'I hate forests. I hate darkness. And finally I hate the scary monsters! Do I love darkest forests, filled by the scary monsters? No! No! No, guys!'
Joan was lurking behind a trunk of the three. The woman was hearing whisper of shadows, while it coming by her.
"…"
"It's leaving. And one second. Yes, it's gone!"
Luckily for her, she have cooked the camouflage coat, else she was closed to death in this forest.
"The forest Misery. I must be careful. This place has bad reputation as the cemetery of healing".
"One man have found the Bloody Artoris more thirty years ago. And I'll lie, if I'll say that I don't want to this damn flower. It's true Philosopher's Stone for doctors. And even some madmen think, it may help to create Philosopher's Stone itself. But I think that this is a strong joke rather than a right."
Joan sighed and continued her way through this dark forest. She was feeling coldness in the throat, fear in deep her heart.
"Calm down, and keep go", repeated Joan this thought herself.
And she went to a bottom of the mountain, begun rising. Joan heard crying suddenly, its source was there. A young deer was crying as if she was a little child. A stone was crashing deer's bones, while animal was lying and dying in mortal trap of the fate. And only mountain and Joan can hear asking help of this poor deer.
'Wait! I save you! I run already!' Joan ran to the poor deer, open her medicine bag. But Joan frozen, became pale soon. And she shouted: "The Bloody Artoris, I found it!"
The healer stretched her hand to get the flower. The Joan's glaze crossed with pity deer's eyes, and Joan felt she hate herself. She used her old walking stick as a lever to up the stone. There were meat and blood under the stone. Deer's ribs ripped the skin, organs seemed mash.
Joan have covered her mouth and the hand, when she started crying. "I'm really sorry. I cannot help you".
Red petals of the flower waved over the stone. Joan pulled the hand and got the flower. "I… cannot help you, really or not?"
Joan was beating her lips. The Bloody Artoris could be used one time. After its wonderful qualities disappeared like snow. She was finding this cursed almost twenty years…
"I'm pity you. But how about my dreams? I want to build a hospital. This will save many lives. If I save you now, another will die in the future, understand me?"
The deer kept silence, ice tears poured for the empty eyes. Joan couldn't withstand it, and she screamed.
"No, ashes with it all!" Joan touched her stomach, while crying. The woman was infertility since birth. "After selling of the Bloody Artoris, I would hire a army of healers better her in hundred times. would buy best medicines in the kingdom Great Tolkin. I want a girl, beautiful, smart, kind, having boundless curiosity. I want to give this world something special".
Breath was leaving the deer. Her soul was lying in the ground. Joan trembled, she sighed deeply and sadly. She poured mana in the flower. The plant turned into a clot of a red energy. It was pulsing, while being covered by a melody of heart kicks.
Joan ripped her lip. The hot blood flowed from there. And a shroud of the clot of the red energy enfolded warmly the dying deer. Her bones and flesh coalesced. Her skin grow on the them. Looking that the deer was recovering, Loan wiped her cold tears.
Leftovers of the Bloody Artoris crumbled, leaving nothing in Joan's hand.
The deer tilted her head to side. The animal went to her savior and started sniffing Joan.
"Heh, is being live nice, little animal?" Joan stroked deer's neck. "You are a beautiful deer. Go and care about yourself".
Vivid light kicked in the space from deer's eyes. Joan loosened the deer and opened the mouth to scream. Toward Joan's face, lights was collected together into a light cycle, with black inscriptions.
A weak voice was saying in the ears of Joan, but she could understand no word because of any noise. It was as if the voice was lurking behind a waterfall.
'-go for her, if you need to a child', finally the voice became little louder. A crack have formed on the light disk. The deer went to unknown side. The disk followed for her.
Joan standing, with her opened mouth.
A speech of the voice the accelerated, then slowed down as if a madman had it. Shine was leaking into Joan, under skin, touching her bones and filling them, till the shine got to Joan's essence itself.
In one moment, the disk and the deer melted.
"What did happen?"
Joan was feeling nice warmth in her stomach.
After returning in Merlina, Joan founded that she got pregnant…
(-)
A tail silhouette was walking in the forest. The silhouette was looking out aftereffects of this storm. He tried to extinguishing fires. Many threes falt down. Some threes' inner turned into grave ash. Beasts, who couldn't escape, either died under fallen trunks or was given by water. A another variant was rare.
"Poor my brothers! Don't afraid, for I'll help you", replied the silhouette and helped goblins save themselves from a wood trap.
"Thank you, chief Omnook!"
"Help our brothers, who have went to hunt without my permission. No think, I forgive your disobedience!"
"Yes, chief!!!" the goblins ran to complete it.
"I have never been seeing so a storm already 190 years. It seemed to gods became angry!" thought the Onmook, while scratching his chin. "But this yesterday great storm does not bother now…"
Omnook turned his head in side of human settlement, calling by them Merlina. And the old goblin made his face gloomy. Coldness and bloody humidity, as if he standing along a strong war, were piercing his skin pores.
"I don't know that is there, most likely it isn't a reason of the storm, but it is really something unnormal and scary. My tribe suffered for the storm a lot, but we must relocate as quickly as perhaps!"
(-)
"The birth was delayed. For eighteen months instead of six. Six is the standard term for the birth of a magician, after eight peasants are born. I've never heard of babies being carried for more than ten months. It scared me, is my baby going to be okay?"
"I wrote letters to all the doctors I know. But no one answered me."
"I was afraid that my child would be born with defects or in general, the worst would happen. After so many years of searching for a cure for my infertility, I most likely..."
"But it doesn't matter anymore. Here she is in front of me, my beautiful baby, looking at the room with blue eyes""
Rina's anxious voice snapped Joan out of her thoughts:
"Joan, she's not crying", a thin woman, twiddling her fingers, trying not to cross eyes with the baby.
"Not crying? What are you talking about, friend?"
"Don't you think it's weird. And..."
"You look pale? For your hard work, you deserve a week off from seeing patients. Our medical bureau will suspend work for a while."
"Okay, then I'll go to the next room, call me if you need me."
Rina left, looking at Artoris with a puzzled look at the last moment. Joan patted little Artoris on the head and wrapped the blanket around her more tightly.
"My little monster. Your mom needs to take a nap".