Ares and Elowyn exchanged a sharp, silent glance.
Had it not been for the dark, coagulated blood staining the white drift, they might have suspected they had wandered into the wrong clearing. But as they stared down at the deep, compressed impressions in the snow where the massive trunk had rested, it proved beyond a doubt that the tree had been there.
The beast’s carcass was also nowhere to be found.
How is that even possible??
Elowyn stepped forward, circling the empty indentation just to be certain. Her fingers reached into the empty air, hovering as though half-expected to feel some invisible bark or anything at all.
But there was nothing.
"How is this... where did the tree go?" She stepped back quickly, a cold shiver racing down her spine as she turned to Ares. "It makes no sense. A wild beast could carry off free meat, but trees don’t uproot themselves from the ground and just walk away. Something isn’t right."
Ares remained motionless, his golden gaze sweeping over the silent tree line. Unfortunately, he found no tracks or signs that hinted at something else being here. As strange and inexplicable as his compulsion to find that tree was, he had no intentions of gambling with Elowyn’s safety.
Stepping closer, he caught her arm to draw her back, already turning her away from the clearing.
Before they could take another step, a bizarre, crystalline chime cut through the mountain air. It sounded sharp and delicate, like a silver bell echoing against frosted glass.
Ares whipped around instantly, drawing a sharp breath as Elowyn froze beside him. They both looked down toward the frozen splatter of dire wolf blood in the snow, only for a tiny- looking creature to reveal itself.
It was no larger than a human finger.
The woodland spirit, barely the height of Ares’s knuckles, huddled miserably in the snow. Its body appeared to be made entirely of green leaves shaped like fragile flower petals. A few translucent leaves drooped from its little shoulders, their once-vibrant veins muted to a sickly, fading chartreuse. Fine green shoots formed its hair, while a dropping white blossom sat askew on its head.
In short, this creature looked like a living botanical sculpture. It lifted its head, revealing two impossibly large green eyes shining with utter exhaustion.
A soft, bell-like resonance chimed from its chest.
"Ting."
Its tiny body quivered.
"Ting... ting."
The creature attempted to scramble over a ridge of packed snow, but its leafy limbs lacked all strength. With a soft, rustling sigh, it tumbled backward into the powder, completely spent.
Elowyn whispered, "What is that thing?"
Ares offered no response.
Logic dictated he should be wary of unknown magic, but the moment the microscopic creature appeared, a searing, electric hum vibrated through his blood. It felt less like an encounter with a stranger and more like an old memory clawing its way back to the surface. This chapter is updated first at novelping . com.
Moving on autopilot, Ares stepped forward and lowered himself to one knee, extending his open palm toward the snowy earth.
The creature paused, its oversized emerald eyes fixing on his face with absolute clarity. It didn’t fear him. Shivering against the cold, the little thing dragged itself forward and clambered onto his palm.
"Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting!"
A flurry of bright, bell-like chimes filled the air as it wrapped its fragile arms around his fingers, holding fast as Ares straightened to his feet.
This creature...
It left Ares dumbfounded.
Why does holding it feel like he was recovering a part of himself?
"I’ve honestly never seen anything like it," Elowyn murmured, pulling Ares back to reality. "Do you think it’s any good in stew? It looks like a garnish."
Her blunt question hit him like a physical blow. Ares instinctively curved his hand inward, shielding the trembling green spirit from her hungry gaze.
"Absolutely not," he shot back, his tone protective. "It’s a spirit plant. They’re known to bring good fortune," he added, spinning the most earnest, straight-faced lie he could muster. "I think we should take it with us instead."
Elowyn stared at him, utterly bewildered. "Take it with us? To the shelter? You probably don’t remember this but spirit plants have always been connected to the abyss of destruction, by that I mean nothing good comes from these creatures. If that truly is a spirit plant, maybe we should leave it alone? It looks harmless now, but what if it turns out to be a bloodthirsty forest demon in disguise? Then what??"
She cast a wary glance around the empty snow. "Or worse– what if it’s connected to the missing tree?" She gasped in horror as another thought bloomed in her head."What if it ate the wolf and the tree? Think about it. They disappeared without a trace, and suddenly this thing pops up out of nowhere. I believe it is not to be trusted at all!"
"Ting?"
The tiny spirit blinked its massive green eyes, tilting its leafy head innocently as if trying to understand her terror.
Elowyn crossed her arms, shivering against the cold and sheer the absurdity of the moment.
Ares, however, looked completely unfazed. He glanced down at the creature with mild amusement, as if she were shouting over nothing. "Didn’t you lecture me earlier about how every life has intrinsic value? Or does that sweet philosophy of yours only apply when it’s convenient? If spirit plants are as rare as you say, shouldn’t we be protecting the good ones?"
Elowyn sputtered, color rushing to her cheeks. "I never said—!"
"Look at it," Ares murmured, his tone softening into a rich, teasing hum that made her pulse skip. "Can you honestly look at those big eyes and tell me it’s a monster? I think it has quite a lot of charm." This chapter is updated first at novelping.com.
Elowyn stood paralyzed, watching him casually stroke the creature’s leafy crown. The little green imp let out an ecstatic, bell-like chime, pressing its tiny face into his palm like a spoiled pet. It was aggressively adorable, and worse, it made Ares look unfairly magnetic standing against the snow.
"We’re wasting daylight," he murmured over his shoulder, already starting down the trail with an easy stride, leaning confidently into his new walking stick. "Let’s go retrieve the pails."
"I thought we were turning back!" she protested, scrambling through the snow to catch up.
"Everything’s fine, Elowyn. Come stand next to me."
[•]
In the end, that creature made it back to the shelter with them.
While Elowyn remained outside stowing the recovered pails, Ares ducked through the leather flap with his diminutive passenger. He carefully set the tiny woodland spirit in front of him, watching it unfurl its drooping fronds with a shivering ting of relief.
But comfort hadn’t been Ares’s motive.
He had risked an argument with Elowyn because he felt he was in some way, tethered to this creature. As though sensing his thoughts, the entity bowed its head in a solemn, deliberate gesture.
"Can you understand me?" he pressed, his voice dropping into a low, uncompromising register. "Do you know me?"
The spirit blinked slowly.
"Ting-ling..."
It raised a miniature leafy hand and patted his thumb almost in a gesture of pure, earnest comfort, completely missing the point of the interrogation.
"You’re the tree from the woods, aren’t you? And you’re the one who led me to Elowyn."
The little being gave a crisp, decisive nod. Ares sighed, trying to wrap his mind around how an entire tree could possibly have compressed into something so impossibly small. Could it really be dangerous?
"Listen carefully," he began, the usual calmness in his tone shifting into absolute indifference. "I didn’t bring you with me out of pity. My memory is gone, and you are my best lead to getting it back. Prove yourself useful to me, and I might just let you stay. But cross me, or try any silly tricks, and I will snap you in half myself. Understood?"
The creature dipped its head in immediate, obedient compliance.
Ares tilted his head slightly in thoughts. The creature was being far too obedient, almost differential. Were they truly connected? And if so, what was their bond like? What did that say about the man he used to be?
Questions buzzed in his mind, demanding answers he didn’t have. Which made holding onto it non-negotiable.
As desperate as he was, he also could not blindly trust the little enigma until he understood the nature of the pull in his chest.
Until then, he would use every tool at his disposal.