"Mama." My rounded orbs of deep mahogany gazed over towards where my mother washed our clothes in the fountain water at the centre of the bustling village which stood in the shadow of a looming mountain, young in its years and still developing in its way as buildings were continually built along the carved roads that were yet to be laid with stone. My mother, weathered and worn from a life of hard toil, looked up so that her watery gaze met my own as I stared off into the distance, hardly noticing the loud bustle of noises and people around me. "You will die today." Lifeless words left my colourless lips, the small frame of my body remaining absolutely still as my mother froze, a slight essence of fear entering her expression before she smiled and tried to brush it off with a tender tone.
"There now love, don't be silly. Mama is going to be here until well after you're married and have bairns of your own, alright?" She reassured me, coming over to rub my arms and pull my shawl closer around me so that it sat nicely and warmed me better before ensuring that my bonnet covered my ears. "They're just dreams, waking dreams, they don't mean nothing." Giving me a final squeeze of reassurance she went back to the washing, the icy cold water making her fingers go numb whilst they shrivelled like prunes.
I watched her, my head moving minutely as I simply stood and observed. Dale was my home and my mother had lived here since her birth for her parents had settled here in the days of its first settlement, being among the first to cast a stone and build a home whereupon it lay, though this was now many years ago and far grander and larger houses had since been built as more came to settle upon this thriving village which now felt and looked more like a town. There was even talk of building a watchtower and grand hall. The past was now far distant, though to my mind it was as clear as day. It was easy to imagine the past, however when the future was so real to me as the present, it became something very vivid and almost touchable. As I watched my mother I started to have another of my waking dreams, as we called them. When I was younger I'd scream because they were nightmares, now they came and went as they pleased. Soft brown eyes became milky white and glassy, like clouds held within glass orbs. The images were faded and too indistinguishable for me to understand before I peered downwards to see my mother's form, blood ridden and torn.
Shaking violently from fear I started to convulse, struggling for breath and when my mother looked up again, she was instantly hurrying towards me. "Asta! Asta love, wake up! Wake up now!" Mother shook my shoulders, trying to break me free from the tight grip of the waking dream whilst also trying to stay as quiet as possible to not draw attention, however when I started to wail and grip my head, almost pulling my hair from my scalp, eyes turned towards us. I was barely five years old and I was already labelled as the village freak, the strange one, the possessed…a witch. These times were largely superstitious, with the mind of Men being yet uneducated to the ways of the world and the truth of magic, yet even if they knew that magic was not all to be feared, they would still frown upon me and retreat with fear if ever I should wander close to them or their children. My prophecies caused alarm and fear, knowing when there were to be storms and bad harvests, when a fever was to settle upon the village and even when someone was to die. My words were thought to be curses, and so rather than understanding my abilities, I was believed to be a harbinger of ill-fortune and death, though thus far I had been tolerated on account of the fact that my grandparents had once been greatly respected in the village before their passing.
Mostly this meant that everyone, whether they were adults or children, would stay away from me and avoided my mother as well to avoid my supposed curses, however now it seemed that recently such tolerance was waning and the respect held in the village's memory was beginning to fade as whispers ran rampant around us. My mother murmured my name, smoothing her hands over my face and trying to bring me back as I watched pools of blood spread across the ground and almost reach my toes until I screamed, fighting back at the sensation of something attacking me, birds pecking at my flesh though when the dream finally ended I realised I'd been beating my fists against my mother who had refused to let me go. She held me close, whispering loving and reassuring things into my ear though over her murmuring I could hear the crowds as they gathered, fearing another prophecy. A curse.
