Fantasy When Forests Burn (Coreonysis & n.y.c.t.o)

[Coreonysis]

Your happy place has always been the forest. You go there when you're down, when you're sad, when you're happy. You're always there, and you know it like the back of your hand.
So it's surprising when you get lost.
That's the first time you get a glimpse of him. The man that changes your life forever.
His name's Kirinti, and he's an elf. And he's soft, kind, gentle, and everything you imagine in a guy.
And now his forest is condemned. If it is destroyed, he will die.
What will you do, to save his world?​

 

[Coreonysis]

Smoke.

Smoke was all that Kirinti could see.

"Get out of the trees! His brother shouted from below, but it was no use. The infants, the women, the children. They were all in the houses built among the branches. All of them were in danger of the fire that was a mere hour away from them. They would all die if they didn't get them down in time.

Kirinti bore the brunt of it.

"Brother!" He shouted down, though Kayvalen didn't acknowledge him. He understood; his brother had to help his people. But he had no idea exactly how bad the fire was. Kirinti had seen it; he had watched the flames lick the home he and his brother had built together. He could feel the pull on his insides, that gut feelings that somewhere, the forest was in trouble.

And he knew that Kayvalen felt it too.

"Get to the stronghold!" His brother shouted, as the women and children scampered down lazily-constructed ladders. There was no way, no way, they could get everyone. The smoke was visible now, and spreading quickly. The smell of burning leaves hung as heavy as the scent of death in the air, and Kirinti couldn't stop himself from thinking this is wrong, wrong, so wrong.

It was a miracle when they got what looked like everyone into the cement-reinforced stronghold. Though as Kayvalen did a headcount, and Kirinti did the same, they both came to a horrifying realization.

They were one short. And they knew who it was.

"Go!" Kayvalen shouted, and Kirinti did so without hesitating. He knew who it was. He knew where she would be. He found the little girl curled up under a bush, mere meters from the tongue of the flame.

"We have to go back, Selmendal" He coerced, and his little sister nodded her head. She got up and ran, and Kirinti ran after her, but he knew that he had to do something about the fire. He stopped running, and made sure his little sister made it. And then he turned towards the flame.

"Delmitri deamos!" He screeched, his lungs expelling all of the air they could hold. The fire seemed to draw closer to him, closer, closer, and then it was upon him. The fire seemed to seep into his skin, not burning it, but allowing it to keep its complexion as it scorched the veins beneath.

Kirinti collapsed as the fire began to recede.

 

[Elowyn]

WHEN FORESTS BURN --- a trailer

T.R.A.I.L.E.R.



She started off as a human girl

Never developed her magical talents

Her fox powers lie latent

Until a fateful eve in a forest

She thought she knew



An elf

Mysterious, kind, sweet, gentle,…

Everything she could hope for in a man.



But his forest

Is burning

And only she can stop

The flames from consuming

The one she loves.



What will become of her?

Is she fox… or human?

Does she save this elven kin?

someone please code this [spoiler]

 

[Elowyn]

The first sound that she remembers is the sound of a brook running. Sunlight slanting through canopy high above her head. The scent of pine needles, fresh laden with dew.

Her first memory is of this forest. She remembers her feet splashing in the waters, the smooth pebbles underneath her toes, her soles, and minnows darting between her legs. Tawny Amyntor as a young child. Blissfully playing in the woods. The woods that were now on fire.

Smoke...! she thought in a panic. Her haven, her place of peace and rest, was burning.

***​

She runs. There isn't much left of the northern part of the forest when she arrives. The flame has already exhausted itself and is even now dwindling, mere embers and ashes among blackened underbrush. The smell singes her sensitive nose.

There's nothing but stubble and fallen tree trunks left. Something deep within her breaks. A pang of her heart. Her haven, and in many ways, her home lie in dust. But there--! What lay beneath that holly bush? She draws closer with bated breath. Was that-- bright heavens!-- a person? Frantically now, her steps carry her swiftly to the stranger. Was he... she dares not think it. Then he shifts subtly, as if aware of her presence drawing near. Oh thank you, thank you, she thinks. Not really knowing what she is thinking.

