Ilanna felt a warmth surrounding her and felt fluffiness under her head. she snuggled closer to the source of warmth and heard a beat.
' A beat? But wasn't I in a cold cave? Yeah and that witch was going to sell me-"
Without a beat, Ilanna wakes up. She saw a fire made and she was on top of a creature. Ilanna turned her head and was face to face with a bird head. Frozen in fear, she darted her eyes around to see what happened.
"Fear not child, I found you and simply kept you warm. Do you remember me? I was the one to warn you. You did a good job," the creature spoke.
Ilanna quickly realized who it was.
"The griffin!"
The griffin chuckled, " yes but my name is Bama. I am the forest guardian of the East. It is an honor to meet the Beloved."
"Beloved? No, my name is Ilanna Vellet."
The griffin laughed more which made Ilanna more confused.
"Yes, that is your name here. Hello Ilanna and welcome to the forest."
Ilanna looks out the cave and sees the beautiful sunlit trees glimmering. She stood up and immediately fell down.
"Careful, child. You are still hurt from all the running you did. Plus all of the other wounds you have," Bama nudged Ilanna's cheek with her beak.
Ilanna looked at her body and noticed the bandages were done well which made Ilanna wonder how Bama was able to do. Bama noticed the question forming in her head and stood up. Ilanna watched Bama walk further into the cave and then disappear. After a few seconds, Bama reappears with something in her mouth. It looked like a small person. They had short silver hair and bright opal eyes.
"This spirit here bandaged you right up. They were looking over you all this time and finally had enough strength to help you out," Bama said after releasing the spirit from her beak.
Ilanna knew exactly what Bama spoke of. The warm wind smelled of cookies. The spirit shyly looked down and then back at Ilanna. Ilanna smiled and waved it to come closer. The spirit slowly floated towards Ilanna before giving Ilanna a big hug. Ilanna was quite surprised and looked at Bama for an explanation.
Bama put out the fire and sat beside Ilanna.
"They were very worried for you throughout the night. They kept crying on and on. Honestly was annoying so I threw them deeper to chill out."
The spirit stuck out their tongue when Bama said this and Bama mimicked the action but much scarier. The spirit was frightened and hid behind Ilanna still hugging her.
Bama continued, "the tiny one wants to be in a contract with you. So how about it?"
Ilanna looked at the spirit who was now looking at her with hopeful eyes and then back at Bama. Ilanna didn't know how to make a contract and was very much unsure of all of this.
"Bama? Um, I don't mind if that is what the spirits want but what do I do?"
Bama choked, "you don't know? Do you know how to use magic or call upon the spirits?"
Ilanna shook her head. Out of all the books she read, not one was about summoning magic or how to perform magic. She always knew there was magic since it was mentioned in history books. A little embarrassed, Ilanna lowered her head. The spirit noticed and began fuming at Bama.
"Okay okay, quiet down spirit. How was I supposed to know," Bama said to the spirit and looked at Ilanna, "it is okay not to know. I can teach you. I do need to teach you some things anyway."
Ilanna looked back up, "you will teach me?" She was quite happy to finally be able to learn magic. She always wondered how it was like to do magic. Did she have to say a spell or chant-like in her past life fiction said it was?
Bama cleared their throat, "anyway let's start with making a contract with a spirit. It is quite simple: you give them a name if they have not received one and say the oath."
"The oath?"
"Yes, it is simple and will come from within yourself. It is usually on the line of 'I will protect you and you shall protect you till we die'. But It can vary depending on what you wish for the spirit to do."
Ilanna nodded and looked at the spirit. The spirit cheerfully picked up Ilanna's hand and close their eyes. Ilanna does the same. She felt the warmth of the spirit's hands and was reminded of the smell of baked goods. But suddenly the spirit's beautiful opal eyes came to mind. it was flickering all different colors.
Ilanna opened her mouth and let the words fall out naturally.
"On this day I give you the name Iris. Today and forever, we shall be together. We shall be friends and family till death."
A golden light shone on Ilanna's hand and the spirits'. What appeared was a curved I within three circles shining in bright yellow light. Ilanna opened her eyes and saw the spirit now had long silver hair. Their eyes gleamed as they twirled around. They had a long dress with swirls of colours all over it.
"Thank you!" The spirit exclaimed after hugging Ilanna tightly.
"Let's be friends okay?" Ilanna hugged Iris back which made Iris cry while nodding.
Bama rolled their eyes, "alright enough. Let's get the child some food. She needs to regain her strength if she wants to perform any more magic."
As if on cue Ilanna's stomach growled, reddening Ilanna's face and making Bama chuckle.
It has been a few days since Gong was in the forest for some horned rabbit meat. He was usually good for a month but after an unexpected visitor he needed to get some more. He followed his usual route where he had laid traps for the rabbit. He gathered the captured prey when suddenly he heard a giggle. It sounded like a little girl. Gong has fought many beasts but none have sounded like that. Raising his guard he gripped his sword tight as he followed the sound.
He stayed close to the shadows and followed the noises. Until he saw a Griffin and a bunch of horned rabbits surrounding the child. Gong was speechless. There was a griffin laying still as a child was petting it. Griffins are rare beasts that protect their territories. They are usually in the mountains but this one was different from the one he saw. Instead of the usual behavior, this griffin seemed to be speaking to the child. This means this is a high-class beast, one that he alone cannot fight. What confused Gong, even more, was the child. Why was there a child here? How did it come here? How is it still alive this deep in the forest?
