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Depths of Winter's Embrace

Chapter Two

© Cederwyn Whitefurr

9thOctober, 2021

All Rights Reserved.

Stealthily, my paw sneaks beneath the pillow on which my head lays and my hooflets click against the sheathed dagger I keep there. It is a subtle thing, my hearing is acute, but this thing that snuck into my cottage startles and a crash of the table against the floor echoes loudly.

"Whose there?" I call out, I know I should not, but my vision is yet to clear from sleep.

I hear stumbling, clattering of...are those hooves? Something indistinct moves and my eyes track it, my senses alert and sharp - one blessing of that which I am. Taking a breath through my nostrils I smell... snow, pine needles and...

Is that charcoal?

It squeals and stumbles again, panicked and flighty, before I rise from my bed and swing my cloven hooves out over the side, them landing on the floor with clicks. Squinting into the darkness I see a shape, humanoid, about my height and...then it melds back into the shadow again.

There is no danger here, I sense that, if anything, this _thing_because I know not what it is, is obvious scared and feeling cornered. Yet why does it have no scent? I smell only pine fir and bark and snow - scents I know and disregard as I seek understanding.

Again, it squeals, the piercing cry filled with fright. Turning my head, I see a hint of movement, then its gone - just the briefest flash of white - was that fur? Fur like my own? Yet it can not be, wild animals sense what lurks within me and there are no deer within ten leagues of my cottage. Yet again, I hear the click and clatter of hooves...

Trying to still myself and my mind, I use my training to ground and centre myself. I am at peace, I am pure of thought and heart, I am...

I hear it suddenly freeze, then almost timidly, it lowers a hoof with a click. I know not how, but I sense it looking at me from the darkest corner of my cottage. It no longer feels afraid, more - cautious and aware.

"At peace forest child," I speak quietly and calmly. "I mean you no harm."

Scents, pine, charcoal... filled my nostrils, making my eyes widen.

It moved into the dim glow of the embers from my fire, before it stared at me and I stared back...transfixed, my muzzle falling open as I seen it revealed before me.

Atop its head were two delicate antlers, ending in four points each. Either side of its pale furred head were two leaf-like ears that twitched and were tipped in black like charcoal. Its eyes - its eyes were like twin pools of glacier blue, yet behind them I sensed intelligence and sentience.

Either side of its muzzle I caught the briefest glimpse of the black muzzle stripe, so common to the Whitetail Deer. Its broad nose dripped and the nostrils flared as it drew a shuddering breath then exhaled - its breath coming as a visible fog., Its nose was dark and wet, fine whiskers adorning its muzzle twitching. Either cheek had the black muzzle stripe, so common to the wild Whitetail deer.

As I looked down, its eyes stared back at me, wide - wider than usual, almost double a normal deer's eyes in size. They were expressionate filled with fear and confusion. I studied it, as it in turn, studied me. Its paws were like mine, with human-like appendages that ended in black hooflets. Milk white fur ran from its throat, down its chest and belly and...

I felt a momentary flush come over me, as the creature that stood before me was a stag - his body effeminate yet there was no mistaking that which made him what he was. I trembled, I couldn't help it, as my eyes wandered down those furred thighs, imagining the feeling of running my fingers down them and feeling that gossamer like fur - then I saw the cloven hooves that glistened in the light - a small puddle of water forming under them.

No..._My mind refused to acknowledge that which my eyes demanded it see._It can not be...

He looked down at himself, then back at me, before his eyes grew even wider and his ears slicked back.

It..._My mind whirled. _Not, it, he - he is scared, terrified, you can see that plain as day on his muzzle and in his eyes. This poor creature has no idea what he is, where he come from or even, where he is. He was plucked from the ether and given life and form by your unintended magicks.

I sat on my bed, gazing at him, I couldn't help it. He stood there, dripping as if he was wet, the puddle beneath him slowly but inexorably growing and I realised my folly. This was a creature born of snow and ice, my cottage was not hot - but it was nowhere near the coldness of the snow that lay outside. If he remained in here for too long, the magicks that bound him together would surely dissipate and he would be no more.

He lifted one paw, turning it over and back, then flexing the furred fingers as he stared down at it. A cloven hoof followed, coming back to rest with a soft clop on the hard floor.

"What am I?" Came his voice, quiet and melodious, like the tinkling of water.

I did not know whether to lie to him, or tell him the truth. This was a living, breathing creature - I could _see_him breathing, every time he spoke, his lips would part, that pale tongue move and shape words - yet he was a construct - a simulacrum a...creation I had inadvertently brought into existence through my loneliness.

I chose the truth...

"I made you, brought you forth by accident, for that, I beg your forgiveness for my mistake."

He looked at me, then a tremble rippled through him as he seemed to mentally assimilate that which I had spoken.

"I am..."

Rising carefully, I could sense the fear still strong within him, so I watched warily as I took a carefully step closer. He watched me like I was a predator - I could not blame him, for such a creature as I_was_ a predator - but one I kept tightly controlled and deep within me.

"I am a witch, a white which, I mean you no harm young one. Please, may I?"

He quivered but stood, as I closed the gap between us. Carefully, I reached out to him and looking down at my paw, he frowned and lifted his own, placing it upon mine. I expected it to be cold, to chill my fur and flesh, but it was cool to the touch and slightly damp.

Like a bird about to take flight, his paw trembled in mine. His fear was palpable, yet the scent - I could smell nothing, except the strong scent of pine that come from him. He let me step closer, my paw lifting to gently caress his cheek as he continued to stare.

"I am...like you?"

"No, dear heart - "

Frowning, he looked at my naked form then up into my eyes.

"I am alive?"

I smiled and stroked his furred cheeks with my thumbs, both amazed and equally frightened. He felt so - real, so vibrant and alive, yet I sensed no heartbeat within his chest, no warmth of life. Truly, he was not alive in the strictest sense of the word - he was but a construct, a magickal creature brought forth into existence...yet my heart ached all the more for such a thing to happen.

"No, dear one - " I whispered, as I leaned forwards and lightly kissed his black, wet nose. "You are a spirit, brought forth and given the semblance of life by my magicks and my will."

"I do not understand."

With a sad sigh, I gently led him by the paw and sat him down on the edge of my bed, kneeling down and taking his paws in my own, as I gazed up at him.

"If I am not alive - how do I feel? I..."

He timidly reached up, his paw trembling as he stopped it just as he reached for my muzzle. I smiled and nodded and leaned forwards, pressing his paw against my forehead and letting him feel my warmth.

"You are..."

"Warm, yes. Am I not too warm against you? I truly do not understand how you come to be - was it something I had done? You are made from ice and snow - not flesh and blood like I am."

"Warm..." He murmured, seemingly imprinting everything I told him into his young mind.

Be wary of that which you speak, Come my thoughts. This construct, he is an empty slate, his mind an empty vessel that desires filling. That which we do, so shall be given unto us threefold. You know this to be true. Be compassionate, teach him, show him the good and mercy and love you have within you...

He looked into my eyes, with those of his own, wide and innocent, trusting, gullible - truly - he knew nothing, brought into a world he did not understand nor could he comprehend - he was truly - an empty vessel. I had met animals with more instinct and thought than this thing who sat before me.

I knew one thing - I would teach him - as I once, so long ago, failed to teach the offspring of my people...

I would not fail in my duty again...

To Be Continued...