Now she regretted not learning from her mama the Magic of Healers.

 

[Coreonysis]

"Kirinti..." The voice was a mere whisper, almost nonexistant. In fact, it only resided within his head. For it was the voice of his mother, the one who had died so many years ago.

"You still have work to do..."

He willed his eyelids to separate. His eyes, miraculously, still worked. The fire had not made it's way through his brain. He could hardly move. His limbs would not obey him, and he couldn't even think about standing. And yet when he saw the girl in front of him, his instincts still tried to kick in. His body convulsed, trying to move, and he laid back down, collapsing in pain. He could not leave. This stranger had complete control over him.

"Please... Do what you will to me. Leave my people alone."

Maybe this was the girl who had started the fire. Maybe she wanted him dead.

He had no way of knowing.

 

[Elowyn]

"Please... Do what you will to me. Leave my people alone."

His voice was soft, nearly a whisper. Surely his lungs were ash-choked. Young Tawny, nearly 16 years old, only felt... what, did she feel? Sadness. For the scene she saw today. Anger. For whoever did this. Agony. For the one lying in embers.

She paused, looked around, saw no one. Just who were his people...? Hopefully they'd escaped the raging fire. The girl knelt in front of him, wondering and beholding him. It was his twin emerald orbs that made her catch her breath. The purest green of the first unfurling of spring's first leaf... but they also held immense pain. When she brushed the golden locks away from his face, pointed ears became visible. A small, sharp intake of breath and she pulled her hand away as if stung.

Her mother had warned her of the Others. Creatures from another world. Tawny had always thought that she had been joking. And her mother was an ordinary hedge witch who made the occasional herbal elixir and performed healing rites when somebody was sick and an ordinary doctor wouldn't do. They were an uncommon breed, and slowly dying like the smoldering embers, and spread all over the globe. Now here it was: evidence that there was another realm that she did not know. But why now? After all those years of wandering through the forest she had never seen the likes of them.

All this she processed very quickly. In the end, all she said was
"What are you?" as if needing verbal confirmation that this was a supernatural being. As if the unburnt, unblemished skin wasn't enough.

 

[Coreonysis]

Kirinti was taken aback.

"What are you?" It was a simple enough question, but he had never thought of himself as a what. He had always been a who, a person whom people talked to freely. And yet, as his hurting irises focused on the girl in front of him, he could see no malice in her eyes. Only... Wonder. Amazement. Though why was he such a sight to behold?

Kirinti nodded toward a nearby tree, one that has escaped the grasp of the fire. "Please... Drag me to that tree." His voice was raspy, obviously pained. There was no way he would be able to get over there himself. But he would answer her question, if she would simply take him there.

The forest. The trees. They were all dreadfully silent. There were no birds singing, no bugs buzzing, and no animals making their way through the soft underbrush. There was only pain. Suffering. It hurt him to think about what the animals must be feeling. How the fire might have affected their homes, as well as his.

Tears came forth to his eyes. He was not built for this sort of pain.

 

[Elowyn]

Without a second thought, Tawny grasped the injured man underneath the arms and somehow managed to pull him over to the tree he had requested. It may be only her imagination, but he seemed rather light for his height. As to why he wanted to be by a tree eluded her at the moment, she was content to comply. Besides, it wasn't as though he could hurt her in that state.

But then she got to thinking, what if it was all a ruse? After all, in the tales her mother used to tell the fae were a dangerous and tricky sort. Prone to mischief and pranks, and most pesky of all, jinxes and minor hexes. Yet the suffering in his voice and eyes couldn't be an illusion... could they?

Slowly she made her way over with her burden, and propped him up as carefully as she could against the trunk of the tree.

 

[Coreonysis]

Kirinti...

His name was not spoken aloud, and yet it resounded throughout the trees. They recognized him. They felt his pain. The tree behind him could feel how much he was hurting. Through the root system that made up the entirety of the forest, the system that linked all trees... The single tree drew in all the spare energy that they had. All of the energy that had not been destroyed in the fire.

