Part 1 – Nights in the Glade

When Nera awoke in the morning the light was streaming down into the clearing. He looked around wondering if what he saw during the night was real or just a dream. If it was real what had happened after the stag looked at Nera, straining to remember his head grew weary and he collapsed back into a sleep.

It was early afternoon by the time Nera woke once more. Feeling light headed and rather parched he hung his head over the rocks and took a mouthful of water. Something stirred in the forest outside the clearing and Nera paused, looking up to see where the noise had come from. His ears pricked up as another noise, this time closer, came from outside the clearing.

Feeling weak and very exposed, Nera crept backwards off the rocks and took cover behind a large rotting log on the edge of the clearing. Just as he settled in, a noise on the other side of the clearing announced someone else’s arrival. To scared to peak out and see who was there, Nera steadied himself and tried as best he could to make no noise. Leaves crunched under the weight of footsteps and Nera’s breath grew heavy as the sound came around to the side of the clearing where he hid.

Nera heard the clattering of hooves against stone and grew curious enough to poke his head out from behind his cover. Slowly and carefully he peaked around the side of the log, but saw nothing in the clearing. Confused, Nera poked his head further out to better see the surroundings; just as he did he felt a tap on his shoulder. Nera jumped and fell to the ground; he scrambled to turn around and saw the black stag, staring down at him. Warmth flooded Nera’s body and as the stag leaned down to him, he felt a kind and gentleness coming from him. Still frightened, Nera tried moving but vines and flowers had risen from the ground entangling his body. A sharp pain spread across him as one of the vines coursed over the wound on his leg, leaving a throbbing reminder of his clumsiness.

The Stag bowed before Nera and tapped the ground twice in front of him, immediately the vines loosened and Nera was able to struggle to his feet. Wincing as he did so, and not so steady he looked up at the stag that still towered over him. Nothing was lost from the first time Nera saw him, and now with a clearer vision Nera saw that his face was unlike the other deer of his forest. His mother had told him of creatures that walked on two legs and wore second skins to keep them warm, thinking back to that Nera could only assume this stags face looked more like these creatures than those of any of the animals in the forest.

Day passed into night and the two sat on the rocks by the pond, Nera sipping at the water while the mysterious stag watched him with his head tilted off to one side. Feeling a little uneasy Nera turned to face the stag and saw that he was staring at the wound on his leg. He watched as the stag lifted his leg and dipped it into the pond then looked again at Nera. Taking it as a sign he dipped his leg in and immediately felt relief as the cold water flowed over the wound. Nodding at Nera the stag lifted himself up and stepped down off the rocks, turning to nod once again he made his way out of the clearing. The wind nestled around Nera and he felt safe enough to sleep once again…

note: I'll be putting these together on one blog when i'm done, but for now i thought it'd b fun to have them by themselves like turning the page of a book.