When the silence returned - Fic
Birds and animals scattered through the bushes and trees as the noise and anger spread through the forest. From every direction, great hulking beasts charged through the undergrowth in pursuit of their prey. There was no escape for the smaller ones who were trapped in the vice of the many pronged attack. There seemed no sense in the butchery happening within the small glades and on the forest paths. This wasn’t a hunt for food, but a vindictive purge and a desperate struggle for survival.
Unseen eyes watched from the forest as the hunted fell one by one. One by one they were gathered by their equally desperate companions, only to be cut down again by the relentless waves of hatred that followed them and surrounded them. Slowly they made ground towards their goal, the magic ring and the journey to safety, but every step they took was paid for dearly.
A cry went up from the front. The ring had been found. Eyes watched as all heads turned to the escape, but even in turning, some fell. Some by the sword, others by an invisible force that clouded the mind and sent the victim spinning downwards into sleep. Three were left upon the ground, blood seeping from the wounds of two. In a momentary lull, two others ran to aid their fallen comrades. By the time all five were standing, the hunters had returned and only one escaped.
Magic flared at the ring, and all those standing disappeared, not to return to this place of hatred and death.
For a while, the hunters prowled the area, occasionally returning to attack those on the ground as, the blood slowly turned from a flow, to a trickle, to an ooze. Finally ceasing entirely.
The hunters moved on, seeking new prey and silence seeped back into the glade like the slow wash of the tide.
All was silence.
All was stillness.
In the gathering dusk, a stag, magnificent in size and tines, stepped from the forest. Shortly he was joined by a doe, small and delicate with a faint redness to the brown of her smooth coat. They gazed at the fallen forms before briefly nuzzling each other. Then together they turned and walked from the glade, disappearing to the shadowy depths of the forest.
Unseen eyes watched from the forest as the hunted fell one by one. One by one they were gathered by their equally desperate companions, only to be cut down again by the relentless waves of hatred that followed them and surrounded them. Slowly they made ground towards their goal, the magic ring and the journey to safety, but every step they took was paid for dearly.
A cry went up from the front. The ring had been found. Eyes watched as all heads turned to the escape, but even in turning, some fell. Some by the sword, others by an invisible force that clouded the mind and sent the victim spinning downwards into sleep. Three were left upon the ground, blood seeping from the wounds of two. In a momentary lull, two others ran to aid their fallen comrades. By the time all five were standing, the hunters had returned and only one escaped.
Magic flared at the ring, and all those standing disappeared, not to return to this place of hatred and death.
For a while, the hunters prowled the area, occasionally returning to attack those on the ground as, the blood slowly turned from a flow, to a trickle, to an ooze. Finally ceasing entirely.
The hunters moved on, seeking new prey and silence seeped back into the glade like the slow wash of the tide.
All was silence.
All was stillness.
In the gathering dusk, a stag, magnificent in size and tines, stepped from the forest. Shortly he was joined by a doe, small and delicate with a faint redness to the brown of her smooth coat. They gazed at the fallen forms before briefly nuzzling each other. Then together they turned and walked from the glade, disappearing to the shadowy depths of the forest.