When Death Smiles

We shouldn't have abandoned them. Once we gave them that terrible power we saw our mistake. Pride held us back, it stopped us from acting. When we could no longer reason with them, no longer guide their hearts and minds, we hid away. Knowing only our guilt as man fell deeper then he had ever fallen before.

Once something is made. When it is loved. There is so much that can not be undone. How long will we listen to their agony in silence? They call to us, plead for answers. What have we become that we turn away without feeling or sense of responsibility? Are we not the real demons?
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Night wind cut through the bone white branches of the forest crown. Driving chilled breath laced with specks of snow swirling down through the maze of branches to powder the mother tree's bark. Like an ancient giant she had stood against both the changing weather and the turmoil of men. Scars marred her skin where many futile attempts had been made to reap her bountiful wood.

For years she had stood alone, desolate, and forgotten. Deep restful sleep was more welcome then the chaotic existence around her. So slowly she breathed, only the faint trembling of her branches during restless dreams gave away that she was anything more than a common tree.

The wind knew better than to beat against her, instead it found a more vulnerable victim collapsed at her base. Tearing through the tattered garments of the unconscious girl, turning her skin paler as it whispered sweet lies of warm slumber. The child offered no resistance as small flecks of ice formed around her still eye lashes and the cold turned her lips a purple hue.

Silently the wolf circled the clearing, his breath the only disturbance as he slithered through the darkness. The moon illuminated golden eyes as he stepped gradually out, more intent on the tree than the frozen girl below. Kendel snorted with disgust, death was already laying its claim on this pitiful wretch. Black ears turned back in annoyance. It seemed too much trouble to even bother, but his master's orders were very clear. On that thought he moved closer determined, then his step hesitated as he glimpsed a brief flash of blue light coming from the girl.

Dead leaves caught by the wind beat up against her frame. The faded blue tunic now stained and torn, clung to her like a stiff frozen shell. Kendel's cold eyes watched the trembling leaf briefly attached to her blond hair before it was carried away. From her rounded face and hands he guessed her to be little more then fifteen years of age.

Blinking, he continued forward certain he had been mistaken. Then the blue light emerged again from the center of her chest, spreading out like a silk blanket of pale blue, enveloping her in seconds before extending thread like strands up against the tree and down along its roots. Snarling he backed away, cautiously watching this mysterious light that turned his amber eyes green until it slowly faded. Even in its absence a tingling presence lingered hovering in the air around him like something alive.

Instinct saved the wolf as Kendel dove aside. The ground he had once held shattered under the pressure of the root breaking out of the earth, now reaching towards him. Explosions of snow and pelting soil followed as he leaped away, only to jump again as more roots tore free leaving the ground in broken rubble all around the tree. Realizing his chances were slipping away Kendel dived in through the roots towards the girl.

Big mistake. Hungrily, the roots tore after him slicing through the earth maliciously. He could hear them flick inches from his back paw, hissing their murderous intent as his footing grew more unstable on the shaking ground. She was only a few feet away but he would never reach her. A smaller root smacked against him, breaking a rib as he flew further from the girl and against the hard surface of the tree. Wheezing and spitting out clumps of soil and snow, Kendel fought for breath. He turned to find the roots circling carefully, not wanting to damage the tree itself. Muzzle curled in a slight smile as he regained air, analyzing his way back to the child. But she was disappearing quickly, wrapped up by several smaller roots shaping into a wooden egg that would protect her from him. A deep growl rose within his chest as his mind raced, trying to navigate a possible way around this problem.

The laugh was soft at first, but the sting of its mockery sent all his hair on end. Slowly the rough bark of the tree shifted contorting into the face of the dryad. Closed bark eyes snapped open revealing red pupils that locked in on Kendel as he backed cautiously away, still keeping a distance in case she tried to spear him with her roots.

"Depart treacherous flesh and bones or these roots will drink your blood," the dryad warned. Her deep melodious voice resonating through the forest echoing off every branch, stone, and fallen leaf. The wolf shifted, testing the stability of his footing with one ear pointed back listening for the roots. He judged this dryad to be dangerous, but other than the brief text pages he had viewed at his master's request he knew nothing of them. Kendel had certainly never heard of them interfering to save a human before. This irritated him.

"Back to sleep hag, you have no business coming between a hunter and his prey," he snorted, deep voice growling through lips stretched back over fangs. Frustration seeped into those words more than he wished. Again the dryad laughed, the sound seemed to come from beneath Kendel and around him as if the whole forest was sharing her humor.

