Archive of Our Own ^beta

The wind was blowing through the trees, ruffling the fur of the large blue lioness sat by his side, lapping at the pool of water. The blue lions were native to the land; Their coats allowing them to blend into the forest around them, the coloration seeming to shift as deep as the shadows. His village was one of the few that were able to work alongside the lions, befriend them until the point where they were able to move, to run and fight side by side. 

Lance looked out over the village that had raised him, the wooden huts that made up their homes, thatch roofs with chimney holes to allow for a fire within the home.  There was an age-old sense of magic about the place, from the peculiar scents that rose from the shaman’s hut, to the intricate carvings that dotted the rocks as a form of protection, meant to ward off those who would seek to do harm towards the village and those within the borders.From where he was perched, Lance could see it all, even the small child who turned towards him and waved.  Not that he’d be hard to miss, with a great blue lion standing beside him. She purred, pushing her nose against his hand in demand of pets from him. Blue was always like that, always demanding to be pet and Lance was more than happy to oblige the lioness. Choosing not too tended to be a bad idea. 

It was the sudden stillness and quiet that had first caught his attention, happening as abruptly as the sound of a twig snapping underfoot. It was as if the world had stopped and held its breath.  Lance’s fingers instinctively curls in Blue’s fur, his eyes fixed on his home. Something wasn’t right, the calmness feeling wrong; Something was happening.

Then the screams came. (Then the screams reached his ears)

Without putting much thought into it, Lance had climbed onto Blue’s back and began racing down the hillside towards the source of the screams.  Something had appeared from the woods, though he couldn’t quite make out what it was, beyond the fact it was a giant wriggling mass of black and red slime, that threatened to engulf them all. 

The wind kissed his skin as Blue ran down the mountain with ease, the familiar paths nothing new to the beast who was raised upon them.  Lance pressed himself close to her back, eyes forward, locked onto the monster before them.

 What the hell was going on? They had never seen anything like this before.  It couldn’t have been a-

“Demon!”  Someone screamed as people began to run for cover, seeking an escape from the madness that had exploded in the plains below. 

“Faster Blue,” Lance murmured to the lioness as she ran down the mountainside they had been hunting upon. He had learned to ride as a child, first with a horse and then with Blue. It was a part of their tradition, the sons of the village chief  bonding with a lion as a child and learning to ride them.

His older brothers had learned, and he followed in their footsteps when he was old enough, creating a strong bond with Blue that his other siblings had formed with their own lions. It took a while, many an hour spent working with Blue to earn the trust of the fickle lioness, who eventually seemed to decide that he was just a hairless lion, and a bad one at that. 

As the monstrous demon came into view, Lance straightened up, pulling the bow from his back and an arrow from the quiver. Though he had yet to raise his bow, he wanted to at the very least try and reason with the creature, before he stooped to such devastating and horrific methods as taking the life of the being. 

“Demon!” Lance shouted above the ruckus, “Turn back and leave our village in peace! We mean you no harm!”  In response to his words, the demon turned its red eyes upon him. It snorted, roared, then charged. 

No , this was the opposite of what he had hoped, not wanting it to result in a fight. All he needed was for the demon to turn, leave his people in peace so that they could carry on with their lives. He wished that there weren’t any more unnecessary deaths in the world than there already was. 

There was no choice for him really, other than to do what he knew he had to.  Pressing his heels against Blue’s side the lion shot off again, running away from the charging animal.  Lance raised the bow, taking aim and breathing, moving as if he was a part of Blue.  It was what it took to become the archer that he had.  Incredible, patient. Letting out the breath he had been holding, Lance released the arrow.

It soared through the air, hitting its mark, and causing the demon to shriek in pain, a hunk of the black and red sludge flying towards him and wrapping around his arm.  The sudden and searing heat knocked Lance from the back of Blue and to the ground.  People began to run towards him, towards the demon as it collapsed. The black sludge melted away as the people watched, Lance pushing himself to his feet shakily.  He was in pain.  A lot of it.  It felt like his arm was going to burn right off of his body.

The shaman woman walked over towards the demon and bowed to it as the sludge revealed the boar that had been consumed. “Boar god, we shall honor you and hope that we can bring you some peace.”

The boar laughed a squealing painful sound. “You humans are the cause, all of this anguish and suffering. You destroy the forest, you stole the god, and you shall pay for what you’ve done.”  A breath, foul and rancid came from the boar god as it let out one final gasp, melting away to nothing, the ground beneath where he lay turning as black and as dead as the god.

Lance and the others stared at the spot where the boar had been, and at the round ball that stayed there. Bending down the man picked up a ball. He turned placing it in Lance’s palm.

It was cold, cruel, and heavy.  Not something that Lance had ever seen before in their world.  A foreign weapon meant for nothing more than to destroy everything, wasn’t it? “What is it?’

“Iron. From beyond our mountain.”

Lance glanced over towards him. “The god was in pain….” There was a hint of sorrow in his voice, his brows furrowing even as his arm began to throb painfully.  None of this was good.  In fact, Lance was pretty sure it was one of the worst situations he could have been in.  “And this was the cause.”

Time passed slowly, everyone looking around terrified, whispering as to what it meant for them and their people. No one had ever seen such a thing, the gods never appeared in such a manner and never so full of rage and hate as the boar god that had come barreling through their lands.  It put them at risk…and Lance felt a weight in his stomach.

He was the prince of his people.  It was his job to go and protect them and learn what he could.  To see with his own eyes the state of the world.  His eyes dropped down to his arm as he wrapped it carefully with bandages soaked with a mixture of herbal remedies.  Nothing seemed to help it though, the marks were there to stay. Dark, angry marks that marred his tanned skin.

Lance sighed and shook his head, pushing to his feet as he made his way towards the hut where the elders lived.  They were those in the village who made the decisions, his own grandmother being the head of the village. She made decisions, she knew of the gods, of what they would have to do.

“My prince welcome,” she spoke to him as he entered and knelt before her and the others. “We have seen the iron, it comes from a long way away, from beyond our mountain.” She lifted her eyes and looked towards him. “Show them your arm Lance.”

He lifted it, and tugged off the bandages.

The shock was audible, gasps and whispers of alarm and concern filled the hut as people spoke around him and about him.

“It is a curse, one of hatred,” she began turning to the bones and stones she used to see the way.  “It will spread until our prince is consumed by it.”

