The Forest Is Awake

The Wolf

A bit apprehensive as the large man knelt before me, I recoiled when he leaned closely to get a good look at me. I felt my heart pounding, unsure if this Alpha was nice or not. He pulled away, facing me and staying at my level, which was surprising because most Alphas would have stood back up to make their dominance known. Being level while confronting another creature for the first time was a sign of mutual respect and the Alpha didn't want any trouble.

"You mean with the fire?"

He nodded, encouraging me to continue as he moved to sit on the log beside me, but facing the opposite direction.

"I was on my way south towards the human town that borders two territories. Humans had started to build into the forest, which was fine for them to expand. However, their construction was causing runoff into the streams that support the southern wolf territory."

I looked over to the Alpha who was staring ahead into the forest. I look down at my feet and shuffle them a bit as I continue.

"The wolves had tried to gently scare the humans by howling at night hoping they'd stop building, but some of the wolves noticed that a few of the humans were witches and things got out of hand."

I could feel the Alpha's gaze on me despite his head never turning towards me. He caused me to feel flushed with anxiety as I finished my explanation.

"Long story short, people died, so a bunch of sprites from the center of the forest, like myself, headed down to take care of the bodies. We never made it though."

My eyes locked with the Alpha's as the next words left my mouth.

" Fire that almost came out of nowhere started to force us East. When we came to the South East territory border there was a sea of wolf bodies. I don't know what happened, the fire hadn't even hit there yet. I couldn't stay to find out. The fire forced me into eastern territory and the last thing I remember is a tree falling over me and waking up in a pond near where we are now."

He sighed heavily as he hung his head a bit. I've never seen an Alpha drop guard like this before. He looked so defeated. I placed a hand instinctively on his arm and he jumped up with a growl. I jumped back, startled by how intimidating his growl was.

" Sorry," he said as he composed himself.

He looked at me as if this was the first time he really saw me.

"You're a sprite?"

I looked at him puzzled before looking down at the rest of my body, wondering why he seemed so surprised. Typically, sprites have plants that grow from their bodies. The older the sprite, the more plant-like they appear. The younger the sprite, the more human they appear. However, there are obvious signs that even human-like sprites aren't human. Most have vines on their arms or legs, some even have ram horns growing from their heads. I had vines on my left arm that grew flowers and markings that looked like tattoos on my hands and feet.

I gasped as I noticed the long vine that braided around my left arm was gone, the flowers that typically regenerate every time I pick them hadn't come back, and the vine had shrunk into a ring that clung to my upper arm.

I looked at the Alpha in a bit of a panic. I stood, my heart racing, it felt like the world was spinning. If my vines were shrinking, then something had to be wrong with Mother. I feel a strong pair of hands supporting my shoulders. I focus on the Alpha's face and the world comes back into focus, his blue eyes and stark white hair coming clear.

"Breathe," he says calmly. "What's the matter?"

I take a second to compose my words. "I am a sprite, however, I just noticed that my vines are dying. We regenerate foliage on our bodies. This is how we connect with the forest and makes us able to regrow entire trees in minutes. It's how we're connected to Mother, and if vines are dying on sprites, then something has to be wrong with her."

I can tell that caught his attention, but it's not the only thing. He surveys the area and then grabs my hand. "We need to move, there's a den not far from here that's well hidden."

Before I could protest, we were on the move. We weren't running, which left me puzzled as to why we left at all. We walked deeper into the Eastern territory, which seemed to be mostly intact except for the southern border.

I was stealing glances at the Alpha as he pulled me through the brush. I have only met two Alphas before now, so I don't know anything about who he could be. I also heard Alpha Wolves were scary and rarely showed their human form to anyone outside their packs. This allowed them to walk freely in human villages without being recognized by another human-formed creature.

"I can tell you want to ask me something."

His sudden comment sent chills down my spine.

" Even though you didn't introduce yourself, and I'm guessing that's because you chose to use your human form, I can tell you're an Alpha."

I could feel the muscles in his hand tense a bit, but our pace didn't change as he helped me under a log that led into a dense and leafy part of the forest. We reached a cliffside that had an opening at the base large enough for a family of bears. He pulled me into the entrance but had me stay outside while he made sure it was empty. He turned to face me and looked as if he was considering his next move.

"Parker."

"Dawn."

We exchanged smiles, but Parker's smile fell as he looked over my shoulder from inside the den. He stepped towards me, slowly pulling me into his chest. I try to turn to see what he sees, but he holds me close to him as he pulls me deeper into the den. Suddenly I could feel it. I felt movement through the ground vibrations. I had a feeling of pain, love, and death filled my heart. I looked up at Parker, who hadn't let out a single growl despite his demeanor. Finally, I turned, and standing at the entrance to the den was a huge wolf. It was a large gray and white wolf, even bigger than Parker. This was an Alpha, without a doubt. He was standing tall even though he was weak, his eyes were completely black, which wasn't normal for wolves. Their eyes were what connected them to their human souls.

I gasped softly, which caused the great wolf to start growling. I could tell this wolf had no human soul, it barely had a wolf's soul. That's why I didn't notice it, it's been reanimated. Part of the reason reanimation was banished was not only because it was inhumane to the creature, but the resurrected body was almost ghost-like. They hardly make any sound when they're just moving around. It's not until the animator gives it a command will it sound like the creature it once was. I have never witnessed an animated creature, but the stories of old are enough to give you nightmares.

The fact that the wolf is growling must mean the animator is nearby. It's a reaction to the magic user's abilities. The creatures are deaf and blind on their own, but if something makes a noise, the animator will be able to pick up on what's making the sound.

