Blue Heart

Chapter 6. Rabbit Girl

I bolt out of there and run as fast as my legs can carry me. Fear gives me an extra boost of energy that I didn't even know I had in me. I run and run, diving past silver trees, dry bushes, and dead logs. Long, sharp branches slash up and down my face, leaving stinging cuts on my skin, but my body is too numb from the cold to feel any pain.

Still running, I glance behind my back for a second to see if I'm being followed and I end up smacking my face against a branch that was crossing my path. I stagger back, disoriented by the unexpected hit, and I fall with a loud thud.

I wipe at the corner of my mouth, smearing blood all over the back of my hand. When I glance up, the cloaked creature is standing a few feet from me, as if it had been there all along.

'Stop running, rabbit girl.' The rough whisper grates inside my head.

I scramble backward on the snow and end up getting my foot caught under the root of a tree that I couldn't see because the flowers were covering it. I yank at it but the harder I try to get free, the more stuck I get. The root wraps around my ankle, more and more with each thrust I give, and I realize too late that it is doing the creature's binding. There is no use trying to free myself, the forest won't let me go free.

I dig my hands frantically through the flowers, trying to search for something, anything, that I could use to defend myself. My fingers find a small branch and I grab it quickly and whip it toward the cloaked figure in warning. My hands shake violently as I aim the pathetic stick in its direction.

"Stay back! Don't come any closer!" I shout madly at it

'Stay still, rabbit girl with a wolf's heart.' It murmurs into my head as it advances towards me. Misty wisps are twirling around the base of its gray mantle, twirling in the cold air before solidifying into small crystals of snow at its feet.

"Let me go!" I demand, trying to sound brave, but my voice cracks and breaks with terror. The root at my feet slithers and tightens around my ankle, crawling up my leg, and holding me firmly down.

'Why do you call for me, then attack me and run away?' The creature asks with an actual voice, instead of the eerie whispers inside my head that it has been using so far. It sounds male, with a low sharp ring to it.

"W-what? I-I haven't... I didn't." I stammer, still yanking at my feet in panic.

'I have heard your voice calling back from the borders of the forest. It was very strong and very loud. You asked for guidance, so I guided you here, to me.'

"I-I was praying to the Goddess, not to you!" I say as the creature stops in front of me. It takes the dry stick off my hand with surprising gentleness before tossing it away.

The hood is still hung over its face and when it moves its head to look down at me, I hold my breath, dreading the sight I'm about to see. But I see nothing inside, only darkness and empty air. There is no one occupying the gray mantle.

'Why have you come all this way?' He asks and dozens of whispers invade my mind, all at once, asking the same question.

'What is it that your heart desires?'

I wince at the sound of so many voices crowding inside my head. They leave rippling goosebumps in their wake, like snowflakes falling over my skin.

"I- I just n-need a few Lungwort roots. T-that is all." I stammer, shaking with fear and cold. "I didn't mean to trespass the blue heart, or disrespect anyone, I swear to you!"

The creature tilts its head, observing me with what seems to be curiosity.

'That is not what you want.' he says after a moment.

"It is! I swear--"

He reaches out with a sickening pale hand and presses a talon-like finger over my forehead and colorful images explode in my mind, tumbling over each other in an avalanche of memories. My brother lays in my mother's arms as she nurses him into sleep... he is playing in a field, he is learning how to walk, he is laughing and screaming and running after me... we are warming up in front of our fireplace, his eyes twinkle when he looks at me with the same hazel color as mine, they are filled with life, joy, and mischief... he begins to fall into the dark... he is crying in torment, fever taking over his weakening body. He is dying, he is dying...

I sob with the pain that is flooding into my heart and the creature retreats his hand, making the pressure in my forehead subdued and the memories fade away.

A faint golden light glints for a moment inside the cloak, where his eyes are supposed to be. They are like two gold stars shining in the darkest sky.

'You fear for your brother's life.' he states, finally understanding. 'Lungwort won't save him, rabbit girl. It is not meant for the illness that his body has.'

I am crying now, I can't hold back the tears anymore because hearing those words are like hearing a death sentence out loud. It has all been in vain.

I have come all this way for nothing.

I cannot save my brother.

...