The Kelpie's Cries (Completed)

Poetry at Heart

Finally, the humans had found the end of the tunnel. After managing not to die on their journey, blue light emitted from above just a few steps away. Roots had made their appearance and the ground  had notably raised, signifying that they were going up towards the surface. It wasn't long until they had started to dig various paths underground in order to get as many of them in the overworld as they possibly could.

The wide clearing they had entered was unnaturally blue. It wasn't the lively shades of blue and cyan as those they had seen before. No, this colour was different. It seemed more... sad. The atmosphere was so thick one could cut it with a knife. The humans did not care, though, as the leader instructed them to look around for the heart. There were giant, long tree roots that made their way along the blue grass and dying bushes, thinning out as they approached the tree line, which they decided to follow. Perhaps those roots would lead them to the source. The leader had read about the heart and what it looked like but what he ended up facing looked nothing like any description or depiction.

A lonely tree stood at the middle of the clearing, utop a small hill. It looked nothing like those in the books. That tree could not be the heart. Its branches held no leaves and its posture had suffered a lot. The heart was supposed to be the liveliest plant in the whole forest, the one that shared its food with every other tree and animal that lived in it. It was the force that kept the forest hidden from the outside world, away from human contact. It was supposed to make sure that Blue Peace was the safest place in the whole realm for the magical animals who had suffered greatly at the hands of humans; whether from being hunted to near extinction or from being kept as pets and being forced into slavery.

"Sir, I think that is the heart", one of the others said yet the leader still looked skeptically at the tree. He approached without hesitation and touched the flakey trunk. It easily peeled off into his hand. That tree was either dying or it was already dead. Magical trees were so weird; he could not tell the difference.

"It can't be...", he whispered to himself as he realized, "This can't be the heart... It's dying!", he exclaimed, almost not wanting to believe the sight. He had wanted to take the tree alive and replant it in his backyard after the barrier would go down. But he was too late, there was no option to travel through time.

Oh, human do not fret,
Nor be filled with dread.
What you see is just a shell,
I trust you can tell.

A woman's voice echoed throughout the clearing, her tone the exact opposite of that of the treeline. She sounded enthusiastic and happy and a smile was audible in her voice. The man pushed his ear on the tree and for a moment, he felt a pulse. Dun-dun, dun-dun... it went. He could only wonder why a tree of all things had a pulse that beat like a human heart.

"You!" -he pointed at one of the axe wielders- "Cut this tree down!", he demanded in a stern voice, yet the other defied him.
"But, sir, I thought you wanted this tree?", the axe wielder asked.
"Do as I say, we will take the roots afterwards", he commanded and this time the other man obeyed.

It was surprisingly easy to cut through the trunk. The blade went through the tree easily, almost like cutting through soft skin. There was quiet giggling coming from inside. The trunk must have been hollow and that woman must have been hiding in there. Half the tree fell off without a hitch but the man was more careful around the area where the woman would have been hiding. Soon enough, he had cut all the way to just above the bulging roots.

There indeed was a woman and perhaps, she was the most beautiful creature the leader had laid eyes upon. Her ever-so-darkening blue hair was so long that it wrapped around her like a fluffy blanket. Her pale gray eyes had dark circles under them, she looked like she hadn't slept in years -quite literally. Her skin was covered with mud and diverse insects like tiny ants. She didn't seem to mind the critters, though some of the humans were disgusted by the sight.

Greetings, beings of skin and bone,
All these years I have been alone.
It is nice to see you here,
Look, I'm grinning ear to ear!

Many of the hunters began suggesting to kill the woman or take her as a slave to the outside world. 'Beings of flesh and bone'? What kind of greeting even was that? And the rhymes... They were seriously getting to the men's nerves. But the leader shushed them to allow her to continue.

My name is Zoe, scandalous men,
The maiden keeping the peace ever since then.

She then turned her head sideways, her tired eyes filling with curiosity. Her demeanor remained calm even though she was aware of the deadly situation.

You're here to erase me, are you not?
You're free to do so, don't let me rot.
I feel more and more tired by the second...
Please, unsheathe your weapon.

It was like she had been waiting for that moment to arrive. As if she had been wanting to die. She looked so tired, so terribly miserable and suffering with her life.

The man hesitated to do as she had asked. His hand rested upon the handle of the gun tacked into his belt. He wanted to raise it and aim it at her head but he found her appearance too human. What was she? A witch? No other magical creature he had laid eyes upon had so strikingly familiar features, not even an elf.

What are you waiting for, selfish beast?
How long till I'm deceased?

She spoke again but this time her eyes narrowed into slits. Her gray eyes turned paler to a pearly white. Her smile was completely gone and it had been replaced by a deep scowl.

Take my head, chop it off if you must,
You are close to turning that barrier to dust!

Her voice boomed into the clearing. Even the rest of the men who had been wishing for her nonconsensual devotion and death had gone completely silent in fear. Then, she noticed at the way he was looking at her, almost as if he saw something in her that he had not seen in any others.

Is that not what you wish?
Do you find me pretty?
Is that why you're hesitating like a fish?
Well, isn't that a pity...

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I can safely say that this is my most favorite chapter of them all. It's the beginning of the end~!