"Delmidori Amniotei" He whispered, the words alone hurting him. He hated to steal energy from the trees that had always been his home, but he had no choice. He couldn't survive this one.

Immediately, his body began to glow a bright green. It wasn't a harsh glow; simply a slight, green glimmer. His veins began to mend; his blood began to release the blackened cells that the fire had created. There was no feeling better than this one; the feeling that you would be alright, for eternity.

And then the energy was gone. And Kirinti stood, his eyes wary as the image of a leave was left upon his cheek. A small leaf, one that the forest always left to leave its mark.

"Who are you?"

 

[Elowyn]

Tawny had backed up a few paces when he muttered something under his breath and a greenish glow emanated from his body. There was something beyond this realm about this healing. Something even deeper than mother's healing elixirs and minor spells. After the glow disappeared she noticed a mark on his cheek that wasn't there before.

In response to his question, she merely said: "Tawny. Tawny Amyntor." and then "Are you one of the Fae?"

 

[Coreonysis]

The fae.

Was that derogatory?

"I am an elf." He said simply, pulling the bow from off his back. He made his way around her, moving towards the compound. He was not too far from it; only half a mile at most. He didn't understand; he should have been closer. He then stopped, turned around, and looked to the girl.

"I suppose I owe you thanks for saving me. I would not have been able to get to that tree without you." He pulled an arrow from his quiver, which pulsed with the energy of the forest. He walked over to her, so close that he could have blinked, and she would have felt the breeze.

"I owe you a favor. Break this arrow if you need me. I will come bearing my armies." He slid the arrow through her belt loop, and then began to run.

He had to find his brother.

 

[Elowyn]

He was an elf. As simple as that. Tawny blinked confusedly. What was the reason for this encounter? And furthermore, who had set fire to the forest? She wanted to know. As he moved away, she shifted her weight forward as if wanting to chase after him, this mysterious elf.

When he turned, her heart fluttered in her chest. There they were again: those moss green eyes. After thanking her, he walked up to her. For some reason, she was unafraid and boldly met his eyes. He told her to break the arrow to get his help, and she wondered if he'd break her heart as well.

The girl was surprised that he began to lope away, the vestiges of being burned seemed to have melted away. Wait, she wanted to call after him, but did not. He had his own, and she had hers. Almost unconsciuosly, she fingered the wooden arrow. Its shaft was well crafted and straight, the feathers at the end unrecognizable to her. Slowly she began her way back. There was nothing left to see.

After wandering for twenty minutes or so without finding any recognizable sign, she began to grow frustrated. The girl hadn't noticed the ears and tail that were now visibly on her person. There wasn't anything that was familiar in this part of the woods. Not like she came often this far from the cabin, but usually she would have heard the sound of running water by now. A part in the trees and she dashed for it. Then with a sickening twist in her gut realized that it was where she had met the elf.

Hot tears began to course down her face. By this point the stars were beginning to come out, and her fingers and feet were stiff with the night chill. Drawing on her memory, Tawny approximated the direction he went in and started that way. Perhaps she could find him, and maybe he could even shelter her for the night. It didn't seem like the once-familiar forest was eager in letting her return anytime soon.

 

[Coreonysis]

One step. Two steps. Three steps. Four.

Five steps. Six steps. Seven steps more.

The little rhyme Kayvalen had taught him flowed through his brain, and he kept his breathing steady. The elves of his tribe were taught to run for miles without rest, and they did so by losing themselves to their thoughts. They allowed themselves to drift, letting their body bear the brunt of the work while their mind wandered away.

He came upon the compound, and all thoughts immediately ceased. As he saw the cement door, all possible thoughts fled his brain except for one.

That door shouldn't be ajar.

The door hung open on the hinges, the bottom one broken off the frame. Kirinti sprinted now, his mind fully focused on one, simple thought. Where are they? Are they okay?

And as he pulled the door to its fullest extent, breaking it off the hinges, he gazed into the dark, bleak emptiness within the compound.

