Foxheart

Chapter Five

Esme shuddered. She felt cold, wet and numb. Her whole body felt like it was missing, as if she was simply a severed head or detached spirit. Was she dead? No, she was breathing and her ears were hearing. She smelt the scent of sodden earth and summer grass, the stink of flowers and woodland with ever breath. She could distinctly hear the rushing river, the song of night birds and owls. In fact everything was a bit too loud. She definitely wasn't dead. Surprisingly.

She opened her eyes slowly, blinking away the blurriness and flinching at how bright everything was, how vivid. Her eyes picked up the slightest of movements. She noticed every twitch of grass or twirl of a leaf. It was all too much and made her head hurt. As she blinked and turned to look towards the river, Esme stiffened when she spotted large oval yellow eyes staring at her. She tried to cry out but, when her mouth opened, a strange bark squeaked out. Esme stilled. Why did she bark? What was that noise?

'Your shape is not natural.' A voice rumbled in an ageless and soft tone.

Esme remained hunkered to the floor, her gaze fixated on the owner of the yellow eyes. She recognised the petal-scale kissed face instantly. It was the River Oak Spirit, a gentle but firm creature with the capability of being as angry as her domain. Esme often sang with her and Cassandra on full moons and would clean out any debris and rubbish during the summer months. She tried to speak again, to acknowledge River Oak, but a simple whine left her mouth.

'Don't speak, Bloxham sprite.' River Oak murmured as she reached out to touch Esme.

Esme grew confused. While River Oak had always been able to speak, although very picky about who to, River Oak's hands had never been that big before.

'Observe yourself.' River Oak commanded.

Esme did and she quickly grew into a panic. Instead of long pale hands, she had brown black paws. Instead of her gangly legs, she they were short and bowed. Instead of clothes, she was covered in soft elegant fur and a strange appendage grew from her behind. A tail. She wasn't human. She was a creature; a fox.

Esme was hyperventilating now. She was cursed. That was the spell Suellen was summoning. Not a death spell but a change spell. But why? Why would Suellen want to turn Esme into a fox?

Thinking of Suellen brought Cassandra's abysmal death flooding back. How much pain she'd been in, how she suffocated, how Esme abandoned her. Tears pricked Esme's foxy eyes and her tiny vulpine body began to shake. Cassandra was dead, Suellen had betrayed them and Esme was now a fox.

'It is not permanent.' River Oak whistled in her sing-song voice. 'The magic only activates when the sun has gone to sleep.'

That was a relief at least. Esme turned her snout to River Oak, wanting to speak but not quite sure how. All she could do was growl, bark and yip.

'River Oak can understand you. Speak with your mind, think loudly. This one will hear.'

Esme did so, glad the voice in her head did not thicken and catch with she sheer pain she felt inside. 'My aunt, my Bloxham Spirit, is dead.'

River Oak bowed her bald head, signalling she'd heard. 'River Oak knows this. This Sprite told me.' She gestured to Absolon who floated towards Esme. He whistled gently and extended an arm to touch Esme's wet black nose. Love swelled in the pit of Esme's stomach. Absolon had not only made sure she survived her plummet but called for help to ensure she was safe. As always, he watched over her.

'Thank you Absolon.'

Absolon whistled, able to understand her, but like every Sprite, was unable to convey his thoughts into words.