Born of Life and Death

Memories and Tree Spirits

Oisin's POV

Oisin glided through the woods faster than anyone could. He knew this place well. He had been here ever since he was a young child. The smell of smoke and burning flesh, his mother's cries for help after she told him to run, his father carrying him when he could no longer run on his once tiny legs. He remembered the last time he saw his father alive before the darkness took over. His father had whispered in his heart, "me and your mother love you very much," those were his last words before he heard no more. He woke up beside his dead father on the red stained moss beneath him.

He was raised by the dryads of the forest. They had found the crying boy wandering through the woods, tired and alone. They taught him how to survive in the woods. Where to go, where to avoid. He learned his way around fast. Now he could feel them watching him, he knew they wanted to speak. He slowed to a walk.

A man appeared in front of him. Viny green clothes covered him. He looked wispy and faint as if he really wasn't there.

"Where you off to?" he asked.

"Somewhere else," Oisin replied.

"Your friends need you."

"Their not my friends, I barely know them." A woman appeared next to him. Her wise face stared at him.

"They asked us for our help and we sent you," she said sternly. His mind went blank. An image faded in his head.

Delmar walking behind a tall soldier. They were asking them for help rescuing the prisoners nearby. After a long argument we turned them down.

The memory fades a new one pops up. Oisin being sent to spy on the camp after the prisoners were rescued. He crept up on the camp. Careful not to be seen he snuck in while everyone was asleep. He looked around for anything that would give any information on these people.

"Who are you?" a voice said behind him. He stopped and stood still. Ready to fight he turned around. Behind him was a young handsome boy, about his age.

"I doesn't matter," he said while looking for a way out of this situation. A scream echoed in the distance. Smoke rose from nearby. Oisin ran.

"Wait," said the boy, "can you help some of us escape?"

Again the memory faded and now he was back in the forest.

"Now you have seen what has happened," said Luljeta the dryad. "Here is what is happening now."

Oisin saw Magdalena and Delmar trapped between blade thorns and the hunters. Libitina was asleep in a dark place surrounded by shadowy figures. There, it was blurry and hard to see.

"I will send you there, I do not expect you to return," she said with a grim, rigid tone. Before he could respond, he found himself in another part of the forest. He heard shouts nearby. He sighed and sprinted towards the yells. Finding himself blocked by blade thorns he looked around. Many of the bounty hunters had found or chased Magdalena and Delmar. Now they were fighting to escape.

In front of Oisin was the stragaley, spiny bushes that were razor sharp and gave you a fatal poison if you brushed it. Thankfully for most people these bushes aren't common. He could clear the path, or he could turn around and leave. Luljeta had told him not to come back. He turned, he had made his decision.