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Featuring Vae'a, Goddess of Life and the demigod Vitae'a, the Light of the Forest

No one had thought that it would have it come this far… But it had. The fire burned hot, fueled by the anger and blood it consumed as it swept down from the highest peaks of the mountains into the forest below. Creatures both large and small fled but the flames were hungry, leaping faster and farther at each and every motion. The wind fed it, urging it onward through the trees with each breath it gave. The fire roared forth, its crimson loins giving birth to black and broken lands beneath where its feet had trod.Yet, despite the destruction, the rain that everyone prayed for did not come.

The other gods pleaded with her, begged her, to let the sea of flames burn its hate until it died. Against her better judgement, the Mother of the Forest allowed herself to be bridled, her own will silenced by the necessity that no more godly blood be spilled. But Vae’a cried in anguish at each branch that blistered from the heat and every leaf that disintegrated as it burned, as if it were her own silvery skin that had been seared by the scorching pyre that licked at the boughs of the proud sentinels of her forest… The goddess wept as the voices of those that had once called her beloved land their haven cried to her for forgiveness and mercy, yet found none when they were silenced by the inferno’s suffocating black breath. Those that held their faith - that believed this was but a test from their goddess - burned, rewarded for their loyalty with the theft of their very souls while those who left their beliefs to burn with the fire at least had a chance at saving their own skins...
Shackled by her celestial kith, Vae’a could only watch while silent, silver tears streaked down her face as the impassioned flames devoured her forest beneath its blanket of feverish furor, until only a single, lowly oak sapling stood, the remnant of a once ancient and lush woodland.
It was then that Vae’a took her stand.
Breaking the wishes of the others, the goddess took flight from the heavens and raced toward the last sapling. As she alighted upon the earth, the goddess begged those that fled to stay and fight but her words fell upon deaf ears. None would heed the desires of a goddess who had allowed so much bloodshed and death in her own kingdom. So the argentate doe turned her pleas to her brothers and sisters above, imploring them that they might take a stand against the slaughter that this had become. For fear of upsetting what was left of the balance, they turned away...
And so it was that the goddess faced the flames alone.
With what power she had left the goddess created a shield about the last seedling, using every ounce of her divine being to keep the flames at bay. The fire seemed swayed in its ambitions as it curved around her protective seal, its curious fingers testing and tasting the strength of her resolve. Vae’a’s own passion, not easily awakened, surged forth and fought the flames, beating them back when they dared to advance time and time again. But, where the goddess thought she had left only the extinguished ashes laid smouldering embers, waiting for the opportune moment to claim that which they had been denied.
It was when the goddess had turned her back upon them that they struck.
The flames the embers had been hiding flared high, a tidal wave of scarlet heat that joined together to lay waste to that last little treeling. Vae’a’s eyes had grown wide and, without a second thought, flung herself in the way of the inferno.
Like her precious trees Vae’a’s mortal form burned, its sterling hairs and blood-bearing flesh blistering and popping with a sickly crackle as the fire feasted upon her. But the goddess did not budge and, even as the flames burned away her hair and exposed new flesh only to burn it again, she stayed resolute.
The fire that devoured her burned well into the night, the next, and even the next after that, until - finally - the heavens wept for that which had been lost.
Ash fell from above for days; even after the rain. The skies, gray in mourning, gazed upon a land covered with the ashen remains of those that had not escaped the fire’s anger. There was no green left, only the seared remains of that which had once been. Survivors picked their way through the destruction and cried, desperately hoping to find their loved ones or relief for the burns that they had sustained. But none dared to cross into the forest, where the fire had burned brightest and the hottest, for it was there they knew a goddess had died. Some mourned the loss of the fair goddess but far more grieved over the loss of their homes and their loved ones; for them, the family that had been stolen from them was a greater loss than the demise of a celestial being who had left them to burn. The murmurs of resentment grew stronger as embittered voices grew louder, cursing the goddess for her betrayal. They abandoned the charred forest and left it - and the corpse it surely contained - to rot.
All, that is, except for one.
The mare was as black as the charred remains of the forest she had once inhabited, half-blind and disfigured from where the flames had tasted her flesh but been denied her life. Before the flames, she had been a nobody, cursed with infertility and living a life dedicated to the care of her aging mother, a mother who she had been forced to leave as fodder for the flames. The mare had lost one mother and, in her heart of hearts, knew that she - and the forest - could not afford to lose another. So it was that her hooves sunk into the layer of ash that had once been a sprawling bed of green, searching patiently for whatever was left of the goddess.
