Book 2 Season's Change Spring's Revenge

Part 20 By the Light of the Silvery Moon

She closed her golden eyes and took a long slow deep breath as she prepared to jump down from the trees to do her goddess's bidding. As her feet carried her flawlessly over the branches of the large trees to the moonlit clearing and the small silver-haired form that lay at the base of The Mother Tree, her mind prepared her for failure even though she had never failed her goddess before. She did not know what condition she would find the female in. Given that the girl was delivered to that clearing by one of the vilest humans Aliekki had ever laid her eyes on and she could smell the blood, she knew that what she found would not be pretty. But her goddess is a goddess and if she wills it, she can raise the recently dead. The girl was still breathing. From where she sat, she could see the rise and fall of the small being's chest. It was neither smooth, deep, nor easy. The girl was seriously injured.

Aliekki had been called upon by the goddess. She was ready to serve and ready for the challenge. The goddess would guide her if she lost her way. She would give her what she needed to accomplish her task. She had been preparing, training and healing others for decades; hoping, praying to one day be called upon to directly serve her goddess. She was excited and very concerned. Yet she knew that she would not fail her goddess. She would save the girl that had been laid at the feet of the mother, whoever she was.

When she reached the edge of the clearing, she stopped long enough to ensure that no animals had yet come to the clearing in search of an easy meal. When she was satisfied, she freed her short sword from its sheath and lept to the ground below. Her years of experience and caution made her wise. She slowly approached the small form wrapped in the crudely made blanket. The smell of blood was very strong. She feared what she would see and hoped that not all of it was the girl's. "Nahnalith," she called out gently. "Are you okay? Nanalithree?" She continued to move closer to the bundle. "Please. I am here to help you." She kept her voice soft and warm, keeping it free of her fears and full of kindness and concern. Much to her surprise, there was a faint reply, but she did not know the language of its speaker. It sounded close to her language. If the languages were close enough to each other to have common words then the Elf that just spoke had said, "Let die. I broke, Kill. Just kill."

Aliekki was alarmed. In all her years as a healer, she had never heard anyone request to die. "I cannot do that." The girl did not move as Aliekki approached her. The smell of her blood got stronger the closer Aliekki got to her and her concern grew deeper. Not knowing if it was all some elaborate ruse or not, Aliekki kept her hand near the hilt of her other weapon as she held her sword ready. Sylvan Elves did not have silver or white hair. Only one race of elves was known to have hair that color. Dark Faye. Dark Faye were vile and cruel; evil. They were the spawn of demons. They pillaged, raped and murdered entire villages in their surface raids. Was this a ploy. Is this how the raids were started? She was prepared to use her weapons if necessary. She did not need them.

She should have been startled and recoiled from what she saw when she finally reached the girl and moved around in front of her to see what or who she was caring for. Before her lay a badly wounded and beaten Dark Elven girl; a childling! The girl was indeed a Dark Faye, the Faye renowned for their evil and cruelty. The beings that lived beneath the world in darkness. The ones that raided surface villages, took all the food and laid waste to the people and the land. They were vicious and cruel, worse perhaps than humans. But she had been commanded by the Goddess she worshipped to save this one. 'Why' She did not look like a raider. She wore no armor, had no weapons and barely any clothing to cover her damaged body. What would have been a pretty elven face was swollen and broken. She had several cuts on her cheekbones where her black skin had opened from being struck repeatedly. Her lips were swollen and bloody. It looked like several of her bones in her arms and her ribs had been broken. There was dried blood matted in her hair near her temple. Even her tiny black feet showed signs of abuse. There wasn't a part of that poor childling's body that looked untouched by a cruel hand. She was just a childling, a young elf, likely not beyond forty years old. What could she have possibly done to deserve what was done to her? "Nanalithree. I need to see where your blood is coming from. I have to stop it from leaving your body." She moved closer. "I am going to touch you." She showed the girl her empty hands then gently moved the blanket so she could examine the wounded girl.

She gasped as she discovered the main source of the girl's bleeding in her quick examination of the her body. Her legs from her hip down were covered in blood. "Are you cut?" She'd only seen so much blood gathered there for one reason. She was devastated. That poor child. Aliekki's heart lurched in her chest. "What did that son of a demon do to you Nanalithree?" The girl was barely holding on to life. She didn't have much time left. Aliekki placed both her hands low on the girl's abdomen. The horrors she discovered when she touched the girl. All the physical and emotional trauma that the girl had endured swirled through her as her hand came to rest over the girl's womb. It nearly broke her. It was rare that such a connection was made but she was guided to the childling by the goddess. She should have expected it. She was not prepared. It made her want to wretch seeing, in a sense, and knowing what that human had done to that little Dark Faye. She did not pity the girl; what she felt was not pity. It was empathy for a being that did not deserve the fate she had been handed.

Aliekki felt the girl's pain nearly as if it were her own. Her wounds were extensive inside and out. Through the gifts of her goddess, she could see the physical damage the girl had suffered. She was bruised on the inside but nothing inside her was broken except a couple of ribs. How many times had he kicked her, punched her, slapped her around or held her down while he forced his will upon her? Did he know what his wickedness had done to the poor girl? How many times had that vile creature abused her? Aliekki's heart cried out at the injustice; the cruelties done to the young creature that she held as she called upon the goddess to heal the girl. She had eventually picked her up and cradled her in her arms. Tears ran from her eyes and her heart trembled with pure ache. The girl had long since passed out in Aliekki's arms from the pain of her injuries.

When the first of the healing was done and it was safe to move her to a safer place to help her, Aliekki carried the girl back to her home for the rest of the night. She watched over her, prayed for her, and prepared the salves, ointments, and potions that would be needed for the girl's physical wounds. She made a compress for her and got everything she needed ready. She knew it was risky, but she needed to clean all of the girl's wounds. She undressed her while she slept and tossed the cursed and soiled clothing into the fire. She cried while she washed the girl. "No one should ever be treated this way. This girl, black skin or no, did not deserve this. She did not. She's just a childling. A childling. He hurt her. Did evil things. Vile, evil things to her body. Goddess, please let me be enough to help heal the wounds I cannot see."

The moon whispered her reply. "I chose you." Aliekki cleaned the girl's wounds and applied the ointments and salves to the open ones. They would keep the healing process going until Aliekki had the strength herself to channel the Goddess's magic into the girl once more. The injuries that could have ended her life were healed, her broken bones mending. "How did you survive him Little One. You are so strong, so, so very strong." Tears still streamed down her face as she placed the compress against the girl's wounded body and wrapped her hips as she would a baby's then bound her breast and clothed her in a clean white robe. She stoked the fire and covered the girl with a warm blanket and relaxed into reverie as she sat with her blades upon her lap.