At Wits End

The awakening

I lay unmoving as I feel myself breath in a deep breath as if it's my first breath ever and my greedy lungs can't fill fast enough. I feel the warmth of the sun bath over me giving me new life. The memories of Evander's spell start flooding back. As I begin to lift myself off the forest floor my body aches and stiffens beneath me, struggling to shake off the nights events.

I notice my once flawless skin is now marked as the printing of my tree wraps around my body like a second skin. I trace along the lines of my branches once made of wood that now are flesh.

It's hard seeing my tree in such an unnatural form. I close my eyes and sigh. I know I chose this path for myself but I can't help but take a moment to feel the ache in my heart knowing I may never see her standing tall in this forest again.

After what feels like a lifetime I shake off my gloomy appearance and begin heading towards town. As I grow closer to my destination I decide that this form may draw unwanted attention so I decide to take on a more inconspicuous form in the hopes my presents will go unnoticed.

I think of my soft plush fur and my long tall ears. I picture twitching my little cotton tail and pushing off my little legs to hop into town ever so quietly. I feel my nose wiggle as the wind tickles my whiskers and when my eyes open I've fully transformed into a small soft bunny that no one should take any notice to.

As a forest spirit I can take any form of nature that's of the land. We use this as a way to cloak ourselves from the humans that would mean to burn us and kill us from their fear and ignorance. They truly do nothing but destroy everything they touch but thankfully they're easily fooled which will make toying with them all too easy for me.

As I hop through the village I come across a place where fruits,berries,plants of ever size and shape have been cut down and placed in rows for people to grab and take as they please. This was not even the worst of it, when I noticed animal furs hangings on display for people to collect, while the rest of the innocent animals were being chopped and cooked for food. My heart clenched and my breath caught in my throat at the horror of such a mass murder. Every creature kills to eat, and I know this well, whether it be the death of a plant or a fox hunting down a bunny for dinner, but this kind of mass slaughter and ritual gathering makes my stomach turn many times over.

Hurry sweetie I just need to get a few things from the market before they sell out. I see a woman run past with a small child close behind her struggling to keep up with her long strides.

The market? That must be what they name this terrible place. They even bring their young here!

I feel a fire growing inside me to know that they take such pleasure at the sight of so much death around them. I think of Eli and wonder if they took the same enjoyment from her death. As I look around I see live animals being caged as they wait for slaughter and at that moment I can no longer hold it in anymore. I take off running as I see people jumping to avoid me and falling over tables and knocking down tents as they stumble. With the distraction of this chaos I pull the vines from the earth to set the living animals free from their prisons. The moment their cages unlatch animals of many shapes and sizes begin to flee in all directions as they run, fly, or slither away to freedom. The further they go the louder the screams and chaos seem to grow around me.

I take a moment to mentally giggle at how frightful they all get of such peaceful creatures. They are the ones doing the killing and yet it is them that lives in the most fear. Seems so silly to be so afraid of life like this. And they look like hungry ants the way they scurry around clingy to their belongings. It's absurd!