They called me all kinds of hurtful things, shaking their heads and the more fearful ones retreated back as the masses whispered. I shivered, staring with wild eyes as their faces swam before my vision. I was afraid, extremely afraid as I watched the mayor order us be taken, the word witch being chanted again and again. My mother was screaming in my mind's eye and because of this I started to scream all over again, unable to understand what was happening as rough, unkind fingers bruised our flesh and began to drag us both away. Sounds of voices and the roars of their demands blended together into one colossal beastly rage, causing my ears to almost bleed before all I could hear was a plain ringing which was shrill and painful. My mother and I were bundled into a wagon as she pleaded, struggling to escape with her hand grasping at me until her wrists were bound behind her back and I found myself being gagged and blindfolded, shrieking and howling fearfully. "Please! Not my baby, please don't hurt my little girl, she's not dangerous!" Mother begged sobbing with her tears sliding down her cheeks as my vision was obscured, hands also being bound before I was tossed into the back of the wagon on my side. I wept pitifully, mewling like a hurt kitten as the masses jeered, items such as spoiled food hitting against us and I curled up into a protective ball, my mother trying to shield me as the people of Dale finally found the limit of their tolerance, breaking in their fears as they sought to discard that which they believed unnatural. Me.
"It's alright, we'll be alright love, you'll see." My mother did her best to try and console me but the rags that cut hurtfully into my mouth whilst the wagon jerked and jolted us, knocking against my frail frame as we were carried out of the city. The men that took us whispered urgently to one another, moving at a fast pace and I could smell fresher air after we'd left Dale and moved towards the dense forest of Greenwood, a vast and tragically beautiful place to gaze upon but terrifying enough to keep any from entering.
"We'll drop them here, drive them into the trees! Take that possessed child away from us, we don't want nothing to do with that evil soul!" They declared, dragging my mother out first before someone gripped me by the hair. I writhed and cried out, lashing with my feet and even kicked a man in the stomach as the painful pull on my dark hair caused it to be almost ripped from my scalp.
"Let her go!" My mother howled in rage, trying to ram herself against the one holding me but she was effortlessly restrained. "You cannot do this to us! Do not banish us, we will surely perish!" But that was the intention. These men, all of Dale, they wanted us to wither away like fallen leaves, to shrivel and die forgotten and alone within the darkness of this impenetrable forest that had always appeared to be its own fortress, unsurpassable.
The blindfold was mercifully ripped from my eyes but they left the gag and did not unbind our hands. They banished me because I was different, they banished my mother because she had borne me. "If you so much as look to turn back, we will just shoot you." The largest one warned and I recognised him to be the chief's closest guard, the one who would collect the taxes and beat unsuspecting citizens for the sheer pleasure of it. He frightened me. "We'll be waiting and watching. If you leave that forest and return this way, you'll either find an arrow in your throat or you'll be brought back to be burned." He spat at me, making me jump in horror and move closer to my mother who was breathing heavily, too terrified to speak. "Now go."
Whilst continually shaking my mother ushered me forwards, her heavy breathing loud in my sensitive ears as I followed like a faithful fawn, though the closer we came to the trees the more I felt my terror surge. We cannot go in there, we will die. My mother will die and I am certain that I will die too then be consumed by some wild beast after her. I can see the blood, I could smell it and hear her screams in my head. Shaking I tried to warn her, trying to draw her away so we could turn back but my mother kept me going, forcing me to go forwards in order to avoid being shot be the arrows. "It's alright Asta, we'll just go in a little way then follow the forest edge, they'll never see us leaving that way, we'll be safe." She told me though her voice was uncertain.
Unable to do anything but trust my mother, I walked at her side, stumbling as we finally entered the trees. The moment I passed the border I felt a deep power come from them, though in some way my fears lessened. I could hear voices, soft groans and moans that emitted from deep within as if they were communing among themselves and also trying to speak to me. My trembling stopped and I gazed around in awe, never before having seen the trees climb so high into the sky as I stood at their roots, wondering if they were the reason the sky did not fall down upon us. "Asta. Come love, come." Hearing my mother call for me I hurried after her, leaping over the roots of a giant tree as I returned to her side.
We stumbled and tripped often, unable to use our hands for balance as they remained tied behind our backs however as my mother became more afraid, I felt myself ease into a sense of serenity. This was not a bad place like everyone said, it was just ancient. I could feel the age and wisdom of the forest as I observed, keen eyes seeing everything from the smallest insect to the slightest rustle of the leaves which displayed vibrant colours all around. It was a beautiful place, somewhat magical. "Asta, Asta I can't see the treeline anymore, it's gone!" My mother panicked and I turned, looking back the way we came however it were as if they way had closed behind us.
