Mother Winter

In the Far North

The sun was shining but weakly the day I crossed the line into the witch's territory.  I was possessed by a sense of urgency that had dogged me ever since I had decided that I couldn't let my family starve.  Powered by determination more than actual food, I had made it to the last settlement before the start of the forest and promptly collapsed.  The locals weren't keen on sharing what little they had, but in the end they had decided that they wouldn't leave me to die in the snow.  Now I was back on my sledge, a slice of bread in my stomach and some more bread in my satchel for later.  My short, shaggy horse Pyry nickered quietly, warning me that once I slipped between those trees, there would be no going back until I encountered the witch.  I patted him lightly on the rump and urged him on, knowing that there would be no turning back for me anyway.

The trees quickly enclosed the sledge, and I noticed that the winding trail I had started on was quickly petering away.  Even those in the settlement didn't enter these woods lightly.  If I didn't find a path wide enough for my sledge, I would be forced to abandon it.  Without my sledge, I would probably not be able to leave this forest alive.

Just before the trail ran out, my eye spotted a gap between two bushes.  With a quick flick of the reins, Pyry started on a new trail, one that was just wide enough for a sledge.  My heart soared, and I reflected excitedly that this must be the trail that the witch used.  Even someone with magic would need a sledge to get around.  I couldn't tell if the witch had passed through here recently, but she must come here often enough to leave a trail in the ground.  I didn't stop the sledge to check for tracks because my knees felt dangerously weak and I feared that I wouldn't be able to get back on the sledge again if I stopped.  And so I rode on, hoping for an end to the path, or someplace where I could find food enough to take back home to my family.  I thought it unlikely that the witch would help me, so it was probably best that I look for food while I was here.

The hours passed, and my knees grew weaker and weaker.  I held on through sheer force of will, but even that was fading as the wind grew colder and the forest became darker and darker.  Frost had started to form on my clothing and beard, and my fingers were quickly becoming numb.  Winter had a much harder hold here, and though it was about mid-afternoon, the sun was already setting and night was casting its shadow across the land.  I needed to find shelter, or I wouldn't survive the night.

It was then that I saw a break in the trees.  I urged Pyry onward, noting that he too was flagging, and made for the break.  I saw a dark shadow loom up ahead, sitting in a cleared area just enough to contain a small dwelling and a garden.  Pyry stopped just in front of where the entryway would be, and lowered his head with a heavy sigh.  I stumbled off of the sledge, my legs threatening to collapse out from under me, and with clumsy fingers untied Pyry from the sledge.  It was only then that I reached into my satchel to bring out the cold, half-frozen bread that was my only source of sustenance in this winter-held land.  I took a single slice and put the rest in my satchel, and brought it up to my mouth to take a bite of it.  But before I did so, I paused.  It seemed to me that I was being watched.  I felt no sense of malice behind the watcher, no lifting of the hairs of the back of my neck that told me I was about to be attacked.  But the twisting in my stomach told me that whoever they were, they were no friend to me.  It was an ancient power I sensed, something that had been around since the sun first rose in the east and set in the west.  An ancient power, and a sad one.  I didn't know why I thought so, but something terrible had happened long ago and the damage had never been healed.

To quell the nervousness rising in me, I took a bite of the half-frozen bread and winced as my body erupted in shivers from the ice in the bread.  But I had little choice but to eat it, so I finished my meager dinner and decided to try to approach my watcher with a plea for a place to sleep.