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Thea walked deeper into the forest, leaves crunching under his boots, sheaf bouncing against his back, a bag slung over one shoulder. His eyes darted around underneath his mask, wary of any creatures who might come across his scent. He didn’t think he’d come across any hostiles, these short trips into the forest rarely resulted in a fight, but there was always the chance. Hence the sword strapped to his back. Hence the tenseness in his body, fingers twitching at every sound. The Shadows nervously shifted under him, worried whispers in his mind. They were never a fan of these visits, the forest was dangerous after all. They allowed the visits but they still worried, wrapping around his ankles and forming eyes to watch for danger.
Before long, he came across the clearing. It wasn’t very big, trees and bushes and vines still crowded around, but the trees lessened enough for a bit more sunlight than usual to break past the barrier of leaves. Their meeting place. He dropped his bag onto the ground, and walked over to one of the thicker trees. Because he used this place so often, all the runes were already carved into the trees. The spells to protect from Corruption.
He flicked out a small knife, pulled off his leather glove, and drew the blade across his wrist. Blood dripped down his arm, onto the old carvings. The second his blood fell onto the cut bark, the runes lit up with a soft golden light, the light growing stronger with each drop of blood. He smeared his blood onto the tree and the runes brightened to an almost painful brilliance. He walked around to each carved tree, giving his blood to the magic and the magic giving in turn, until finally the circle of protection was complete.
The Corruption kept at bay, he was safe to slip off his mask and plopped down on the forest floor, next to his bag. He rifled through his belongings, pulling out honey and some bandages. While he waited for his visitors, he covered his cut with honey and bandaged the wound, no longer needing the blood and not wanting to lose too much. He had a healing rune on him, which could instantly repair the cut, but the injury wasn’t bad enough to warrant it. He prefered to save the rune for a real emergency.
He didn’t have to wait long.
After a few minutes had passed, he could feel their approach. Vibrations shook the ground with each step. He could hear the fluttering of birds, the breaking of branches, the rustling of leaves. He took a deep breath, held it, let it out. Fought against every base instinct in his body telling him to flee, to run, that something was coming to eat him .
A large hand burst out of the treeline. Black and bony and huge , with little to no flesh softening it. The hand was the length of his body, plus some, easily able to pick him up and crush him if it so chose. Too long fingers curled against the tree trucks and pushed them aside as a fittingly large creature came into view. It’s humanoid body was just as bony as its hands, with its rib cage clearly visible and its spine poking up in sharp points. However, at the top of its neck, instead of a human skull, lay a stag’s skull. A third eye lay right between the other two, all glowing an unnatural white. Its giant antlers curved upwards, forming a halo of sorts. The creature was several yards tall, the tip of its antlers breaking above the trees.
It crouched and looked down at him, inspecting the area, before making a loud, guttural call. The sound of its cry was best described as a combination of breaking glass and the dying screams of several hundred young children, dissonant with many different pitches and tones but still in perfect harmony. The Shadow Spirits had arrived.
The full-grown spirit sat down, sending a large rumble through the land and knocking squirrels out of trees. It sat criss-cross, with its hands resting on its knees, and looked down at him expectantly.
“ B R E A D? ” It asked. Its voice was similar to the call it had made moments earlier, like several different children were speaking at once, their voices mixing into one singular sound.
Thea sighed. “Be patient . We have to wait for your…siblings to arrive before I start handing out goodies.”
The spirit wined, looking down to the floor in rejection. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes, spirits could be so dramatic.
A moment later, there was the quick patter of younger footsteps. Overall, they were quieter, but there were so many it was hard not to notice them. Smaller spirits broke through the treeline, excitedly gathering around him. Their bodies still had the softness of flesh and muscle, giving them the appearance of children, ages ranging from ten to fourteen. Their skin was completely black, save for two, large white eyes on their faces. Some of them held little, black puff balls with similar eyes, even younger spirits.
