“The blighted ones are pushing toward Kinderrock. If they break through, the nursery will be compromised!” I shouted at Dowinn. He bounded away towards the area north of the blight. His furry hindquarter and cloven feet bounded over a deadfall of bleached trees.
“You can’t save everyone, maybe you should start thinking about saving yourself.” He hollered back. His back glistened with sweat from the effort of running through the undergrowth. In a moment he disappeared into a copse of trees.
I never liked Dowinn and that much has not changed, but now we are forced into an alliance. If we are to survive we must save as many of our brothers and sisters from the blight as we are able. Already Nidhogg has been weakened by the intrusion of the black nest. Nearly a quarter of the woods is corrupted or verging on it.
A crack of a branch drew my attention. A small herd of deer had wandered into the blighted fringe. Pinched between the blight and the quarrel-tongue village, the deer were confused and not able to keep to their age-old migration patterns. I switched to running on all fours to keep pace with the herd. In this form I could smell the withering death that seeped into every living thing. The deer fled at my approach. I drove them south of the blight so that they might reach the river.
A soft glow of light appeared in the trees ahead. At first I thought it was Anganor’s great horns glowing in the night. I quickly realized that the light was too bright and too yellow. The deer were already fleeing fast in that direction and I could not overtake them to steer them away. It was then that I saw the intruders. A knot of Humans lead by a Quarrel-tongue. I recognized the leader as Jimi Cutreed. He had brought humans into the woods. Nidhogg would not approve.
The deer forked around the interlopers and disappeared into the night. I stopped my pursuit and changed forms and addressed Jimi in the old tongue.
“Why do you bring the sons of malice into our wood?” I said, with more venom in my voice than I thought possible.
“They have come to destroy Kravor of Ill Earth. “ He said. “They have received the blessing of the cave sisters. See here, we bear the lantern of Sinea!” His mouth pinched and slid in ugly ways trying to use the old tongue. “I must return the lamp before sun up or I will incur their wrath. Can you take them to the nest?” He said with the pathetic pleading of a coward. He had as much to lose here as the forest people, yet he would always find a way to have another task or distraction that didn’t include helping directly. I might forgive him his nature if these people can help.
“I am Tesha of Three Trees. If you want to be useful, follow me. I will take you where you need to go. We are in the contested area. There is no need to be quiet or hide your light. Speed is our ally. Keep moving and don’t get swarmed.” I said the the Malicine knot.
They nodded in understanding. I turned toward the heart of the forest, barking one last command. “Keep up if you can.”