Monster

My body’s aching. I have been running for too long. I cannot feel my bare feet touching the ground anymore. My legs and arms are full of wounds from running through the bushes and the tree branches that spread low, naked, and harsh. One of them scratched my face in a rushed moment that I raised my head to grasp a glimpse of the sky. I still managed to see the snow falling so gracefully all around the forest. A moment so serene and graceful that almost made me forget that I’m being chased by the evil throng.

Their deep thirst for revenge is what brought them here deep in the wild, running behind me holding axes, and knives, and any other kind of weapon anyone could bear. Any kind of tool able to hurt and kill. Some of them are not carrying anything, but simply bearing the strong hatred in their souls. Hatred for me. For I’ve harmed them too. Although through the centuries I’ve seen them growing here on this land, I’ve come to admire them and love them. Though all I could offer to them was fear and pain. So come humans. Come as fast as you can. Take your revenge. But how can you possibly avenge nature itself? For I am part of nature as much as the trees and the rocks and the beasts roaming the land and its waters. And what I did to you was part of my own nature.

I’ve been part of this forest since its first trees dared to raise their stature to the mighty sky and embrace the light of the sun. I’ve walked, and fed, and slept, and I regarded every moment that I’ve been alive. Nothing in this world, since the beginning of time, made me question my existence before. Nothing. Until the first of your kind arrived here, near this mere forest. Everything would change after that day. You’d change me, and I would change your kindred in numerous ways.

I heard you many times talking about your various gods. They came and went like the seasons, coming ang going one after the other, with little or anything to say. I was even one of them for a while. Yes, I did. Your ancestors considered me to be a god. Protector of the realms, they called me. They even sent me sacrifices. Young, undefiled girls mostly. It was then when I experienced the human flesh for the first time. Although I initially denied, your elders insisted. It was a gift I had to accept; they said. But also, it was then when I became arrogant, and I started watching you from the edges of the forest, without the protection of vegetation. Out of the shadows. And we looked each other in the eyes, and we exchanged opinions. And you taught me to question everything around me. I taught you that gods are not very different from you. They bleed, and they love and hate, and they suffer, just like you. You bend on your knees to worship, and I told you to stand up and embrace your power. That you don’t need gods to show you the way.

Long lasted this prosperity between us. Until one day, a day that nefarious clouds had covered the sky, and the rain wouldn’t stop punishing the earth, the men in black raiment arrived in this land. They brought a new god with them. And they beguiled your people, and they settled here with you, setting their new rules. They looked kind at first, but their true colours didn’t take long to appear. Very soon, prosperity gave place to misery and sorrow. Vibrant colours turned into dull shades of black and grey. Seeing your kin like that devastated me, and it devastated the nature and everything in it. And I left the forest for the first to come and bring joy back to your lives. But the new god and his followers proved to be more powerful than me. They fought me and they almost killed me. One of their knives almost cut my throat, and I lost my voice since then. So much more I had to say to you. Then I realised that I never expressed my love for your kind. And I never would as of that day. I merely apologised to you all, silently as I looked behind with my eyes wet before I get back into the safety of the forest.

In shame, I hid deep in the wild, endlessly walking among the graciousness of the ancient trees. Like a harmed beast, I wandered aimlessly for centuries. And you forgot about me. I simply became a story from the past. A legend. An ominous one. One that the men in black clothing told the children to make them behave. Though, very soon, these harmless stories turned into a tool that these bastards implement to fill you with hatred against me. They called me devil. The evil one, they said. The one who roams in the shadows eternally. Filthy lies shed from their mouths. Until eventually you hated me. You feared me and you muttered spells against me. How would I be able to approach you again now that you thought that I’m the mere source of evil? Now that you saw me as a mere monster.

Something that felt like a rock hit me hard on the back of my neck. I fell, unable to control my body. With immense effort, I pushed my hands on the ground and touched my back on the trunk of the tree behind me. From there I could see the angry crowd quickly approaching. The angry voices became louder. Their vengeful eyes depicted a kind of hatred that had been carried through the centuries. Why? Why do you despise me? You came to my land, my home, and I accepted you. Can’t you remember me? I’m part of you, and you’re part of me, even though you’re not my creation. Woe to this god of lies. For my children have seen the truth through my eyes only.

Tools and weapons raised high, ready to pierce and smash. All I could do is watch. Though even if I wouldn’t hurt you. Never again. Because together we saw the light and found the answers. With you, I grew and found a meaning to stay strong through the years. For you, I found the courage to resist to a heartless, greedy god. And proud like a god myself now, I’m ready to accept my fate. Unconsciously, I’m smiling. Hurt me my friends, for love hurts, and I want to feel it for one. May you find peace and freedom. I’ll be watching you from somewhere else.

When the throng finished what they had come to do, no one cheered. The simply stared at the corpse of the creature that so much looked like a human. Its slender, tall figure laid on the ground, a thick, dark red liquid shedding from the numerous wounds on its body. Its eyes, still open, darker than the abyss. One of the two clingy horns on its head, broken by the crush of a hammer. But the weirdest of all, on the creature’s face was depicted a smile. A human-like smile. And it wasn’t arrogant or coincidental. It radiated kindness and warmth.

“What have we done?” Muttered one of the men in the crowd. He was the one who gave the fatal hit with an axe, nearly cutting the head off the body of the forest deity.

No one else spoke a word while they made their way back to the town. The only sound echoed through the forest was their steps. It was as if nature was mourning. The day became darker by the clouds that hurriedly ran to cover the sun in the sky. Rain started to drop later. Cold and piercing it felt on the skin of the silent humans. But they didn’t rush. They merely accepted it as a punishment for something that couldn’t still comprehend. Something seemed to miss from the world. The balance has been violated.

Moments later, a young witch stood above the corpse of the fallen god and cried. Tears clear like crystal shed from her beautiful eyes, giving to their blue colour an irresistible attractiveness. Curls from her ebony hair moved along the breeze, briefly covering the flawless features of her face. With an elegant move, she pushed the hair away from her face. Her eyes didn’t stop staring at Panas’s dead body.

“I know better than anyone how it is to be betrayed by humans, my lord,” she whispered. “Don’t blame them, though, cos the nature of man is not mature enough yet. Soon they’ll comprehend the mistake they have committed. When the time comes, we’ll avenge the true enemy,” she continued, and gracefully bent towards the corpse.

Denise was the first of thirteen girls to be sent to Panas for sacrifice, chosen by the elders for her beauty and innocence. This event took place countless years ago. She was a different person now, strong, and fearless, able to forgive, but also bring nemesis to earth. Thanks to the kindness of the creature that now laid dead before her eyes, she never became a sacrifice like everyone expected. Panas took hid every young girl that was sent to it and took care of them, and it offered them the secret knowledge of nature’s secrets. With that knowledge, the young women later possessed powers that made them powerful and handed to them the gift of immortality. They took swear to stand next to the forest god for the ages to come, and to be its apprentices and guards.

With one palm hovering above the deity’s face and the other touching her left breast, she muttered words in a language long forgotten. When she finished, she stood again and smiled. Her smile, lovely, but with a hint of eerie pleasure, uncovered the deep satisfaction she felt for the rebellion to come. For the liars would pay for what they did. Very soon, and incredibly painfully.

The deity’s eyes blinked.