Chapter 1
Croatoa Island, New World
“Mistress! Mistress!” shouted the tiny Fae in shrill tones.
Cro stirred sleepily on her bed of ferns and soft moss. A bright jade eye opened and regarded the hovering Fae. Boo was a bird sized humanoid, with large dragonfly-like gossamer wings. Only her orange eyes provided any contrast with her forest green skin and hair. Most Fae only wore light garments made from the leaves of whatever flora they happened to live near or in. Boo, however, was particularly fond of orange flower petals as she felt it matched her eyes.
“What is it, Boo? I was trying to sleep.” Cro said with a wide yawn.
“Sleep, Mistress? When did you start doing that?!” Boo replied inquisitively.
Cro froze in surprise. When had she started sleeping? Ever since she had come into contact with the strange human, everything seemed to have changed. She had been returning a pale man colony that had become too unbalanced with the Earth when one of the men approached her. “Returning” meant putting things back to their natural state, all things, so it was not strange for the humans to take offense at being returned to their elemental components. Yet, the look in his eyes had been one of odd serenity and longing. It had held Cro’s attention long enough to allow him to get within reach of her. Cro had felt no fear of course, he was only a human after all. But, when he reached out to her and grasped her hand, his touch actually caused Cro pain. A shocking jolt of agony, the first physical pain she had ever felt in her existence. The pale man was thrown backward with a concussive force, and even Cro had staggered a bit, her hand throbbing with the foreign feeling. Vibrant visions of murder, torture, and other vile acts of man swam through her mind in a torrent. Just as she thought they might overwhelm her, they faded, only the shadow remaining. After regaining her composure, Cro walked to where the strange man had slid to a stop against a tree. He was gurgling and babbling incoherently, his body spasming at random. Assuming his injuries would punish him sufficiently for his transgression, Cro continued her work and left the man to die. She had briefly considered returning him, but found herself either unable or unwilling to do so for reasons she didn’t quite understand. Once the remaining humans had all been returned, she allowed the local Fae to make off with the materials used in the human buildings. They enjoyed using the timber to build small Fairy homes, gardens, bird baths, and even bee hives. The human materials provided a much sought after exotic appearance in Fae society. Fae construction was weaved into the existing nature, rather than on top of it, so Cro found it much more pleasing to the eye.
Cro still heard the sounds and rhythms of Nature as she always had, but now she found herself “feeling” it, almost like a pulse. It no longer seemed a part of her, more as if called to her from a distance. Cro had never before pondered her personal role as a Guardian. She had always heard the Earth, and responded as necessary to its needs. Questioning the world and her place in it had never been her way. Self-awareness, emotion, these were strange new concepts to the confused Guardian. Cro put the troubling thoughts aside for now and stood up. She stretched her lithe body, her skin a flawless medium brown, the color of rich earth with a texture of smooth bark. Her eyes the pure green of growing things, and her hair the pale blue of the sky. Cro was a construct of primal nature and, unlike the Fae, didn’t feel the need for clothing.
“Well, I’m awake now, Boo, what’s so important?” Cro asked.
“The natives have left another offering at the shore,” said Boo as she settled on a nearby tree branch, her excitement obvious in her voice.
“I don’t know why you insist on referring to them as “natives” Boo, we have, after all, been here much longer than them. What is it this time?”
“Well, Mistress, if I had to guess, it used to be some kind of fish. Although it could be some kind of bird…but then again it does smell like fish. Of course, I did see a fish jump out of the water pretty high once. Even though that’s not technically flying it could have possibly learned because I heard once—”
“And I suppose you would like to have it?” Cro interrupted with a smirk.
“I hadn’t really thought about it Mistress,” Boo feigned poorly, “But I would hate for it to go to waste, and since you don’t really eat food—”
Cro waved her hand. “Go ahead th—“ Boo had zipped off before she even finished the sentence. Fae were unbelievably fast when properly motivated.
Cro laughed to herself as she watched the swift Fairy fly away. Reverently, Cro knelt down on the soft moss with both palms placed firmly against the ground. Small vines sprung from the Earth and entwined her fingers, wrapping all the way to her wrists. She fell deep into the rhythms of the Earth. She could feel the movement of flowing water, the tectonic plates slowly grinding, the growing of trees, and the beating hearts of animals. The forces usually flowed together in balance, but Cro sensed pain and fear nearby. Something was wrong, but she was having trouble pinpointing it. Ever since the pale man’s touch, focus had been hard to find. A red fox scampered up next to her, disturbing her meditations. The fox circled rapidly, obviously upset.
