#18 Calli

She could call the whole wood down if she so wished, she could bring out any threat known to thief or hunter, and eliminate any foe she faced before they even knew she existed.  Foolish to think that it made her invulnerable.  Because she couldn’t ward herself against rain slicked ground, a broken tree, and a careless blind dash.  And she should have been well aware by now that she could not ward herself against the foolishness that came of thinking oneself invulnerable.  But she was young.  She knew herself to be young, careless, foolish, and most likely soon to be dead.

A sudden and massive early snowfall days ago had caused trees to nearly burst from the unexpected weight, cold and pressure.  The rainfall which followed had made the fallen leaves as slick as ice. The combination left her on the ground, impaled, struggling for breath, and slowly starting to loose her senses.  She knew of no animal or spirit who could help.  No beaver could pull loose the branches within her in such a way that she would not bleed do death immediately, no swarm of spiders could bind her shut well enough to stem the flow.

Although she was terrified, now that the initial shock had worn off and the pain had begun to ebb with her stillness, she had become resigned to dying.  At least she knew she would not have to die alone.  Those creatures closest to her, who were often present with no call from her, were there with her, giving her their heat, their gentle touches.  They knew exactly what was happening to her.  It was not as though any animal in the wood was unfamiliar with death, even violently accidental ones.

But there was only one wolf with her– the old man, who spent his life on the fringes of the pack, shunned for his unpredictable ill-temper.  It was odd, really, and it stung a little that her closest of companions had not seen fit to give her their company, but she would not hold her hurt against them.  After all, their concern should be with living, anyway.

Calli dug the finger of her still working hand into the old man’s thick coat.  The large black wolf whined low and licked her gently.  As if to comfort her.  As if to ask her to hold on.

Tags: woodwrights

Category: 2011, Drama, Fantasy