Jane was a simple woman, uninterested in the bustle and conveniences of the modern era, and thus she ended up making a home for herself on the edge of the forest. She was a blacksmith by trade, spending her time making things for people in the towns nearby, in order to provide resources to continue her work and sustain her humble life. She had built her house at the end of an old logging road, with stone and gravel paved the road until the point of Jane's house, and then continued on as dirt. The former side of the rode went until it reached the main road, used mostly by those coming to buy Jane's goods, and the latter half of the road disappearing into the forest. Nowadays Jane was the only person who ever used that forest path, at least until she arrived.

It was the middle of the day and Jane was outside chopping wood, when suddenly a thick mist began to fill the trees, until she could barely see past ten feet. In the pacific northwest fog like this was hardly strange so she continued her work, but stopped as she began to hear the sound of footsteps making their way towards her. It was unusual but not unheard of for people to walk down the gravel road to her place instead of driving as most do, but these footsteps were coming from the wrong way. Jane stopped and peered into the mist as a shape slowly began to form and move towards her from the forest path, and after a minute of apprehension the figure was close enough to see completely. She was a young woman, wearing a simple dress of a soft forest green over which she had a dark brown cloak. Her hair was a long ebony black, and her eyes were a blue that almost seemed to swirl with the slight currents of the mist. Jane merely stood there for a moment, as it had been a while since she had seen someone quite this beautiful. Jane was about to finally say something when the woman spoke instead.

"Are you… a blacksmith by chance?" She said, softly and somewhat hesitant.

"I am," Jane replied, somewhat stilted, "Welcome to my workshop."

"Gods be praised," she said with a small sigh of relief, "I am in need of your services."

"Then please, step inside." Jane gestured towards her house and the two walked inside and sat down at the table. The woman's name was Astrid, Jane offered her tea and they drank as she explained about the tool she had that needed repair. "It's a relatively simple job, if you come back in a couple days I should have it finished."

"I'm pleased to hear that. I don't have much but I'm sure I can find some way to repay you." Money had never been much of an issue for Jane, as there wasn't much she used it for, and was open to whatever goods people could spare for her services, so she ensured Astrid there was nothing to worry about.

The next couple of days seemed to pass slowly for Jane, and her mind often turned to thoughts of that woman who had come from the forest. Finally the mist came once again, and with it the beautiful girl. Jane invited her inside for tea, and she happily accepted. Their business was concluded quickly, but their conversation definitely wasn't. Astrid had brought a basket of fresh strawberries from her own garden as payment for Jane's services, and the two of them enjoyed the treats together with their tea, as they sat and talked for a good long while.

They talked mostly about the forest, and about each other's trade, Astrid seeming to stray away from anything too personal, including where exactly she came from. Though Jane was incredibly curious she tried her best to be polite, until it finally got the better of her and she finally asked.

"I couldn't help but notice you came from in the forest, I don't mean to pry but I was curious where you live.

This seemed to catch Astrid off guard, and as it took her a second to formulate her answer Jane began to wonder if she had said something wrong, but then she replied. "I come from a modest land, located deep within this forest. There are only a few of us, a handful of families each living in their own space. We generally keep to ourselves..." she sort of trailed off as she looked down at her tea.

"I had no idea there were people living deep into the mountains, but it seems like that was your intent." The girl nodded softly. "Well," Jane said, attempting to sound reassuring, "I am honored I got the chance to meet someone so elusive, and you have my word that I won't mention you or your people to anyone else. Not that there are many people I could tell." Jane smiled and they both chuckled and finished their tea.

It became time for Astrid to leave and as they got up they both reached for the repaired tool currently sitting on the table. Their hands touched, yet neither of them recoiled. "You know-" Astrid said, Jane's hand gently resting on hers, "I have been meaning to do repairs around my farm, a lot of repairs in fact, so I could use a good supply of nails, and somewhat often."

Jane smiled, "Is that so? It just so happens I know a blacksmith who could help you with that." The two smiled at each other and Astrid returned back into the mist she came out of.

Over the coming weeks Astrid came to visit Jane more and more often, eventually dropping the pretense of being there for business, as it became rather obvious she was visiting for another reason, and the couple became increasingly closer to each other in every way. Despite this Astrid never talked about where she lived or the people she lived around, and at the end of the day the time would always come when she needed to return. One night as the 2 lay in a meadow together, wrapped in each other's arms, it eventually came that time when Astrid said she must return home.

"Must you?" Jane asked as she stared into the eyes of this woman she had so deeply fallen for.

"I'm sorry," she said in a sorrow tone, but then she smiled as she looked at the woman she too had come to deeply care for, "I promise I will be back soon, but for now I must return home."