The weight seemed to grow in his stomach. People asking what could be done, what they could do.  “Go beyond the mountain, see the world with eyes unclouded by hate.  Help where you can.”

“But if he leaves-”

“Then I can never return home.” Lance finished.  The silence was heavy, tilting his head to the side. He reached to his side, pulling out the blade and reaching up, cutting the bun of hair. It fell around his head shorter than before, into his eyes.  He’d have to fix that later but for the moment, he had to leave. 

“We cannot watch you as you go Lance,” his grandmother went on as he stood to leave.

“I know.”  That did not make it hurt any less.

It did not help the oppressive silence that he had once found so comforting as he packed up what few things that he might need for the trip and saddled up Blue.  It would be a long journey, there were certain things that he just simply could not carry.  On his waist, he strapped his sword, bow fixed to his back. The straw cloak and hat would keep him warm during the cold nights ahead.

Lance pulled himself up onto Blue’s back beginning to ride off when he heard a noise.

“Lance!” Hunk said as he came forward from the shadows. 

They had been friends from the start, grew up together, and had thought they’d face the world together.  Seemed the world had different plans for them.  “Hunk what are you doing you can’t be here if they find out.”

“Oh I don’t care. You really think I was going to let you leave without saying goodbye?” Hunk pulled something from around his neck and held it out, pressing it into Lance’s palm. “To remember your best friend by.”

Lance glanced down in his palm.  A crystal, a special crystal that Hunk had found when they were children that glowed golden like a cat’s eye. “Your dagger?” he asked looking up in surprise. “No I can’t take this.”

“You can and you will. You’ll give it back to me one day.” Hunk had a warm smile on his features, masking he sadness that Lance managed to get just a brief glimpse of in those dark eyes of his. “You’ll be back. Can’t stay away forever.  Not sure your folks would allow it.”

But they were allowing him to leave town with no one watching. An outsider among his own people.  It was an unfortunate situation, but that was the hand of cards that he had been dealt with. 

The air nipped at his skin as he took the cord around the wall crystalline dagger and tied it around his neck, tucking it carefully under the hem of his shirt. There. Now that that was done. “You better go back home, you wouldn’t want to get caught out here.  YOu’ll be in trouble.”

“Then let me be in trouble. We’re friends, that’s what we do, we look out for each other.”

Lance smiled fondly at Hunk.  The thought of leaving him behind was unpleasant, hell, the thought of leaving in general was making him feel sick to his stomach with worry and regret.  What the hell was he supposed to do? Was he even ready for such a journey?

He knew how to fight, how to hunt and cook and survive in the world without them. It didn’t necessarily make it something that he ever actually wanted to have to do though.  His family meant the world to him…and if keeping his family safe from whatever it was out that was causing the problems meant leaving the only home that he had ever known behind, then that was just something that he was going to have to do.

The cold air nipped at his skin as he rode through the woods, Blue easily moving through the landscape away from the village.  Lance paused only once to look back when they were a ways away.  He could just see the smoke rising from the huts, showing where everyone was against the dark sky. Stars studded the deep blue of night, the moon lighting his way through the forest.

The sounds of animals would soften as they passed, sensing the great beast that he rode upon. He ran his fingers through Blue’s fur. It wasn’t a true blue, more grey like a storm cloud, than the blue of the lakes and streams. It had been the eyes that had earned Blue her name. When Lance had first met her, had first been given the cub that he was going to raise to be his own, the first thing he noticed were the blue eyes.  They had, much to his disappointment, faded with time, turning from crystal blue to he deep amber gold that the rest of the lions had.

Only when he could barely keep his eyes open, did he dare stop his movements.  The world was now unfamiliar to him, outside of the range of what his people knew. They were isolated, protected by the mountain from most natural disasters and harsh weather at the cost of being away from the human beings.

At some point, he would have to go into a village and buy some food if he had to. Or maybe some sort of other supplies that he might need. There was gold in his point, several nuggets.  It was what his people traded goods for among themselves if they did not have anything else to bargain with.  The precious stones were found in the river that ran by their home.  Children would often be seen in the shallows digging for the shiny bits of rock, hoping to find one to go home and show to their parents. Sometimes, it would be left as an offering to one of the great spirits.

They had always seemed to prefer offerings of food thought.

Lance, huddled beneath his straw cloak, settled down for the night, resting against Blue.  HIs mind would not settle.  There were a thousand questions running through it almost faster than he truly knew what to do with.  A whole host of information that he wanted to know about everyone that he could meet.  There was a genuine curiosity that was overshadowing the grave situation that he was in. But a chance to explore a world that had been forbidden to him? It was hard not to see at least in some light the positive nature of it all.

The first village he came across was nothing like what he had expected to see. There were men on horseback and they were slaughtering the people of the village.  It turned Lance’s stomach sour, making him feel sick as he watched them ride down, and then kill one of the men from the village. Staying there was dangerous, he knew, but even as ill as he felt, Lance could not pry his eyes away from what was happening.

“Hey!”

Lance jerked back into focus, his eyes moving towards the two men on horses who had spotted him.  “Fly Blue,” Lance whispered to the lion who took off running as fast as her legs would carry her.  In any normal circumstance, she was faster than a horse.  They men were riding though at an angle to intercept.

“Stay back!” Lance shouted as he drew his bow, knocking an arrow against the string. “I’m warning you.”

All at once, a blinding pain shot through his arm.  The skin beneath his greaves seemed to bubble and boil, as if it was becoming alive. That wasn’t what was startling to him, it was the pure hatred that filled him like a rush of wind blowing against his skin.  The men who were there deserved to die, they had hurt innocent people and he hated them.  Hated that they could be so cold towards their fellow man. Hated that the could slaughter everyone without second thought.

The arrow flew from his bow, the feathers brushing his fingers as it went. With a whistle, it sailed forward with such force that the man’s head seemed to wobble, and then slid from his neck in a burst of blood.

Lance, horrified, fought against drawing a second one, struggling to resist his own arm as he did so. No.  No. That wasn’t what he was there to do.  He was there to find out about the iron ball, to find out what was going on with eyes unclouded by hate.  But this? No. This was not what he was supposed to be doing.

The second arrow flew and another man fell. 

Blue scaled the pathways easily.  No one dared to approach them then, not after witnessing whatever had just happened. The second they got to a stream, Lance hopped off of Blue’s back, tore off the greave and shoved his arm into the icy water.  It felt like his skin was on fire, and the black marks…they were getting worse.  It had spread, covered more of the skin than it had only a day ago when it had first appeared. 

