Snowfur was dragged into the giant tree by the Huntsman and forced her down underneath the thick roots. Bones littered the steps. Heavily used candles lined the earthen floor. There was a roughly hewn stone doorway down at the bottom, which is where the Huntsman led Snowfur to. He let go of her briefly and started scrawling runes into the dirt in front of the doorway.
Adalger turned to Snowfur and snapped his fingers.
"Give me your hand," He commanded. She could try to resist, but the man was three times her size at the very least. Snowfur timidly held out her hand. The Huntsman gripped her wrist and turned her hand palm up. Metal rasped as he pulled out a dagger. The girl instantly recoiled but he held on to her too tightly.
"Entrance to Thros often requires sacrifice."
He ran the dagger swiftly across her palm. Snowfur yelped in pain as blood gushed out of her palm. Instinctively she clenched her fingers tightly over the gash. The Huntsman snatched her wrist harshly and turned it over. Blood dripped off her hand onto the dirt symbols. The symbols sparked before glowing a blackish blue color.
The doorway started to shudder. It seemed like the entire underground room would collapse. The doorway exploded into a blindingly sheen of blue energy. Adalger let go of Snowfur and gave her a sadistic grin.
"Well? Can't stand leaving me, sweetheart? A second ago you couldn't wait to get away from me. I know, I know. I'm quite the charmer but I can not come with you. I need to find your...little furry friend."
His comments did not comfort her in the slightest. Snowfur knew he had no intention of returning Stub to her. He most likely wanted to finish Stub off. She wanted to try begging but Adalger shoved her backwards into the portal.
Nothing could prepare Snowfur for the sensation of the portal. It felt like she was thrown into both freezing cold water and blazing fire. It only lasted for a second before Snowfur collapsed onto something hard, landing on both her hip and right arm.
She groaned. "Ow."
It took a few moments for her to recover from the experience.
As she took in her surroundings, surprise took her. Her dreams had become reality. The forest she laid in looked like the one she had been dreaming of occasionally. As she look all around, she realize she was in the clearing that Adalger had just brought her to. She stood in the doorway that was carved into the giant tree. But everything was obviously different. The trees that dominated the landscape were no longer pale brown or grey. They were dark black. Mists swirled around their branches and trunks.
Snowfur got to her feet slowly, wondering just what she was going to do. She wondered if she could even leave the forest now. She was not even positive she was alive anymore. Everything seemed wrong.
Just to make sure she truly was in the same place as her dream, Snowfur hesitantly went to touch one of the trees. Wet, black blood came away on her hand as she pulled her hand back. Definitely real. Disgusted, Snowfur wiped the blood onto her dress.
"Kalma."
Snowfur whipped around, trying to figure out where the voice had come from.
"Hello?" She said softly. She tried to remain fearless but it was difficult.
Cautiously, Snowfur entered the forest toward the voice. She started to climb a small hillock, hoping to see above the trees in order to get her bearings. No animals inhabited the creepy forest as far as she knew. There looked to be a bulbous misshapen tree clinging to the hillock. Snowfur saw that it was high so decided to climb it. She reached up toward a branch...only to be greeted by a face. The supposed tree bark separated to reveal dark blue eyes.
Snowfur recoiled in surprise and almost fell back down the hillside.
"My, my. You have grown so much since I last saw you."
The tree seemed to split in half as the tree man stood up. He was at least ten feet tall, if not taller. The reason Snowfur had mistaken him for a tree was because parts of his body was covered in bark. He was some kind of vrykul, Snowfur thought. He smiled unnaturally wide at Snowfur, revealing large sharp teeth. The girl did not like his smile and refused to return it. The man sensed her discomfort and knelt down.
"I know I might seem scary, but I'm harmless. How are you, little Kalma? Did Adalger treat you well?"
Snowfur found her voice as tears formed in her eyes. "No! He hurt my friend Stub, grabbed me roughly, and cut my hand!"
The large tree man gasped. "What? I'll have to speak to him! No one treats my dear granddaughter this way! Oh child, you have had a rough night."
He reached down to the girl and stroked her hair. Snowfur sniffled and smiled at him. This seemed to please the man.
"There, there my dear! I am Gorak Tul. You are Kalma my great great great granddaughter and you are perfectly safe here."
Snowfur shook here head in denial. She couldn't be related to this giant, half tree man. Deep inside though, she would love to be. She had never known any family besides her father.
"I can't be related to you. I'm a human."
Gorak Tul snorted and stood up straight to his full height. "No, no, no. You are not a filthy human. You are a Drust. A mighty breed of people! This land was ours before the disgusting humans took it from us and destroyed our people. The only way our people could survive was to...consort with the humans."