"Ah yes, the infamous farm of yours, I would love to see it sometime, maybe I'll just have to go home with you one of these days." Jane said, smiling back at her, but this seemed to cause Astrid's smile to fall.

"I'm sorry," she said, sitting up and looking away, "it just… wouldn't be possible..."

Jane could tell the topic was hard for her, so she decided to drop the subject or now and simply took her lover into her arms, "I'm the one who should be sorry, forget I said anything."

As the two said their goodbyes, Astrid took Jane's hand in hers. "I have a special request of you." she said, looking deeply into her eyes.

"Anything for you." Jane said without even thinking.

Astrid smiled, "I want you to forge me a sword, one light enough for someone like me to be able to use."

"Of course I can do this for you, but why would you need such a thing?"

Astrid hesitated for a second before answering, "There are… creatures in the area where I live. When my father was still alive I didn't have much to worry about, but now I wish to be able to protect myself, should the need arise." She hadn't talked of her father often but had mentioned his passing not long before they had met.

Jane squeezed Astrid's hand as she talked of danger, not wanting to think of her possibly getting hurt. "I would hate to see you harmed in any way, and will happily make this sword for you. But perhaps it would be better, if you simply had someone there to watch over you? A strong and charming blacksmith perhaps…"

Astrid looked as though she may start crying, but hid it behind a wide fake smile. "That would be quite lovely, if only it were possible." They kissed deeply and she repeated "If only." once again before they walked hand in hand down the dirt road into the forest, until they reached its end and parted ways.

Jane had been given a very special request, and she was fueled by emotion to see it through. She worked tirelessly through the night and even through the morning, until it was nearly mid day and the task was finally done. Before her lay a shining sword of her own make, almost seeming to give off a warm glow of love and care. Unable to contain the joy she felt and driven by a need to see the happiness on Astrid's face when she presented it to her, she started walking down the dirt road into the forest. She should have stopped to think about Astrid's insistence - or even the fact she had no idea where she was even going - but Jane was driven by a singular objective. As she walked through the forest and got closer to the end of the path, a heavy mist began to encompass the trees, and having no other plan she charged blindly into the unknown.

She walked for what seemed to feel like days, driven by purpose, until she emerged from both the forest and the mist to find a quaint cottage and a farm. To say it was exactly what she imagined would not be quite right, for more accurately as soon as she viewed the humble dwelling she couldn't imagine any other way it could have looked, and standing by the door was the beautiful ebony haired woman she had come so far to see. It was like something out of a fairy tale, and though she had been intently driven by purpose to make it here, she now found herself merely awestruck by the scene before her, and the woman inhabiting it.

But longing and awe quickly turned to fear as two horrible creatures quickly came out of the forest near her. They walked upright and had a general humanoid body but the rest of them was that of a snake. They had dark green scales and long talons - garbed in simple coverings - and where their neck began simply continued into a sinister serpent like head. Before Jane could react to this horror the monsters had grabbed Astrid by the hands and pulled her forcibly into the house as she cried out with resistance. Assuming these to be the things she wished to protect herself against, and cursing herself for not arriving sooner with the sword, she rushed to the cottage as quickly as her legs would take her and burst through the door to find a grizzly scene. A third monster must have been waiting in the house for she was greeted with three creatures when she entered, one being naked, but no sign of Astrid.

Jane held the sword she had brought with her towards the assailants. "Tell me what you've done with her!" She demanded in a commanding tone, but she didn't wait for an answer, for it was then she spied - lying behind the naked furthest creature - those lifeless remains of her dear sweet Astrid. With a blind fury she sprung forth and slaughtered the creatures, in revenge for her lover's death. Her rage finally subsided, all that was left was sorrow, and she knelt down to mourn the loss of her dearly beloved. She knelt down in front of what remained of her dear beloved, appearing now to be nothing more than a heap of skin covered in torn clothes, sucked dry of all else. But as she began to cry she heard the soft raspy voice of one of the dying creatures, saying something she couldn't quite make out.

"What do you have to say for yourself, monster? You killed her." She choked out through her tears.

"Jane…" the creature said weakly, but this time there was no mistaking the sound of her own name.

"How do you know my name?" Jane cried, now close to screaming "How do you know my…" and then she stopped abruptly, as she stared into the face of the thing as it lay dying. Jane collapsed under the sudden frenzied understanding that what she held in her arms was merely a facade, a realization that came when she looked at the face of what she had thought until now to be a monster, and she instead saw the same swirling blue eyes of that girl who had come from the mist. Her fury and hate so wrongly placed, she saw no other option than to take revenge on the person who had truly killed the woman she loved. Jane picked up the lovingly crafted sword, now soaked with blood, placed the sharp tip over her chest, and drove the sword through her own heart.