It took days, days without food and water, but eventually, beneath a mound of ash and soot, the mare found her.
Vae’a, once beautiful and ethereal, was but a pile of ebon ruin, her body blackened and so badly burned it threatened to disintegrate into nothing at the smallest motion. The mare brushed away the debris, exposing the charred form of the goddess and, overwhelmed by the sight, wept freely. As her tears fell onto the scorched figure, a voice - soft and gentle - spoke to her and comforted her. It took the mare a moment to realize that the voice came from the seemingly lifeless shape that rested at her feet.
“Do not weep for this body,” the goddess said, lifting her head away from the decimated ground. Flakes of her once smooth, silver skin fell away, exposing portions of a shimmering white skull. The mare gasped in horror and stumbled back, fear mixing with the grief that she felt in her heart. “Do not weep for this body,” the goddess repeated, sadness tinging her voice, “This is the penance I must pay.”
A breeze kicked up, sending more of the doe’s seared flesh away. The mare shook her head, sobs choking the few words she tried to speak. “I do not weep for your body, I weep for the loss of this forest. For without you, how will it regrow?”
The ghost of a smile crinkled across the remnants of the goddess’s lips. Without a word, she uncoiled her legs, revealing a single sapling, as vibrant and green as it had been before the fire. “I gave my life to save this single tree, for with it lies hope… But I am spent, my mortal body broken. When what is left of this form falls away, there will be no one left to protect it from harm.” The mare, despite her own injuries and grief, straightened herself and stood tall, like the trees that she had once lived beneath. “I shall dedicate my life to protect that which you have given yours to save.”
Vae’a turned her head, her eyeless sockets seeming to bore into the mare’s very soul. “You would give what is left of your life - the only life you are given as a mortal - to protect this little sapling?” More skin fell away, falling like black snow on to the ground around her. “My forest - my children - they are broken and have lost their faith in me. They will try and destroy this little sapling, for I gave my life to save it and not the lives of their loved ones.”
But the mare stood resolute. “Then I will remind them of their faith, or die trying.”
“You must guide them through this dark time, my daughter. To you, this task I give. Lead them home and be the mother that I cannot be.” The goddess struggled to her feet. Beneath her a pile of ash remained, a near perfect ring around the little sapling. “This cross you must bear -- but leave you I will not. To you, my daughter, I give the gift of new life and hope -- my light.” Vae’a’s skeletal form stepped forward and into the mare’s nostrils she exhaled. As the dark mare inhaled the goddess’s breath, her body began to morph. Where once hairs as black as the night and burned from the forest laid were now hairs as silver as the moon and speckled with spots of white starfire. The mare’s eyes, once brown like the earth, flashed open to reveal pools as emerald as the forests that had once stood tall and proud. Her bodily wounds were no more and, as she moved, the mare shimmered with the light and beauty that had once belonged to the goddess.
When the transformation was complete, the mare could feel the light and warmth of the love that the fallen goddess had for her people. “Take my power and use it wisely, my daughter. Heal the sick and plant the seeds of hope in my people and in my soil. Succeed in this task and both you and your children - so long as they take care of the forest - will be rewarded.”
Vae’a stepped back and, with a final bow of her head, crumbled. As the dust of her bones fell they alighted upon the sapling, turning its once green leaves into ethereal white. The mare stepped back, her now glowing sterling mane billowing around her as a gentle wind swept through it. Into its invisible fingers the wind grasped the goddess’s ashes, spreading them across the burned ground and where these alighted the vibrant shoots of fresh grass broke through the burned rubble.
And so it was that the mare took upon the task of spreading the goddess’s ashes across the charred forest. With the spreading of the ashes so too came the spread of hope and of new life. She faced the darkness alone, dragging those that had been swallowed by it into the light; those that she saved she inspired, who then took it upon themselves to rescue still others. As her following grew so did her strength. They faced those that had been too consumed by hate with the purity of light and love, vanquishing their darkness and using their life force to seed the earth where their souls might be given a second chance at life.
The mare became known as Vitae’a, the Light of the Forest, and with her guidance the tree began to regrow. Her sons and her daughters, gifted with hides of silver and the purity of her soul, aided her in her endeavors and with their efforts the wood became stronger and taller than it had ever been before. With each victory the people had a little bit of their faith restored and returned to the woodlands, where they praised Vae’a for her sacrifice; for without her final sacrifice and the gift of her soul the forest might have been lost forever.
From the heavens above, Vae’a, her beauty and elegance taken but her life restored to her, saw all that which her daughter had accomplished and, with the pride only a mother can know, smiled.