It would one day consume him, it would one day kill him.  That much was clear, and a piece of his fate that he had to accept, even as his heart was gripped with fear and worry.  Would his family be told about what was happening? Would Hunk know?  His friend had wanted him to return home to see him one day.  Perhaps if there was time when he had finished his work then he would be able to.  Of course, if he was even allowed back into the village.

Never to return, that had been the terms when he had agreed to leave.  It was as much a part of their tradition as were the offering to the kodama and the other spirits of the forest.

Sometime later, lance had found himself in another village. All eyes were on him, a stranger in strange clothes walking with a massive lion by his side. He placed her in one of the stalls as if she were one of the horses.  The others were going nuts, braying and stomping their hooves in displeasure of being left alone with what they perceived to be a predator ready to kill.  Didn’t mean that blue wasn’t attracting her fair share of attention

He had gone to a stall, picked out a few pieces of food and had placed the gold nugget in the woman’s palm.

“Hey! This isn’t money, give me back my bread!”

Lance faltered, the gold had always worked in the past, why didn’t she seem to like it? It must not have been the custom to pay with gold in those parts of the country. “Uh…”

“Let me have a look at that then.” A figure approached, reaching out to take the bit of gold from her hand. “Say, what do you know….it’s real gold.  My dear woman this boy here must have bought your entire stand for such a nice price.”

“What?”  The woman’s eyes widened as she snatched the gold back and people began to crowd around all wanting to get a glimpse of the gold.

“You’re not from around these parts are you?” The man said looking over towards Lance, as he climbed back onto Blue’s back eager to be away from the village.  For a moment, they rode in silence, or well, walked in the man’s case.  Lance did not fully trust him, he was an odd stranger that had appeared almost out of no where to help him in his time of need. No one did that without wanting something in return.

The hair began to rise on the back of his neck, and despite the strong urge to look behind him and confirm, he knew that they were being followed.

“Yeah that’s what you get for waving that bag of gold around back there.  They’ll follow us and kill us in our sleep.”  Lance looked towards the strange man.  The man was the sort that Lance could imagine just being able to disappear in a crowd with a moment’s notice. “What do you say we try and give them the slip?”

Lance took the hint, and pressed the heels of his boots into Blue’s side, urging the lion forward. Her paws pounded against the ground as they went, putting enough distance between the two of them that their pursuers would just give up the chance. It was a long and hard ride for Blue, the poor animal panting by the time that they were done. 

Only when dinner had started to cook did Lance even attempt a basic conversation with the stranger.  He had pulled out the iron ball, holding it out for the man to inspect. “You have any ideaa where this came from?”

“Hm…” the man replied, tilting his head slight as he reached to take it from Lance. “It’s iron, if I had to guess it would be from Allura and her iron town.”

“Iron…” Lance took the ball back, holding it in his hands. “And where is this Iron Town.”

“On the otherside of the mountain.  Word is that she found iron within the mountain and made an entire town around it.  The women are in charge in that town.”

He turned his eyes towards the stranger.  Was that supposed to shock him? Was there something wrong with the Iron Town that he would speak of it in such a manner?

“Well we better get some rest, don’t want to linger here too long in case those bandits come back.”

Lance nodded, thinking over his plan.  If the ball that had killed the boar was from Iron Town, then that was where he needed to go next. Some how, he was able to rest, though it was not fitful.  He was restless, unable to relax against Blue’s soft fur as he had several times before.  The thought of the bandits coming after them was not something that he was fond of, made his stomach settle uneasily. 

An hour later, Lance was up, moving quietly away from the stranger that had decided to help him for some reason.  It didn’t take long before he was back on Blue and riding off into the night. It was safe to keep moving than to stay put, especially if there were people out there looking to come after him for the gold that he had.

For a moment, Lance let out a breath, allowing himself to close his eyes, wrapping his arms around the harness on Blue’s back. He wouldn’t fall, trusted the lion to realize exactly how he was moving so that he would not have to wake up by that lurching feeling in his belly.  Just a few moments of sleep, that was all that he needed. Time to rest his tired mind before he continued to search for the answers, the reality behind the situation. To see with eyes unclouded by hate.

It wouldn’t safe his arm, the dull throb beneath the guards he wore to protect them a constant reminder of his fate.  That it would one day just consume him alive to the point where it would be better of to be dead than to be alive and in such pain.

How long Lance slept? He didn’t know, just that the next thing that he heard was the sounds of a battle. Distant shouting and fighting, explosions mingled with the barely audible sounds of people shouting out in pain.

“A battle…” He mused as he looked towards the sky catching sight of smoke not far off in the distance.  It wasn’t something that he should investigate by any means.  It was probably the opposite of what he should do in fact. His arm began to throb again, harder than it had before.  That desire to go and to fight was welling up in the pit of his stomach, the desire to draw back his bow, and kill someone…

Lance shook his head and turned Blue away from the smoke, towards the sound of water from the river that could not be far off.  Angry, hateful thoughts that were clouding his mind. It was not a good sign at all. In fact, it probably should worry him that he was even thinking like that. He could remember the god’s anger and hatred for the people of his village, and that alone was enough to twist his stomach into another knot.  He couldn’t become like the boar god.  He couldn’t.

“Come on Blue,” Lance said reaching to stroke his fingers through her fur as they made the trek down towards the water.  It would be a good place for a break, maybe he could even stick his arm in the water, ease some of the burning throb that was coursing through it.  It wasn’t so bad that it was clouding his mind or anything, enough that the constant reminder that he was cursed was there.

It was a sight of relief when he saw the water, running around the rocks and roots that were along the bank. He slipped off of Blue’s back unlacing the straps of the guard around his arm, and pulling both it and the sleeve off.  He shoved it under the water, feeling it ease some of the pain that was there.

His eyes trailed up his arm, and he felt his heart clench.  It had grown…the ghastly marks against his skin had grown in size, not completely covering his arm but not far from it.

It was a low rumbling growl from Blue that had him looking up. There across the river was a creature on the edge of the banks, a dark wolf, deep black and blues running through the creature’s coat.  As he watched, barely able to breathe, another wolf emerged and on his back was the figure of a young man.

Lance’s eyes widened, watching as the other pushed up the mask from his face and made his way over to the other wolf, burying his face in the creature’s hide then turning to spit out a stream of blood.

