There is no fear in her heart though the mountain looms dark and perilous.
She was born for this.

As a foal, she never cared much for other kin. She would leave her family and wander the swamp alone, before returning covered in mud and full of secrets. One day, on the cusp of adulthood, she came back with an egg. Tenderly she watched over it until it hatched.

A snake! Her family was horrified. Stand aside, they ordered, we shall kill it.

But she refused and threatened to fight them, defending the newly hatched creature as if it was her own child. She left them that day and returned many months later, the snake still with her, curled contently around on her back plate.

‘This is my Baby,’ she said.

They nodded, ‘And you are Snake Mother.’

The fever burns in scarlet shades, setting his body alight. He knows nothing but the heat that threatens to boil him alive. Chattering teeth and desperate moans, he scrambles in the dirt, panting, weeping, burning but never broken. Not him. No matter how much the fever consumes.

I'm in your home, I'm in your head,
I'm sticking close, no need to beg.
I whisper things, they make you shiver,
make you cry, make you quiver.
You started this, you let me in,
I'm insidious, I always win.

He flees upon a path of bones,
beneath trees that snag and tear,
while hungry teeth snap hungrily,
right on his racing heels
- run buck run!
And the orange glow of fires,
they cast shadows in his way,
like pretty flowers blooming,
to consume the very air
- run buck run!
Ahead he sees a glint of hope,
a way to safer ground,
far from the howling laughter,
of strangers in the dark.
- run buck run!
But then a voice, it whispers,
a soft and sibilant sound,
it tells him this, the horrid truth,
as he's sinking down,
there’s no hope here,
sad little buck,
‘Omae wa mou shindeiru’
‘You are already dead’.

The nest was empty and so was she.

flawless

the drifting shadows,
of those he knew well,
pass him by without a glance,
and he thinks perhaps,
he could melt away,
as easily as he slips their minds.
but there is a glow,
that refuses to fade,
as he shouts his defiance.
only once forgotten,
never more.

She was a gentle doe, unlike many of her Totoma brethren. She smiled a lot, cheerfully encouraging her friends and family. She was kind and soft and her parents worried she would never earn a name.

But under the shadow of the obelisk, she changed. It filled her with madness and a terrifying need for violence. It consumed her one night, so entirely that she went on a rampage, seeking only to harm. No one was safe. Blood and death was left in her wake.

she looks up into the branches,
where the new blossoms unfurl,
drinking in their sweet scent,
and basks in the gentle sunlight,
that filters through the leaves,
in shades of green and yellow,
dappling the earth below,
thinking always,
it's such a lovely day.

He hits the mark,
a perfect shot,
struck blind,
deadeye.

fear the old blood that soaks the forest floor,
that feeds the trees and makes them strong,
those vengeful spirits clinging to the earth,
will drag you down and hold you tight,
until she comes out from the dark,
red-tipped, red-eyed, a fearful sight,
do not seek the terrors that lurk there,
you’ll find your death and nothing more.

There once was a fish who wanted to fly,
so leap she did from pond to sky,
and as she fell straight to the ground,
it was happiness they say she found.

I will remain nameless

A single leaf left on the branch,
the dying sun bathed in red,
a blazing fire consumes all,
but I will be the last to fall.