Then the Drust made a sound of disgust. "Only a few Drust children are born to humans every century. The Drust blood is more and more diluted every time. You are the first female Drust born in three hundred years! You are very special."
Snowfur blinked in surprise and immediately shook her head. "No I'm not. I'm me."
Gorak Tul smiled, again showing off his white teeth. Snowfur disliked how white they were. He reached down and patted the girl on her head. She tried not to flinch as his large hand touched her hair.
"But you are special. Whoever told you otherwise is wrong."
Snowfur bit her lip. She wasn't used to such compliments. The Drust seemed to sense her unease and leaned forward toward her.
"You must be starving! Would you like something to eat, my little sapling?"
She was indeed hungry. The food Grendel had provided barely staved off her hunger. She nodded, and winced when Gorak Tul laughed.
"Fantastic! Come, child!"
He lumbered off into the dark mists. Snowfur hesitated, but then trotted after him. Then she noticed dark things moving in the mists.
She ran to Gorak Tul in alarm. "Sir! There are things! Dark things!"
The Drust turned to her in response of her raised voice. Snowfur pointed to one of the dark things. Gorak Tul planted his hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry. Those are friends and family! They are merely shy. You will meet them eventually."
Snowfur did not like the sound of that and doubted the dark things were any sort of friendly. They reminded her of Adalger, who was not friendly at all.
Gorak Tul continued to lead the girl through the forest. As they walked, the forest started to change. The mist cleared. The trees stopped bleeding and smaller plants started to sprout near the bases of the trees. Leaves started growing on the trees. Grass covered the dark soil.
The clearing Gorak Tul led Snowfur to was similar to the one Grendel had brought her to. A giant roughly carved stone table stood in the middle of the clearing. There were no seats for Snowfur, but Gorak Tul seemed to realize the table was too large for the small child. He went over to a boulder and ripped it out from the earth.
"Forgive me. You are smaller than expected," Gorak Tul said. He dumped the boulder at the right side, near the head of the table. He then waved elegantly for her to sit down.
Snowfur came over and climbed up the boulder. Then she took in all the food that the table held.
An entire roasted carcass sat in the middle of the table. All around it was various kinds of vegetables. Some Snowfur could recognized. She had eaten turnips and cabbage before but there were round red turnip like things as well as rounded beans with black spots all over them. There were a lot of green leaf like things as well as the mushrooms that Grendel had fed Snowfur earlier. Berries of all kinds were neatly and delicately piled up in small pyramids. Gorak Tul thumped to the ground and crossed his legs. He grabbed a wooden bowl of bread and planted half a loaf in front of the girl.
"Go on. Enjoy the food!"
Snowfur did not need to be told twice. She grabbed everything she could get her hands on. She had never seen so much food in her life. Gorak Tul obliged her whenever she asked what something was. The green leaves were all sorts of different things. Plaintains, mustard, lamb's quarters, and dock. The tea he poured for her came from something called stinging nettles, but Snowfur didn't feel any sort of stinging. Parsnips and carrots were glazed with a generous amount of honey. Snowfur spread bilberry jam all over her bread and stuffed it into her mouth.
By the time Snowfur was finished, there was still an enormous amount of food. She wanted to eat more but there was just too much. She grew drowsy and let out a yawn.
"Well now that you are fed it is time for bed. You have had a rough day haven't you?" Gorak Tul asked. Snowfur nodded sleepily.
Gorak Tul looked to the tree line and nodded. Snowfur looked back toward where he was looking. A hooded figure stood there. Fear seized Snowfur but Gorak Tul comforted her.
"This is one of my many servants. She will escort you to a nice place to sleep."
The woman lifted her hood back and to all appearances looked like a normal human woman to Snowfur's eyes. She reached out her hand.
"I am named Lilith. What is your name sweetheart?"
Snowfur opened her mouth but Gorak Tul interrupted.
"Her name is Kalma. Kalma Tul. Take care of her, Sister Lilith."
Sister Lilith took Snowfur's arm gently. "Yes, Master. Come little Kalma."
Snowfur felt far more comfortable with Lilith than with Adalger and happily followed her. She tried to speak but Lilith ignored her. The woman led Snowfur through the forest to a crude house made out of large stones. A small trail of smoke rose wispily from a hole in the roof. Lilith opened the door and led her in. The one room hut was simple. A fire in one place with a rough bed with a straw mattress.
"Is this sufficient?" Lilith asked. Snowfur did not bother answering. She proceeded to collapse onto the straw mattress.
