Ancient Watchtowers Ch.01

Bolga had been thinking, weighing odds of success ...

Wanting to find a place for herself and her little vixen, one where she might learn to live a kinder life.

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"Err ... Excuse me," the voice said.

Nila looked up and decided that the sound had come from her right and she looked over.

Loriel raised her head and looked as well.

They were amazed to see a wizened, hairy hag standing there bent over a bit out of age.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," she said, "but have ye any food to spare for us? We wouldn't want much ..."

They blinked and saw the little fox who, finding herself back on the floor, had gotten over the long wet chill of the water voyage and was now looking around wanting to play. She skittered here and there for a moment, chasing nothing and then she stopped to stare at the sleeping mass of the cat.

She crouched and stalked her way over to sniff his foot.

Both of the women had so many questions come to mind that they said nothing for the moment and only stared.

"Fine," the hag said, her voice becoming flatter and much less benevolent-sounding, "Keep yer food. I'll have yer eyes, ye selfish slatterns!"

A pair of long curved knives slid into her hands from nowhere seemingly, and she straightened into a more threatening posture.

Loriel leaned forward, away from the wall she'd been leaning against and quicker than anyone could see, she found her harness and the daggers were in her hands like magic. Well, it had been a little magic, since they seemed to jump to her fingers, and how they glittered and sang as she stepped nearer, plainly in no fear whatsoever.

Nila stood up and grew a foot taller instantly as her mass shifted and the fur appeared. She leaned her head forward and what came out of her then was hardly a sound made by any real canine on the planet. She roared at the hag.

The old thing gaped for a moment, at things in her sight which were beyond her comprehension.

Then the cat woke up.

He lifted his head and saw a curious red little thing who'd been caught in the middle of her play and stood frozen, looking at Nila with her little mouth open.

He raised his paw and she saw the motion as that thing of his towered over her and the claws extended.

He slammed it down, but she wasn't there.

With a terrified, squealing yelp, she was scurrying as fast as she could go to get to the hag where she peeked out from behind an ankle.

A pair of larger young cats came running in and sank to low crouches so that they might see the fox a little better, trying to decide it she was just food or a plaything. The little fox began to growl low in her throat.

The hag began to cry and her knives clattered to the floor.

She seemed to collapse in on herself a little and as she did, the illusion of age fell from her. The one who cowered where she squatted on the floor, holding the shaking little creature was far from threatening in many ways.

She held up a hand, almost bawling, "I yield and I am sorry! I only seek food for my small daughter. We have not eaten in so long."

She started as she noticed that the elf was gone, and seemed to want to look behind herself as though she feared an attack from there.

"Calm down," Loriel said, appearing from nowhere to stand in front of her holding out some meat. She'd gone and cut it in a hurry, not wanting the newcomer to see where it was hanging. She hadn't disappeared, not really.

But if you've been a rogue to get by, you just learn not to be noticed.

"I'd better see you giving your vixen some, too," Loriel said dryly.

"What ... who ...?" Nila was clearly flummoxed.

Loriel threw out a tired-sounding sigh, "She's a huldra."

Nila blinked, "A what?"

"Huldra," Loriel said in a slightly authoritative-sounding tone, "Also called a hulder by some and a holdra in the more Germanic places. Best keep your eyes on her hands and those knives."

"And what is that?" Nila asked, changing back and moving to sit down once more, but in a watchful posture.

The thing's eyes widened as she beheld a glittering sphere where she'd just seen the elf holding only a dagger. It shimmered and twirled, humming a little from the movement through the air, driven as it was by Loriel's subtle finger movements and her will.

"Are you going to show her?" she asked with her eyebrows raised, "Or am I going to have to cut it off ... you empty hole?"

The thing grimaced and her long furry red tail came into view from behind her, though she grasped it to hold it a little protectively as she looked at the elf's spinning blade.

"Huldra," Loriel recited, "A supernatural, seductive woodland creature, usually living alone and known to dwell in deep forests.

Occasionally known to be capable of unreal feats of strength and extremely carnivorous, they search the woods or alternately lie in wait for their primary source of food, human males.

Though all men are in danger of them, the most at-risk group tend to be woodcutters, or any man whose occupation causes him to be alone in the forest for prolonged periods of time - especially woodcutters who are the main characters in Norwegian folk tales.

Most often, the huldra seduces her prey and if she finds him to be ... good for her, she may elect to keep him for a time, wanting to be impregnated by him.

Whether he is good for her or not, the end is always the same and she kills and consumes him at some point.

There are recorded cases where a single huldra has kept several men enchanted to her, only killing them at the unmistakable approach of the winter season. She will then gorge herself on their remains, usually saving at least one victim's corpse to drag into her winter lair with her to eat over the long, cold months, during which she births her young if already impregnated.

