Thistle Moonglow's Arc

Chapter 6 of 6

Thistle climbed out of the root door and into the open air. Above him, the willow's long branches swayed with no wind. The whole forest creaked and shifted. He felt eyes he could not see. The awakened forest did not know him yet. It could not tell a friend from a threat. Luna waited under the willow, her white feathered ears flat with worry. "It's moving," she whispered. "All of it. And it's watching you." "I woke it," Thistle said. "Now it might strike me." A thick root slid across the ground toward his foot. He stepped back. "I need to show it I mean no harm. But how do you tell a whole forest you're a friend?" Luna opened her book, the one bound in dark wood with a glowing moon on the cover. She turned the pages fast, her silver eyes darting. Then she stopped. "Here," she said. "To prove peace, you must give back what you took. You emptied the moonlight when you cast the spell. Fill the pond again." She looked up. "Your last vine flowers. And a strand of the fox's hair. Return them to the water." Thistle checked his pouch. One silvery flower remained, its petals folded like mist. In his palm he still held the fox hair from the waking spell. He hurried to the pond, its surface scattered with lily pads and bright stones. The moonlight there had gone dim and gray. The forest groaned louder behind him. A branch cracked down close to his head. He knelt at the water's edge. His hands shook. Roots crept toward his ankles. If he rushed, the forest would only feel his fear. He remembered how the heart had calmed when he was full of love, not effort. He breathed slow. He thought of the small trembling light he had cradled underground. Thistle laid the last flower on the water. He set the fox hair beside it. Both began to glow. The flower softened the light. The hair carried the forest's own trust into the pond. Silver spread across the surface, brighter and brighter, until the water shone like a full moon. The glow rose off the pond and washed through the trees. The roots at his feet stopped. They curled back gently, almost shy. The creaking eased. Then a low sound came from everywhere at once, deep and steady. It was a hum, like the wind through leaves, warm and calm. Luna let out a breath. "It knows you now," she said. "You gave back the light. It feels your peace." Thistle sat back on the mossy bank and laughed, weak and glad. The forest hummed around him, alive and gentle at last. His spell was whole. MistVale was awake and it welcomed him. The silver fox stepped out from the ferns. It touched its nose to his hand, then turned and looked into the dark trees, running towards them and disappearing into the forest. The End