of the siren song was strong, and she ached to follow them towards the rest they seemed to promise.
As she wearied, the suggestion of peace became ever more appealing, and it was increasingly difficult to force her feet away from the pearly lights as they appeared between the trees.
Sadie had been about to give up the expedition as too dangerous when a glimmer of gold from the corner of her eye caught her attention. There, in the dark hollow of a nearby tree, grew a cluster of the distinctive flower with no name. The petals seemed to writhe with golden light. The blue edging flared, radiating threat.
Unsure whether it was poisonous, Sadie pulled on a pair of leather gloves before she reached out to pluck one. The stem wouldn't yield. Sadie tugged on flower after flower, to no avail. She tried tearing at the petals, but they dissolved like smoke beneath her hands, only reforming as she pulled away.
Growling in frustration, Sadie pulled out her bone knife, its edge sharpened by alchemical processes to the finest possible point. The stems still would not cut, but if she slashed at the petals in just the right way, she could divest a few from the flower bud.
Reaching out to touch the cut petals, they didn't fade to smoke as they had while attached to their flower. Gathering several fallen petals with a deep feeling of relief, Sadie tucked them into a pocket within easy reach, hoping they were enough.
Sadie was nearing the end of her stamina. She needed to find prey quickly, before the light of the afternoon faded and the heart of the forest became too dark to safely navigate.
It took less than a quarter hour before a hare appeared nearby. Sadie tracked it with her arrow, willing herself to be still and silent and patient. She would not shoot unless she was sure of the cleanest possible mark.
She stood for another minute, her bow drawn tight, her frame hidden from the hare's view by the trunk of a fallen tree. The hare hopped into clear view and Sadie took her shot. The hare fell.
Shouldering her bow, Sadie launched herself over the tree, scraping her skin on the rough bark. Kneeling by the hare, Sadie withdrew several quartz vials, uncorking them in preparation as she anxiously waited for the spirits to emerge.
Sadie made herself draw slow, even breaths as light began pouring from her fallen prey. As the spirits coalesced into the form of a hare, Sadie captured essence after essence, stoppering the vials with deft movements and stowing them in her pouch. Green. Gold. Blue. Pink.
She had filled a dozen vials before the ferrifae appeared.
But Sadie wasn't done.
Hesitating for only a moment, Sadie withdrew a petal from her pocket and held it out, her hand shaking as the ferrifae approached. The ferrifae spun, its siren song ringing like a bell through Sadie's body, willing surrender. The pearl of light was close enough now that Sadie could feel the forest strengthening its hold on her.
The petal glowed brighter, causing the air to shimmer in waves, as if it were ringing a bell of its own. The ferrifae paused, retreating as though confused, before whirling within its cloud of light and approaching once more.
It came closer and closer, pressing past the warding aura of the flower petal, which had begun to fade.
Sadie hurriedly withdrew all the petals she had gathered and held them out. Another pulse of light forced the ferrifae to retreat once more. Sadie placed the flowers atop the body of the hare and rushed to uncork another vial. There were only a few more spirits left, and Sadie had more than enough vials to capture them.
A swirl of yellow contained.
The petals were sputtering.
A spinning cloud of magenta stoppered.
The ferrifae was approaching.
Only one final layer of gold encapsulated the silver core of what had been the hare's ghost.
Sadie took the risk. She thrust out a new vial, syphoning away the golden swirl, before slamming the stopper into place.
Sadie grazed the ferrifae with her hand as she withdrew it, dropping the vial as she screamed.
The ferrifae latched onto her hand. Sadie tried to flee, but she was held frozen to the forest floor by the possessive chaos of the Darkwood. Sadie felt the ferrifae’s siren song tearing at her deepest layers— deeper than flesh, deeper than bone—calling her essence home. The ferrifae danced back, enticing Sadie to follow.
Sadie resisted, trying to pull her hand away and cried out in agony as several lobes of orange light tore away from her fingers. Her hand burned hot and cold. She felt as though her flesh were being peeled away, one layer at a time, as the ferrifae shredded her spirits.
Yellow mist poured from her palm, followed by spitting flecks of pink. Sadie could barely see through tears of pain, unable to catch her breath through her panic as she scrambled for the flower petals with her free hand.
Green followed blue followed silver as the siren song flayed away the spirits of Sadie's left arm. With her right, she searched blindly for the petals on the hare's carcass. Unable to feel the petals through the thick leather of her glove, Sadie tore it off with her teeth and desperately ran her hand through the hare's fur until she felt the soft velvet of flower petals.
Sadie felt as though the bones of her arm had been splintered to the elbow as she tossed the fading gold petals at the ferrifae. The ferrifae ceased its song, bobbing backwards as if struck. As the ferrifae retreated, Sadie felt the Darkwood’s hold on her ease.
Not wasting a second, Sadie grabbed the fallen vial of gold and the hare's carcass with her good hand as she stumbled upright and dashed through the false night of the Darkwood.
Sadie's legs felt weak. Her injured arm felt like ice. Still she forced her body to move. Exhausted, grazed, and delirious with pain, Sadie squinted against the light as she finally tumbled out of the thickets onto a familiar trail.
She could no longer feel the weight of the Darkwood's sorrow, nor the terrifying compulsions of the ferrifae.
Sadie collapsed against a tree, sobbing. Her right hand was cramping from clutching the hare and vial so tightly. Her left arm burned with cold. Gulping in air, Sadie mustered the courage to examine her injury.
Sadie was shocked to find her arm was completely unmarked. There were no visible injuries, no cuts, nor bruises. Though, the flesh was ice cold, and she couldn't move her hand. Nor could she feel her own touch.
Overcome with a new wave of panic, Sadie wept, stifling screams of fear and rage.
Her spirits had been torn away by the ferrifae. They were gone. She could feel it. Her left arm below the elbow was as good as dead.
Unwilling to dwell on what that meant, Sadie forced herself to breathe more deeply, more slowly. Wiping away her tears, she awkwardly stowed the last vial of golden spirits within her pouch. Unable to tie the hare one-handed to her belt, Sadie simply lifted it by the scruff of its neck and forced herself back to her feet.
Sadie was shivering with shock by the time she reached the edge of the woods. She heard voices calling her name, but her vision was too blurry to see who the voices belonged to. Dizzy, she slumped to the ground, losing consciousness as she hit the earth.