Blood & Bone [Book Three of The City of Eternity Series] [✔]

3.2: Selfless

The forest had become silent once more as the soft mewlings of creatures had ceased, and the heavy feet of the now-human wolf had disappeared. The only-just warm light of the morning sun was barely penetrating the canopy above, the rays glimmering subtly against rivers we passed, and covering the hastily formed pathways with a dim light.

I always felt at ease here when I was a young boy. Before Barewood had ground to a halt and the shadows had made moves to swallow it whole, my father used to take me into this forest which, at that point, had been called 'Aur Valley'. We'd walk around and bird watch, one of his favourite activities. Second only to the thing he loved playing along with - I'd run through the trees and whistle, and he'd whistle back, back and forth until we'd found each other again.

My mother, before she passed when I was young, would always scold my father about this little game, "One of these days you're going to lose him. One of these days someone else will start whistling, then where will you be?" She'd say, voice filled with worry and anger.

That didn't stop my father from taking me deep into Aur. It was our second home, and nothing that occurred deep inside had given me anything but comfort and hope. My father said nothing on the matter to my mother, and nothing alike to me.

Despite that comforting embrace of the forest being the direct reason as to my current circumstance, that hadn't dampened the feelings I held for it. I took one glance at the curtains of moss that dropped down from tree branches or the patches of pink and orange flowers and I was back to those days, playing along with my father as he whistled through the trees.

I was putting in an extra effort not to crush the ferns beneath my feet, growing through the stones that form the path, which meant I was failing to give my wife any attention. She'd wrapped her hand around mine and was casting curious eyes at the forest around us, returning my lack of attention in full force.

Dhana was a woman of caramel and honey that seemed to disappear when she entered the woods; seeming so at home, and so naturally occurring between the large trees and small ponds. If I had met her as a child, I can't help but think I'd believe the woods made her themselves; that she'd crawled out of the ground and made it her home.

Even now, as I look at her, it seems she could disappear in front of my eyes. That wondrous smile is the only thing that grounds her to reality.

She'd released my hand as we approached her favourite place in the forest; a rough, wooden plank bridge that offered a steady incline up a rocky cliff. The best part about it, as she'd previously gushed, was the tree that the bridge went through - one that's trunk had split in two, and offered space underneath in which to do it. I had to admit, the gleeful smile and glistening eyes in which she looked upon this tree were worth the trek hunting made us take.

My mistake had been letting her release my hand, it seemed because Dhana lost her footing near the top of the incline and I'd had to run to catch her as she fell back, losing my grip on the basket I'd been carrying; filled with herbs, fungi and other assorted plants I'd gathered during the hunting period.