Page 13 of A Siren of Beasts

Shaking myself out of my thoughts, I landed on a branch and scanned the forest ground for something to feed my Shiny. While most of the animals that humans preferred to eat had left the forest centuries ago, there were still some that were too stupid to know what was best for them. Locking on to movement in the underbrush, a pair of tall ears peeked out, making me chuckle in excitement. This would be a perfect prize to bring back to Shiny, she would be so happy and I’ll get more pets. Launching myself into the air, I used what little magic I still had to extend my claws and sharpen my beak before I dive bombed the animal.

It never even saw me coming until it was too late and I severed its spine, killing it in a single blow. Now I had to get it back to my nest and feed my Shiny so I could get more pets or praises, I liked those too.

Flapping my wings, I hauled myself and my kill into the air, racing back to the nest. I noticed smoke coming out of the chimney and scowled. She’d better not have found something else to eat, because this was what was going to fill her belly. Only the food I provided for her would be safe. She was hurt and needed things that would help her to heal faster, meat was always good for that.

Swooping into the cooking area, I dropped the kill on the counter then circled to land on the back of the chair near the table. Looking around the space I took in the pot boiling with what looked like nuts and a foul-smelling thing cut into pieces on a cutting board. Pausing to listen, I couldn’t hear her in the house but I looked for myself anyways, needing to make sure before I went to hunt her down. The moment Shiny stepped into this place it was filled with life. Her power rippled out as if exploring to decide if it was suitable or not.

When she entered my library, shattering the enchantment I had on the door so people couldn’t even see it, I knew she was something special. Up until that moment, I still couldn’t tell if she was human or a monster. Shiny was far too pretty to be a human, and smelled too good. Then I’d been stunned when she pulled back her hood, and I got sucked in by those shiny silver eyes. They glimmered with power and depth but something had trapped her power inside her. When she’d asked me to bring her somewhere for her to spend the night, I knew Shiny was going to be mine.

Although it seemed I’d now lost her.

With a screech, I streaked out of the window upstairs and sought out the call of her power that I’d followed the first time. It brought me deeper into the forest than I thought she’d go, but I didn’t think she’d understood what lurked in the mist. I came upon a spot where gaskfangs were fighting over a fish. There was no way they could have gotten the fish, they hated water but fucking loved fish. Had Shiny caught the fish and attracted their attention? Those things were mindless irritants that scavenged food from other monster kills. Not seeing Shiny, I flew around the spot trying to see if she’d made it across the river but the tug to follow her power came from downstream.

Depending on how far she’d gone that would land her in ent territory. Those massive bastards were grumpy even before the madness came to be. They didn’t like anyone entering their part of the forest, believing their ground was sacred and others would pollute it. Only the queen had been allowed to step foot there, and that was begrudging since she could rip out their spirits and return them to the earth if she’d wanted to.

The shock of remembering the queen had me faltering and I almost crashed into a branch before swerving out of the way. It was as if parts of my memory were unlocked and things I’d long since forgotten were returning slowly. How could I have forgotten our queen, what she looked like, sounded like, and how her power fed into our world, freeing us from our baser natures? Then the humans invaded our lands after she’d welcomed them with open arms. How did they repay her? Kidnapping her and stealing her away from us, allowing the mist to return, the predecessor of the madness.

A scream filled the air and I knew without a doubt it was Shiny. Rage flooded my body as I shifted my body to be larger, allowing my wings to propel me faster. Streaking through the air, I caught sight of an ent with a thrashing soaking wet Shiny in his branches. He gripped her around her neck as he glared at her with glowing amber eyes. Its rumbling voice echoed through the air, sounding like boulders crashing down the mountainside. My Ent was a little rusty but it didn’t take me long to figure out what he was saying.

“You not welcome here. Trespassers must be punished. Dirty humans, make dirty water, kill the saplings. Must be punished,” with that declaration, his branches tightened around her throat.

“No,” I roared, thrusting that thought into the ent’s mind. “She is mine!”

In an explosion of power, my raven body melted away and my true form revealed itself. The obsidian claws on my hands glinted in the tiny shafts of light that trickled in from above. With a slash I cut through the branches and tossed the ent back with a blast of magic that I hadn’t felt in centuries. Twisting midair, I reached out towards Shiny and pulled her to me before she could end up in the river again. Clutching her to my chest I landed on the ground with ease, my talons digging into the dirt, sending a thrill through my body.

I was back.

Looking down at my Shiny I found her motionless in my arms, but I could feel her heart beating and shallow breathing. Without her power free she seemed to be almost as fragile as a human. I tucked her against my chest, letting my wing-cloak cover her in an effort to keep her warm while her clothing was soaked through.

“Todesrabe, you dare to enter our woods!” the ent roared at me as he picked himself up. “Dirty human must be punished. You have no right to take the human.”

“See, that’s where you’re wrong,” I announced. “She is mine, I found her first, you can’t have her. Besides, she’s not human.”

The ent roared and slammed his fists on the ground, making it shake beneath me. My talons flexed into the dirt holding me upright as he had his tantrum. Just when I thought he was going to attack me again and I’d have to snatch his soul and eat it, another ent arrived. The sight of him had the enraged ent backing up and vanishing into the forest like he’d never been there.

I cocked my head, watching this smaller ent I was now faced with. Something was different about him, other than he could make an ent twice his size run scared. The first thing I noticed was his bark, it was white with black shadowing showing off the pattern. The top of his head branches extended out almost like the dumb grazing animals the humans like to hunt. Deer, I think they called them. His silver-blue glowing orbs met mine with an intelligence I hadn’t seen in a long time. The madness hadn’t gotten to him yet like it had that hulking fellow I’d been dealing with.

As the white ent approached, I got hit with an echo of power as it pulsed off Shiny, that reached for the new ent. He paused, his gaze falling to where she was in my arms and I curled her into me tighter. A warning growl emanated from me as my bony beak chittered my displeasure. Death magic swirled in the air ready and waiting for my orders.

“Be easy, Todesrabe,” the white ent reassured me. “I wish you and your charge no harm. Forgive my brethren, the madness rages in him and he cannot see past it.”

“How are you so unaffected?” I asked, confused because he felt so young to me. So many of the offspring born came into the world already mad, not ever having a chance.

“In truth, I was one of the first to fall into the madness, but our queen saved me in a manner of speaking,” he answered. “How is it that you’ve come by her offspring?”

My gaze snapped down to look at Shiny. Taking in her features now that my mind had cleared and memories had returned, I could see what he was talking about. She looked so much like our beloved queen but for a few differences.

“I didn’t know,” I whispered, letting the tip of my beak caress her cheek, the tingle of power acknowledging my touch. “It wasn’t until her touch that the madness subsided in me. With that clouding my memories I didn’t see it until now.”

The white ent took another step closer then stopped. “Please, I would just like to make sure she’s all right, I’m blessed with healing magic.”

“Really,” I challenged skeptically. “That doesn’t explain why he would be more terrified of you than of me. I could have eaten his soul and he’d never be reborn again, no matter how many shoots were planted.”

“As I said, the queen saved me but doing so had its consequences. While I’ll never go mad again, I still carry the madness in me,” he explained. “I’m Milin by the way, one of the oldest ents to still be alive that can remember the days of our queen’s rule.”

Hearing him share his name I had to think about mine for a moment. It had been so long since I shared it with anyone. “Grieth,” I said, but even to my own ears it sounded almost like a question.

“Give yourself time. Coming back from the madness happens in layers, but it will all come back to you eventually,” Milin assured me. “Now, are you willing to let me look at the queen’s offspring?”