Race to the Prize
Airi
Chapter One:
Poison
Orenda Forest was a thing of beauty in the evening light. The shafts of golden sunlight that had lit the forest in brilliant shades of emerald during the day were now fading to soft silvers. Shadows multiplied and lazily stretched out as the sun began to set. The bright colors of the day gave way to the softened tones of the evening and night. Fireflies awoke and aimlessly floated about lighting the forest's rising fog. Yes, the Forest of Living Magic was a thing of beauty. But as Airi sighted her target down the long shaft of her arrow, she wasn't concerned with the beauty that surrounded her.
"Steady girl, steady," Airi murmured to herself.
The doe nibbled on the sweet grass completely ignorant of the arrowhead aimed to kill. Smooth brown hide shimmered slightly in the fading light. "Pick up your head." The doe continued to munch on green grass.
"C'mon! Pick up your bloody head! I haven't got all night here Doe!" No compliance. Airi let out a low growl.
"Hey! You! The one eating the bloody grass! Yeah you! Pick up your head you mangy git!" Still no compliance.
"Stupid doe pick up your head! I'm hungry! I want to eat damnit! Pick up your head so we can get this done and over with!" Nothing.
A wolf suddenly sprang out of the bushes to Airi’s right, barking and swiftly heading toward the doe. Startled, Airi let the arrow fly.
It shot wide of its mark.
The doe, whose head had finally risen at the call of the wolf, galloped unharmed deeper into the woods with the dog nipping at its heels.
"Great," Airi mumbled irritated.
The wolf returned. It trotted up to where the doe had stood and began sniffing around. Without thinking, Airi drew another arrow from her quiver and fitted the bow. Swiftly, she raised the bow and targeted the wolf. The green shaft shot off, narrowly missing its target, and imbedded into the tree directly below the first arrow. The wolf tensed as the arrow sped past its ear. With a quick glance at both the arrow and the archer, the wolf darted off.
"Miserable mutt," Airi snarled tramping through the underbrush to the tree. She ripped both arrows out and shoved them back into her quiver.
Airi shook her head and glanced towards the darkening sky. “Time to go home,” she grumbled. “Without food,” her mind added as she glanced towards the underbrush the wolf had disappeared through. Heaving a sigh of irritation, Airi started home in the fading light.
After a while the trees thinned enough for Airi to be able to see a small clearing. Stepping past the last row of trees, she scanned the scene before her. A small creek flowed through this end of the hollow. It ran from the eastside, curved momentarily towards the north, and then continued its way to the west. A tiny wooden bridged arced above the running water and gave way to a stone path which in turn led up to the steps of a woodcutter's cottage in the middle of the glen. Bird bathes and gardens surrounded the little house with smoke curling from its chimney.
Nothing was amiss. Yet as Airi mad her way up the path she couldn’t shake the foreboding feeling that had settle in the pit of her stomach. Something was about to happen and Airi had the distinct feeling that she was going to like it.
As she walked, she scanned the grounds that were in front of and to the side of her, looking for anything that was even slightly out of place. Her greens eye stopped roaming when they fell upon the doorstep to her cottage. There, sitting on the carved steps as if he owned the place, was the wolf. Its silver fur glowed in the waning light, giving the creature an ethereal aura. With its head cocked to the left, it regarded her for a moment; its frost blue eyes seemingly contemplating the next move.
As if suddenly deciding on a course of action, the wolf sprang to life and shot straight for Airi, barking. "Bad Dog! Sit!" Airi demanded, her tone leaving no room to disobey. The dog immediately skidded to a halt in front of her and dropped to a sitting position though he still barked happily at his owner. Airi stood before him with her arms crossed.
“What am I going to do with you Nahele?” she demanded. “You cost us our supper. Do you realize that?” The dog stopped barking and whimpered pathetically at the fury in her voice. Airi merely glared at him. Nahele lay down and crawled forward a bit on his stomach looking up at her with his sad eyes as if he were saying, “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t think that those sad puppy eyes are going to get you out of trouble buddy,” she continued, though her voice had softened considerably. Nahele whimpered again and Airi caved. She dropped to her knees and scratched him behind his ears.
“You’re a nuisance you know that? A nuisance,” she laughed, “what am I going to do with you?” With a sigh she dropped her hand and starred at him for a moment as if talking to him telepathically.
“Fine,” she said aloud, amused, “go on! Get! Go chase something!” The dog leapt to his feet and bolted towards the forest. Airi laughed as she watched him go.
Nahele’s antics had made Airi forget the ominous feeling for a moment. The minute the dog had disappeared through the trees, however, it returned in full force. Airi frowned as she scanned the clearing and the surrounding vegetation. Nothing.
With a sigh and a shake of her head, Airi stood and went inside.