“What is it, little one?” Cro asked giving the fox a scratch on his silken furred back. The fox nuzzled into Cro’s hand affectionately, luxuriating in her touch. Cro felt the impressions and memories flow from the fox to her. She saw images of pale Hunters using traps that snared the legs of animals and caused them extended suffering before death. Cro could feel their panic and pain as they died slowly or chewed off the entrapped limb to attempt escape. She saw flashes of the pale humans as they removed the fur and left the bodies to rot. Images of rotting animal carcasses strewn across the forest came through in intense reds and greens. The meat left with shallow disregard to fester in the open. Cro’s eyes narrowed in rage, green light leaking from the slits. This was not the way of things. She had long ago taught the local humans to fear and respect Nature and, maybe more so, it’s Guardian. Which one they feared more was not her concern. They soon learned to kill humanely and for sustenance only. They quickly learned to find use for every part of the animal. Thus, had they had been allowed to live in her realm. Those that did not conform to natural law were returned to the Earth to maintain balance. Death was as necessary as life, its balanced counterpart, and Cro carried out her duty with indifference and brutal efficiency. This outrageous exploitation, however, was blasphemy and would not stand in her territory. Cro quickly got to her feet, the vines quickly receding back into the ground. She stood up straight, and walked directly into the nearest tree, seeming to simply disappear inside.
Cro almost instantly exited a tree some distance from her home, and near to a group of three pale hunters. As Cro approached, they all stared dumbfounded as what appeared to be a beautiful nude woman had just appeared from out of thin air. She stopped a short distance from the men and waited to be properly greeted. The largest one, and the boldest, stepped forward and spoke.
“Well now, what tribe are you from pretty girl?” he asked with a predatory smile, “I haven’t seen a savage painted quite like you before.”
Cro watched his approach in confused silence. She was not used to any reaction other than supplication and worship from humans. As creatures of the Earth, they owed her the same allegiance as the other animals. His pale skin gave her pause, he was not a local human.
“Awfully dangerous for a girl to be walking around alone out here, especially a naked one,” the hunter continued, “Why don’t you let me and my friends here take you someplace safe?” He quickly reached out and grabbed Cro roughly by the arm with a lewd laugh, his friends joining in the laughter.
Cro’s eyes widened in shock and began to glow with vibrant green fury. Too late did the hunter realize his mistake. She remembered what happened the last time a pale man had touched her and would not let it happen again. Dagger like thorns instantly sprouted from Cro’s skin, impaling the hunter’s hand in a dozen places. Blood flowed freely from the wounds as he ripped his maimed hand free, screaming in pain. The venom from the thorns coursed through his blood, like an acid burning him from the inside out. The liquefying flesh dripped from his hand as he clutched it to his chest. The hunter made it four staggering steps toward his companions before collapsing in a gurgling heap, the infected arm’s flesh almost entirely disintegrated. Flowers sprung up from the flowing blood as it was absorbed back into the Earth. Insects and worms poured from the nearby forest and soil and began devouring the corpse in a swarm of writhing bodies. His companions stared in abject horror, too terrified to even consider fleeing. Green light enveloped Cro’s hands as she pointed to the men, fixing them with an angry glare with her glowing emerald eyes. Thick roots and thorny vines sprang from the ground and wrapped the men’s legs, holding them immobile. Cro approached the men, and stood face to face with them both. One of the men drew his skinning knife and swiped at her chest, but Cro was too quick for such a clumsy attack and leapt back. Another casual gesture and the vines wrapped higher around the men, leaving only their heads free.
“You would dare attempt to harm a Guardian?! Pathetic pale men, you will soon learn to respect your betters!” Cro screamed in a tone that seemed to be spoken by multiple voices, the echo pounding through the surrounding forest. Flocks of birds resting in the trees spiraled into the air in a panic. Answering an unspoken summons, a massive bull elk trotted out of the forest, its full rack of antlers standing more than twice the height of the now hysterical hunters. The elk bowed its head and knelt respectfully before Cro. With a simple gesture from Cro toward the Hunters, the elk stood, stomped it’s foot, and charged with a loud snort, impaling both men on the multiple points of its dagger sharp horns. Their bodies were ripped free of the vines and tossed about like rag dolls as the elk whipped its head back and forth. A final flick of the majestic beast’s head sent the men plummeting to Cro’s feet. There, they lay prone before her, limbs bent at unnatural angles, still in shock. They weakly attempted to look up at the Guardian.
“Only now do you find your proper place in things, but too late to salvage your pathetic, wasted lives,” Cro told the men with visibly growing pleasure. The worms and insects having finished their first meal began to crawl toward the barely alive hunters. A vast moving carpet on millions of legs and carapaces flowed like a slow river, leaving flora covered bones behind. The men tried to crawl away in wide eyed panic, wet breath wheezing through perforated lungs, but found their torn and broken bodies unable to move. As the crawling horde reached the men, they screamed a hideous gurgling noise, blood and spittle flying from their mouths. This lasted only until the insects and worms filled their mouths and noses, snuffing out the offensive noise. Cro absently stroked the muscular neck of the elk as she watched the offensive humans returned to the Earth, flowers and fungus sprouting explosively from the remains. Cro found herself laughing aloud and froze, immediately confused again. She had never taken such satisfaction in her role before, what were these new feelings rising in her? She was a Guardian, her role was to maintain balance, always the balance. This she did efficiently and without thought or emotion. These men had certainly deserved retribution, but usually she would at least attempt to teach the proper way; as she did with the local men. Reverently, she looked over the mostly skeletal remains of the pale men. Their anguished screams still fresh in her memory, seeming almost musical to her. Cro then felt another new sensation, joy. Her vengeance had felt…good.
What was happening to her?
