Spirit of the Forest

Cyri walked a few steps ahead of Romelia, lost in thought as he kicked at the things in his way. He wanted to make sure the kind-hearted girl wouldn’t be hurt by tripping over something.

He had also already been at the forest for about four months by his math. So, hopefully, Dominque had called off the search for him. Cyri didn’t want Romelia to be hurt because of him. The girl had been nothing but good to him and he didn’t want to repay her by getting her hurt.

The sound of Romelia’s coughing broke him out of his thoughts. She seemed to be coughing harder than before, which caused him to worry.

Cyri paused, slightly turning his head around so he could hear her better. “Romelia?” There was a soft thud! behind him, like someone had fallen. He turned turned his whole body around, his hair hitting his face from the force of his turn. “Romelia!”

Said girl was curled on the ground, her whole body jerking from the force of her coughing. Her eyes were shut tight, whether from pain or her coughing, he didn’t know. One hand was covered over her mouth, trying to stop anything from coming out. Her other hand was wrapped tightly around her stomach, trying to subdue her jerking body.

Cyri ran over to her, calling her name again. He knelt next to her while placing a hand on her forehead. He jerked his hand back as soon as his palm made contact with her skin. It felt like she was on fire.

Then he heard a sound like wildfire. Wildfire crackling as it burnt down the forest. Cyri jerked his head up at the sound in shock. Fire was eating away at the forest in front of him. Smoke billowed from the stacks of fire, blocking out the sun and casting a dark cast over the forest. Even though he couldn’t feel the heat, Cyri knew that if he stayed any longer it would be a different situation.

He quickly slipping his arms under Romelia; one under her neck and shoulder area, the other under her knees. Cyri stood up with the silver haired girl in his arms in time to hear a large Crack! sound the air. He didn’t look up, he would waste too much time, he just moved.

He darted forward, where there was no fire. There was the sound of something hitting the forest ground. Cyri looked over his shoulder to see a burning branch in the same spot he was at with Romelia a few moments ago. He had to get somewhere safe with Romelia or they would be killed. So he ran through the safest parts, the parts with little or no fire, towards the edge of the forest.

Romelia coughed weakly as he ran. He was troubled by how feeble she sounded. While she didn’t breath in any smoke, she still coughed like she did. He had to get out before she could breath any in. Smoke could kill a person if they inhaled too much.

The fire nipped at Cyri’s heels as he ran. Any other person would have panicked at the intense heat, forgetting about their surroundings, but not him. The teen’s head was clear as he ran faster. Even though he was focused on what was in front of him, he kept glancing up towards the fire that was slowly gaining on him.

A great crashing sound came from in front of him and Cyri looked to the side in time to see a Redwood tree fall down. It was twice as tall as him and completely engulfed in flames. He managed to stop in time, the flames searing his nose with the intensity of the heat.

He jumped back with a startled yelp. While the teen may have jumped across wider chasms, he had never been able to jump up that far. He had just never been able to jump up high, no matter how hard he tried. This time though, he wasn’t doing it for fun- Romelia’s life hung in the balance. If he failed, not only would he die, but the girl who had been nothing but kind to him. If he failed, Romelia would die. And he wasn’t about to let that happen. Not as long as he could do something about it.

Cyri took some steps back in order to give him more running room. Sizing up the tree, he mentally prepared himself for the jump. Just before he started running, he shifted Romelia onto his back, that way it’d be easier to jump high. She was limp with strained, quick breathing. Letting out a shaky breath, he ran.

He took large steps to gain momentum and speed. Once he was a few feet away from the flaming log, Cyri planted his feet together. He leaned forward and pushed off with all his might, trying to get as high as he could. As Cyri looked at the log, he realized with a sickening feeling that he had jumped a bit short of his target. He realized that he would hit the top of the log.

Cyri closed his eyes tight, tightening his grip on Romelia’s limp form. He still wanted to protect her, to repay her for all she had done for him, without wanting anything in return. Even though he would more than likely die, he still wanted her to live, to live her life to the fullest.

Just as he felt the flames, something grabbed ahold of his collar.

