The Tiger Within 487 The Ash Fores

The smoke filled the air and twirled up through the trees and into the night sky by the time they were done. The pyre the people had been left to rot on was nothing but ash on the ground. Kyera stood quietly beside the fire, there was a look of contemplation in her eyes. The last flames died down to embers in the silence.

"Why… Why leave them here and not burn them?" Kan demanded angrily. He couldn't hold it in anymore. The situation was driving him mad. What was the use in this.

"They saw us as cowards. Rather than giving these people a decent burial, or burning them as is our custom they left them to be devoured by scavengers. They see it as a punishment for being unwilling to fight the humans again." Kyera replied standing as she spoke. She dusted her dress off, the leather and fabric thankfully meant for such conditions. She walked to the remaining ash their bodies had returned to. Kneeling Kuera closed her eyes.

"Father into your hands, I entrust my people. Show them the mercy they did not find on earth. Give me the strength to protect their loved ones still on this earth, and keep them close to my heart and my side in battle and in peace." Kyera murmured the words as the shadows slowly swirled through the ash lifting it and dispersing it among the trees.

"Those who sustained by this land return to sustain it. The spirits that protected it move on to protect it in the after life. As it should be." A formless, genderless voice offered its words of wisdom. Kyera smiled softly as she raised her head see a shapeless being formed of the forest aura wavering above the ashes.

"Guardian of the Ash, thank you for your plea." Kyera felt Kan kneel as she spoke. He was intelligent enough to follow her lead.

"Thank you for answering my desperate cry. I feel the anger in your heart, dear one. What shall you do?" The form asked seeming curious as it teased at the shadows that spread the Ash. Kyera took a deep breath and sat back on her ankles. The baby in her tummy s.h.i.+fted as she did, her approval for the position change evident.

"I shall move forward. I have a baby to bare, and once the child is born and tucked safely away I will wage war on the dark ones. We do not wish to fight but if we must… we must." Kuera replied her voice was firm but broken hearted. Genocide of her own people… that was hard to swallow.

"It will not solve this darkness. They are misguided, Queen Kyera. You may save them yet… most of them at least." The spirit replied and Kyera looked up at it. There was a sensation in her chest that fluttered and slowly stilled.

"I am but a Princess…" Kyera reminded it, puzzled by the words.

"Perhaps… if that is all you choose to be. The forest is changing. Trees grow, flowers die, and our people leave us. Some barriers made to keep one enemy out makes one vulnerable to another." The spirit replied and Kyera flinched. Realization dawned and her mouth showed her shock.

"I can not." Kyera tried to refute the meaning of these words. Her heart began to pound and her body tremble.

"You may choose not to, my lady Queen. However, you very much can." The spirit replied before disappearing into the wind, taking ash with it and distributing it among the trees. Kyera reached out to stop it, but it was too late.  Finally, the wind stopped and Kyera stood rooted to the spot.