~*~
Trees, glowing golden with the mid-day sunlight, surrounded her as Airi wandered the paths of her forest. As she walked she hummed softly to herself and ate some wild raspberries, enjoying the outdoors and the fresh air. A honey colored rabbit scampered past her, drawing her attention towards it. The hare disappeared through the underbrush from where she had just come from. Smiling, Airi returned her attention to the path ahead.
A flower caught her attention. A small frown creased Airi’s forehead. “That’s odd” she murmured looking around. Everything that surrounded her, the trees, animals, even the nearby stream, was bathed in a golden light. Everything except the flower. Kneeling down for a closer inspection, Airi reached out and touched the sickly gray petals and instantly regretted it.
The instant her fingers meet the plant the nasty gray color began spreading out. Dropping the berries, Airi jumped to her feet and watched as the color swiftly expanded, killing everything it touched. “W-what?” Airi asked aloud, frightened, “why?” A grayed limb broke and crashed down, narrowly missing her as it fell at her feet. Airi turned and sped through what remained of her golden forest, casting quick glances over her shoulder only to see that the deadly shadow was rapidly moving towards her.
Airi stopped dead in her tracks. The forest that lay ahead of her was turning gray as quickly as the forest that was behind her. Swinging her head to the left and right, she quickly realized that the rotting forest was all around her, and closing in fast. “This can’t be happening,” she murmured frantically. She dropped to her knees begging for it to recede and go back to where it came from. But the rotting gray kept coming…
Airi sat up, breathing heavily. Her emerald eyes darted fearfully around the room, frantically searching for any sign of the deadly shadow. To her left the bedroom door remained closed, softly glowing with moonlight. On the nightstand, the oil lamp was burning low, emitting a weak light. To her right the window stood open, allowing a soft breeze to stir the papers on her desk slightly. In front of her, Nahele laid at the foot of her bed, looking up at her with a questioning look. The mirror across from her shimmered faintly above her cabinet, permitting Airi to see her reflection.
With a sigh, Airi brushed some copper tresses off of her sweaty face and relaxed. “It was only a nightmare,” she murmured pinching her nose. “But it seemed so real,” a quiet voice inside her replied. As if to reassure herself and the voice, she detangled her legs from the blankets and went to the window.
One of her many gardens and a field of grass rippled and waved as a gentle breeze blew through the valley. Trees, tall and dark, peacefully lined the edges of the field. Everything shimmered with the moon’s silvery light. But no gray rotting shadow was spreading through the forest killing everything in sight. Nothing was in danger. Nothing was amiss.
And yet, Airi couldn’t shake the feeling that her dream had been a warning. No, a vision. Something had happened. The forest was in danger. Airi frowned and left the room with Nahele padding silently behind her. Heading outside she carefully scanned the glen all around her house. Searching for anything that would give her a clue and tell her what was going on. Still, she found nothing wrong.
“There’s something wrong here,” the voice whispered frightened, “the forest, its too quiet. There aren’t any crickets or frogs to be heard. Nothing’s making a sound.” Airi froze and listened to the world around her. Absolute silence greeted her ears. Nahele and Airi glanced at each other. Something was definitely amiss. Airi strained harder, trying to hear even the smallest sound. Nothing. No crickets, frogs, or babbling brook. Other then the sound of her and Nahele’s breathing, everything was dead silent. Even the grass waved silently all around them.
“What’s going on Nahele?” she whispered, afraid to speak any louder. The dog whined in response. For a moment, neither one moved or made a sound. “Whatever it is,” Airi breathed looking down at the wolf, “it isn’t good.” She turned and headed back towards the house. With a last glance over the glen, the dog followed his master.
At the cottage’s doorstep, Airi stepped on a stray shard of glass. “Ow!” Airi shouted, her voicing booming in the absolute silence. Airi and Nahele froze and looked around; both afraid that her voice had stirred some trouble. Nothing moved. Nothing made a sound. After a moment of silence, Airi carefully sat down on the step and pulled the glass out of her foot, allowing her blood to flow freely.
“How did that get here?” she asked examining the shard. Airi looked down. Her blood was falling onto the stone path and mixing with the dew. As the two liquids mingled and mixed, she was hit with another vision.
~*~
Airi was sitting, listening to a golden brook babble away. A flock of birds took flight further down stream, drawing her attention towards them. As she watched them fly away, Airi noticed the deadly shadow was once again advancing on her. This time it was in the stream, moving swiftly with the water’s currents like a lethal poison…
~*~
Poison. The word resounded with meaning in her head. Poison. Airi dropped the shard of glass as realization dawned on her.
“Oh my god,” she murmured, “Poison. Somebody’s poisoned the water!” Nahele whimpered and looked towards the eastern borders of the glen, his K-9 instincts telling him that that was the way the danger was coming.
“Nahele,” she whispered worriedly looking at her guardian. Nahele turned his attention to her. “What are we going to do?” The wolf whimpered again.
~*~
On the eastern borders of the forest, the borders that faced the nearby kingdom, the poison was quickly and destructively making its way through the forest’s water supply…