The House Of Gaian

into the woods.
     
    But he kept coming back, day after day, to watch the female and her mate and the two small ones.
    And because he remained there, other spirits became curious and wandered to that part of the world to watch the strange creatures.
    She danced with the earth. She sang to the wind. She was not of the woods, but she understood the woods. Her joy filled the air with a rich sweetness. Her anger was the sharp edge of a storm.
    He watched her through the turn of the seasons, followed her when she walked through the woods gathering nuts and berries and plants, followed her mate when he hunted or gathered wood.
    Most of the spirits were content to watch the female and her mate, but there were some who resented the two-legged creatures coming into the woods, some who were filled with a darker nature and preferred to inhabit host animals that could express that nature.
    One day, that old spirit felt the presence of one of those angry spirits moments before he heard a startled cry, smelled blood. He ran toward the sounds and smells — and saw the female’s mate on the ground, being gored by the angry spirit in the form of a wild pig. As the pig ripped open the male’s flesh with its tusks, he felt a fury toward his own kind that he’d never felt before. He lashed out with his power and ripped spirit from flesh, destroying both .
    As the other spirits who were nearby fled from his rage, he stared at the male on the ground.
    Releasing his stag form, he flowed as spirit into the body of the male.
    Death surrounded him, and another spirit, another will strove with all its remaining strength to reach him, touch him. Afraid of Death, he still reached out for that other spirit. Knowledge and feelings flooded into him, then pushed him away.
    He drew on the branches of the Mother to create a cloak of flesh that matched the new shape he’d learned from the dying male. As he knelt beside the man, the whispered sounds became words.
    “Please look after her. Help her. Please.”
    When the flesh no longer lived, he walked to the stone burrow — cottage — and stood at the edge of the garden until the woman noticed him. Fear filled her face as she stared at him. He didn’t know enough words yet to tell her about her mate, so he pointed toward the woods and started walking back the way he ‘d come. She followed him, and her young followed her .
    Her grief shuddered through the woods when she saw the body of her mate. Her tears turned the streams bitter. Wind keened her heartache .
    For a while, she clung to her young, grieving with them. Finally, she wiped her face and called the Great Mother to take the body of her mate .
    Earth shifted, moving under her mate’s body until the flesh sank deep into the ground. Earth shifted again, covering flesh .
    When it was done, the woman took her young and walked out of the woods .
    For days, he watched her but kept his distance. She feared him now that he had taken a form like her own. How could he tell her she would be safe in the woods when he couldn‘t get close enough to use the man words ?
    Perhaps... Perhaps he had done something wrong with the form and that was why she feared him
    ?
     
    He found a pool of water on a still day and stared for a long time at the face looking back at him .
    The woods looked back at him. The wild places of the world. A human face, but not completely human. Never completely human. The small pointed ears still looked like a stag’s ears — and small antlers rose from his brow .
    Discouraged, he stayed away from her cottage for several days .
    Then, one day at dawn, he saw rabbits feeding in her garden and chased them away, understanding now that these were the kinds of plants she and her young needed to eat, and if the rabbits ate them, she would not have enough to eat over the winter .
    When he chased the last rabbit away, he turned and saw her watching him. He struggled to say the man words, hoping she would hear him before she ran away .
    “ I did not harm him .”
    She smiled at him, and he felt the warmth of the sun again .
    “ I know,” she said. Then she went back into her cottage .
    Slowly she got used to him. Slowly she began talking to him while she worked in her garden .
    One day, when he brought her a rabbit he’d hunted for her, she invited him into her cottage, gave him clothes that had belonged to her mate, and let him eat with her young .
    She called him Fae, which meant Other.
    The other spirits called him Hunter,