Daughters of the Forest

It was quiet in the council of the Forest King. The King sat on his mighty throne and looked upon his green land, the high trees, the rays of sun coming through the leaves and dotting the forest floor.

For the first time in a millenia he felt at ease with his kingdom, but he had no one to share this serenity with. The Forest King searched for advice in the animals, and found a pattern. Everything has continuity, someone or something to continue their existence after they’re gone. 

The Forest King smiled with a thought. He reached down and took a handful of moss, dirt and roots in his large but gentle hand. 

He started molding, fashioning, detailing, until the he had formed a figure of a human of the soil. He set the figure down on a mossy rock in the shadow of an old pine tree. He cast a spell so powerful, that the whole forest held its breath. ’’From the soil and roots you will be born. Your ears will hear the smallest rustle, even the steps of ants. Nothing enters this forest without your permission. My daughter, Sabilla, breathe.’’

The figure he had fashioned shook off its shell of dirt with a deep breath. The soil rippled down to reveal the figure of a woman with two large antlers decorating her head majestically like a crown. Her skin was fair and a pattern of roots traveled down her arms and legs. She looked down at her hands, her body. Her dark eyes were immediately observant, she took notice of every detail. 

She felt the thumping of a stag running through an opening, she felt a squirrel digging for a pine cone in the east of the forest. She smiled at the King, and the King smiled back. 

Not many moons went by, as the King started to feel anxious about his heritage. Sabilla was kind, yet rough.

The beasts of the forest respected her, but small creatures fled from her, scared. He saw, that Sabilla would not be enough.

So the King returned to his Hall to once again create. This time he gathered some leaves of aspen, fallen feathers, and wildflowers from the sunniest meadow in the forest. 

He fashioned them into a fragile, but colorful figure. It was delicate and gentle, unlike the previous one he had created. And then he cast another spell. ’’From the sunlight, wind and a flicker of a faerie’s eyelid you will be born. Your eyes will see miles away, and your touch can bring life and joy back to where it once before lived. Nothing in this forest will see misery, while your eyes watch over it. My daughter, Sorina, breathe.’’

And once again, the figure he had fashioned, emerged from inside the ingredients. 

The delicate fairy-like woman straightened her back and yawned wearily, stretching her arms upwards, as if waking from a deep slumber. On the moment of her birth she already opened her eyes full of wonder,
a curious smile on her lips. Her head was decorated by
two delicate horns that resembled the antlers of a roe-deer.
Her eyes were bright and her smile made the King pleased with his creation. 

It was made known to the King’s kingdom, that his daughters, Sabilla and Sorina, would be treated as nothing less of royalty. 

He taught his daughters everything about the forest, and how energy flows through it. The sisters grew wiser and more beautiful every day. They had been born of the forest, and it was like reuniting them with their family. Their love and respect for their father also grew every day they spent with him.

Years, decades, centuries went with just the three of them, and the forest.

A lot happened in that time. Humans started gaining power, knowledge, and to some extent, greed. The first time Sabilla saw a man point his arrow at a noble wolf, she had felt appalled, disgusted. She watched from a distance as the man shot the wolf and dragged him away like he was nothing but a thing to him. That was the day Sabilla had her first encounter with a human. She memorized the sound of the man’s footsteps and his scent. So this was ’’a human’’? 

Sorina’s first encounter with a human was not so terrible. A child wandered into the forest, chasing a butterfly. Sorina found the child, and played with him all day in the sunlight. 

She knew Sabilla was watching them from the shadows, but she didn’t know why it disgusted her sister so much. At the end of that day, Sorina escorted the child to the edge of the forest. She saw a glimpse of the world outside the forest, and started begging the King to let her go see the outside. The King was only worried by this request, but Sabilla was beyond furious. She felt her sister had betrayed them, and was turning her back on them. To let her sister walk out and expose herself to those monsters? To let her put herself in that kind of danger? No.

Sabilla: How can you be so selfish? Are you blind to what those monsters have done to us?

Sorina: They aren’t all bad, they just need to understand…

Sabilla: No, you need to understand! You can’t be this naïve  anymore. We need to protect our own.

Sorina: How are you going to do that? By stooping to their level and keeping on killing? 

Because then you are JUST LIKE THEM.

This hurt like frost had bitten Sabilla’s heart. Sorina stood in front of her sister with her back straightened, no intention of taking her words back. She was going to stand her ground. Anger flashed in Sabilla’s eyes as she turned on her heels to storm away. Sorina sighed, how she hated fighting. She lazily took a step to follow her sister, not to apologize, but to talk this through. 

They always talked it through, and found a way to make it right. She walked to the small river that flows through the forest, and found Sabilla. Then she felt something she had never felt before.

The pain shot through her chest so quick she had to catch her breath. She saw Sabilla turn and heard her scream ’’Run!’’ Something black oozed off her chest. What was that sticking out of it? Something wooden, she recognized that wood. 

But it was peeled naked, pale, stripped of its skin. Sabilla fell on
the soft bed of moss with a mild thud. A young man stood a little further, shivering or fear. His bow was still raised, as if he was afraid to put it down.

Sorina rushed to her sister's side, holding her on her own trembling arms. Her soul was shattered by the image of sister's bleeding chest. She was helpless, and yet couldn't look away. 

....To be continued?

(Credits: Photographer the amazing Anna Pyhäjärvi, models the spectacular Blue, magnificent Red, and a special appearance by Tryggve Líth as the Forest King. Model for the back of the neck Pietari. Assistants the patients Suvi and Minttu. Story by Red.)