Description

Featuring Vae'a, Goddess of Life and the demigod Vitae'a, the Light of the Forest

No one had thought that it would have it come this far… But it had. The fire burned hot, fueled by the anger and blood it consumed as it swept down from the highest peaks of the mountains into the forest below. Creatures both large and small fled but the flames were hungry, leaping faster and farther at each and every motion. The wind fed it, urging it onward through the trees with each breath it gave. The fire roared forth, its crimson loins giving birth to black and broken lands beneath where its feet had trod.Yet, despite the destruction, the rain that everyone prayed for did not come.

The other gods pleaded with her, begged her, to let the sea of flames burn its hate until it died. Against her better judgement, the Mother of the Forest allowed herself to be bridled, her own will silenced by the necessity that no more godly blood be spilled. But Vae’a cried in anguish at each branch that blistered from the heat and every leaf that disintegrated as it burned, as if it were her own silvery skin that had been seared by the scorching pyre that licked at the boughs of the proud sentinels of her forest… The goddess wept as the voices of those that had once called her beloved land their haven cried to her for forgiveness and mercy, yet found none when they were silenced by the inferno’s suffocating black breath. Those that held their faith - that believed this was but a test from their goddess - burned, rewarded for their loyalty with the theft of their very souls while those who left their beliefs to burn with the fire at least had a chance at saving their own skins...
Shackled by her celestial kith, Vae’a could only watch while silent, silver tears streaked down her face as the impassioned flames devoured her forest beneath its blanket of feverish furor, until only a single, lowly oak sapling stood, the remnant of a once ancient and lush woodland.
It was then that Vae’a took her stand.
Breaking the wishes of the others, the goddess took flight from the heavens and raced toward the last sapling. As she alighted upon the earth, the goddess begged those that fled to stay and fight but her words fell upon deaf ears. None would heed the desires of a goddess who had allowed so much bloodshed and death in her own kingdom. So the argentate doe turned her pleas to her brothers and sisters above, imploring them that they might take a stand against the slaughter that this had become. For fear of upsetting what was left of the balance, they turned away...
And so it was that the goddess faced the flames alone.
With what power she had left the goddess created a shield about the last seedling, using every ounce of her divine being to keep the flames at bay. The fire seemed swayed in its ambitions as it curved around her protective seal, its curious fingers testing and tasting the strength of her resolve. Vae’a’s own passion, not easily awakened, surged forth and fought the flames, beating them back when they dared to advance time and time again. But, where the goddess thought she had left only the extinguished ashes laid smouldering embers, waiting for the opportune moment to claim that which they had been denied.
It was when the goddess had turned her back upon them that they struck.
The flames the embers had been hiding flared high, a tidal wave of scarlet heat that joined together to lay waste to that last little treeling. Vae’a’s eyes had grown wide and, without a second thought, flung herself in the way of the inferno.
Like her precious trees Vae’a’s mortal form burned, its sterling hairs and blood-bearing flesh blistering and popping with a sickly crackle as the fire feasted upon her. But the goddess did not budge and, even as the flames burned away her hair and exposed new flesh only to burn it again, she stayed resolute.
The fire that devoured her burned well into the night, the next, and even the next after that, until - finally - the heavens wept for that which had been lost.
Ash fell from above for days; even after the rain. The skies, gray in mourning, gazed upon a land covered with the ashen remains of those that had not escaped the fire’s anger. There was no green left, only the seared remains of that which had once been. Survivors picked their way through the destruction and cried, desperately hoping to find their loved ones or relief for the burns that they had sustained. But none dared to cross into the forest, where the fire had burned brightest and the hottest, for it was there they knew a goddess had died. Some mourned the loss of the fair goddess but far more grieved over the loss of their homes and their loved ones; for them, the family that had been stolen from them was a greater loss than the demise of a celestial being who had left them to burn. The murmurs of resentment grew stronger as embittered voices grew louder, cursing the goddess for her betrayal. They abandoned the charred forest and left it - and the corpse it surely contained - to rot.
All, that is, except for one.
The mare was as black as the charred remains of the forest she had once inhabited, half-blind and disfigured from where the flames had tasted her flesh but been denied her life. Before the flames, she had been a nobody, cursed with infertility and living a life dedicated to the care of her aging mother, a mother who she had been forced to leave as fodder for the flames. The mare had lost one mother and, in her heart of hearts, knew that she - and the forest - could not afford to lose another. So it was that her hooves sunk into the layer of ash that had once been a sprawling bed of green, searching patiently for whatever was left of the goddess.
