his flower queen (nikolai lantsov)

Rabbits and Bows

The wind howled in her ears as if it were a lost wolf howling for its pack. As Kaida soared in the air, she could hear the heavy flapping of wings. She coerced herself to open her lids but to no avail. Her body was in the depths of the sea, powerless over her own body. There was no need for her to fight her way back to surface as she was too far deep, though she could feel the force of the waves thrust her arm in strange directions and the salty sea water enter the gashes. 

A grip of claws grasped her tightly as if whatever was carrying her was determined not to let her fall to her inevitable death. 

She attempted to grasp this small sensation of life, but darkness flooded her. 

~

Kaida held the bow in her hand like it was treasure - to her it was. It was her first precious item and would be the one prized possession she held dearly for many years to come. 

Freyja had helped make it with her, but Kaida worked on it every day so that it was perfect for herself. It wasn't a difficult task to her since she was trained to build things like guns and swords, so she had used her grisha powers to perfect it even though Freyja warned her not too. 

"The more you use those devil powers of yours, the more you rely on them and have the need to use them." Freyja spat as she made a tiny fire. 

"But they make everything easier and better. I don't see why I shouldn't use them!" Kaida argued. 

"It's dangerous," she said. "You shall suppress them, you'd still be able to do what a grisha can do." Freyja demanded roughly. 

Kaida sat there, glowering at Freyja, but she didn't argue with her because she owed her life to the woman in front of her. 

Their dinner was rabbit again which Kaida disliked after having been able to eat nice fruit and vegetables in the laboratory. Somedays, Freyja would allow her to climb up a tree to pick some fruit, but it was a rare occurrence because it took time and energy. 

For weeks the mother and daughter walked together without stopping unless it was for food, water or rest. Kaida hated every second of it, but would always choose to be lost in the forest with grumpy Freyja than in the suffocating laboratory with Him. 

"Why'd you come back for me?" Kaida whispered. All she could think of was why? Freyja had allowed Him to exploit her at first. What had changed her mind? 

"Are we really doing this now?" Freyja stared, rather glared at her. 

"Well, I'd like to know since you hate me so much. I'd like to know what made you want to help me."

Freyja stared for a while longer, the silence made Kaida uncomfortable and the air was tense. The fire crackled and sparked every once in a while. 

Eventually, she sighed and spoke, "I don't hate you. I hate what you are. Remember, I wanted to be drüskelle. They hunt witches like you and it... it terrified me that my own daughter was a witch. I couldn't live with myself knowing that. First, I couldn't become a drüskelle because I'm a woman, but now I have a child I'm supposed to despise and kill." Kaida listened to the woman intently, sitting very still, fear creeping up to her, as Freyja continued, "I allowed Botan to figure out where your magic was so that he could get it out of you and you could be an ordinary girl of which I could love. But then he suddenly wouldn't let me visit you as much as before and eventually never which made me suspicious, so I contacted your friends in the kitchen. They told me he'd gone behind my back to make you more grisha." Her face contorted to rage. Kaida had no idea if it was the fact that he made her more grisha that was the problem or because he was hurting her. 

"So you came back for me because you didn't want me to become more grisha." Kaida responded.

"Precisely, I wasn't going to let him turn you into more of a monster than you already were. You're my daughter, I want you to live a good life without having a curse on you." 

"I see... thank you." Kaida muttered. So the problem was that she was becoming more grisha, not because she was being hurt.

Freyja's answer wasn't what she was hoping for but she expected it, so there weren't any tears shed over it. She simply awoke the next day and took her first shot with her bow and arrow. The aim was precise and the shot darted through the air with a whoosh as if she'd trained archery all her life. 

The smile that it brought her face was soon gone when Freyja didn't praise her or mention anything of the shot. She had simply walked up to the dead rabbit, pulled out the arrow, handed it to Kaida then walked on. 

Kaida clenched her bow and arrow. As soon as she felt the curve of the bow and the connection between the bow and arrow, she felt familiarity and comfort. She knew, if she couldn't rely on her powers, then she could rely on her weapon. 

~

Her eyes fluttered open. It was night with the moon shying away from the world, the forests' branches reaching out to Kaida, to drag her down six feet beneath the prickly grass. 

She attempted to face up, to see what was preventing her from being buried underground but she was no owl that could turn its head 270 degrees. 

Being held in its claws gave her a sense of comfort as she welcomed slumber to take over.