The emptiness that should have been filled with his people.

Kirinti fell to his knees. His hair fell to cover his face. He couldn't breath. He couldn't breathe.

Where were they?

 

[Elowyn]

It was pretty much fully dark by the time she arrived to the collection of broken buildings, broken shells. There was not a sign of life anywhere. But it was dark, and the shadows were creeping up on her. Exhaustion and weariness from travel and fear begged her to find some place to lie down.

She found one of the buildings whose door was ajar. She approached with caution, and pried the door open... A heavy thick black cloaked every detail that would have been readily available to the eye should she have had any light. This time, however, she knew what to do. From the pouch on her belt she drew a flint striker and a few small sticks she had gathered along the way in case of this.

Click... click...

And a small flame flickered to life on the stick. In contrast to the one that had raged, this one was tame and domestic. It didn't give much light as she didn't want to risk anything, yet she could see a form on the ground, quivering.

She very nearly screamed.

 

[Coreonysis]

It was the girl.

He looked up from the floor, noting the fire in her hand. He moved away from her, nearly crawling. He could barely move. His hands were frozen, his feet were frozen, his face was freezing. He was not used to this cold.

The trees had taken in most of the cold during his stays in the forest. With most of them burned, the cold chills were able to get to him. And they certainly did.

"My... Family..." He muttered, looking to her. He looked to the fire, and an idea came to him. "Aphmora... Deminsci." A collection of sticks assembled upon the floor, and the fire fell from her hand. the sticks ignited. Very soon, a good blaze was going.

It was going to get much colder tonight. And he had no idea where his brother would take them.

 

[Elowyn]

The fire's blaze warmed her, and soon the pile was crackling. So this was real magic. Excitement stirred within her. Although she was chilled to the bone, things were looking up for the first time today. She had an actual Fae with her and he could perform spells! The childish twinkle in her eye had never quite faded, although it had weakened at some points.

Staring into the fire and warming herself up, she now thought of her family. Her two newly born twin brothers. Her younger sister. How was her mother doing? Was she worried? First it was Father that vanished from her life. Now Tawny. Her chest felt tight, as if a giant hand were squeezing her abdomen.

To distract herself from her own worries, she focused on the strange one on the other side of the fire. She began to speak in a low tone. "What happened here? Is this where your kin used to live?" And silently, she was thinking to herself And why can't I get out of the forest...?

She had no thought whether it would be rude or too blunt of a question. The girl's mind was still simple, unfettered by the concerns adults usually have about asking personal questions and impinging on someone's hospitality.

 

[Coreonysis]

His eyes were normally a bright, bright shade of green.

The past few days had darkened them.

With that question, they grew to the darkest they had ever been.

"My home burned, along with most of the fire. This compound was built so in case something like this happened, my people would have a place to stay." He thought back to realizing that his sister had been missing. He thought back to being in that very compound with Kayvalen, and then being sent back on a mission to rescue the little girl.

"They were here. I saw most of them get here safely. And now they're out in the cold, with the majority of them women, children, infants... None of them are used to this." He had no idea why he was being this talkative with a stranger. She didn't know him, or Kayvalen, or any of the people in his tribe. And yet strangely, there was something eerily... Forest, about her.

"What are you?" He asked, matching her own question from earlier.

 

[Elowyn]

"What are you?" He tossed her own question back at her.

"A hedge witch's daughter," she replied. "But why? Where have they gone? Since they were already safe here, why did they leave?" She felt his eyes resting on her. They were dark now, she realized with a start. "Who would do this...?" she gestured vaguely about at the destruction.

When she thought about it, it was possible someone mentioned sometime or another about a compound or "small village" in the north. Perhaps they were referring to these safe houses? It dawned on her that she knew less of the forest than she had previously thought.

 

[Coreonysis]

Kirinti was tired. Oh so tired. Which was a bad sign, because it meant the forest was in bad shape.

"Kayv- my brother," he corrected himself, "must have had a reason. He wouldn't have left me unless-" And then it occurred to him.

