The woods before dawn were anything but still. Birds had risen an hour earlier to begin their chorus and every manner of creature wound its way around the leaf litter. With pale twilight heralding the dawn, Ceinwyn moved through the underbrush without a sound. Her cloven hooves left gentle depressions in the moss as she walked and her small tuft of a tail bobbed lazily back and forth. Wide, aquamarine eyes swept the forest for the small dew-covered leaves she was after. If the sun rose they would dry and shrivel back into their stalks, but if she plucked them at the right time they would stay unfurled, with their properties unmarred.
A snap brought her head up and she froze - ears and tail raised - seeking the source. She sniffed at the calm breeze and saw movement. Her powerful legs tensed, ready to bolt… until she saw the deer’s head come around the tree trunks.
Ceinwyn exhaled, relaxing and smiling. She nodded to the doe. Of all the forest creatures, how nice that she should see one so often compared to herself.
She had traveled for three days to find the elusive sprouts. The aptly-named dewcups were sparse, but she knew the signs to look for. A depression beneath a dying tree, with a healthy bed of surrounding moss but not too many mushrooms. There were plenty of dying trees in this old forest, but finding all three requirements for the sensitive plants was proving to be troublesome.
The sun was near cresting the horizon when she found it. She breathed a prayer of thanks and grinned in victory as she closed in. Three wide leaves, fresh with the green of new growth and glittering with dewdrops. They would make a fine poultice to fertilize the soil of the Erlking’s gardens, and if she were lucky a cutting would take root.
She moved quickly in her excitement, and in her carelessness did not see the hunter’s trap laid beneath the leaves. She screamed in shock and agony as the iron jaws snapped around her shin, falling to her knee as hot tears streamed from her eyes. She felt blood running down her right leg, and looked to see the trap jaws half-buried in her flesh.
Letting another pained noise escape her lips, she tried to pry the metal apart but could not move it. Any attempt to pull her leg free was met with fiery, white-hot pain coursing through her limb. She whimpered through grit teeth, trying to figure a way to free herself. How far was she from the court? Would anyone have heard her scream?
She heard another branch snap and voices with it. She lifted her head to attention, once more silent and rigid, but her breathing had grown ragged and panicked. Two men emerged from the bushes in front of her, two from the side.
Much more valuable than a doe she made out, and what the hell kinda thing is that.
Humans. How far had she gone? She shouldn’t be out of the court yet, humans should not be here… *shit,* her glamour! Ceinwyn had never been gifted in the glamour, but she should have known to conceal herself after traveling this far. It was far too late now.
She rattled the trap trying to pull free. The pain had been dulled by terror, and as the men neared she shrieked and screamed.
”Stay back! Stay away from me! HELP!!”
They did not stop. Ceinwyn swiped at them when they got within reach but they grabbed ahold of her arms and shoulders, lifting her to her feet. The faun yelled and kicked out with her powerful, uninjured leg, catching one of the hunters in the chest and sending him to the ground. She reared her head back, and felt the arms release her as her antlers sliced into the other’s face.
The wind was knocked out of her when she fell to the ground, and her right leg hurt so badly she felt sick. One of the men knelt on her, pinning her down while the other roughly tried to bind her wrists behind her back.
She screamed again for help.
A snap brought her head up and she froze - ears and tail raised - seeking the source. She sniffed at the calm breeze and saw movement. Her powerful legs tensed, ready to bolt… until she saw the deer’s head come around the tree trunks.
Ceinwyn exhaled, relaxing and smiling. She nodded to the doe. Of all the forest creatures, how nice that she should see one so often compared to herself.
She had traveled for three days to find the elusive sprouts. The aptly-named dewcups were sparse, but she knew the signs to look for. A depression beneath a dying tree, with a healthy bed of surrounding moss but not too many mushrooms. There were plenty of dying trees in this old forest, but finding all three requirements for the sensitive plants was proving to be troublesome.
The sun was near cresting the horizon when she found it. She breathed a prayer of thanks and grinned in victory as she closed in. Three wide leaves, fresh with the green of new growth and glittering with dewdrops. They would make a fine poultice to fertilize the soil of the Erlking’s gardens, and if she were lucky a cutting would take root.
She moved quickly in her excitement, and in her carelessness did not see the hunter’s trap laid beneath the leaves. She screamed in shock and agony as the iron jaws snapped around her shin, falling to her knee as hot tears streamed from her eyes. She felt blood running down her right leg, and looked to see the trap jaws half-buried in her flesh.
Letting another pained noise escape her lips, she tried to pry the metal apart but could not move it. Any attempt to pull her leg free was met with fiery, white-hot pain coursing through her limb. She whimpered through grit teeth, trying to figure a way to free herself. How far was she from the court? Would anyone have heard her scream?
She heard another branch snap and voices with it. She lifted her head to attention, once more silent and rigid, but her breathing had grown ragged and panicked. Two men emerged from the bushes in front of her, two from the side.
Much more valuable than a doe she made out, and what the hell kinda thing is that.
Humans. How far had she gone? She shouldn’t be out of the court yet, humans should not be here… *shit,* her glamour! Ceinwyn had never been gifted in the glamour, but she should have known to conceal herself after traveling this far. It was far too late now.
She rattled the trap trying to pull free. The pain had been dulled by terror, and as the men neared she shrieked and screamed.
”Stay back! Stay away from me! HELP!!”
They did not stop. Ceinwyn swiped at them when they got within reach but they grabbed ahold of her arms and shoulders, lifting her to her feet. The faun yelled and kicked out with her powerful, uninjured leg, catching one of the hunters in the chest and sending him to the ground. She reared her head back, and felt the arms release her as her antlers sliced into the other’s face.
The wind was knocked out of her when she fell to the ground, and her right leg hurt so badly she felt sick. One of the men knelt on her, pinning her down while the other roughly tried to bind her wrists behind her back.
She screamed again for help.