Wounded. A wounded wolf, another that looked clearly able to kill, and the strange young man. Before he could think to stop himself he moved to stand.  The young man’s head whipped around and he stared at him, face smeared with blood.

Lance took a breath before he spoke. “I’m Lance! I’ve come far from my village to see with eyes unclouded by hate! Are you the spirit of the forest?”

Those piercing eyes stared at him, and a smirk appeared on his features. “Go away.” As he watched, the young man pulled himself back onto the wolf and the three disappeared into the woods.

The image would not leave his mind, the young man with his face smeared with blood, the cold look in those eyes.  It was as if he had never met another human.  It was almost hard to believe that that was the truth of it.  It was as if that young man had never met another human….that had to be it.  Wasn’t it?  It couldn’t be that that young man was some sort of god was it? As far as Lance knew, none of the gods took a human shape. They had the ability to, but none did.

His people had always lived alongside the gods peacefully, there had never been any sort of issue. Yet now, as he stood there, looking at the place where the young man had been, he couldn’t be certain. He wanted to see him again, just to ask him about what he knew about what was going on. Maybe the young man would know something about what was going on with the forest, what had caused the anger in the boar god or where he should go to find out more information about the entire situation.

It was the sound of a young man groaning that had drawn him out of his mental state.  Lance turned looking around until he saw the source of the noise.  There was a man with gray hair that covered his head trying to pull himself from the river.  Instantly Lance went over and pulled him from the river.

“You’re alright,” Lance said moments before the man closed his eyes.  He had to work fast, gather wood to make a fire, make sure he could get the man dried and- Another man, he saw him just up the bank.  Lance went, pressing his fingers to his neck.  “Still breathing…”

Lifting the other man onto his shoulder, Lance brought him back to where Blue was and set him down. He worked as quickly as he could to make sure both men had their wounds tended to, and were sitting by the fire at least so that they could dry out. 

He was in the woods gathering some more branches for a fire when he heard a cry.  Lance made his way back to the camp and stopped, watching as the man with the orange hair was trying to push himself away from Blue.  “What is that?” He shouted pointing towards the lion who was watching the man unimpressed.

“Blue, she’s my friend,” Lance said as he put the firewood down.  “You shouldn’t be moving your words were pretty bad.”

“Well…yes.. Of course, but that’s a lion.”

“And?” lance looked up towards him. “Would you rather I leave you here?”

“What? No. Don’t do that it was just I wasn’t aware that there was someone out here to help me is all. It was strange.” The man cleared his throat. “I’m Sam.”

“Lance.”  Lance glanced around. “We need to get you home.  Where are you both from?”

“Iron town. On the otherwise of the forest.”

“Then we’ll go through it and get you both home soon.”

“What? Through the forest? Are you crazy? That’s where the gods live.”

“It is the fastest way and your friend’s injuries will not last.”

There was a beat. “My son’s.”

Lance looked towards the younger man and back towards Sam. “Does it matter? He will die if we do not get him back to Iron Town.”

Sam seemed worried but eventually sighed and nodded his head. “If it’s the fastest way than I guess we have no choice.”

Using his boot and dirt, Lance put out the fire. “You will ride on Blue.”  Lance worked to pick up the younger man, watching as Sam gave Blue a worried look. “She’ll keep you safe.”

Sam still looked unhappy, but managed to get onto the back of Blue without difficulty. “Right, into the forest filled with the forest gods. We are certainly not going to die.”

Lance couldn’t help but crack a smile at what Sam was saying, shaking his head slightly as he led Blue deeper into the forest.  It was the fastest way to get to Iron Town if what Sam was saying was true. A forest filled with the gods? It wasn’t quite as scary for him as it may have been for Sam and those from Iron Town.

The forest was quiet, light filtering down through the trees as they walked.  There were signs of animals present, the sound of things scurrying through the underbrush to make way for Blue.  After all she was a predator, a powerful cat who could easily just kill anything in her path.  There was the chance that there was another creature in the woods, another powerful creature, which wouldn’t have surprised him given the age of the trees that the passed by.

He heard a small noise of alarm and looked behind him to see Sam staring at something off to the side.  There, were small childlike creatures, white, glowing with black eyes and mouth. Lance smiled. “It’s alright, They’re kodama, it means the forest is healthy.”

It was a good sign, at least in this part of the forest there was nothing to worry about, at least for the moment.  There was that constant worry that around every corner there would be something there that would stop him in his tracks, that would fill him with the anger that was going to consume him. And then something did.

Lance froze in place, his eyes wide as he looked ahead towards where light seemed to be pouring through the branches. The silence was absolute, as if the entire forest now held its breath. Standing beneath the light, the large figure of a stag…or what should have been a stag.  Antlers sprouted from its head, what looked like hundreds of them in the shadowy light. Three toed feet stepped softly onto the ground where plants seemed to grow, then whither away to nothing.  The being paused in its movement, turning its human like face towards Lance. The features were ones that he could not quite make out, just far enough that he could not make them out.

And just as quickly as the creature had appeared, it was gone, the light fading away. Lance let out a breath, and felt a shiver go down his spine. “Come, we should keep going. Your son needs help.”

It would take several hours before they made it out of the woods onto the path once more, and with Sam guiding them, they could soon see the top of Iron Town.  The scent was the first thing that Lance noticed.  The smoke filling his nose to the point where he had to cover his nose and mouth with his hand for a moment. There were guards standing outside the gate as they approached, but Sam was waving to them, telling them to lower the gate.

A bunch of people came forward and got the unconscious man from his arms, and helped Sam down off of Blue’s back.  It was Allura who approached them then, her long white hair pulled back into a tight bun at the top of her head.  She watched looking at Lance with eyes that seemed to have seen too much.  “Hello there stranger, I must thank you for bringing them back to us. But why have you come here?”

Lance nodded his head, holding onto the reigns that were around Blue to keep the big cat steady. “To see with eyes unclouded by hate,” Lance replied looking at her. 

Allura blinked then nodded her head. “I suppose as thanks, you can stay for the evening.” She motioned for Lance to follow her inside Iron Town. “You’re not working for the emperor are you?”

“No,” Lance answered looking around curiously. Most of the people who he saw were women; running the shops, working the stalls.  Even as they passed by the bellows, inside were all women working them. It was so odd to him, this strange town that was made up of different people, that the women seemed to be in charge. It wasn’t so different from the way that he grew up. His grandmother had been in center of their spiritual well being, central to their way of life.