The children couldn’t talk, even the adults were only able to speak a few words in human tongues, but he knew what they were here for. Slightly smiling, he pulled a loaf of bread out of his pack. Everyone around him broke out into cheers. He started to break the loaf into pieces and hand out the food, the spirits forming a line to wait for their share. He’d taken as much bread as he could fit into his pack, which was luckily just enough for everyone to have a fair share. Once all the children had gotten some, he broke off a piece for himself and handed the rest of the loaf to the adult.
The food was hilariously small compared to its size, but it gulped it down all the same. All the spirits sat in a circle, sharing their meal. Even the babies, who couldn’t eat but thankfully were content just to sit and watch. The spirits didn’t need to eat, but they liked to. Liked sitting together and partaking in consumption of whatever they could find. They especially seemed to like it when he ate with them, so whenever he visited he tried to bring things he could eat as well and not just…rocks.
He supposed it was a remnant of their human days, the safety and security of sitting down to a meal with the people you love. He gulped down the remains of his food, throat suddenly feeling dry. He watched the young spirits, finished with their food and now playing with each other. Pushing and running and laughing. If he hadn’t been born with his fire, if he’d been a little less careful, if his parents decided keeping him around was less convenient than killing him. If he’d said anything to anyone, gave any hints as to what he was. He’d be just like them: faceless, thoughtless, dead.
He took a breath and stood. It was time to go. The adult noticed his movement and stood as well, ushering the young ones back into the safety of the woods. Before long, it was once again just them in the clearing.
The spirit knelt down, dropping itself until it was at eye level with Thea. “ T H A N K Y O U ."
“Don’t mention it. I wish you and your kin safe travels.” He replied, running a hand down its enormous jaw.
The crinkle of leaves, footsteps, a stirring in the Shadows. He whipped around, meeting the eyes of his guardian, his enforcer, his intruder. Ruby stood several feet away from him, eyes widening behind her mask, hand tight around the grip of her sword.
“What. Are you doing?” She asked, voice perfectly calm and neutral save for a slight tremor.
His free hand clenched at his side. “Giving thanks to the Spirits. I was under the impression that we were supposed to give them offerings.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Not those ones, and you know it. Do you have any idea what people would think? If they saw you interacting with that…that thing ?? Feeding those monsters-”
“They’re children .” He shot back, anger bubbling under his skin, the Shadow Spirit next to him tensing and hissing.
“They’re MONSTERS-”
“THEY’RE CHILDREN.” He roared. “CHILDREN THAT WE KILLED AND SLATHERED. CHILDREN THAT WE ABANDONED TO THE WHIMS OF THE FOREST FOR THE CRIME OF EXISTING.” The Shadows whipped and whispered in his mind, tensing in his blood, gathering around his feet.
Ruby had gone silent, watching him.
“You don’t need to lecture me about what could happen, about needing to be careful. I know. I know .” His voice broke a little on the last word, tears beading in his eyes. “You think I’ve been blind to the danger? To what could happen if the wrong person saw me at the wrong time? You think I’m not aware how lucky I am to have survived? To still have a beating heart and warm flesh? We’re the reason they’re like this, the least we can do is give them this small pleasure.”
Ruby was quiet. “...We’re not the ones who killed them.”
He laughed at that, a humorless sound. “We were the ones who led them deep in the forest, left them with no food or means of defense. We’re the ones who ignored their cries, who turned our backs with reasoning after reasoning as to why they deserved to be abandoned. We weren’t the ones who snuffed out their lives, but we might as well have.”
Ruby was still, before sighing. “I won’t tell your parents about this. And I’ll allow these…offerings to continue. But I’ll be accompanying you from now on.” She raised a hand, silencing his protests before they could even pass his lips. “I’ll keep my distance and won’t interfere, I’ll just be there to deter any villagers that might pass by.” She lowered her hand. “Believe it or not, I want to avoid anyone finding out just as much as you do.” She continued, something like pity flashing in her eyes.
He lowered his gaze, a sickly feeling forming in his stomach. “Fine.” He turned back to the Shadow Spirit. “Safe travels to you, friend.” The spirit huffed, before standing to its full height and lumbering away. He watched it go before turning back to Ruby. She gave him a glance, any emotion gone from her eyes, before heading back towards the village. He paused for a moment before following after her, leaving the clearing behind.