Cyri yelped in surprise as the mysterious person brought him up and over the log. The same person then yanked him to the side. He then found himself on a familiar white furry hide when he actually opened his eyes.

“Ordello!”

The white deer merely grunted in acknowledgment as he ran through the forest, dodging every tree, rock, and blaze that was in his way with ease. Ordello’s ear twitched as he spoke. “You are still awake,” he said with a slight grunt. “Good.”

Cyri was bursting with questions on why the white deer was here and how he had found them. Ordello must have known what he was going to ask because he said, “I was coming by Romelia’s house when I smelled fire. It was easy to track your scent from there. You were lucky I appeared when I did human. Otherwise, you would have been engulfed in flames in a matter of seconds.”

Cyri gulped. He knew what Ordello said was true. The teen was grateful for what he had done for him and Romelia. He also knew that the only reason he saved him was because of Romelia.

“You might want to hold on,” Ordello warned. Cyri nodded, using one had to grab onto Ordello’s thick fur and the other to hold onto Romelia’s limp body. The white deer jumped over another rock while simultaneously twisting to the side to avoid a small, flaming branch.

His hooves thudded against the ground like thunder as he ran. Cryi lost track of all the turns, twists, and jumps that Ordello made as he gently maneuvered Romelia so he could lay her on the deer’s back. He wanted to see if she was alright and check to see if he could see why she had passed out.

Cyri placed his hand on the girl’s forehead again. Much to his relief, she wasn’t as warm was before. His hand still pretty warm, but it wasn’t burned. Cyri tried to wake her up by slapping her cheeks gently. Romelia didn’t make a sound though.

Cyri’s face fell more. He was hoping she’d wake. He then decided to see if she had any physical wounds. Which might explain why she wasn’t waking up. When he pulled back her right sleeve to check her arms, Cyri noticed something on her wrist.

It wasn’t any kind of wound, in fact, it looked like a birthmark. It was lighter than most of her skin. It looked like a small flower. A lily, to be exact. It was intricate with all sorts of intertwining vines and petals with a pointed tops. There was also some kind of ribbon wrapped around the lily. He only caught the ribbon when he looked over her arm the second time because it was so light. The mark itself seemed familiar to Cyri, but he couldn’t place why was. By the time he pulled her sleeve back down, Ordello had made it through the forest.

Along the edge of the forest were many, many people, all different colors, shapes, and sizes. Some had flowers or vines on their skin. He even saw a few with sticks sticking out from their head. As Ordello ran towards them, Cyri realized that they were all nymphs.

“Ordello!” A familiar blue nymph ran to them. “Is Cyri and Romelia-”

“We’re fine,” he said jumping down with Romelia, “But Romelia passed out and won’t wake up.”

“Set her down over there,” Tanisha said pointing at a clump of moss a few feet away, “so I can look her over.”

Nodding, Cyri walked over to it and gently set the unconscious girl down. Romelia gave a slight cough as he did. She still sounded pretty weak though. Cyri stepped back to let Tanisha kneel by her. When he did, something tugged at his shirt. He looked down to see Romelia’s hand holding onto his sleeve, keeping him kneeling by her. Her hand was trembling slightly from exhaustion, but she didn’t let go.

Her eyes still closed, Romelia said quietly. “Don’t go… Don’t leave me…”

Cyri softened a bit as she spoke. He grabbed her hand that was holding onto his sleeve, giving it a comforting squeeze. “I won’t Romelia,” Cyri said gently. He used his free hand to brush some of her hair out of her face. “I won’t go.” When her grip on his hand relaxed, he continued. “I’m going to let Tanisha look at you. Okay? I’ll still be here, but you won’t feel me.” She didn’t answer him, but he saw her head nod a little. He gave her hand one last squeeze before letting her hand go.

Romelia’s hand fell limp as Tanisha took his place next to her. She didn’t say anything more. In fact, it looked like she had fallen asleep again. Tanisha checked Romelia as the other nymphs put out the giant fire. Cyri sat patiently a few feet away on a log. Ordello was there as well, only he was pacing nervously. By the time the fire was put out, Cyri had begun to bounce his leg nervously.