“What do you think?” Allura looked towards Lance.  “I wanted to create a place where these people could live happily.  Many were enslaved by the emperor, now they can live and work here without fear.”

Lance nodded, keeping his eyes on Allura for a moment. “Where did they come from?”

“Zarkon used women for his slaves, put most of the men into the fighting pits…” Allura kept leading him back towards the main building and through the doors. “Many of them do not survive, here those who did can live free.”

She paused looking to him.  “I want to show you something.” Then she pushed open the door leading him through a garden towards a small building.  Again, Lance followed, wary, but wanting to keep an open mind. “These are the survivors.”

The people who were in the hut were mostly bandaged, limbs broken, or just gone, features hidden.  It was a horrid sight, one that twisted his stomach so fiercely. This was what the emperor had done?  “Lady Allura!” One of them said and held up the weapon that they had been working on.

Allura picked it up and hoisted it onto her shoulder. “It’s still too heavy…I need the women to be able to carry it.”

One of them laughed a bit. “Lady Allura wants to take over the world.”

There was a sharp bang and Lance looked towards the sound, following Allura as she made her way outside.  “They are coming back…” The figure outside said through the bandages.

There on the hill, Lance could see the Ape tribe on the hill, trying to do something. The hill, had once been covered with trees now lay barren and filled with nothing but stumps.  The devastation was complete, and there was little doubt in Lance’s mind why the gods of the forest were angry with the humans.

“They keep coming back to plant their trees.” Allura shook her head and watched as another shot rang out. “But if we find the Spirit of the Forest and stop him they’ll just be simple animals once more. And the Wolf Prince will be free.”

Lance glance towards him. “The wolf prince?”

Allura nodded.  “Yes, he runs with the wolves, driven to think that he is a wolf, and held prisoner by them. He means to kill me and for what? The forest? The iron is under the mountain and we had to go under it to get it.” Another shot rang out, and Lance watched as Allura picked up another one of the weapons already loaded with what he saw was the same iron ball.

It was like a bucket of cold water was drenched over the top of him. He reached up and pulled down his sleeve once more revealing the curse as he held out the large shot ball from his pocket. “You shot the boar…” He said in a tone that sounds more sad than anything else. The anger began to boil in him, swelling up and spreading down through his arm as it started to throb more and more. “You are the reason I bare this mark.”

Allura looked at him and then away. “That may be, but if I find the Spirit of the Forest, he could heal these poor people, maybe heal you.”

Lance didn’t want to listen anymore, he turned and left walking out of the house and back into town.  The air was cool against his skin, a welcome breath of life that he so needed after the anger and pain that had seared through his arm. The distance did the most to distract him from the pain. Maybe there was something else that he could to do help.  Pausing outside the bellows, Lance went in.  There was a young person with glasses who looked at him and rolled their eyes. “So you’re the stranger who brought back my dad and brother.”

“I am… And you are?”

“Everyone calls me Pidge,” Pidge shrugged their shoulders. 

He hesitated. “Mind if I try?”

They shrugged. “Go ahead.”

Lance grasped the handle, placed his foot on the peddle that they were using the stoke the fires, pumping up and down, and pressed down with all his strength. There was a ruckus of laughter as the young women working the bellows were lifted up and off of it as he worked.  It was hard labor, he had barely been doing it for more than a few moments before he could already feel the strain in his muscles. “It’s hard.”

Pidge laughed and nodded their head. “Yeah it is, but we do our part to help. Allura saved us from the Emperor so we help out when we can.”

“Even with what she is doing to the forest?”

“Don’t say a word against her, she’s saved so many of us and we are proud to help her,” Pidge huffed staring at Lance for a moment.

He kept working the bellows trying his best to help out, maybe even make out for what he had said to Allura earlier. It had not been the kindest thing in the world. Certainly not the kindest thing to say when Allura had so graciously let him into their home.

It was only when the alarm went off that Lance’s focus snapped back to attention. People were racing outside, shouting about wolves.

“It’s him! It’s the wolf prince! He means to kill Lady Allura!”

Lance was on his feet and rushing out at once. His eyes searched looking for the sign of that strange young man with the dark hair that he had seen earlier. It was hard to spot, but Lance saw him on the roof, watched as the figure began to run down towards them….Lance saw with horror that there were weapons pointed towards him, ones that would surely rip through the young man’s body.

Without thinking, Lance grabbed his bow, drew an arrow and fired at just the right spot.  The arrow hit the tiles of the roof that the young man was running down, causing him to stumble and fall moments before the weapon blew a hole in the roof where he had been moments before.

Lance ran for the spot where the Prince had fallen only to watch as he scrambled to his feet and launched himself towards Allura. Why did they hate each other so badly? Was it really all because of the forest? Was there something else? It would tear them apart…it would cause destruction to the town.

He couldn’t know what made him do it, why he had allowed himself to step forward, reach out and take hold of their arms.  The wolf prince was growling and snarling pushing at his arm, biting at him and trying to let him go. 

“I’m grateful for bringing our people home,” Allura said anger in her eyes. “Let me go stranger.”

In that moment, a greenish glow began to rise up from his arm, as if there were tentacles swirling over it, spieling off into the night air. “This is what your hate is causing! I’ve seen what it does and it will kill me! Enough with the hate.”

The prince’s eyes went wide, terrified as he tried to claw his way free, out of the cursed hand that was holding him in place. “If that arm causes you such problems let me cut it off then,” Allura said as if it was the simplest solution in the world, producing a small thin dagger.

Lance responded by slamming his elbow into her gut, knocking the wind first from her, and then from the wolf prince.  “Come get her,” Lance stated, looking to where Sam and Pidge were standing as a part of the crowd.  No one moved for a moment, and then there were a bunch of people moving to get Lady Allura. 

“I’m taking the wolf prince and I’m leaving.” Lance stated and began to walk forward.

“No you can’t!”

Lance heard the bang, could feel the warmth as it began to run down his side, but he kept walking.  There was no need for him to deal with the pain right then, there was nothing he could do about it.  He had to get the prince out, and that was his current goal.

“Blue.” His voice was hoarse as he kept walking, the prince slung over his shoulder. It was the guards who stopped him at the gate.

“Look we’re grateful but we can’t let you walk out with him….”

Lance looked at them then lifted his arm and pressed it against the door, beginning to push.  No pain came from the wound in his side, not even as blood began to gush from it, falling in heavy splats to the dirt ground causing people to gasp in shock, in horror.

“Stop it you’re going to kill yourself!”

