Hungry is the heart

Chapter 3. Hunter & Prey

It was nice to be together when the red of the evening sun slipped away. Even though they didn't talk much, Renna's presence was like a warm blanket. She felt safe.

Eleanors fingers played with a daisy while she stared at the trees. The silence began to feel heavy again. 'What did you think when you got the letter?' she asked softly.
'I can't read,' her new friend whispered. 'M-my mom had to read it for me. I have never seen such broken eyes before.'
'That is awful.'

Renna nodded softly, before silence fell again. Only broken by the distant call of a bird. 'How did you feel?' Renna asked after a while.
'I was scared, but I also thought it wouldn't be me. Thirty people get the letter each year.'
'It's never you until it is.'
'Yeah, and it still doesn't feel real. Sitting here it just feels like we'll fall asleep and walk back to the city and it all will be over.'
'We can pretend that will happen. People say dying feels like falling asleep.'
'Maybe.' Eleanor knew better than to believe the things people said. Her eyes drifted to the sky. The stars were much brighter as in the city. It was pretty, but even in their light she couldn't pretend. Death was like a shadow slowly creeping over them.

First there was a soft rustling, so quiet that Eleanor wasn't sure she really heard it. Then she noticed the trees move in the swamp. The world around them fell quiet. Birds stopped singing and even the insects and frogs seemed to know they shouldn't move. It made the sound of sloshing water awfully clear. Between the old and crooked trees that were rooted in the swamp a figure walked.

Eleanor jumped to her feet. She opened her mouth to say something, but words weren't necessary. If Renna hadn't spotted the figure, she surely had felt the presence of it spread across the meadow like a cold breeze.
Goosebumps spread across Eleanors arms. She wanted to run, but her feet seemed frozen in place. Like invisible branches had wrapped themselves around them, stopping her from moving.

The female figure slowly rose from the swamp. Her dress was a bright white, seemingly unaffected by the murky water. When she got closer Eleanor noticed it wasn't made of fabric. It was woven of small white flowers, pale leaves and branches that spread across her skin like a spiderweb. Her head was crowned by antlers and locks of blond hair framed a soft face with a friendly smile. But the eyes that accompanied it, didn't share the kindness. They were a grey colour that seemed brighter as the stars.

Eleanor held her breath. Had expected a wolf or some kind of monster. Not a woman that could have been her age. The goddess had a calmth that made her seem peaceful.
Don't trust her, she had to remind herself. This was the goddess that had made the screams of others reach the city. Her stature was an illusion.
Finally Eleanors feet listened to her command to move. She stepped back, not fully sure if running was an option. Her eyes looked for Renna. Her new friend walked straight to the goddess. Her pale dress seemed grey next to Soliste. When she was less than three metre from her she kneeled down in the grass. Her body shook as she bowed her head in surrender.
'What are you doing here?' Soliste asked. Between her moving lips Eleanor noticed a set of sharp teeth. 'What brings you into my kingdom?'

'Renna,' Eleanor whispered. 'Get up.'

Her friend didn't listen. She stayed on her place between the flowers that looked more spooky than pretty in the dark. 'Y-you asked for my sacrifice. Here I am.'

Soliste stopped walking and placed a pale hand on her shoulder. Her beastly nails glimmered in the moonlight. 'For what my child? The hundreds of souls screaming at me? The destruction that your kind brings across from the fence they placed in my land? Do they think your blood can pay?'
'I-I-I don't know.'
'And still here you are with your pretty flower crown and friend. Ready to die without knowing if it matters.' Solistes' fingers brushed against the flowers. Her nails cut the crown in a swift movement, making it slip off Renna's head.

Eleanor didn't move her eyes from the goddess as she slowly stepped backwards until she reached the shadow of a spruce tree. Needles pressed against her back. Run, everything inside her screamed. She didn't know if her instinct spoke to Renna or herself.

'I don't want to d-d-die,' Renna stuttered.

'The souls you stole from me didn't want to either. Didn't you hear them?' Solistes hand gripped tightly around throat. 'Come child, I will show you.' Her fingers squeezed.

A scream filled the forest, but the sound didn't come from Renna's mouth. The young woman cried quietly, gasping for air. Her hands pulled on Solistes wrists without having enough strength to move them.

A second scream echoed through the night and a third. Until a deafening choir filled the dark. Eleanor didn't know if the sounds were human or something else. She looked away and pressed her hands against her ears, trying to block out the noise. The ground underneath her had lost its dark colour. It was a weird grey. Like When she looked closer, she noticed it were bones she was standing on. They were everywhere. Between the grass, mounted to the altar and the trees. Lights danced across Eleanor's eyes. She didn't know if it was real or a trick her mind was playing on there. But she knew she had to get out of here. She wanted to get out of here. She needed... She...

Soliste let go of Renna's throat. As the woman collapsed onto the ground, the world fell quiet once again. The normal colour seeped back and the bones seemed to disappear. Renna stared into the night sky with empty eyes. Her lips moved, but there still wasn't a sound. A dark liquid dripped from her neck.
'Don't worry, you too will scream with those souls. Some beings are better off leaving the cycle of life' Soliste smiled as her eyes moved to Eleanors directions. 'Don't you think, little shadow?'