Winfred came up and started talking to Ordello about the condition of the forest. The white deer seemed distracted, only nodding politely at the tree nymph. It wasn’t until he saw Ordello glance at Romelia that he saw how worried he was about his daughter. Even though they weren’t related by blood, he still seemed deathly worried about her.

Tanisha soon rose from Romelia’s side and walked over to Ordello. Cyri was over with them in a second.

“How is Romelia?” Ordello said as he did.

Tanisha wait for Cyri to walk over before she answered him. “Physically, Romelia is fine. There isn’t a scratch on her or any other wounds.” Ordello sighed with relief, but the water nymph continued. “But she doesn’t seem to be waking up. Her subconscious just refuses to answer to me.”

Ordello’s ears perked up at her last sentence. He looked at her in disbelief. “What?”

“Romelia isn’t waking up,” she repeated. “But there is no reason she shouldn’t be conscious. There’s no wounds, bumps on the head, nothing to show signs of a concussion.”

“Then why-”

“I don’t know,” she interrupted Winfred. There was a tone of worry that showed how worried she was about her friend. “She isn’t responding to any of my koak.”

“Your what?” Cyri asked, looking at her confused.

“Koak,” she repeated. “Spells, human. I was trying to use spells to get her to wake up, but she isn’t responding to anything.” He took a step back at her tone. She was practically snarling at him.

“Tanisha!” Ordello barked angrily at her. “Don’t talk to Cyri like that. He got Romelia out faster than I could.” Ordello gave him a grateful look. “He probably saved her life.” There was nothing but sincerity and praise in his tone as he spoke. Cyri straightened his back as Ordello placed his head on top of Cyri’s. “Thank-”

Angry yelling interrupted Ordello before he could finish his sentence. Something hard slammed into Cyri, both knocking the wind out of him and sweeping him off his feet. He landed a few feet away, his breath still out of him. Before Cyri could regain his footing, something hard jumped on his chest making it harder to breath. Suddenly, something hard and cold was pressed against his throat, harshly cutting off any chance of breathing. He could barely hear Ordello and Tanisha’s yelling over the sound of his pounding blood. Just before he thought he was going to die, the weight was removed.

Cyri gasped for breath, trying to regain the missing air from his lungs. He rolled onto his hands and knees as he gasped. He had no idea what had just happened or what attacked him. Once he regained his breath, he looked up towards the shouting voices.

Ordello and Tanisha were standing by him, in front of a dark brown doe. She had a white underside and long, slender legs. She looked really, really fast. Which explained why she was able to jump him without him noticing her.

After a few minutes of watching, the doe turned to Cyri. She didn’t seem as agitated as before, although he was still worried. Mainly because she just tried to choke him.

“I may like humans,” she growled, “but if you ever hurt my girl, I will personally rip out your eyes, shove them down your throat, just in time to see me gorge out your stomach!”

Cyri gasped a bit in surprise. Not because she just spoke, but because of her words. He didn’t think an animal could say such a thing as she just did. He took a few steps back to gain some space between them.

“Now, now, Ryna,” Ordello said as he stepped between them. “I don’t think you should treat Cyri that way. He did just save Romelia after all.”

The fur along Ryna’s spine fell as her expression softened. “That is true…” She looked at Ordello. “I’m going to go check on Valentina before leading the herd back. Why don’t you take Romelia and Cyri home in the meantime. If it’s alright with Cyri of course.” She added the last part, looking at him. All he could do was nod. “Okay then.”

Cyri walked to where Romelia laid in the moss. The girl was still as silent as before. And, when Cyri placed his hand on her forehead, he could tell her fever had gotten a bit worse. She was also shivering slightly, even though the heat from the fire had not died down.

Careful not to jostle her, Cyri picked her up. Romelia’s head was rested on his shoulder this time and her arms were rested on her stomach. She still didn’t make a sound as he got on Ordello’s back. The deer tried not to move them too much as he began to walk back to the tree house.

As he did, Cyri looked at the girl in his arms and one thought ran through his mind. Please be okay Romelia…