We stood there quietly, the wolf growling deep in its throat. A warning. The mouth of the beast opens slightly, droplets of blood spilling out and leaking onto the ground. I could feel Parker's muscles flex, he was tense, and judging by the look on his face, he'd seen this wolf before. It takes a few steps towards us, Parker backs us up to the wall of the den, placing me behind him. I could tell he was holding his breath, so I tried holding mine too.

The wolf sniffs a few times, its nose hitting the wall beside us. Just as the wolf growled again, it was as if it was recalled back into the forest. Parker held us in the same position for a few minutes, making sure the monster had left. I could feel his muscles relax, but he kept me close to him, I'm assuming to make sure the wolf didn't double back right away.

We both sat on the ground until the sun started to set, waiting out any signs that the wolf was wandering nearby. After a while, Parker had gone out to patrol the area, returning with a pile of sticks for a fire. As we went to light the neatly arranged sticks, he glanced my way and hesitated.

" Oh it's fine," I said, waving my hand a bit. "The forest is for everyone, sprites are big on the circle of life stuff, so we understand that the forest will be used to build homes and make fires."

Nodding, Parker lights a small fire that he begins to tend to.

"So, Dawn, was that what I thought it was?"

"Unfortunately, I believe it was. Resurrection magic is forbidden for a reason. It turns the dead body of any creature into a puppet. It's only a fraction of the creature it used to be. Witches used to kill Alpha wolves to control territories."

He looked at me puzzled. "Why? Witches have covens, and if I'm not mistaken, they have fractions of their own territories."

He snaps a twig, tossing it into the fire. He picks up another, but I grab it gently from him.

"Let me tell you a story that might put some of the pieces together."

Drawing on the ground between us, I sketched out a rough map of Twilight forest.

" Once upon a time, Twilight forest lived undivided. Wolves, witches, and sprites lived under one divine being. Mother."

" Right," he said, "But Mother allowed the creatures of the forest to make their own hierarchy amongst their kinds."

"Except, Mother never divided the sprites, only the wolves and the witches. Sprites are an extension of her, so she felt like we should be everywhere to help everyone. However, sprites could never meddle in the affairs of the others. We could show ourselves, but we couldn't intervene. This was agreed on, which became the first rule of the forest."

We made eye contact, the fire crackling softly in front of us.

"So sprites can't interact with the other creatures in the forest?"

I shook my head. "Nope, and because of the magic seal of each rule, if we tried to meddle in the affairs of others, we'd turn into trees."

"Hang on, trees? So you'd die?" His look of concern was almost endearing as he moved away from me. This made me laugh as I raised a reassuring hand.

"Turning into a tree isn't us dying, we're just not animated anymore. I guess in a way, we're a bit like that reanimated wolf. However, the seal will only activate if we kill or something drastic like that. We could try to talk two rivals away from a war, but if we used our powers to stop a war, we'd turn into a tree."

The look on his face made me laugh again.

"I know it's kind of disorganized."

"You're telling me. That's like watching someone about to fall off a cliff, and you can't stop it by growing a tree below them to stop their fall."

"Life-saving measures are fine. There's a lot of gray areas. The main one was never using magic to kill, which can be complicated for a sprite. If we use our magic to stop a war, for instance, what are we going to do, grow a field of poisonous flowers?"

We both erupted in laughter.

"Seriously though, if our magic use results in death, we'll trigger the seal."

"He tossed more sticks into the fire, "So then what happened next?"

"Well, the forest erupted into a war over land. Everyone wanted as much land as possible. At first, all the wolves banded together against the witches, which outnumbered the witches ten to one. They would have slaughtered an entire race if Mother didn't step in again. She split the forest into five parts to separate everyone."

I drew the separate territories we know today on the map I had started on the ground.

"North, South, East, West, and "The Heart" in the center."

"What's with the air quotes?" He motioned toward my hands as I talked.

"The Heart is the large chunk of land in between the wolf territories that was just never given to anyone. The witches currently reside in this area, but it doesn't technically belong to them. Over time, it was just an unspoken agreement."

"We call it Mother," Parker said, looking at me. "Obviously, we aren't interested in letting the witches control the land, but to keep the peace we just call it Mother, and leave the area alone."

I shivered slightly, which caused Parker to slide against me, wrapping his arm around my shoulder.

"Sorry, I can't make the fire too big. I don't want to risk that wolf doubling back."

Feeling a blush rising in my cheeks, I squirmed beside him as I stumbled my words back into the story.

"Fast forward a few centuries, there had only ever been minor disagreements between wolf packs, they lived peacefully in their territories and created four Alphas that kept the peace between the four territories. The witches formed strong covens, less organized, and they weren't connected except for the fact that they were all witches. They even had a sense of peace. This was known as the before."

I drew a coven symbol on the ground by the map that looked like a symbol from an old language.

"One day, a coven with this symbol tricked an Alpha from the West to visit their coven. When the Alpha Wolf arrived, the coven's high priestess killed him."

I could hear Parker growl deep in his throat. I could feel his arm tensing up around me as heat came pouring from his body.

"Should I stop? I read wolves can shift unwillingly if they're upset."

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, trying to control his wolf. I took his arm from behind me and held his hand in mine. He looked at me, almost shocked that I was not afraid of his presence. His eyes searched mine for what I didn't know. I faced him more and placed my other hand on his cheek.

Outside the den, a rustling from the forest above us has Parker on high alert. His skin is quickly replaced with fur, and he throws himself over me. His paw is large enough to snuff out the fire, and he tucks the two of us back in the corner. The forest falls silent, which means the rustling was probably an animal passing through. Parker laid down and curled around me. He felt calmer now. I stroked his beautiful fur, his muzzle nudging at my hand. After a short while, Parker shifted back to human and we both fell asleep leaning on each other.