"Aaaaaah," Heru screamed as the magic touched his skin, waking him up, because the Metamorph healers, the Spirit Bear and Megaloceros Vracs, were trying to at least close the wounds he received.
Allegra and Nataly had just returned from taking Blanc and the others away from camp, as the chiefs and healers were surrounding Heru, assessing his situation.
The Forest Mother, however, stood on a wooden log at the head of the hearth, watching Heru screaming with no empathy behind her ancient eyes.
But neither had Allegra, for that matter.
She looked around the campsite, seeing Melsa, Iahmi, and many of the captured ones sitting in silence.
Melsa more so than the others.
Her eyes were wide, her breath ragged, as if trying to hold back a whimper that would roll down into tears in moments if she allowed it.
Allegra looked at her friend and how she suffered, perhaps eaten by guilt and frustration.
However, as Melsa's eyes turned to watch her, Allegra turned her body.
It wasn't shame that turned Allegra's body away, but a lack of interest in having a conversation with a person like Melsa.
So, she walked away, passing friend and kin alike, passing wounded fools and crying mothers, all the way towards the Forest Mother.
"They have been given a spot outside the campsite," Allegra bowed lightly.
"Best place for a human," the Forest Mother muttered, looking into the fire, "Yet they done us plenty of favors."
"All for the small price of being our friends," Allegra added, taking a seat on a wooden log near her.
"Oh, please, Allegra, it's foolish to think such a thing really does exist," the Forest Mother chuckled wisely, "You saw how your friends acted when you were no longer benefiting or providing them with something. Do you think this time is any different?"
Allegra turned to watch her crimson-colored eyes, "At first I would have said that you are right, but now, I am not sure," she muttered, her eyes turning towards the fire.
"Why?" the Forest Mother asked.
"I've lived for five decades by now," Allegra began, her face emotionless as she spoke, "In all those years, I've never met humans until we attacked the Domain. All I knew about them was the hatred you taught us to have for them. Yet now, seeing how these five helped us, how they thought, and acted towards each other or others, I cannot see how we are so different, nor how they are the same. Perhaps I am foolish not to worry about them or trust their words. But at the same time, I cannot bring myself to hate them as you taught us to."
The Forest Mother remained silent for a while after that, thinking.
But she couldn't focus. Heru's screams were too annoying for her thoughts to properly manifest.
Instead, as the screams echoed in her mind, memories of old, of times long past, resurfaced.
A past she would rather have never experienced again. Not even in her own memories.
"SILENCE!" she yelled, making even Heru's pain vanish for a second as she roared.
Allegra, as well as almost all inside the campsite, watched her intently, the only exception being Heru and the five outside the camp, as they seemed uninterested in what was happening here.
"Heal him already, or at least take him somewhere I don't hear him," she hissed, looking at the group surrounding Heru.
Leilani emerged from the group, taking a step towards her.
"But Forest Mother, he…" Leilani muttered, "Look what the humans have done to my poor boy."
"Your poor boy challenged him, Leilani," the Forest Mother replied, with no empathy in her sharp words, "Now he is the wingless heir of the Eagle Clan."
Leilani's eyes were wide for just a moment before she controlled herself, falling to her knees. "Forest Mother, High-Chief, please, heal him; the Vracs' magic does not work."
"I cannot return his wings to him, nor do I wish to," she replied, walking towards Leilani. "This is a fitting punishment for his actions and failures. More so, a punishment to you, Leilani."
"What have I done to dese-" Leilani tried to argue, but the branches on the Forest Mother's hands silenced her with a slap.
"And not just you, all of you are deserving of punishment, all but a mere handful who saw and tried to stop or remedy the situation," the Forest Mother explained as she walked between Metamorphs, "You have betrayed your destiny these last few days, children of mine. I taught you to evolve past what you were, I gave you strength and wisdom, and all you did was throw them around as if pebbles in front of a lake. The promise that has been made for you, the future I've worked for you all, has, in this case, been delayed, as you are forced to return home and plan the next move better."
"Aid us, Forest Mother," Aleto took a step forward, "Aid and lead us to the purpose you have envisioned for us, and by the Vita we will see it done. No deals with humans, no defeat at human hands."
"Your purpose, your destiny is your own, child. I am no God, Ascended, nor general," she replied, not even turning to face him, "The chiefs' greed… and lust, the blind obedience of the young to their hatred, and not understanding why they hate, has led to this. I've given you the freedom to prove yourselves in the Outside world, to prove you acted with the same pride you used to carry yourselves with, a pride more than the valley you and your ancestors lived in all your pathetic lives. The pride of a chick who finally learns to fly, and the feeling of the wind making way for your coming. Yet none of you managed to do thus."
"Give us your punishment then, Forest Mother," Georn said, his voice calm, despite the words they had just received.
"Living with this failure is punishment enough," the Forest Mother replied, turning to face them all, "Knowing that you have failed, and have to return home fewer and empty-handed, all because of your collective fault, is punishment enough… for now."