Even with my eyesight I could not see the way we had come, turning around full circle to see the light of the open fields and glades but it had vanished entirely, swallowed up by the darkening gloom of the forest which lost its ethereal appeal and became threatening instead, huge shadows towering above us as my mother wriggled her wrists within her bonds, trying to free herself. "Try and find a stone, love, something sharp to cut the ropes with." Trying to be brave my mother searched the ground, moving aside leaves with crackling rustles, however when I heard the leaves move some distance away, I froze. I could hear movement, something large and more than one in company moving through the woods, following the darkening shades as the light was lost the thicker the canopy became. Growls and grunts thrummed through my body, eyes going wide before the milky gleam appeared and I gasped, the gag cutting a little deeper into the corners of my mouth where they bound it so tight. The time was come. Crying out I tried to warn my mother, running over and urgently tried to lead her away, unable to speak clearly however when I bolted, she came racing after me, calling my name.
Despite my small stature I could run quickly, gliding through the trees and over their twisting roots as the hunters also quickened their pace. An animalistic howl penetrated the thick air that made it difficult for us to breathe and immediately my mother was as fearful as she had ever been in her life. I could see it in her eyes as my warning only an hour before struck her mind. Heavy paws churned up the earth, unearthly screeches and growls striking every nerve as I tried to outrun the threat without leaving my mother behind. With a gasp I heard her fall, making me slow to a stop and look back as she struggled to get back, heaving for air and it took all of her remaining strength just to rise, staggering forwards as huge shaggy shapes cut through from the undergrowth and I stared in horror. Ugly muzzles pushed their way forwards, creatures that easy stood taller than me creeping towards us with their riders which made me feel like I were having a waking nightmare rather than a dream. They were all nightmares really, very rarely did any good come of my strange visions however now, I could not even fathom the idea that I was about to die beside my mother. I was just too afraid.
The riders were foul smelling and had oily dark skin, almost greyish in tone with sharp teeth and eyes that peeled every fear from your soul. My mother sobbed quietly, trying to cover me as the three wargs and their orc riders surrounded us. Wordlessly the orcs all bared their fangs, one of them moving a little closer until all at once, they charged. I screamed through the gag as my mother also released the loudest shriek I had ever heard, the sound echoing throughout the forest as she tried to leap out of the way but the first warg caught her in its gaping jaws, the other two springing to join in as I stared helplessly.
Behind me the rider lifted its weapon and stabbed as I whirled around, sensing it coming at me from behind and I felt the sharp piercing sensation of the blade tip entering my tender flesh, opening a hole in my stomach which instantly flooded with blood. I did not recall this in my vision, the shock of being stabbed overcoming the pain momentarily as I dropped to my knees and listened as my mother's screams shattered the world's delicate silence, her body jerking violently as the wargs ripped into her flesh and gnawed on her bones, prolonging her suffering until all at once, a final crack ended her voice forever and I pressed my eyes shut, unwilling to look but it were as if an outside force turned me, making me open my eyes once more to see.
She was crooked and no longer recognisable, dark hair splayed in bloodied clumps as the red rush spread around her like a billowing scarlet cloak. I choked, falling onto my side and desperately pushed myself away as the blood threatened to reach my feet, mewling and crying as I looked at the broken form of my beloved mother, the only parent that I knew. It felt as if a compressing pain were turning my heart from warm flesh to hardened stone, making it drop to my stomach as the wargs and orcs turned on me, muzzles and salivated lips dripping with my mother's blood.
Sucking in a breath I dared to keep my eyes open, watching as one lifted its wicked bow and aimed a sharpened arrow directly at me. Being ignorant to such violence and weaponry, all I knew was that they aimed to kill, which meant that I would be in pain until my soul was released from my body so I prepared myself, wanting to join my mother again to the place where she had gone without me, how could she leave me behind? Why did she have to be taken from me in such a way? I did not understand and at that moment, I knew myself to be cursed. If my mother had never had me, she would be alive and happy right this moment. I was to blame for this, now I must pay the price.
