A deer's POV

...

It seems that i had made the right choice, to approach the way i did. Clearly, the scared farmer had called together the people i needed to talk to. And the others, too.

On the boundaries of the settlement, marked by a few run down wooden barricades, that i doubted could even stop some of the lesser beasts, i was expected by a small crowd, plastered with nervous faces. In front of them, stood the shaman that had appealed to me before, in the name of that fateless girl. Next to him, was an elder of the village, presumably the chieftain, if i still understood human customs correctly. Both of them had more neutral faces, used to not showing their state of mind so openly.

It went as i predicted, so far. As i stood before them, silently, the shaman bowed his head deeply, gesturing the elder to follow suit. After they showed me the respect due, the shaman addressed me.

"How may this humble village be of service to you, honoured child of Gaia?" He spoke, calmly, as was to be expected of one in his profession.

With a little luck, this could be resolved still, without resorting to harsher means. Just as i was about to answer him, my senses informed me of a hateful presence, closing in. Out of reflex, my body tensed, the bad feeling i had before rising, like a small tide. Seems the hope of solving this easily was short-lived, huh?

"This one demands, that you explain the corruption summoned into this village." I spoke, very serious now. My tone made some of the weaker willed humans wince unwillingly, instinctively bowing their heads.

"We.." (Shaman)

As the shaman opened his mouth, about to answer, a voice spoke up, cutting him short.

"Hasn't anyone told you, to mind your own business, protector of nature?" The last part drenched in mockery. Unfortunately, that sound, like the distant growl of thunder, was all too familiar to me.

A harbinger of war had actually been summoned, great ...not. This would escalate into a dire battle, that much became clear to me instantly. Damn. Always the rocky road, huh? Guess it could not be helped, after all, when dealing with forces, that required real sacrifice as a rule, just for them to appear.

"Hasn't anyone told you, Valkyrie, that you are not welcome here?" I retorted in a low voice, while still looking for the owner of the yet bodiless voice, the flames of a justified anger igniting inside my soul.

The humans present, including the two up front, chose it better to stay silent, merely throwing fearful glances around, only moving slightly, to make room for a child to walk up towards me.

That child! It was the little girl, i was thinking about earlier! Had she not grown up? Weird, but i didn't have time to spare a thought. Seeing the forsaken crow on her shoulder, i blamed the shaman. You fool, what have you done?

Clearly, the dreadful omen had taken control of her, because the shaman, who else would know how to summon such a thing, failed to bind it correctly, or overestimated his own ability. If this was really the case, and it sure looked like it, it was no wonder her fate was unreadable. Puppets to the greater powers don't have a determined fate, after all, as their owners play with them on a whim.

Still, this was not tolerable. My inner eye fell on the blind spot that was the girl, and there was indeed proof of .. something .. dark. I still couldn't grasp it, but the faintest aura of pure darkness shone through, even if barely. The crow, however, leaked black ooze, like dense smoke rising from a chimney under a cold winter's sun.

She had been taken over, there was no way for me to save her any more, unfortunately. Corrupting, wasting away, innocent life always infuriated me. This just boosted my anger towards that rotten creature, and its masters, for that matter. Why did they exist? Not even Gaia herself knew the answer to that question. Or at least, she didn't tell.

My mind snapped into cold focus. I had to take action, preferably this instant, and hope this would just go down quickly, before more souls were lost.

Without hesitation, i spread the flames above my head down all over my body, and jumped forward with a speed, humans had no way of following.

Valkyries were another matter, though. Their might was not a joke, it was as real as my own, some of them even surpassing me in raw strength. I just had to hope that this one was below my pay grade. If it wasn't, this village was as good as lost already. And so was I.

It happened as was to be expected, the crow reacted with almost no delay. The lava in its eyes began flowing down its beak, with an absurd speed, drawing glowing runic circles and edges across its whole body.

In the blink of time, i required to close the distance to the puppet and the bird, i realised some of the formations, now burned into the black feathers, woke to fulfill their purpose. A wave of ominous power stopped me dead in my tracks, just in front of the former girl.

Shit! This Valkyrie had to be an elite one, hadn't it? Damn. This would be a hard fight.

I manipulated my blue soul-bound flames into the shape of a whip, slashing down on the girl's left shoulder, the current residence of the corrupted bird.

Out of the orange runes, a dozen tiny, fiery leashes formed, wrapping around the whip, trying to consume it.

Up to this moment, the battle hadn't even lasted a second. The human spectators, just now beginning to register what was going on, began panicking, running for their houses, or standing still, dumbfounded. Out of the corner of my eye, i saw the shaman and the elder prepare to organise retreat, which i was grateful for. Even if i lost here and now, there might be some survivors, if they just fled fast enough and in a calm manner. The chance was low, though.

Focusing back onto the fray, i conjured more blue shackles, reaching for the crow.

The tiny, deep orange lines moving around the crow, like a bundle of wriggling worms, managed to hold back my snake-sized leashes, preventing me from hitting the crow. With satisfaction though, i saw, that ever so slowly, i gained the upper hand. More orange threads disappeared, than blue ones. This battle went on, for a second more, a long time in fights like these, before the crow let out a high pitched cry. Yes! Finally, i had hit the bird head on, smashing it clean off the shoulder of the girl, that stood there like a statue, unable to do anything.

The crow got knocked behind and to the left of the girl, skittering over the floor a few meters, before stopping itself with its wings. It raised the head, those evil eyes glaring, brimming with anger. Then, the bird’s line of sight shifted towards the girl, and something akin to.. uneasiness.. showed in them momentarily.

As far as i knew, that was as close to fear, as war spirits were capable of, so i followed its gaze.. and froze. My attack had not been so clean, after all. I had hit the left side of the girl's face. A face, that by now had distorted into a wicked smile, a smile which would give the grand reaper himself shivers. Where my flaming leash had hit, her face.. crumbled.. like ash, blown in to the wind. Underneath was.. nothing.. but blackness, devoid of anything.

The monotone laughter of the girl, who i had realised by now was not a human, corrupted or otherwise, made me regret my life's choices. I was not fond of swearing, but.. FUCK.. is all i could think of. I had made a huge mistake in my assessment of the situation. The crow was not the master, the girl not the slave. It was the other way around.

The worst part was, that i still could not feel anything off her, but that faint tinge of darkness. How high up the ladder must she be, to hide her presence that perfectly?

This was not good. Not good at all. Whilst i was still pondering, in that half second passed since i hit the crow, wether i should abandon this village and run, or try fighting a battle i couldn't win, the girl spoke up, in an amused, yet indifferent tone.

"I believe there is a lesson to teach you, servant of nature." She was barely done speaking, when an aura, so vile and dark, it threatened to swallow the world, enveloped my senses and devoured every impression i had of my surroundings.

I am sorry, Gaia.