wish she had told me more. What is this darkness? Does she mean the king, or does she mean something other than that? I’ve seen the evil he can bestow upon his people, but if there is something else, something more… Is there any way we could possibly stand against that?
Shaking my head, I try to push those thoughts away, knowing there’s nothing I can do about it right now. I glance over and meet his eyes. “And do you believe I’m the goddess reincarnated?” I keep my voice even. He already knows I don’t think this is possible, but I don’t want him to change his answer to try and please me.
He pauses at my question, his expression morphing into one of consideration, and I know I needn’t have been worried about him changing his answer. “I’m not sure,” he answers honestly, looking back over his people. “But I do know you are a sign that she will return to us. I already feel stronger, and the magic of the forest grows.” He turns and gazes out over the forest, gesturing with his hand at the trees that surround us. Looking into the forest, I see he’s right. It’s not that anything appears any different, it doesn’t, but there’s a change in the atmosphere, a different energy.
Suddenly, his breathing hitches, and I look over at him sharply, mistaking his gasp as a sign of something being wrong, but his wonder-filled eyes are wide as he stares into the darkness of the forest. That’s when I realise it’s not dark anymore, at least not part of it. Frowning, I follow his gaze, my eyebrows raising when I see what’s caught his attention. A bright light is shining through the trees, slowly moving towards us, and as it gets closer, I see it has the shape of an animal.
“Is that…” Squinting, I try to make out what it is. “Is that a wolf?” I ask with disbelief. I didn’t see any big animals, except for a few deer, as we travelled through the forest, and as the animal continues to come closer, I realise it’s huge. It’s easily the same size as my horse. That thing could cause a lot of damage if it were to attack, but Speaker Hawthorn doesn’t seem worried, in fact, he appears happier than I’ve ever seen him.
“That’s a forest spirit,” he whispers, as if he’s afraid his voice will scare it away. The fact that we’re up on a platform and far away from the spirit doesn’t seem to register with him. “They usually reside in the trees, but they occasionally take the form of an animal. They’re incredibly shy, and it’s rare to see them. We are honoured that it chose to show itself to us. I’ve not seen one in…” Trailing off, he glances at me, and seeing my overwhelmed expression, he tries to tone down his excitement. The spirit stops at the edge of the clearing, its muzzle raised so I know it’s looking up at us. “This is a sign—the magic is returning.”
I’m not sure why or where it comes from, but I feel the need to show my respect to it, so I slowly bow my head and drop into a shallow curtsy. As I rise, I feel the speaker’s approving gaze, but I don’t look away from the wolf spirit. There’s a pause, but slowly, as if mimicking me, it lowers its large head in a bow. Rising back to its full height, it turns and trots back into the forest, the glowing light fading as it disappears into the trees.
The presence of the spirit has awoken something within me. I feel alive, and despite the task the Mother has given me, I want to celebrate with my friends. However, I know this feeling isn’t going to last forever, in fact, it’s already fading and there’s more I need to know. “Why did the goddess vanish?” I ask. “I know you explained some of it in the story, but what do you think?”
The speaker ponders the question for some time, still staring out into the forest as if he might see the spirit once again. Finally, he turns looks over at me. “Some think that she died, but I know that’s not true.” He’s not talking about the wood elves right now, but the high elves who seem to have forsaken the gods and goddesses. “Others think she was so aggrieved by the slaughtering of elves and humans that