Not to mention the horde of horned rabbits near the child's feet. Gong was so flabbergasted that he accidentally stepped on a twig. This causes the griffin to stare in his direction and cover the child with their wing.
"Come out, human. I know you are there."
Gong sighed and stepped into the light. The griffin stared at Gong. She was analyzing him.
"Human you live on the outskirts of the forest, do you not?"
Gong was silent but slowly nodded. How did the griffin know?
"Yes, I do live there, with my wife. I am Gong Walker, a hunter."
The griffin nodded, "do you know who I am?"
Gong shook his head. While he had lived near the forest he never ventured too far inside to meet anything of this caliber. Only where the horned rabbits were.
"I am Bama.'
Gong immediately recognized who that was. The Great Bama is the protector of the Beast forest. Their word is law in the forest and they handle all of the negotiation of the forest to the kingdom. Gong quickly bowed.
"Apologizes, your greatness. I have never seen the rumored protector before."
Bama smiled and then lifted her wing to reveal Ilanna. Ilanna peaked through Bama's feathers to see the man while they were talking. He was a tall man that had wrinkles and grey hairs. He had a backpack that had some wood strapped on top of it. In his hand was a sword that was tucked away when he bowed. He looked frightened when he saw Bama and then even more shocked when she revealed herself.
When Bama revealed Ilanna, she looked at the griffin and then back at the man.
"Ila, go play with the rabbits I have matters to discuss," Bama said as she rose to her feet. She nuzzled Ilanna's cheek before walking off towards the man. Ilanna nodded and ran towards the rabbits near the lake and played.
Bama stood next to Gong and then sat down. She motioned him to sit and Gong did. He looked at the griffin and saw her gaze was on the child.
"Who is this child, Great Protector?" Gong was curious about the child that had received the attention of the famous Bama. She was described as cold and distant towards humans. So the fact that she was smiling at a human child was strange.
"She is the Beloved Child."
"Beloved Child?"
"This world was made of the Great Spirits who were deemed as gods in human culture. To prove that this world is loved by those spirits, a child is born with the great power of those spirits and is loved by all beasts. However, after the Dark Beasts and humans had the war, a beloved child has been born since."
Gong sat in silence. He knew of the gods the temple preached about but not that they were actually spirits and one that can give their power to a person. He was never religious and only knew how to survive on the land and battlefield. He remembered the war Bama talked about as he was a soldier once for it before it had ended. The War was the longest battle human history ever had. The dark beasts were corrupted by darkness and went wild on human villages. It was a brutal battle between the two but it soon ended with the great heroes. After that, the Heroes and the Forest Protectors made a vow to never interfere with each other.
Bama continued, "she was born and all of the protectors could feel her power. But due to our promise with the human, it was nearly impossible to save her."
"Save her?"
"She was abused by her stepmother and she couldn't access her powers due to the malnourishment she was given. But now she has begun to show her powers as she heals."
Gong looked at Ilanna. Ilanna was eating some grapes as a silver fox sat in her lap. There was a person with silver hair emerging from the forest with a basket full of fruits and vegetables. Ilanna giggled when the person slipped into the lake making the food fall into the water with them.
"Who is that?"
"That is her first spirit. I sent them to her after she was born to keep an eye on her. But since they were low-level spirits and Ilanna didn't know how to access her magic, they couldn't help her till now."
"Why are you telling me all of this?" Gong watched Bama as she stared at Gong back.
"She is still human and she is related to an important person. Soon there will be more humans looking deeper into the forest but I can sense they are trying to. I have watched you since you moved near the forest. Take this child in and teach her how to defend herself."
Gong thought it over. He looked at Ilanna and the whole scene.
"But what if the child wishes not to come with me?"
Bama rises which makes Gong stand up.
"Then I will take her to the other side of the forest and have her live with the beastmen. I will stage it so that she has died in the forest so the humans will stop looking for her. But this is not what I wish will happen. I can sense she still loves humans. "
Gong senses Bama was serious about staging the child's death and the hint of sadness of doing so. They walk over to the child and the spirit. The spirit now completely dried looked at Gong and quickly hovered over Ilanna protectively. Ilanna noticed Iris's actions and followed their gaze at the man.
Ilanna could sense no harm from the man and sensed Bama trust this man. Ilanna rises with the fox jumping down. Ilanna curtsies.
"Hello, I am Ilanna Vellet. It is a pleasure to meet you."
Gong kneeled and slightly bowed his head and up. "I am Gong, I live at the edge of this forest. Can I ask you a question?"
Ilanna nodded.
"You said your name was Ilanna Vellet as in the Duke Vellet's family?"
Ilanna looked at Bama who nodded in assurance.
"Yes, Duke Rolf Vellet is my father."
Gong side-eye Bama who just smiles and heads to the side and sits. As if she was watching a show. Gong sighed and then looked back at Ilanna. She was looking down and felt a great sense of nervousness. Gong sensed her uneasiness and sat crossed-legged on the floor.
"Would you mind telling me your story, Ilanna? Go as slow as you need."
Ilanna looked at the man and then slowly nodded. She knew this day would come when she would have to explain how she got here and her abuse. She couldn't stay with Bama and the animals forever. She had to return since she was still a duke's child. She misses Bertrum and Isobel and even the scent of those books in the library.
"Okay," Ilanna said quietly as she sat across from gong. Iris sat behind her so she leaned on them for support.