The men thunder down the narrow forest path, their horses' chest's heaving with every breath. They are both holding riding crops, and they rhythmically beat their horses' flanks. Their brows drip with sweat that is pulled away by the violent wind created by their advance. They are heading to a small hut hidden deep in the forest, searching for the Lady of the Trees. They are in need of one of her spells.
Once they find her hut they dismount from their steeds, and the beasts nearly fall over with fatigue. The larger one that goes by the name Aldwer, pounds on her door with one meaty fist. Three blows the door suffers, the wood groaning, before he calls out to the being who is said to live inside.
"Open the door, Forest Witch!" he calls, voice thick with drink. His eyes are bloodshot and his cheeks are a blotched shade of purple, blood vessels in his forehead pulsing. The door opens without a sound, and a girl that seems to be no more than thirteen peers out. Her hair is a wild red that curls in thick strands around her pale, heart-shaped face. Clear green cat-like eyes gleam from behind her hair and she shows no expression. She is clothed in vines and leaves that twine gracefully around her willowy form. Both men take a step back.
"And may I ask why you are here?" she asks in a lilting voice with an accent that neither of the men had heard before.
"We seek your assistance," the younger one says, his speech just as slurred. She narrows her eyes and looks at the horses, her door, and then the men again.
"I do not help men who are cruel to their horses, who are violent to my home, or who drink and bet their lives away," she says. The men both flush deeply, their faces turning even more gruesome.
"You wench," says they, and they draw their swords. The girl holds up her hand swiftly and suddenly the vines twined around her arm surge forth, knocking the men back. They fall onto their backs, and she turns her magic to the horses, snapping the buckles holding their saddles. They whinny in delight, but instead of both running off into the trees, one trots up to her, exhaustion forgotten. The men leap to their feet, nearly falling back down.
"Leave," the girl commands, and they scurry away between the trees. As she watches them vanish into the green she strokes the horse's silky white nose. The rest of the horse is black, only the nose a bright white. She strides back into her home and the horse follows, its hooves clacking on the stoop.
The door closes with a puff of air and the forest is quiet again.
YOU ARE READING
Forest Fairy
Short StoryThis is a very short story, that I originally intended to use as the beginning of a longer story, but it didn't turn out that way. I hope that you like it anyway!