He didn’t, he kept pushing.  The door began to creak open, slowly a little at a time, it started to creak. It wasn’t long before it was open wide enough that he could let Blue out and could see the two strange looking wolves standing there. “I have your prince! I will bring him to you.”  Lance managed to get both himself and the unconscious figure of the wolf prince onto Blue’s back and began to ride.

Alongside the wolves, into the rocky barren hills they began to ride. Lance only began to worry something was wrong as the cold began to creep over him, starting at the tips of his fingers, spreading up along his arms until he could no longer hold onto Blue. He felt nothing as his legs slipped from the back of the great cat and he fell, his head cracking against the ground.

There was a flurry of fierce snarls, two he didn’t recognize, a third that was somewhere he could barely place. And then a face.  Eyes that looked like the sky after a storm stared down at him, pale skin outlined by dark hair. “Why did you save me?”

Lance opened his mouth to speak. “Because….”

“Do you work for her? I’ll kill you first for what you humans have done to our forest!”  The glittering of a blade as it was pressed to his throat. 

Lance felt like his head was floating through a pool of water. No…no it wasn’t a good feeling and he was in a bad situation.  Yet as he lay there, looking up at his would be killer there was only one thought in his mind.

“You’re beautiful.”

A gasp, and the face disappeared. As did the world, darkness claiming his mind and body and pulling him into a deep and dreamless sleep.

The next thing he knew all he could feel was warmth.  He managed to lift his arm enough, just barely to look at it.  The curse had spread, even if somehow, without looking that the wound was gone. And then a snuffling sound moments before a hot, wet, rough tongue ran over his face, covering him in saliva. He was awake, he was alive.

“Blue…” Lance stroked the cat’s muzzle, the creature looking down at him with worried golden eyes.

“She didn’t leave your side.” Lance looked to see the prince standing there, watching him.  The handmade clothes, and other decorate items he hadn’t noticed the previous night now captured his attention.  Human.  Definitely human.  Did it matter though? “I even let her go and she still followed and stayed with you the whole night.”

“We’re friends….”

The prince scoffed. “You got a name?”

“Lance.”

“Keith.”  Keith plopped down beside Lance and pressed a bit of dried meat to his lips. “Eat.”

Lance tried, really he did, but it fell from his mouth untouched. There was an annoyed noise, and the next thing he knew, there were fingers pressing against his mouth, pushing past his lips and forcing a wad of warm pre-chewed meat into his mouth. His first instinct was to gag and spit it out…but his hunger thought better of him and he managed to swallow the hunk of it. He let his eyes close again.

“You’re strange…” Keith muttered and shook his head.

“How….”

“The forest spirit chose to heal you, and-”  Keith abruptly stopped talking, his head snapping around as the two wolves appeared by his side again, snarling.

Lance could feel it in the ground, the rumbling and shaking as something came nearer. The roaring and squealing of boars.  The noise sent a jolt of terror through his body like none he had ever felt before.  It had been a boar god that he had killed… Now they were coming.

There was the sound of paws as someone else entered the clearing, a low almost amused chuckle coming from the creature. “And what brings Lord Iverson to our forest?” the feminine voice asked.

“To speak to the Spirit of the Forest, we need power to make the humans pay for what they have done.”

“Pay? The last who went against the humans was killed. Iverson is aware of this and Iverson will meet the same fate as his predecessor.  He ran, squealing and he died a coward when the humans brough their new weapons against him. The humans are wicked, they bring iron.  One of their poisoned rocks now rests in my breast, and it will kill me.”

Lance forced his eyes open, watching as Keith moved towards a wolf, coat in deep shades of purple and pressed his face into it. Must have been close…

“You speak lies!” The boars squealed in rage.

A silence grew the sound of someone large and heavy moving towards them. “He would have never done such a thing,” a new voice, a deeper and commanding voice said.

Lance took a breath and then raised his arm.  “It is try Lord Iverson. I saw with my eyes the demon, and I was the one who killed him.  He was not who you would know, filled with hate. With anger….” Hot breath against his hand, a large gray nose of a boar pressing against his hand. “And I bare his curse. Not even the forest god saw me worthy of removing it.”

It had taken so much energy from him just to do that, that as he lowered his hand, he slipped back into the darkness once more.  Dreams filled with anger and pain, the sorrow of the loss of a god and the anger of those who had followed him.  The pain of the forest as it was destroyed for the sake of the humans that wanted to call it home. The grief of losing his own home, and the utter fear of what the future would hold if not even the Spirit of the Forest could save him from the fate worse than death.  Rotting in the hatred that was being created within the very depths of his own soul.

When he opened his eyes next, it was night, and he was in a cave.  Laying near him was Keith, asleep, seeming peaceful beneath the furs. Lance swallowed thickly and carefully stood up, moving out of the cave.

“So you’re awake boy.”  Lance turned to see the massive wolf watching him. Her dark coat had nearly caused her to vanish into the darkness. “For some reason my son has taken a fondness to you…”

“He is human,” Lance stated. “You’re a god. You’re Krolia the wolf god.”

She let out a bark of a laugh. “How observant you are little human. Yet it is your kind that send us to war.”

“War?” Lance looked over the area. “The boars…”

“The boars will go against Iron Town and they will die….and my will  fight and die with them.  My foolish son.”

“You have to let him go you can’t-”

“You think I control him? No. I caught his parents in my woods, poaching, killing a wolf pup. They threw their baby at my feet so I would show them mercy. I killed them.  But I took pity on the baby. Raised him as my own.  I do not control his actions.”

“Then I’ll stop the humans, I’ll get them to listen.”

“You can try.”  Krolia looked at him. “You need to leave, in the morning. If I see you again…I’ll kill you.”

With that thought in mind Lance went back into the cave and laid back down.  Sleep did not come to him, even as he lay with his eyes closed against the darkness.  He was aware of movement, and only when it stopped did he dare open his eyes.  His things were laying in a pile near him, and Blue was sitting at the head of the cave.

Lance sighed and shook his head as he moved to climb onto Blue’s back. “Let’s go Blue…” He murmured, and looked up to see one of the wolf pups looking at him.  The pup was as big as Blue was. “Guess he’s showing us the way out…”

It was a silent journey, making their way through the woods until they reached the river where they had first met.  Lance paused and pulled off the crystal dagger that he had gotten from Hunk. “Hey! Give this to Keith!”  Lance threw it, watching as the wolf caught it in his mouth, stood, and then left.

