A 500 word fic, as inspired by the requirements of the super cool Wayward Leaves Charity Zine!
Illumination
November 19, 2017
The woodsman doesn't have enough energy to do more than grunt as he lands heavily on the snow where the Beast drops him, axe falling somewhere out of reach.
His panting breaths hang in front of the pearly fog surrounding him. It's illuminated by the yellow light he knows so well, and he peers up into the darkness— they're back in the clearing by the old stump and the new growth of edelwood, but the poor, half-frozen child is no longer alone.
His older brother stands protectively in front of him, and something flutters around his head.
The boy holds the lantern before him and turns to face the Beast, who demands its return and tells him that his brother cannot get home now that he has nearly become part of his forest.
When the boy says he'll never let that happen, something twists deep inside the woodsman's chest. Snow falls through the collar of his greatcoat and melts against his skin, trickling down his shirt and making him ice cold.
But it is the Beast's next words that chill him to the bone, however, because his deep, melodious voice can hardly contain its eagerness as it says, "Well, then, perhaps we better make a deal."
"A deal?" the older brother asks, cautiously, and the woodsman tries to push up, tries to protest, because he knows what the terms of the deal will be, but all he manages is a moan.
"I can put his spirit in the lantern," the Beast offers, and the woodsman's arm trembles, because there can only be one spirit in the lantern.
He tries to yell at the boy not to listen, tries to tell the Beast that he can't do this, but the protests are caught in his throat and no sound comes out.
The most he can do is clench his fists in the snow, but if the Beast puts the boy's spirit in the lantern instead, then his daughter's will be lost, forever—
"As long as the flame stays lit," the Beast continues, oozing reassurance with every syllable, "he will live inside. Take on the task of lantern bearer…" the words linger in the frozen air, and the woodsman thinks of the never ending work of harvesting the edelwood and grinding them for oil that would keep the lantern lit.
He has spent countless years in this accursed forest, tending to his daughter's soulfire flame, and it all will have been for nothing if the Beast casts it aside in favor of a new soul and a new lantern bearer.
The woodsman wonders if he has grown too troublesome a bearer, if his attempts to warn the young brothers of the Beast's wiles have cost him the life of his daughter even though they were unsuccessful. The despair numbs his already cold body at the thought.
The Beast leans forward, his inky black fingers reaching forward hungrily toward the boy as he lays out his dire ultimatum, "Or watch your brother perish."