Heir of the Forgotten

~Found~

A middle-aged woman carried a basket with her as she parted from her husband in the small room in the inn.

She was going off to see if there was a way to pass through the barren lands ahead of them. In the stories, these lands had once been full of forests and magic. Some parts were still alive with life, they say there were communities of Fae living in this land, somehow surviving. Still under the hand of the king, whose power reached the land, despite how far it was from the capital and the mainland.

It was impossible to miss the border of what is the inhabitable parts of the kingdom and what was not. Like two oceans that could not mix, the ash-colored ground of the barren lands contested the soft grasses beside it. Even the water runs mostly dead in these lands.

There are a few places where water still runs, but it runs like the winds are angry. The tide rips along their banks and carries anything downstream towards an agonizing death.

The ocean that surrounds this part of the island is just as unreachable. No man has ever crossed it safely without the assistance of a Fae who can calm the cry of the winds and soothe the anger of the waves.

Beth stepped onto the ash-ridden lands. Even the atmosphere separated itself from the world beyond the sullen line. She needed to travel past here and find somebody to take her across the ocean to the Kingdom of Wisteria, where she could plead with the gods to give her a child. All she wanted to do was raise a child with her husband and have a quiet little life.

Every step felt like she walked a graveyard. There is magic in their world, little of it remains, but it provides the land with life and beauty, but here there is nothing. It is drained of life and magic. Cursed.

Still, her feet carried her across to the sight of trees. They did not match the trees she was used to seeing. They were thin and looked like they might fall over at a slight shove. There was nothing to them. With bark stained black and leaves a bloody red, they were straight out of a book of nightmares.

Even with dread creeping to her bones, she continued to make the journey. She traveled for days, nearly a week, to find this small place of refuge from the scolding sun.

Her tired legs carried her toward the roaring of a river.

She approached it carefully before her feet came to life. The energy she'd needed to restore came back to her as she rushed to a body.

At first, she thought the child looked about nine or ten, but as she pulled the girl from the river, she figured she was older than that; but incredibly thin and frail. There was still a pulse, be it weak and unsteady.

Beth tugged the child to where she'd set her things down. She tried to find a heartbeat or signs of breathing. The girl was soaked in water, and quickly Beth began to notice blood.

By no means was the human woman set to take charge of anything medical-related, but she began to hold the child close and hit her back until red came from the child's lungs. It was thin like water, so Beth thought the child had blood in her lungs and then began to drown. Something of that sort.

When she was sure the child was breathing, she set her on her side to make sure the airway was open. As quickly as her body could move, she sifted through her bag.

It's a good thing her husband had been a worried old man. He'd made her overpack with gauze and bandages. He'd made her pack ointments and needles with thread for stitches.

Beth was no doctor, but she did her best before hoisting the child into her arms. It was only then that she noticed the child was not like her.

She saw the child's ears and wove her hair into a braid to keep them tucked. Being Fae put this child at a disadvantage.