The arrow released and I saw it disappear in a flash, moving so quickly across the distance that I hardly had time to blink to see it flying straight for my chest, however before it could strike flesh another arrow glided with all haste and cut through the wooden shaft, making my eyes widen as I stared. Graceful shapes leaped from the trees, sending a volley of arrows into the beasts and their riders, several more angelic forms dropping down from above and I watched as one with particularly beautiful silvery hair pulled back the arrow on his bowstring and killed one of the orcs, already elegantly twirling to finish the other two and in a bracing yet swift skirmish it was over, the beautiful creatures that had appeared as if born from the forest itself standing with alert senses trained to their surroundings.
Feeling weak and lethargic as my wound continued to bleed I watched the silver angel turn his head, revealing human features though these people were all distinctly more otherworldly than anyone I had ever seen before. They were fair skinned and glorious, moving as if the slightest footstep would be enough to cause harm to the earth so they were silent and light, moving effortlessly as the silver haired one cast his eyes upon me. He moved closer, the bow finding its place on his back before he slowly crouched down, looking at me as if I were a curiosity and I looked back at him with the exact same expression. His ears, they pointed upwards in a delicate lift that made me feel for the first time that I was not out of place.
Without a word he reached up and drew a knife, making me panic and writhe however he whispered strange words that meant nothing to me, yet their tone was reassuring and I watched as he reached forwards and sliced through the gag to peel it away, allowing me to suck in a deep breath before he then easily cut through my bonds with a single flick then swiftly pressed a strong hand over the gaping wound of my belly, stemming the constant stream whilst then taking one of my hands to inspect the heavy bruising and ripped skin from where they had cut into my flesh. His body shifted, appearing a little angry as he also inspected my face where I was bleeding at the corners of my mouth whilst I remained transfixed by this angel.
Reaching forwards with muddy and slightly blood stained hands I pointed to the stranger's ears, blinking stubbornly as I kept myself from falling asleep despite the constant pull that lured me towards slumber from pure exhaustion. "Mankoi naa lle sinome?" Words that sounded like the smooth rumble of a waterfall fell upon my ears, making my eyes widen further as a hand reached out tentatively yet held back, untrusting and suspicious. "Why are you here?" At least this time I was able to understand him. This creature, this creature that had ears like mine.
Reaching up a pale hand I pulled off the bonnet on my head and licked my lips, feeling sheepish and still frightened as I then reached forwards to touch his ear as he blinked in surprise. Immediately my eyes glazed over with their distinct milky texture as I envisioned this same person gliding through the trees, effortlessly stunning in the sunlight as they chased after another figure with longer hair of dark tresses, their dress shimmering with the sheer material that draped the woman's body before her face turned and deep brown eyes gazed back with a smile that seemed infinitely happy. Instinctively I pulled my hand back, lost in my own confusion as the figure had lifted his own fingers and tucked aside my hair to reveal my pointed ears, softly tilted upwards as they heard the beat of an insect's wings some metres away. "You are Elvish."
Looking perplexed and astonished I tilted my head, not understanding what he meant. Suddenly I felt my wound throb with pain and I whimpered, pressing my hand tentatively over his which held the wound, though I dared not apply too much pressure as I did not want to make it hurt further, but within a heartbeat the stranger was pulling my hand away and calling out to his fellow graceful people in his own lyrical tongue, commanding them to do something and a few disappeared as he made a quick bandage and covered the wound, helping the bleeding to stop before looking into my eyes. "Come. Come with me. We shall take you somewhere safe, where you will be among your own people."
He wanted to take me away from the forest, away from my mother? I could hardly move but as my lip trembled I shook my head, pointing to the bloodied form of my mother who had been covered by a cloak as the hideous bodies of the wargs and orcs were disposed of. "She is not here to protect you any longer, little starling, you must come with me." His gentle voice encouraged my young mind to trust him unquestioningly so when he reached out with his hands I wrapped my arms around his neck and let him lift me up. Surprisingly I felt my weariness was so great that I no longer felt afraid, it had overworked my body and now all I could do was watch over my rescuer's shoulder as the form of my mother was lost, being left in the small grove of trees as the silver haired stranger carried me away, murmuring a soft lullaby to send me to sleep.
