They both sat on the edge of the forest, picking herbs and roots and trudging around for various mushrooms that seemed to enjoy the forests moist interior. Her eyes were fixed on the young child as he sat quietly his grey eyes staring blankly into the forest. He had taken a fascination with the wilds when his parents were lost in within their village of Ithilien.
The strike had come quickly and was nearly over as quickly as it started. The ravenous ones they had taken to calling the remnant employed hit and run tactics as to avoid the rangers there in as well as those who remained from an ancient order. As the war band retreated into the forest, a great miasma set upon it and drowned out the sunlight from within its very borders. The ones who remained, a handful of those who were able to flee or hide could have sworn they heard screams within. Though they simply believed it to be their loved ones suffering at the hands of their vile captors.
A hunter had set foot in since, a ranger from the northern garrison as to investigate the sightings and what he beheld there was a ghastly visage. What they witnessed within, no mortal eyes should ever behold. The carnage, the destruction. Not of the villagers but simply of their captors.
The garrison of the northern guard reported their findings and refused to set foot back into the wilds there. It was remote save those who had tried to rebuild their village though now it was a meager camp. She had tried to hide during the attack and saw the child sitting against a band of crates and sobbing and she knew what had to be done. She wasn't sure how old he was, but he couldn't have seen more than four or five winters. She took him out every time she had to venture out for more herbs or roots, as she was the herbalist for their people. Often, she would catch him talking to the forest as if carrying on a conversation. Nothing more than a child's ramblings. This season had been a particularly scarce harvest. The lack of rain and the constant sunlight had ensured that few mushrooms grew and the flowers and roots that normally replenished themselves frequently had grown sparse within the edge of the forest and she refused to step foot in lest she meet a similar fate. When she looked up to find him, he had simply vanished.
Her legs stiffened as she shot up, her eyes widening as she took in her surroundings and she dropped her basket, its empty thud as it hit the grass completely oblivious to her. "KAILEAN!!" Echoed along the edge of the forest as she ran around looking through the tufts of grass incase he had decided to play a game of hide and seek. Her mind found no solace when she found this not to be the case. She paused, seeing small bare foot prints in the mud along with his pair of foot wrappings set aside on the grass. Her eyes flicked across the landscape, following them with her eyes while her heart continued to sink. They led straight into the forest. She shouted for him once more, but to no avail. It was unlikely that he would have heard from with the dense fog and the foliage. She turned and ran, grabbing her trappings as to free her legs for a longer stride as she screamed for help.Four of the men of the village led the small group with Talia behind them, following the tracks of mud where she had sprinted only to be led back to where she had been sitting with Kailean.
There he sat. Baskets woven of branches and vines over flowing with various flowers and roots, mushrooms and fruits of all kinds sitting around the young Kailean who beamed at Talia. She ran, snatching him up from where he sat and held him close. Kissing his face and brushing the long dark hair from his face to see if he was hurt. Finding not even a scratch on him and despite the frigid air, he was warm to the touch. "Mama Talia, its okay. See? The forest provided! She will take care of us!"