Kayvalen thought he was dead. It was the only logical explanation. If Kayvalen though that he didn't have to wait for him, he would have moved the people to begin looking for a more permanent stay. The compounds couldn't hold them together; the elves couldn't be confined to concrete walls for more than a few days. And Kayvalen knew that.

The thought brought Kirinti to a darker state of mind. If his brother didn't want to be found, he wouldn't be found. He wasn't in the habit of being easy to hunt.

 

[Elowyn]

The elf trailed off. Tawny began to feel quite bad for him. In the past she had pitied herself for growing up with no father and living on the edges of civilization, but now looking at the one who had lost everything it seemed far greater a tragedy.

He seemed to be in a darker place by the minute. The girl inched over to him and placed a small hand on his forearm in what she hoped was a comforting gesture. She waited and did not speak. She didn't want to make things worse for him. "I'm here," said she. He could tell her anything, and of course they'd just met, but tragedy seals bonds even more than pleasurable years. "You can say anything you must." Her ears (still not consciously noticed) perked forward and with one angled towards him.

 

[Coreonysis]

He noticed the ears.

This girl was not human. That, at least, made him a bit more comfortable. The humans were often the ones causing the destruction.

"I need to find my brother." Kirinti eventually said, standing up. He had no idea how he was going to go about doing that; Kayvalen and him had both learned the same anti-tracking techniques, and therefore would be impossible for each other to find. Though it might be helpful; Kirinti knew exactly what he would hide, and what he would leave exposed.

"I have to get to my people; they won't know how to survive in this, with the forest coming down around them." Kirinti was already weakened by the burned part of the forest; if any more of the trees came down, then Elves would begin to die.

He couldn't let that happen.

 

[Elowyn]

"...and you have what they need to survive." It was a question in the form of a statement. One could tell by the way she said it, the light of curiosity in her grey-tinted eyes. She shivered, but now it was a shiver of excitement and anticipation. Something she said must have caused a change of his disposition, for suddenly he seemed more at ease. She had connected, by this time, that there was some connection between the forest and the elven peoples. Apart from that, she could only guess at.

Although she wanted to know more about his people and what types of magic they knew how to cast and a million other things her imaginative mind could come up with, she didn't know what to say, or what to say first.

 

[Coreonysis]

He looked to her; this time he really looked. He couldn't see any malice within her eyes. She felt his pain, nearly as solemnly as he felt it himself. He knew immediately that this girl meant him no harm. She could be trusted. That wasn't something that could be said very often.

In a flash, he took the arrow from her belt and slid it back into his quiver. "You won't be needing this anymore." He said, his perfectly clear, crystal green eyes boring into hers. "Because you're coming with me to find my people."

With that, Kirinti extinguished the fire. The blackened compound didn't need any more smoke to taint the concrete. He stood in the doorway, scenting the air. Smoke hung as heavily as a curtain, but he could smell something very distinct, very secret, once he tried.

Magic.

 

[Elowyn]

Childishly, Tawny felt a rush of joy and euphoria at this. She was leaving behind the world that she had grown up in for something truly exciting and adventurous. Who knows what she would see while accompanying this elf? Tawny grinned.

Curious enough, he had taken back the arrow and then left for the outside. She watched as he scented the air. Copied him. Couldn't taste anything but charred ground and leaves and bark and branches that had been turned to hard lumps. The smell of smoke hung heavy in the air and suffused the night with a even more tangible darkness. Tired, now, she curled up on her side to fall asleep.

And her dreams were content despite the chill from the ground that the fire could not diminish.

 

[Coreonysis]

"Pssst. Wake up. Time to go."

The night had passed uneventfully. Kirinti had tried every spell in the book, and none of them had been able to break through his brother's anti-tracking. It was only at the crack of dawn that he remembered what his father had taught him. "If ever you are in need of family, shoot an arrow to the sky. It will come down where you need to go." And so Kirinti had shot an arrow into the sky, and decided they would be heading west.

"We're leaving now, if you still want to come."

He didn't know why he was taking this stranger. But it would be nice to not be alone along the way.