Back to the Wilderness

Huldrawood

The car moved along the dusty road, winding over hills and rocky roads.
Hilda grumbled, her nose deep into her book as the car escaped the cities, and out to the woods.
"I can't wait!" Johanna exclaimed, gazing out the window as she drove.
"Mum!" Hilda snapped her mother back into attention. She then rolled her eyes, looking back to the book.
"Hilda, lighten up! Maybe we can see troll rocks!" Johanna exclaimed, tapping her steering wheel.
"Yeah, and maybe they'll scare you back home." Hilda replied, grumbling.

Hilda had fallen asleep in the car, and by the time she had awoken, they had arrived to their new home.
A small two-story cottage, in a clearing right smack in the middle of the valley.
Johanna was already unpacking, but it was clear she wanted to run into the forest, and frolick.
"Have we always have this house here?" Hilda asked, rubbing her eyes. Twig tried to lick her face, and she frowned, shaking her head at the deerfox.
"Yes, actually!" Johanna swung her rolling suitcase out of the trunk. "My grandfather built this!"
"Huh..." Hilda got out, grabbing her own suitcase. "How much service does the TV get here?" She asked, clearly uninterested in everything happening.
"Sorry sweetie." Johanna patted Hilda on the shoulder. "All we have is the dvd's from home."
"No!!" Hilda yelled, as the two walked in.

Nearby, the Hulder that Johanna had met before, caught her breath. She pressed her back against a large oak, miles away from the house where the party was. Her heart raced, and she smiled.
Her kind was meant for hurt and pain. Her species were the sirens of the forests. They would lure men to their death.
But Johanna wasn't a man, and the warm feelings that the Hulder felt were real.
"Anselma!" A sharp voice broke the Hulder's attention. She turned, looking over the side of the oak.
Her commander, Lady Everfrost stood, her hands behind her back. She was tall, thin, and had pale blue skin. Ice crept up her skin and her white hair was in a tight bun. She wore an old gown with a fur wrapping around the skirt.
She contrasted greatly to Anselma, who had long black hair, that flowed as she moved. Her skin was a creamy white, almost a tan.
"My Lady." Anselma dropped to her knees in a bow, earning a nod from her commander.
"You were seen letting a human escape." Everfrost said, striding past Anselma.
"She was female." Anselma protested. "And I had witnesses."
"You know very well what we do with women in our ranks." Everfrost replied. She stopped at the bank of a brook, and knelt. She placed her hand over the water, just barely touching. The water fizzled, before frosting over.
"I know." Anselma sighed, folding her arms. Her tail twitched in annoyance.
"Stop lying to me." Everfrost defrosted the brook, and turned to Anselma.
"I wasn't-" Anselma was cut off, by ice crawling up her skin. Everfrost stood, her palm pressed against the Huldra's arm.
"Tell me what we do with the women." Everfrost said calmly, her piercing white eyes gazing into Anselma's chocolate eyes.
"We see if they can bear children, and give them the blessing of life to birth more Huldra. If they are unfit to birth, they are killed and cooked alive." Anselma replied, nervously looking at the ice on her arm.
"Good, good." Everfrost snapped her fingers, and the ice melted away.
"Phew." Anselma breathed a sigh of relief.
"You are to find the human, and bring her to me." Everfrost commanded. "Then I and the other season commanders will personally choose her fate."
Anselma gulped, her mind racing. Everfrost was the scariest of the four commanders, but they all were as strong as her.

Rosie was the commander of spring, and her plant manipulation powers were dangerous. If being strangled wasn't scary enough, she could also make poisonous plants.
Solina was the firey commander of the summer, and she is very dangerous. She's got a firey temper, and firey hands. People were careful with what they said around her when she was mad, but she overall keeps a sunny outlook.
Hazel ruled the autumn and just like the season, is the quiet and overlooked one. Solina and Everfrost try to control her season, and it's clear Hazel doesn't like how things are ran.
"Are you listening to me?" Everfrost cut in, the other commanders floating out of Anselma's thoughts.
"Yes. Sorry." Anselma saluted, turning away from Everfrost, who nodded, racing into the woods like a deer.

Johanna stood on a small hill that overlooked the cabin. Her fluffy brown hair flowed in the wind, and she inhaled the all natural smell, exhaling with a grin.
"Nature sure is pretty, eh Twig?" Johanna said to the Deerfox circling around her ankles.
Hilda was back in the cabin, trying to get the TV to work, while Johanna set out to explore.
She wandered for an hour, running under the woff migration, drawing a troll rock, and crossing the river.
She stopped by the bank alongside the river for a quick snack.
As she sat down with her cucumber sandwich, she noticed her reflection in the water.
Except, it wasn't hers.