Spirit of the Forest

Cyri watched as Romelia sleep. She wasn’t moving or muttering like she was before. She was still and the only sounds you could hear were her breathing, which had returned to normal. Romelia looked almost peaceful when she slept. And that was the good kind, not the bad kind.

He smiled a little before walking to the open window overlooking the tree house clearing. The moon was full and the clouds partly covered it from sight. A beam of moonlight broke through the coverage to bathe the clearing around the tree in a warm glow.

Cyri smiled again as he looked out onto the forest. In four days, the forest had gone from an unearthly, grey, and black, to a healthy, lush canopy of green leaves and brown trunks. Ordello was happy that the forest was recovering so quickly. He was even more elated when he heard that Romelia was recovering quickly as well. Tanisha even visited her every day, just to make sure that Cyri wasn’t trying to trick her and that Romelia was actually dying. No matter how many times he tried to tell her that the teen was fine, the nymph still wouldn’t believe him.

Sighing, he started to shut the window. The moon was high in the sky and he wanted to sleep as well. Just as he did though, a figure emerged from the tree line.

Cyri squinted his eyes a little to see the figure better. His eyebrow raised slightly when he realized it wa Tanisha. She was standing close to the shadows with her arms crossed. A strange look was in her eyes as she looked at him. Realizing what she wanted, the golden haired teen started down the ladder.

Once he was down, Cyri asked, “What’s up?”

“There are some humans that we spotted earlier,” Tanisha said without breaking her stance. “Ordello wants us to check it out. He thinks that you’ll be able to convince them to leave without a fight. Ordello wants us to meet him there.”

“Okay. Where are they?”

“At the eastern edge of the forest,” she answered.

Cyri nodded. “Let’s go then.”

As Cyri and Tanisha walked, Cyri couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen. It only increased as they got closer to the spot where the group of people were spotted. A part of him whispered that Dominque had found him, that she hadn’t given up the search. Another part, his logical part, said that was improbable. He had been gone for months, there was no way she would still be looking for him. As they walked into the clearing, his logical part quieted down.

There was signs of people from the stomped down grass and the coals from abandoned fire pits. But there was no signs of any human life still there. The reason being the shape in front of them.

“Ordello!” Tanisha shouted, running towards the shape.

The white deer was on his side, his legs bucking like he was running. He was wheezing badly as he tried to breath. There was an arrow sticking out from his chest, just below his heart. Blood ran from this wound onto the ground, where it collected in a pool beneath him. Ordello’s eyes opened as Tanisha knelt next to him.

“Tanisha,” he rasped, “Are you hurt?”

She shook her head as tears filled her eyes. “I’m fine, but your wound-”

“Where’s Cyri?”

Cyri knelt by him. “I’m here sir.”

“I tried to convince them to go,” he gasped out. “But they wouldn’t go. I was about to charge them when that stupid ma-” He broke off as violent shakes wracked his body.

“Ordello!”

“Please!” Tanisha begged once they stopped. “Your wound needs attention! Just let me-”

“No!” Ordello snapped at her hand weakly when she tried to put it on his wound. “There was poison in the arrow. It’s almost… at my heart… Don’t waste your strength, Tan… Tanisha.” With tears in her eyes, she reluctantly nodded her head. Ordello’s breathing hitched as another spasm wracked his body.

Tanisha started crying at this point and Cyri felt like crying as well. Ordello was someone Romelia loved with all her heart. Here he was, dying, with no chance of living. He felt like he was letting Romelia down.

“Cyri,” Ordello whispered almost too low to hear. As he bent his head down, the deer continued. “They… are here… She… is here… They went towards… Romelia’s tree… Please… Protect my daughter… Keep her safe… P-please…’

Nodding, he croaked out, “Yeah. I promise I will. She’ll always be safe with me.”

“Good… Tanisha, you… need to gather the herd and… everyone else… protect them…”

“Of course I will!” Tanisha sobbed.

“Cyri… I don’t… have much time… Please… give a message to my daughter… Tell Romelia…” Leaning down, Cyri put his ear near the dying king’s mouth as he rasped out a message. His eyes widened when he finished. As he finished, Ordello’s body shuddered once more before falling silent. Ordello breathed one final time as his eyes closed.

Ordello, the great white deer, king of the Mysterious Riverwoods and father to Romelia, had passed on.

Moments after his death, something strange started to happen. He started to glow light blue, the color of stars. At first, it was just around his wound, but it spread across his whole body.

Gasping in shock, Cyri scrambled backwards. Ordello’s body slowly turned into a blue kind of dust. It glowed brightly as the wind picked up. The strange dust was lifted, swirling in a vortex as it flew off.

“W-what just happened?” Cyri asked, mystified.

“Ordello’s gone,” Tanisha sniffled, “back to Naragari’s heard.”

“W-who? What?”

Without answering, the nymph turned on him. The look in her eyes made Cyri cringe. “What did he mean by ‘she’s here’? Who was he talking about Cyri?”

“Look Tanisha,” he said. “I promise to explain everything later, but I need to get back to Romelia and you need to take care of the herd.”

“But-”

“Not now Tanisha!” Cyri snapped. “If the person I think is here, then Romelia is in danger! And so is the herd! Go make sure the herd is safe while I go make sure Romelia is!”

Tanisha hesitated before nodding. “Fine, but if anything happens to her, I’ll kill you.”

As Cyri ran towards Romelia’s tree, a single thought kept repeating in his mind. Please stay safe until I get there Romelia!