Tangled Roots of Rage

Rain poured over her eye brows robbing her of any chance to cry. The booming thunder felt a world away. Even the mud under her body rejected her, racing away in the downpour. She stumbled and slipped in her fury. Hands clawed at grass and roots to hold on to the spinning earth. Where bark had been, torn skin ached and oozed blood. Where leaves had exhaled, lungs now coughed and wheezed to recover from the fight.

The cold rain sapped what remained of her energy, memories of the cold wastes that overtook her home rushed back into her consciousness. The bitter magic that banished her to these woods never took her identity. It's numbing and wintry hatred never separated her from nature like her enemy did tonight. Sure, she was an exile in this forest but she had been safe.

All around her the remains of vile beasts emitted the their last breath. Bone jutted out of the back of one. Legs twisted to the sky on another. Each contorted pile of fur, flesh, and bone stoked her anger. The hot breath of one last beast blasted against her neck. Her fury had not been enough.

In front of her, the rain danced off the aura of a cloaked man. He stood there with his gnarled staff and laughed. The last beast's teeth clamped down as she tried to lunge for him.

Pain erupted from every nerve ending. Even though the beast's bite released, she could not fight or run. Her screams reverberated across the forest, flowing over ridges and down ravines.

She could only gasp for air with her new lungs but had no intention of answering. Behind him, the tree she had been ripped from laid spilt in two. Black ichor dripped from the broken wood. She looked upon her dead body with rage, ready to fight. Her scream rolled across the wildlands again.

The command shuttered through her bones. Muscle moved against her will. Her mind raced but could not untangle the root of his power over her, for now.