The Forest Is Awake

Smoke filled the forest, branches were trimmed with embers, and the fire was spreading faster than the forest dwellers could try to extinguish it. Roaring flames devoured everything in its path, leaving a blanket of ash behind it, leveling the once lush and abundant forest. My lungs were screaming as I ran. They were inhaling more smoke than oxygen and my vision was starting to blur. A crackling behind me caused me to whip around as a large tree was about to crash on top of me. I sat up quickly gasping for air. I blinked hard, trying to force my eyes to focus. I crawl to the edge of the small pond beside me and use my hands to create a cup to drink from. Closing my eyes, I relish the taste and feeling of the cold liquid running down my throat. I swallow a few more handfuls before standing to take in the surrounding area. It's been ten days since the fire finally burned out. It burned for three days and destroyed half of the Twilight forest. It was an area known to be home to mystical creatures, wolves, sprites, witches, fairies, and even humans lived in these woods. Somehow, I managed to find myself alive and just outside the area where the fire stopped burning. I don't remember much after the tree fell. I woke up in a pond that was filled and surrounded by animals who were trying to get relief from the heat. I couldn't just leave the area, these creatures were scared, hurt, and had nowhere to go. As a forest sprite, I've been blessed by the Mother of the forest, a powerful and ancient creature who protects the forest and has the ability to regrow the forest in a matter of days. Mother is able to bless her sprite children with parts of her power so that they can assist the forest and offer a personal touch to its care. This made it my responsibility to protect these creatures and try to help restore their home. After ten days of care, the animals around the pond began to disappear into the parts of the forest that were still standing. Those who remained were too weak to leave and some of them even ended up dying from their injuries. Typically, when there's a death, sprites will use their powers to bury the creature and expedite the decomposition process so that the soul of the creature that passed can be fully freed from the body. If a creature is left without being buried, they run the risk of being soul snatched by witches. In recent decades, there's been an understanding between witches and sprites. They can reside in the forest, use its resources, and live peacefully as long as they don't use resurrection magic in the forest. Long ago, Mother banished all the witches from the forest, because one of the covens resurrected an Alpha wolf who was killed by a witch specifically to be resurrected. That Alpha was then killed and resurrected over and over again until the body would no longer reanimate. We call it soul snatched because it's believed that the soul lingers for just a moment after death. The witches reanimating a body that many times caused a huge uproar with Mother. She used her powers to remove all the witches from the forest. Then, after decades of hardships outside the forest, the witches came to Mother with a promise. They wouldn't practice resurrection magic in the forest, and they'd even use their knowledge to create medicine for the wolves. Mother allowed the covens to return, but not the coven responsible for the Alpha's resurrection. They were to remain banished, and on top of that, Mother made it, so witches could no longer use magic within the forest. I did what I could to bury the bodies of the creatures I could find, but my magic was weak, and without another sprite with me, I couldn't lift any of the larger deer or wolves that were lying on boulders. I covered the bodies with as much organic matter as I could manage and then used whatever magic I could muster up to compact it down to create firm mounds with small blooms and new grass. I felt weak, which was weird since Mother is a constant power source for sprites. It's said Mother's power runs through the roots of the forest, which all interlock deep below the ground. Even with a fire, the roots should still be intact, allowing sprites to use their magic freely. I had been so focused on my immediate surroundings for the last ten days that I never thought to walk beyond the trees that surrounded me. The forest seemed relatively okay despite a few scorched branches, but that's all I could see from the pond. As I stepped through a clearing between two large pines I gasped and felt tears immediately start streaming down my face. My hands cover my mouth as I sob and lean against a tree as my knees go weak. Before me was nothing. Everything was gone, I couldn't see anything green, there were no animals, and I couldn't feel any sprites nearby. Everything is interconnected in the forest, sprites are sensitive to the movement in the forest, so if the movement stops, we should be able to tell. "How could I not know that this was here?" I walked through the sea of ash and coal, looking around me to see if I could spot anyone out there. My feet kick something solid. Looking down, I see the body of a sprite. We look human, but we tend to grow plants from our bodies. Some of us are more plant than human, which was the case with this sprite. I kneel and try to run my hand along their arm, but it crumbles into pieces on the ground. I feel myself sob again. I can't feel their spirit, there's no trace of magic or life anywhere on their body. Sprites live a long time because they can keep themselves alive as long as their body can grow new life, but if the body can't sustain life anymore it'll die. I don't recognize this sprite, or rather, I can't. There are a lot of us, more than we each probably realize, but I doubt there are many left nearby. I wave my hand over the body, and it bursts into ash. I pull the ash into a pile and mix it into the ground, creating a small bed for a flower I pull from a vine on my arm. "I hope you rest easy, may Mother guide you home." I stand and brush the soot from my knees. I headed back towards the pond and began to walk the edge of the treeline that surrounded the area. I buried anything I came across that was dead, planted a few more of my flowers, and tried to come up with a plan for the forest. As I walked, I came up to an area that flowed into a large chunk of forest. I reached the treeline and immediately felt better being surrounded by healthy plants. Taking a deep breath, I continued onward until I found a log to rest on. I closed my eyes and tilted my head back to enjoy the small rays of sun coming through. When I opened my eyes I heard the snapping of a branch which caused me to spring to my feet. In front of me was a large white wolf and I could tell by the pendant hanging from its neck that it was an alpha. Alphas are tricky since they fall into a bit of a gray area when it comes to following Mother's rules. She let the Alphas make their own rules for the parts of the forest that their packs controlled. It was a way to create a necessary balance of power. If Mother controlled everything, it could cause a total war, but if the creatures who resided there got to create their own hierarchy, then it could help balance the powers. Alphas can be dangerous. They're extremely territorial and in a time when their territories have been destroyed, they're probably angry and want answers. Who better than a sprite, the watchful eyes of the forest, to get answers from? I took in a breath and sat back down as a sign of submission, the large wolf taking a few strides forward. I didn't want to run, this wolf could easily outrun me, plus, I had hardly any magic, and without an abundance of magic, I couldn't disappear into the trees. The wolf then began to shift back into its human form, a tall man with white hair stood before me, his blue eyes pierced mine as he continued to walk towards me. He spoke in a slow and surprisingly calm voice. "What happened?"