Lance sighed, leaning forward to stroke Blue’s neck.  “Well guess it’s back to Iron Town.” He murmured wheeling around with Blue to start the trek back.  There was a worried pit forming in his stomach.  Something wasn’t quite right with the entire situation…and he had to worry that there was something else that was going to happen. It was that same fear that he had felt when he was younger before a storm like they had never seen before had struck their village.

The smoke was the first thing that he noticed as he got closer to Iron Town. The eerie silence that filled the air was the second.  There was no noise, not in the same way in the forest when the Forest Spirit had crossed his path.  This was the silence of fear, of terror.  The environment itself holding its breath.

When his eyes fell on the scorched walls that surrounded the town, the spears with the flags of the emperor on them, Lance’s eyes widened and he urged Blue forward. It was Pidge that saw him as he came closer towards the gate, their eyes seeming to widen.  “Hey there stranger!” Pidge waved down to him, one of those guns on their shoulder.

“What happened?” Lance asked, looking up towards them. Next to Pidge, was another young man covered in bandages….Lance thought he recognized him as the young man that he had carried back to Iron town the other day.

“Oh the Emperor thought that he could just walk in here while Lady Allura was out and take us down. But we showed him didn’t we?” As a roar of agreement came from them, the window opened and a gun appeared, firing towards the hill behind him. “But we could use her back here.  Can’t hurt any can it?”

Lance paused then nodded. “I’ll go find her, send her back.” Without another word he turned Blue and took off towards where, just on the horizon he could see more smoke. That same pit of worry was beginning to fill his stomach. What had happened?

It was going well, they were moving quickly safely away from Iron Town and towards the sight of the battle, when it happened.  Lance found himself flying through the air, Blue roaring in pain. He rolled into the fall, and came up with his bow, pulling back and firing an arrow one after another towards where the emperor’s soldiers had been.  He never missed. Never.  The bodies fell to the ground as he watched and he turned to Blue.

The lioness growled deep in her chest, an arrow sticking out of her flank. Lance moved forward, stroked her soft fur lovingly. “It’s okay Blue…I got you.”  He pulled the arrow from her, tossing it off to the side. “Go back to Iron Town okay? I’ll go the rest of the way.” He kissed her nose, stroked her fur and started to walk.

It only took about five minutes for Lance to realize that there was no leaving Blue behind.  The great cat just kept following him no matter what he did or said to Blue.  Blue had been with him since he was a child, it shouldn’t have surprised him to find Blue following him now. 

So he led the way towards the smoke, following the tracks in the earth from the warrorios that had gone to battle against the boars. All of his fears and his doubts did not prepare him for what he saw as he came through the woods towards the sight of the battle.

Carnage. The air was filled with the metallic smell of blood, the gut turning stench of burning hair and flesh.  Death was around him; humans and animals. It was everywhere. He had to pick his way through carefully to avoid stepping on any of the bodies.  It wasn’t worth the effort, he got to the point where he just had to get to the point where he saw a small fire. Where there was fire, there was almost always people.

One of the soldiers looked up to see him and Blue, and their eyes widened. “Where’s Lady Allura?” Lance asked as he managed to get to the camp.

“She left with the others after the Forest Spirit.”

“What? No. Listen to me Iron Town is under attack by the emperor. You have to go back there and keep them safe.”

The survivors who were there was suddenly talking to each other.  Lance looked around. “Did you see any wolves fighting?”

“Wolves?” The man shook his head.  “When the battle started…we saw nothing….”

Lance felt his stomach drop, that sickening feeling of falling suddenly and unexpectedly. No…Did that mean?

He stopped as the sound of snarling reached his ears.  Not that of Blue but that of a wolf.  Lance turned and saw the paws and nose sticking out from under one of the massive boar corpse.  He hurried moving to try and get to wolf to help the creature get out from under the body.  It was heavy though, so damn heavy and he could feel it pushing back against him, trapping him, pulling him between the two dead bodies and-

And then the pressure that he felt was slowly going away.  There were other people helping him, pushing the boar up and off of the wolf until it could pull itself free.  It was the smaller of the two massive wolves.

“Is Keith alive?” Lance asked the wolf, it looked at him panting, then nodded his head.  “Take me to him.” The wolf began to run and Lance followed moving as fast as he could.  It was hard, between going down hill and not stumbling and falling down towards the ground, tripping over the dead.

“It’ll be faster if you get on my back.” The voice in his head damn near caused him to jump, and he stared over towards the wolf.  He reached over and grasped at the wolf’s neck, pulling himself up and onto the great creature’s back even as they didn’t stop running.

The feeling of hatred spread the deeper they got into the forest, as if there was something that was consuming the very existence of life and hope around it. By the time they got to the pool where he had first spotted the Spirit of the Forest, Lance saw what he had feared. Two massive creatures, one the great purple wolf, laying on her side, the other had to have been the boar god, Iverson.

The same swirling and wriggling mass of hatred was swarming the boar, turning it into an angry beast.

“Keith!” Lance shouted, looking around.  The other wolf pup was there, one with vibrant red eyes stared at him and the other wolf.

It came suddenly, softly.  He had barely been able to hear it.  “Lance!”

Lance jumped off of the wolf and surged forward to dig through the demonic hatred entity that was covering the boar to try and fine Keith.  The wriggling worm like things tried to burrow into his skin.  He growled and kept going kept pushing…and then he saw Keith’s face. “I got you.” 

There was fear in Keith’s eyes as he looked at him, as Lance tried to pull him from the boar’s nose. But with a massive shake of his head, and a squeal of pain, the boar shook him away.

Lance fell back with a hard thud. “Keith!”

There was a low chuckle, and Lance watched as Krolia stood back up. “I was…saving my strength to bite that vile women’s head off…but I guess I have to use it save him.”  He watched the wolf move forward, her muzzle disappearing into the demon filled mass of hatred. “Give me back my son you demon.”

Lance held his breath, unable to look away as Krolia pulled back and turned to look at him.  “Lance, come get the man you love.”

Love? No he didn’t- Its wasn’t important right then as he pushed to his feet and went over to Krolia, holding out his arms.  Into them, the wolf placed Keith, his form unconscious, but alive.  Keith groaned curling against him for a moment before he opened his eyes, looking up at him for a long moment.

Then his eyes widened in panic, reaching to grab his shirt and try to right himself.“The boars they’re-”

“Yes, they are my people,” Allura said stepping from the woods one of the weapons in her hand that she had been using all along against her side.