They are hollow, empty things, always having a gaping hole in the middle of their backs where the insides of their ribs may be seen."

Nila looked amazed at the creature, "Really? It is so?"

The huldra seemed to grow in her inward confidence, though she made no moves, other than to go to one knee and shift a little in her shape. The frightened face was gone, replaced by one which seemed a lot more comfortable-looking, now that the words had been said. The illusion of hairiness faded away before their eyes.

It had somehow escaped their attention to that point, but she was almost naked. Her mostly bare, pale limbs were crisscrossed in patterns of reddish leather strips, like bindings put there to strengthen joints worked often against fatigue. There were many of them over her hands and they held bracers of red fox fur to her forearms. The calves of her legs were similarly adorned. Her chest was bare and her arms were muscled.

From her throat up, she was a little haunting to look at, with red patterns running in varying shades from the sides of her nostrils in arcs which went to the corners of her mouth and from there, the patterns repeated themselves to disappear under the sides of her jaw and end at the underside of her chin. The patterns were repeated all over her body, but they were most visible on her face.

Perhaps her eyes were the most haunting feature of all, showing themselves at last as yellow spheres with narrow vertical irises. Her eyebrows were severe like this, running high above her lids and far above her brow where they ended.

Her wild red hair looked to be barely braid-able, yet the many braids in it just arched back over her head to end far down her back. It looked more like something seen on hedgehogs than on women and it appeared to be something of a headdress as well.

She regarded the elf with what appeared to be slightly hard feelings for having said so much of her kind.

"And where would an elf, long parted from my woods - or any others - get such knowledge, as wrong as it may be?"

Loriel smirked, "I used to have a job at a school, what they called a college of learning - in the library. I'd order books to replace ones which had been stolen."

Her smirk became a grin, "Of course, I also had a job stealing books, so it worked out kind of not bad, as long as it lasted. I had lots of time to read."

"I'll prove her wrong," the creature said to Nila, "for a little more meat."

"I'd rather hear a little more about you that's worth my time," Nila said, "Like your name and what you're doing here."

The huldra looked a little deflated over it, but something had pricked her self-pride in the elf's tone, so she turned around and lifted her hair.

Her bare back and lovely bottom was as pale as the rest of her - but it was there, with no holes to be seen - along with her bushy red fox tail, which twitched and moved a little seductively.

"So much for your ... learning," she sneered.

Loriel stepped up and reached out, her fingers pressing a little here and there.

"A little higher and to the left, my wise elf," the huldra chuckled, "Scratch a little, but not with your blade if you don't mind. I have never seen one of my kind with this empty place you speak of. Either your books lie ...

Or you do."

Loriel was about to lunge with her dagger leading, but the huldra laughed softly and waved the blade in her other hand so that the elf could see it, pointed at her heart.

"I am not so helpless," she smiled, "or old.

I meant no insult. You only took it that way.

But I can defend myself, lovely elf."

Loriel grabbed her by the hair and pulled her head around to point toward the cat.

"See him? He ate most of a pig tonight, and any minute now, his nose will tell his stomach that you're something to eat. He doesn't give a fuck what you make yourself look like."

The huldra froze, but her eyes turned toward Loriel.

"Oh yes," the elf grinned, "His eating manners are awful. Much like yours. I'd imagine."

Nila looked a little bored, "I'm still waiting to hear a name, and why did you say that the fox there is your daughter?"

"The fox is really a baby huldra," Loriel said, "Their young are hidden like this until they're old enough to take care of themselves."

The huldra looked up as she slowly got to her feet, regarding the elf a little differently now. "Your learning is something, I must admit. Very few know this."

"I'm a gutter elf," Loriel said, "but I've always wanted to know about the forests. That's why I read everything that I could. I just never knew that one day, I'd need it.

What's your name? I'm Loriel and that's Nila.

Don't even ask me how to say his name," she motioned toward the cat with rolling eyes.

"Bolga," the other one smiled, "Bolga Fuchs I am - and you know what you have won here, do you not, Loriel?"

Nila was working on it, testing the pronunciation, "Fooks?"

The elf looked shocked, but she nodded. Nila looked more curious than ever, so Loriel said, "She can't lie to an honest question about her name, not from a female. Her last name means 'fox'."

Nila blinked for a moment.

Bolga nodded, "Without her, I would never have said it. You did not ask in the right way."

"What about if a man were to ask you?" Nila suggested.

"I would turn the talk in several ways at once," Bolga smiled, "And give a name, or seven more likely - none of them my own."

