Page 79 of Into the Heartless Wood
Of him trying to save his mother.
Of his soul, bright and shining,
left to wink out
with all the others.
My mother’s breath is icy in my ear. “I should take your heart from your body, since you are of so little use to me.”
I shake.
I find I cannot bear dying,
now that my death is so near.
My sister says: “She can yet be your soldier. You will need her in the coming war.”
I listen to the beat of my heart,
to the pulse of the earth.
I wonder why my sister cares to save me.
Perhaps she will have nothing to laugh at
when I am gone.
Rain lashes down. Hail stings like ants.
My mother drags me up by my hair. “Your sister asks me to be merciful. Do you also wish for my mercy?”
I tremble in her grip,
my back screaming in pain. I whisper: “Yes.”
Her smile
is a cruel twist
of her mouth. “Do you know what I will do to you, if you defy me again?”
She drags her claws down my face.
She slices deep enough
to make sap spill out. “I will rip you to pieces, and make a bonfire of your bones.”
I can only nod.
The pain is too great for anything more.
“Now, daughter. There is a human somewhere near. Prove your loyalty to me. Kill him, and bring me his soul.”
She draws an amber orb from within her robes.
She hangs it around my neck. “Go.”
I stumble back from her, nearly falling.
