The Lonely Ones

Chapter Four: The Bargain

Warning: Mutilation. Not detailed.

A cart sits outside Ima's cottage. Tomorrow, she will leave Eidenswill. Since the first storm, she has been nothing but discontent. Villagers visit almost nightly, desperate and hopeful for a savior. They offer years of their life, their first born child, their very youth if only for the promise of a good harvest next year or food to last through the winter. A fair one Ima may be, but she cannot make the deal some ask for. Even if she could, she won't. Tricking humans is no longer of interest to her, and being the hero is a mortal desire.

Ima carries luggage to the cart, spotting Artemis walking through the dead fields. His cheeks are sunken, eyes dim, and limbs thin, a skeleton of the boy that once was. He hasn't visited as frequently, always out in search of food or attempting to retrieve his mother's affections. Ima leaves the front door open. She returns to packing, hearing Artemis enter moments later.

"You're leaving?" he asks, but it is not the same curiosity that once consumed him. Ima knows the tone of desperation like no one else.

"I am," she answers. Artemis helps pack when he realizes how Ima is organizing things. "I have grown tired of this place," she adds.

"Where will you go?"

"I don't know yet." Some may think she'll return to the Grim Woods, but fae are not the sentimental type. She hasn't seen the far north where the ocean itself freezes over, perhaps she'll pay it a visit.

"Will you return?"

"Perhaps." She sets aside her packing to peer down at Artemis. "What do you want? You aren't here to make small talk. I see it in your eyes."

"I've come with hope to make a deal."

"I admit that I am surprised. Did I not teach you better than that?" She bends over to meet his gaze. The shine of her eyes rivals the stars. "Fae only make deals that benefit them. Ask for beauty and they'll make it so none will ever gaze upon you. Ask for life and they'll take the life of the ones you love as payment. They never lose, but you always do."

"I know, but you have to understand why I'm asking," he says, his stomach growling as if on cue. He rests a frail hand over his stomach, thinking of reasons other than hunger for why he needs a solution. A way out of a future he fears.

"Please, I ask only for one thing. I will give whatever you ask of me in return," he pleads.

"Don't make a promise you do not intend to keep," she warns when standing up. Artemis flinches at the tone, averting his gaze.

"What is it that you seek?" She inquires, planning only to humor him.

"I wish to always find my way home," he answers confidently.

"How will that help?"

"Because I plan to hunt in the Grim Woods."

For the first time, Artemis leaves Ima speechless. Her wide eyes slowly close in a quiet sigh. The shock disappears in a blink.

"Then why not ask to enchant your bow to never miss? Or for a sword that always strikes the heart?" she asks, further convinced that she won't grant Artemis' wish. There are beasts in the Grim Woods that no mortal, let alone a child, can stand against. He asks to be sent to his grave. Although human's lives are short, Ima is no longer interested in cutting one even shorter. She would have granted the wish of others, if that were the case.

"How will they help me in a forest enchanted to make us lose our way?" He argues, writhing his hands. "And should I lose my sword or bow in battle, what good will they be? I must learn to never miss on my own, to fight. I will work hard to do so, but I cannot work hard to stand against the enchanted forest so I need an enchantment of my own."