"That way ... that you looked earlier," Nila said, "that isn't the way that you really look, is it?"

Bolga shrugged, "Some mornings."

"Don't we all?" Nila nodded with a sigh.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, "There isn't that kind of forest around here, so why leave the one you had?"

Bolga shrugged again, "I ran out of woodcutters.

There were only two left, and they liked each other more than they liked my charms.

That leaves farmers at the edge of the woods, mostly. But they have their women not far from their hearts, most of them and will not listen to my songs. The few who did, I took long ago.

I am looking for a new home to raise my daughter. I wish ... I wish to be someone who is huldra but not what we are known for. I wish I to live elsewhere.

I had love once, and I gave back only murder. It is not what I want to be anymore.

My mother told me that this want would kill me, so I left my forest - so that I might die elsewhere, and after a happier life is my hope."

Nila looked down into the eyes of the little vixen with a smile, "I imagine that you'll tell me not to fall under her little spell and that she can't be trusted. I'd take that advice tomorrow. Just don't say it now."

She moved her hands in a curious way and held out a little scrap of meat as she bent down.

The little eyes opened wide and the vixen's ears stood straight up.

Then she was scampering away with her prize, as happy as anything.

The young males walked over and Nila shooed them off with her soft scolding for wanting even more food after she'd seen them have trouble getting up the energy to play after their meal earlier.

The huldra was surprised and the elf was astounded at the way that they seemed to listen to Nila and went back to peering at the fox again.

Nila laughed and stood up, stepping over to the Huldra, who now didn't look old or nasty, and just seemed a little mysterious and it was very easy to see how a woodcutter might easily fall under the spell of someone like this, when she wished it.

They heard a little growl and looking over, the small fox had finished wolfing down her meal. She was now in a mood to play and she stalked toward the big cat, who lay on his front watching her approach with an amused expression.

Nila looked at Bolga and her hands moved in that curious way and she held out a larger piece of meat, watching those haunting yellow eyes as they widened.

"Keep your daughter and yourself away from that passage," she pointed, "you go through there and come back out, and you'll never see us again. I lost a good horse that way.

And if you do go there, make sure that you're carrying her, or you'll never see her again, either."

Bolga nodded, and looked to check on the little one. The fox was swatting at the cat's foot in a testing sort of way, yanking her paw back quickly each time.

She jumped straight up when he extended his claws, never moving anything else.

Bolga's eyes grew wide with alarm and she was hurrying to grab the vixen away from the cat.

"Chicha!" she hissed, in the way of worried mothers everywhere, "Chicha, get down from there!"

But in the few seconds that it took her to rush over, the fox was already climbing all over the cat, who seemed to like the little thing.

Bolga stopped and watched closely with a lot of nervousness and she turned to look back, wondering if Nila might offer some help with it, since she knew the animal well it seemed.

"I guess you need a place to stay, Bolga the fox," Nila smiled.

"There's room here. Just show us that we can trust you, all of us," she nodded toward Loriel.

Loriel stepped over to whisper urgently, "Nila, Are you sure about this?"

But Nila just grinned, pointing back over her shoulder with her thumb.

The tiny little fox was rolling around, sliding down the cat's fur to the floor and as she got there, she flipped over and clambered right back up. She stopped suddenly as she realized that she was being stalked herself and spun around to look at the cubs.

The larger one seemed to scare her, but the smaller one just began to play by holding his paw out on the floor so that she could pounce on it, though he pulled it back every time that she did.

That began a wild tussle, though nobody seemed to be getting hurt. It was just a crazy moving ball of tan and red-coloured fur that rolled and tumbled everywhere, making yowling hissing barks.

The large cat wasn't paying much attention to them though, and Nila doubted that he'd mind.

He already had Bolga bending over, losing herself in the attentions of that large wide tongue with his nose far under her long tail.

Bolga seemed a little stricken, bent in an awkward way and looking back in some anguish. "He is yours? ... Nila?"

Nila nodded, "He can be yours for a little while, if you think you might want him, Bolga."

She shrugged, "Make him an offer."

Loriel stared as Bolga changed into a large human-sized vixen and held her tail up. The cat didn't need anything more than that and mounted her just like that.

"Th-thank you, N-N-Nila," Bolga smiled back weakly.

Nila nodded, grinning, "He wants me far more often than I want him. I won't mind sharing if it keeps everybody happy."

She looked at Loriel, who appeared dumfounded for a moment.

"They're not even supposed to be able to do that," she whispered, "They're only supposed to be able to turn themselves into pretty girls when they're hunting for men."

"I guess that nobody ever told her, because she can obviously do this," Nila laughed, "I think she makes a very pretty fox and so does my male."