It took days, days without food and water, but eventually, beneath a mound of ash and soot, the mare found her.
Vae’a, once beautiful and ethereal, was but a pile of ebon ruin, her body blackened and so badly burned it threatened to disintegrate into nothing at the smallest motion. The mare brushed away the debris, exposing the charred form of the goddess and, overwhelmed by the sight, wept freely. As her tears fell onto the scorched figure, a voice - soft and gentle - spoke to her and comforted her. It took the mare a moment to realize that the voice came from the seemingly lifeless shape that rested at her feet.
“Do not weep for this body,” the goddess said, lifting her head away from the decimated ground. Flakes of her once smooth, silver skin fell away, exposing portions of a shimmering white skull. The mare gasped in horror and stumbled back, fear mixing with the grief that she felt in her heart. “Do not weep for this body,” the goddess repeated, sadness tinging her voice, “This is the penance I must pay.”
A breeze kicked up, sending more of the doe’s seared flesh away. The mare shook her head, sobs choking the few words she tried to speak. “I do not weep for your body, I weep for the loss of this forest. For without you, how will it regrow?”
The ghost of a smile crinkled across the remnants of the goddess’s lips. Without a word, she uncoiled her legs, revealing a single sapling, as vibrant and green as it had been before the fire. “I gave my life to save this single tree, for with it lies hope… But I am spent, my mortal body broken. When what is left of this form falls away, there will be no one left to protect it from harm.” The mare, despite her own injuries and grief, straightened herself and stood tall, like the trees that she had once lived beneath. “I shall dedicate my life to protect that which you have given yours to save.”
Vae’a turned her head, her eyeless sockets seeming to bore into the mare’s very soul. “You would give what is left of your life - the only life you are given as a mortal - to protect this little sapling?” More skin fell away, falling like black snow on to the ground around her. “My forest - my children - they are broken and have lost their faith in me. They will try and destroy this little sapling, for I gave my life to save it and not the lives of their loved ones.”
But the mare stood resolute. “Then I will remind them of their faith, or die trying.”
“You must guide them through this dark time, my daughter. To you, this task I give. Lead them home and be the mother that I cannot be.” The goddess struggled to her feet. Beneath her a pile of ash remained, a near perfect ring around the little sapling. “This cross you must bear -- but leave you I will not. To you, my daughter, I give the gift of new life and hope -- my light.” Vae’a’s skeletal form stepped forward and into the mare’s nostrils she exhaled. As the dark mare inhaled the goddess’s breath, her body began to morph. Where once hairs as black as the night and burned from the forest laid were now hairs as silver as the moon and speckled with spots of white starfire. The mare’s eyes, once brown like the earth, flashed open to reveal pools as emerald as the forests that had once stood tall and proud. Her bodily wounds were no more and, as she moved, the mare shimmered with the light and beauty that had once belonged to the goddess.
When the transformation was complete, the mare could feel the light and warmth of the love that the fallen goddess had for her people. “Take my power and use it wisely, my daughter. Heal the sick and plant the seeds of hope in my people and in my soil. Succeed in this task and both you and your children - so long as they take care of the forest - will be rewarded.”
Vae’a stepped back and, with a final bow of her head, crumbled. As the dust of her bones fell they alighted upon the sapling, turning its once green leaves into ethereal white. The mare stepped back, her now glowing sterling mane billowing around her as a gentle wind swept through it. Into its invisible fingers the wind grasped the goddess’s ashes, spreading them across the burned ground and where these alighted the vibrant shoots of fresh grass broke through the burned rubble.
And so it was that the mare took upon the task of spreading the goddess’s ashes across the charred forest. With the spreading of the ashes so too came the spread of hope and of new life. She faced the darkness alone, dragging those that had been swallowed by it into the light; those that she saved she inspired, who then took it upon themselves to rescue still others. As her following grew so did her strength. They faced those that had been too consumed by hate with the purity of light and love, vanquishing their darkness and using their life force to seed the earth where their souls might be given a second chance at life.
The mare became known as Vitae’a, the Light of the Forest, and with her guidance the tree began to regrow. Her sons and her daughters, gifted with hides of silver and the purity of her soul, aided her in her endeavors and with their efforts the wood became stronger and taller than it had ever been before. With each victory the people had a little bit of their faith restored and returned to the woodlands, where they praised Vae’a for her sacrifice; for without her final sacrifice and the gift of her soul the forest might have been lost forever.
From the heavens above, Vae’a, her beauty and elegance taken but her life restored to her, saw all that which her daughter had accomplished and, with the pride only a mother can know, smiled.