“No listen to me!” Lance looked towards her, angry, desperate. “Iron Town is in danger, you can’t do this.”

“I have to for Iron Town.” Allura said and lifted the gun.  Lance drew his sword and threw it.  It hummed as it flew through the air colliding with the barrel of the weapon, stopping the shot from exploding. 

Allura turned towards him, glaring, opening her mouth to speak.  She never got the chance.

“He’s here!” Iverson said, pain in his voice as the great boar seemed to surge forward again.  The hush came, no one moving as the spirt walked forward into the clearing.  The amber eyes turned towards the group, the great creature walking forward, silent on his three toed feet.  The being leaned forward and pressed his lips to Iverson’s snout. The boar’s eyes widened, then dimmed as the great god fell to his knees, and then to his side.

Then, he moved to Krolia as the lights in the sky began to fade, and did the same. The giant wolf closed her eyes, sinking to the ground as the boar had. 

Lance had placed Keith’s feet on the ground, though he still held him close to him.  As they watched, Lance felt Keith tense in his arms as the wolf god who had raised him died right in front of their eyes, life taken by the forest spirit.  Not out of cruelty, but out of kindness, neither to suffer any longer.

Then the Spirit was there in front of them, looking at them with curious eyes, just watching them. Lance couldn’t move, couldn’t think to speak or say anything.  The Spirit lift his eyes towards the sky towards the darkened lights and seemed to stretch and grow.

“At night….” Keith said quietly. “He’s the night walker.”

Then the shot rang out. First one, then another.

The Forest Spirit seemed to freeze, leaning heavily to the left as one front leg disappeared. Dark glowing liquid poured from the wound, and everything beneath it, began to wither and decay. Lance took a step back, pulling Keith back with him as they watched the same liquid, the spirit’s blood begin to seep from around its neck before his head fell down and off to the side.

People, the same man who had helped him get out of the village before rushed forward to put the head into a bucket. As the man did that, Krolia seemed to move, turning her massive head and snapping at Allura, sending the woman falling backwards in a spray of blood.

The wolf pups paced behind the two of them growling low in their throats, wary as the body of the spirit seemed to shift and change into a massive black creature, blue shapes swirling against its skin before he began to grow, his entire body becoming taller than the trees, above the sky line.  The wind was whipping through the trees, blowing the little kodamas everywhere.

Lance watched as it stretched out, searching for something, for its missing head even as those who had stolen it began to run away from the forest as fast as they could travel.  At some point, Lance became aware that Keith had moved away, towards where Krolia lay unmoving now.

He reached out, taking Keith’s hand. “We have to go.”

Keith pulled his hand from Lance’s. “You did this. You are the reason that this-”

Without giving it much thought, Lance stepped forward, and wrapped his arms around Keith, pulling him against him. “I should have stopped it, I should have tried to stop it. I’m sorry Keith.”  Lance pulled back enough to look into those eyes of Keith’s swirling with emotion. “So help me fix it.”

Keith was silent for a long moment before he nodded his head and lifted his hand.  The wolves were there in a second, with both Keith and Lance upon their backs.  They ran through the forest, faster than Lance could have believed possible.  Though it was more like they were flying as the wind bit at his face.  They had to get there.  They had to find the Spirit’s head.

Even as they watched, anything that the forest spirit touched had the very life drained from it.  That was the Forest Spirit’s nature, to give life, and to take life.  It was the balance of the earth itself and it would destroy everything in its path if they did not return the creature’s head.

“There!” Lance pointed before he pulled the bow from his back.  Up ahead was the group of people carrying the box that contained the head of the creature. Lance pulled back the string, holding the arrow steady as he got used to riding on the wolf’s back without holding on tightly. Letting out his breath, he waited a beat more before he let the arrow fly. 

It hit the box, sending it tumbling from the wooden platform that they were using to carry it, cracking the lid.  Everyone seemed to freeze, the wind shifting as the Forest Sprit was drawn to the location of the head. The wolves ran forward, Lance and Keith leaping from their back as they moved forward. 

Lance was reaching for the box before he felt a blade against his neck. “I can’t let you do that stranger,” the man said, looking at him. “The Emperor is offering a big reward for the head and I plan to deliver.”

Lance just looked at him, then pushed the lid off of the box.

“No, what have you do? It’ll come now, it’ll kill us.”

“Then that’s what will happen.”  That did not mean that Lance was happy about the situation. “You can still run though.”

Lance felt the blade disappear a second later.  Glancing around, he met Keith’s eyes. “You can go too. You don’t have to die.”

Keith scoffed and knelt down next to him.  “Let you save the forest by yourself?” 

Together, they reached into the box, and pulled the head from the box, lifting it up over their heads. The blood poured over them, now greenish in the light. Everywhere it touched, the curse mark began to spread over his entire body, over Keith’s.  He wrapped one arm around Keith as they kept the head up.

“Spirit of the Forest, I give you your head!” 

The Spirit leaned down towards them, its being seeming to wrap around them, before everything went dark.

“Lance.”  Lance groaned for a moment, closing his eyes tightly against the light for a second, then opened to see Keith staring down at him. “Guess we made it….” There was a bit of a smirk on his features, holding gout his hand to him.

He took it, let Keith help pull him to his feet before he stumbled, a wet nose being pressed into his back. “No idea how she found you,” Keith stated looking towards Blue with an almost amused look.

Lance turned and stroked her face. “Good girl.”

“So…what now?”

Lance paused thinking. “We leave… I want to go check on Iron Town and-”

“And the forest needs me.”

“Yeah.” Lance felt his heart lurch as he glanced towards Keith.

“And you are going to come visit me.”

A grin spread across his features. “Oh am I?”

Keith shrugged before he pulled himself up onto the wolf’s back. “You are. I want you too.”

Lance lifted himself up onto Blue’s back, moving the lion alongside the wolf. He leaned over, taking Keith’s hand and kissed the back of it. “Sounds good to me.”

They parted ways, going in opposite directions, Lance towards Iron Town and Keith back towards the forest. They rode together as long as possible before they had to separate with another long look between them, and a promise to visit.

As he approached Iron Town, Lance spotted a man with silver hair being helped inside, one arm gone. Lance tilted his head, watching him.  Then as he met the man’s eyes he inhaled sharply.  Golden eyes, a scar across his face.  The man smiled, lifted a finger to his lips, and shushed him.

The Spirit of the Forest was alive.