"A hunter?" Slowly the dryad moved out from the tree's bark, her body taking the shapely image of a human though her skin lacked its softness and was far too white, matching her pale hair. "Do you kill for food or pleasure? Lost you are, a curse to this world you torment. Do not hide shame and crimes beneath words far above you."

The tree trembled rising up behind her, carrying away with it the cocooned child. His frustration was quickly turning to anger and amber eyes shifted to a blood red. Still he held back, cautious. She stood there armor-less not because she preferred to mock him with her near naked form but because she held no fear for him. Perhaps even for both reasons.

His attention pulled back to another pressing problem. The rising tree, now supported by its massive roots, was slowly caving in the ground around him. Forced to retreat, he raced back through the weaving roots and collapsing earth, narrowly avoiding losing his left back paw in a snare left by one, until he had traveled a safe distance away.

There he shifted, dark fur receding into tanned skin and leather armor, fangs retracting behind bearded lips, body growing slimmer as he stood on two legs. Exhaling as he settled into human form, Kendel rolled both shoulders back and stretched his neck before facing the elevated tree. He laughed darkly.

"When were you so concerned with mankind?" Kendel growled. "Give her to me now and I won't burn you into the afterlife." Beneath the rugged black beard his lips curled with the pleasure of those words. Still it was a desperate boast and he knew it. As far as his knowledge covered, the only thing that could kill a dryad was fire; but he had never seen this put to the test.

"Threaten me Demon? Know you my name or weakness? Reasons are but whims, and mine is beyond your understanding," she sighed, tone clearly dismissive. Tilting her head she waited, expecting him to give up and leave. Kendel really didn't have much of a choice, only the sharp pain against the back of his skull as the master's order repeated itself in his mind impatiently.

"You will pay for this," he barked, beneath the man's skin, bone and muscle shifted. Holding himself back from tearing away the smug expression in her eyes Kendel raged, "your powers have only weakened-" She laughed again, this time her lips even moved into a mocking smile.

"If weak I am, why do you cower so far away?” she asked dangerously. The many roots of the tree rose and retreated as if inviting him back.

Kendel's hands clenched into fists tightly, fingernails drawing blood as he fumed knowing there was no chance left. He could only roar viciously across the distance; shifting into his animal form while wondering how this girl had been so lucky as to collapse by this particular tree.

"You cannot keep vigilance forever, eventually you will return to your slumber," the wolf reminded her, trying to cool his anger with reason.

“Pitiful wretch," she murmured yawning slightly. "Wake I did to stop you. Breathing this air. Poisoned Tainted. Think you now these actions are without greater purpose?" She was chiding him like a pup, Kendel tried to imagine her burning up in flames along with every twig of the forest around her. "Tired am I so explain I will," the dryads eyes slowly lost their blood red color, fading into a dull blue gray. "My life will lengthen hers. She will dwell in me beyond your reach. Will you share centuries of sleep by my roots to wait? Has your existence become so meaningless?" She smiled watching the wolf's tense shoulders slump as he grudgingly accepted defeat.

It was clear she knew about the girl, and even why Kendel's master had sent him after her. Though he wasn't even sure if what the dryad had told him was possible for this 'mere human',one thing he remembered about dryads was that they had no use for lies.

Gradually the tree's roots retreated, though still visible through the broken ground. The egg of wood holding the child disappeared into the earth beneath the massive tree, guarded on all sides by powerful roots. The dryad remained under its branches watching him, sleep already circling the corners of her eyes.

With a final retreating snarl the wolf turned to race back towards the road, and then the several miles further away where his master waited. "It's just one girl," Kendel snorted, trying to comfort his wounded pride.

He rarely failed any task his master asked of him, and he wasn't looking forward to that reaction. Worse yet would be the centuries of taunting the twins were sure to put him through.

The dryad stretched sleepily before slipping back into the tree, the bark regaining its rough brittle surface. After comfortably adjusting all her roots she moved into the egg with the slumbering girl. Wrapping her arms gently around her charge she smiled faintly even as she resigned herself to the death she had accepted in order to keep this child safe.

"Sleep deeply human. The world will groan and rage around us. Do not fear. Strength will be given to you when you wake. Your heart must undo past mistakes." A green light surfaced from within the dryads breasts and merged with the blue light that filled the girl. Closing her eyes the dryad passed along her dreams of spring, flowers, gentle winds, and the music of the forest.