Chapter 25: Chapter 25

Kavan lifted his head, just in time to see Fyn enter the cave.

As expected, he was carrying more baskets full of fruits and vegetables. Fyn took a deep breath and leaned down, dropping all the baskets he was carrying in one swift motion. He then wiped the sweat that dripped from his forehead with the back of his hand, “They just won’t listen to me.”

“Have you told them?”

“Countless times!” Fyn muttered, crossing his arms against his chest. “I told them that there’s more than enough food here, but they still keep on leaving these on the edge of the forest.”

Kavan chuckled. He closed the distance between the two of them, curling his arm around Fyn’s waist. As usual, Fyn blushed, averting his gaze. Tilting his head, Kavan gripped his chin with his fingers and brushed his lips along the man that he loved. “How is her daughter?”

Fyn’s eyes twinkled, “She’s almost ten now. It’s really strange when I think about it.”

It has been ten years ever since Havu had left them.

It has also been ten years since Fyn had stopped aging.

When Kavan had given him the gift of life, he started becoming more and more like the demon. He still looked human, still had needs like that of a human, but one could tell that Fyn was no longer human. In fact, Kavan had discovered that the forest liked Fyn more than they did him. Whenever Fyn would walk, the branches would guide him towards where he would want to go.

Kavan had never experienced that. The forest left him figuring things out on their own. There was a time when he had asked why that was, but the forest never answered. Much to his annoyance. The good thing was, whenever Kavan had to help a being within the forest, Fyn would have something else to do.

Another revelation was the cause of all the unfortunate events happening within Gashea.

Much like what Kavan had thought, it had been the forest doing it.

The famine was caused by their refusal to give nourishment to the soil, the drought was the forest’s refusal of allowing the clouds to produce rain, the diseases where the forest’s refusal in providing decent herbal medicine for the villagers. Kavan didn’t even figure it out. No other than Fyn had discovered all the answers.

When the forest had discovered that Kavan had changed Fyn, they spoke to him in hushed whispers, admitting everything. Fyn had told him that the forest was mad with all the useless deaths, they had  grown angry because of the irresponsibility of some villagers. How most of them made up rumors and stories about how Kavan was a demon that killed everything it saw.

Fyn didn’t waste a second. Once he discovered what was wrong, he persuaded the forest into changing what had been. He promised that the village would change, that they would prove that they are worth protecting.

The forest had listened, and in a span of a few months, Gashea had returned to how it usually was.

All because of Fyn.

“What are you planning to do today?” Kavan asked, pulling Fyn flush against his chest.

“I don’t know yet,” Fyn tapped his chin in thought, “What do you think?”

Kavan smiled, brushing his lips against Fyn’s forehead. Fyn wrapped his arms around his waist and squeezed. With a content sigh, Kavan lifted his head to look at the corner of their cave. Fyn had made a small altar with a drawn picture made of charcoal. An altar to immortalize Havu’s memory. In his mind, Kavan could still hear his friend’s voice.

“Kavan?”

Fyn’s voice brought him back to reality, and he smiled once more. Something that he found himself doing more often than he had liked. He blamed Fyn for most of it. Shrugging, Kavan leaned down, picking Fyn up like he weighed nothing. Fyn squeals, chuckling when he tugged on Kavan’s antlers, making the demon groan in annoyance.

Kavan ran towards the cliff, his wings erupting out of his skin, then they flew.

“I think,” Kavan started, looking out towards the horizon. “We have all the time in the world to do what we want.”

THE END.

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Decades Ago…

“Do you know where we are?”

The husband clicked his tongue, not yet certain of what to tell his wife. He was sure that they had already passed the very tree he was leaning on for quite a few times already. In his silence, tears started to form in the corner of his wife’s eyes, and instantly, his fear worsened.

“We’re lost, aren’t we?”

He didn’t need to answer her question, she already knew the answer.

“Our boy,” She cried, clutching the basket full of herbs tight against her chest. “What about our boy?”

“The village chief shouldn’t have ordered us to get the herbs for her daughter,” The husband seethed, clutching his fist tight against his shirt. “He had people who worked for him! He should have ordered them instead. Just because we had a few unpaid taxes, he’s going to order us doing what he didn’t want to do.”

“Don’t say that,” His wife told him, “Hana has nothing to do with this.”

The husband shook his head, taking the basket from his wife and putting his arm around the middle of her back, helping her walk, “I know, it’s just… he knew how dangerous the forest was. I can’t believe he left us out here to scavenge something for his daughter. That’s why we stayed as far away as possible.”

His wife sighed, staring up into the trees.

“I was thinking about that,” She murmured, “We’ve been in here for hours, nothing has hurt us yet. Do you think… that maybe the village chief wasn’t as honest as he had been?”

The husband sighed. His wife did have a point. They were in the forest for hours, scavenging for something the village chief wanted them to do in exchange for him forgetting their unpaid taxes. If it wasn’t for the fact that they were horribly lost, he would have considered the forest a truly lovely place. With a gentle smile, he said just that.

“This forest is beautiful,” he admits. “If Fyn were here, I’m sure he would have loved it.”

His wife smiled, “You’re right. Fyn would have grabbed every single forage he would find and asked us whether or not it was edible. He would have roamed around, staring at the plants and wondering just why they got that tall. Fyn would love it here, it’s way more interesting than our small hut.”

His wife chuckled. And then it died down, leaving them in silence.

“We’ll get out of here,” She asked once more, her voice shaking. “Won’t we?”

“We will,” The husband assured her. “I’ll make sure of it.”

He would die trying.

As softly as he could, so soft that his wife couldn’t hear it, he uttered a soft prayer.

“If we don’t” He starts, “I pray that someone would take care of our boy. Protect him and love him as much as we do.”

He wasn’t sure if someone had heard.

But one thing was certain.

The forest did.

And they kept their promise.