Page 16 of Tiger's Tale
“Nyet, Larix. Nyet. He was a good find.”
“Then why have you not consumed him? You are hungry. The winter will be long. You cannot sustain yourself from the ground as I can. I’ve already lost too much. I will not lose you as well. If you cannot bring yourself to kill him, I will do it for you.”
The large tree spirit lifted his long arm, ready to backhand Nik, but the other creature shot a web out and captured his hand so it couldn’t move. “Wait,” she said, almost gently for a being so monstrous. “He wishes to help us.”
“Help us?” he replied with a stoic incredulity befitting a tree. “He is deceiving you in an attempt to save his own life.”
“I do not believe so,” she retorted softly. “I wish to let him try. Will you help him on his journey?”
“Even should he be sincere, he won’t survive the endeavor. Then what will happen to you?”
“If he succeeds, then there will be plenty.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
There was a pause. Then the spider creature sighed and said, “If he doesn’t, then there wasn’t much hope for me anyway.”
The green tree man pounded a fist through the floor, making a hole. Immediately, he placed a hand over it and the wood came alive, regrowing itself, filling the gap. “We’ve talked about this. You can take a townsperson.”
“No. I won’t cause unnecessary pain to a family. It’s not our way.”
Nik raised an eyebrow. This was an interesting turn of events. He found he now genuinely wanted to help the two strange creatures. Finally speaking up, he said, “If you’ll point me in the right direction and give me a few tips, I promise to do my best to defeat the Death Draughtsman and thereby return you to the forest.”
The tree man looked Nik over for what seemed like a very long time indeed, then gave a slight nod. “Escovina, I will agree to this, though I do not have high hopes for the outcome.”
“Spasibo,” Nik and the spider creature said at the same time.
“Do not thank me just yet, little man child,” Larix said. “You’re still likely to die, in a much less pleasant fashion, and this time it will only be temporary.”
“Temporary? What does that mean?”
“You’ll see. Now grab a satchel and put the last of the bread and the salt inside. Hurry.”
“Yes, da, Nikolai. You must follow each of Larix’s instructions exactly. Promise me you will.”
“I promise, babushka. Dedushka,” he added, nodding to the tree man, hoping to gain his favor.
“Yes, yes,” he said, waving a wrinkled hand impatiently. “Now take off your clothes and put them back on inside out. He’ll need all your magic, Escovina.”
“Yours too, Larix?”
“Yes. He’ll need all the magic he can muster.”
“Very well,” she said.
Nik watched in fascination as his “babushka” began twirling and spinning, but this time it wasn’t with thread but with light. The tunic she’d created began to glow.
As she worked, her husband explained, “She created a death shroud for each boy. It’s a wrapping, essentially. It preserves their body as she drains it of life over time. That way it can sustain her as long as possible.”
Gulping, Nik asked, “You... you mean they’re still alive?”
“The shroud suspends them in a sleeplike state.”
“They are happy and dreaming. I make sure of it,” she said as she continued working.
“Still, they don’t last long,” Larix said. “Then, after they die, she buries them in the shroud.”
“How... lovely,” Nik managed, now wondering what they meant for him to do. “Is the tunic going to make me dream?”
