Jacob awoke to the sound of many voices and animal noises. Before he even completely opened his eyes, a elderly voice reached his ears.
" Good. It's time for you to eat. Hurry and sit up, after all, you can not eat while laying down."
He did not think the voice was directed at him and so he opened his eyes fully and started to look around as he sat up. A tray full of different fruits and vegetables were placed directly in front of him before the voice spoke again.
" Make sure you eat all of that. I will be in the corner working on my leather works. Since I have questions and I am sure you do as well, we will take turns asking our questions to each other."
Jacob thought he saw rose red arms when the tray was placed quickly in front of him. Therefore, he studied the room carefully. It was about the same size of the wagon he traveled in with his kidnappers, which made it tiny in his eyes. He had a huge room in the palace. It was at that moment when his eyes landed in the corner where the voice retreated to.
A woman with deep red skin and long hair that appeared to be flames moving on her head was sitting in the corner stitching leather pieces together at a fast pace. She was wearing a simple white dress with leather shoes on her feat.
" Are you a demon?" Jacob couldn't help but ask in curiosity.
The woman snorted, " No." She looked at him as if that was the stupidest question she has ever heard. Before he could ask another question, she asked one that he wasn't expecting. " How did watching others die before you make you feel?"
Jacob paled instantly. His mind went back to the monstrous murder of his kidnappers. He couldn't answer for quite awhile as he tried to process his emotions. He easily ignored all the hustle and bustle outside.
The woman simply continued her leather work. Everyone who experienced such violence for the first time would need time to process such things. She was in no hurry. The leather armour she was making could potentially save lives tonight when the demons attacked. It was also the only thing she could do at the moment. They ran out of herbs to make potions days ago. Normally they would regrow them quickly with magic, however everyone was trying to conserve as much magical energy as they could. Hopefully the reserves of potions would be enough for the upcoming month.
As she was thinking of the up and coming battles, Jacob spoke slowly. " Honestly, I feel helpless and afraid. It's not like I wanted to save them. I honestly wanted them to be hurt in some way. They took me away from my home! My family! Yet at the same time I am terrified by the way they died. They had no chance to even defend themselves. It wasn't a fair fight at all. Why in heaven's name would you ask me about that?"
" You can tell much about a person's personality when such things happen within the world. Many people do not get a choice in what happens to them on a daily basis and therefore would have a different view on such things then you do." She deeply sighed and then asked her next question. " When such things happen in the future, how will you handle it?"
Another surprise question that made Jacob look deep inside himself before he sadly answered in an almost whisper, " I do not know."
The woman nodded while continuing her work. " I believe the next question is yours, young man."
Jacob blinked and tried to shake off his sudden depressed mood as he forced himself to finally start eating.
" Well, since you are currently eating, I am just going to tell you about where you are and what I am." She smiled without looking up from her work.
" You are currently in one of the many groves within the wild woods. The child who brought you here left for the central grove after leaving you in my care. Now, I am sure you know the rules within the woods, however you are ignorant of why they were created." She paused for a moment, letting the boy absorb the information.
" Spirit beasts are territorial creatures who hate others stealing from them. The whole forest is full of several such territories. Naturally, we needed to protect as many lives as possible and not just the humanoid races. Therefore, the rules were created to protect the beasts' lives as well as those of the humanoid races."
Another pause for a few minutes before she continued, " There are powerful spirit beasts that can take the form of a human and sometimes they choose human mates. Of course this means they have children. However, such children look too unnatural to other humanoids, and so this led to creation of the groves in the middle of each spirit beast clans territory. I am sure you can understand that every parent wants to protect their children. I am the child of a fire hawk beast and a human. Which is why I do not look human to your eyes. One half of my blood belongs to a strong spirit beast line. All the people you see in this grove will also have a relation to my father or have his permission to hunt and gather here."
She sighed, " I can not blame you for thinking that I am a demon. My looks are very extreme from what you are used to seeing and once you leave this building, you are bound to see those who look even more unnatural to you. Therefore, I felt the need to explain this now. Most of us will mean you no harm. I can not speak for all of us though. Some have been tortured by humans in the past and will hold it against you despite the fact that you are an ignorant child who is still learning about the world."
She looked at Jacob with an apologetic face. " You should be alright for the next month, as everyone will be busy fighting demons or recovering from wounds caused by the fighting. As such, I must ask, what can you do to help us all survive?"
Jacobs eyes went wide. " I already said that I am useless."
The woman snorted, " You're only useless if you believe you are. There are many small things that one can do to help in battles. For instance, you can boil water for the healers, deliver food, water, and weapons to those who are fighting. You can also help the cooks or the people cleaning rags or stripping beds for the healers." She gave him a hard and disapproving look. " If you truly wish to be useless, then stay here and wait for your death. However, I have better things to do with my time than to listen to such foolishness." She quickly left after that.
Jacobs mouth hung open in surprise before he began to feel ashamed of himself. Perhaps he could start with small actions to rebuild his self esteem. Though he doubted that he could return to how he was before this misadventure was thrown upon his head. Time will tell how much these events will change and shape him in the future.