"My child, why are you crying?"
The voice came from nowhere and everywhere. Janny looked around her, unable to find its concrete origin. And the worst of all, it sounded like the voice of her mother, somewhat. Like the voice of the mother that died in front of her eyes.
"Who are you?!"
As Janny cried, Jose and Aria panicked, looking at her in confusion. Aria, the youngest of the trio, continued sobbing, scared of Janny's screams. Jose calmed her down, telling Janny that she was simply hearing an owl or something.
"Calm down Janny, I know this is hard and all, but…"
"No, I heard it! Someone asked me why I was crying…"
As she fell to her knees and began to think it was indeed just her imagination, the young girl heard the voice again. This time, it was even more gentle than before, full of love.
"I am not an illusion. And I am not an owl either… My dear child. I am the forest itself."
"T-The forest…?"
Janny looked around her. The wind gently made the trees wave slowly. She noticed one of the trees was waving more than the rest. Its branches slowly seemed to bend down. She thought it was just natural due to the wind's pressure, but that was until they bend down to a completely unnatural shape. And then, as if it were a hand, they moved towards her.
"W-Wha…?!"
Her eyes were filled with disbelief, just like Jose and Aria were. The tree gently touched her head, as if petting her. She felt a warmth that only her mother could give to her. Tears falling from her eyes like two rivers.
"I saw your struggles; I saw your pain…" The voice echoed. Jose and Aria could now hear it too. "Poor children… Poor, poor children. Stay here, with me. I will protect you. To make up for those I could not protect."
"Y-You're a forest? The voice… of the forest?" Janny asked in disbelief.
"I've heard about this from my grandma!" Jose said. "The voice of the forest… She said that our ancestors were Druids. And that… this entire forest, was grown by them long ago. The village was their sanctuary, protected by the woods."
"W-Wow…" Aria's eyes glistened innocently.
"I've grown… weak since then." The Voice of the Forest spoke. "But even then, I won't be able to call myself a Greater Spirit if I can't even protect the life of three children."
As the voice spoke, the children heard the footsteps of ogres coming closer. They panicked. Only for the voice to whisper into their minds, guiding them somewhere. They ran and ran, reaching a large and old tree, it had a small opening to a small chamber inside of its roots.
"Come inside and hide. There are edible mushrooms in there, eat and sleep. Hurry, before the ogres find you."
The children obeyed the voice, hiding. They ate and slept. Thinking it was all a dream. Only for them to be woken up, by the same voice as before. Janny never believed in magic before, she never thought any of those things were real. Until she saw the ogres coming, and until she saw the massacre they left behind.
Since then, the Voice of the Forest nurtured them. She protected them from danger, feed them, and trained them. Using her magic, she awakened their own magic powers. Creating a contract with the Greater Spirit, the Nature Soul of this entire piece of land.
As the years passed, the children continued living in pure nature. Like animals, they learned where to move, where to hide, how to hunt, and also how to harmonize with nature. Animals naturally walked towards them, asking to join their group.
After over ten years of surviving and growing, the trio faced the ogres again. To avenge their family and their village from the destruction they brought to them. Wielding the power of the animals they tamed, of the spirits of the forest, and of the magic they harnessed through years, they invaded the ogre's camp and destroyed them all.
The wretched monsters that once massacred their families now died by the might of nature. They were told to be merciless, to not even spare the younger ogres. They couldn't be spared, all must be slain, so future generations would not suffer from their brutality and savagery.
Once the bloodshed ended, the trio felt both fulfilled, and at the same time… guilty and regretful. Having made a pact with nature and life, to take another's life so brutally was a taboo. Yet they had to do this, the Voice of the Forest wanted to avenge the descendants of the Druids that once grew her, and transformed her into the Domain she is now, the Nature Soul that nurture them.
"Is this what the power we gained was for?" Jose wondered, feeling sick with himself.
"To use the gentleness of nature for such savagery… Aren't we no different from them?" Janny sighed.
"My hands are stained with the blood of a hundred living beings. Despite their brutality, they were no different from us, trying to survive, trying to live…" Aria said, looking into the night sky.
Since that day that they made a personal oath, an oath to never use their power to harm others. Only to protect themselves and protect the forest they loved. They slowly built their society, the Society of the Voice of the Forest. Many other young druids joined them over the decades. A large community was formed.
The ancient rituals and customs of their ancestors were revived, they had harmony with the forest, with life and nature. And they thought it would continue this way, for many years. As long as they were there to protect it all…
Yet they couldn't have been more wrong. Life always gives the most unexpected of turns at the moment you least expect it. When you finally feel comfortable with your life, when you finally think that you've moved on and found a place to belong.
Your life changes, forever.
