The fire sprites were a bit more mischievous, trying to burn deadfall when they pleased to satiate their need for ignition. To placate them, once a month on the new moon, the boulder gnomes would create a big bonfire in honor of the sprites; who would dance and crackle and spin around gleefully within the flames. This was Nuria’s favourite night of the month for there was something about the flame that would draw her in, completely enchanted and unafraid.
At one such fete, Nuria seemed to be calling the fire sprites to her, letting the flames leap and swirl a little too close. The young gnomes were gathered listening to Granny Mog, who was busy telling stories of The Divine Mother; how She had created the gnomes to be Her stewards of the forest. When Granny briefly looked up she could have sworn she saw the face of a young red haired boy in the flames, speaking to Nuria.
“Nuria! Step away from there,” Granny called, which seemed to have snapped Nuria out of a dream. She stumbled back and blinked around as if she knew not where she was, falling into Uncle Bog, who had been having a particularly good night enjoying the berry wine, causing his usually sturdy stance to falter. This in turn created a cascade of tumbling gnomes, the hilarity of it all bringing Nuria out of her stupor and distracting Granny from what she thought she may have seen. The night carried on in gnomely merriment however, Granny thought to keep an eye on Nuria, and maybe to get some new spectacles.
Nuria loved joining the other little gnomes in games: capturing frogs, skipping stones upon the nearby lake, and using the juice of berries to write secret notes on peeling birchbark. Sometimes Nuria would even get her stained little fingers onto Durga’s shining white coat when the mare was napping. She would then wake to funny drawings all over her pristine coat and couldn’t help but laugh before trotting off to the closest creek. The gnome children would not dare get so close to such a big creature though; they weren’t a mischievous, thrill-seeking bunch. The biggest creature they’d encountered was the rare male buck, with antlers spanning wide as he strutted through the forest in springtime (though he was miniature compared to Durga).
The older Nuria grew the more curious and roguish she became. A few moons after her fourth birthday she managed to hop onto Durga’s back while the mare was napping and even greater, managed to hold on. Durga sprang up from her slumber and bucked and kicked, thinking something sinister had landed upon her.
In that moment of excitement Nuria could only shriek and giggle but she thought to herself,calm down Durga it’s me, let’s run through the forest!Durga immediately calmed down but did not dare respond as she once could with her Lady. The shock of what this meant for Nuria worried the mare greatly.
Reflecting on what the knowledge of Nuria’s inherited power could bring forth, Durga did not obey and gently lowered back down so the child could hop off instead; hoping Nuria didn’t catch on that she had understood her. As she watched Nuria skip away memories of her vow to Inanna flashed into her mind.
Do not let her enter the fae realm. The Seers foretold she will try but you must stop her…
How could she have let Nuria stay so close to the portal these past few years? The sense of safety the gnome community provided felt stripped away. Her duty to protect felt heavy upon her shoulders; fear of a sweet child stumbling upon the Mists through to a world in which she could not follow to protect herterrified Durga. The low growl of the creature awaiting on the other side filled her with even more terror. With a heavy heart, she knew what needed to be done.
A few months later, Durga waited for a particularly busy day for the gnome community to execute her plan. It was the first clear day after a week of heavy rains and the gnomes were hard at work creating a new tributary off the lake to help manage the overflow. A little forest of ferns had been eagerly awaiting this development, so excitement was in the air. This was hard, muddy work though and Nuria preferred to stay out of it on such a beautiful day. There were better adventures to be had.
When Durga knelt down beside Nuria, she knew the childling would not be able to resist hopping on. Nuria’s exclamations of joy and wonder at all the surrounding beauty almost made up for the hurt in Durga’s heart for what had to come next. They rode past the weeping willows that shaded the creek, that still had the haunting patches of ghost orchids, the grand oaks that housed the local chipmunks and burst through to a whispering meadow that was dotted with red poppies and pink corn flowers.
Nuria held on tightly and giggled as they flew through the trees. “I have never been out this way. Granny said not to wander too far, but it’s so much fun! Let’s see more!” Nuria gave Durga excited little kicks, urging her to speed up as they cantered past a thicket of blackberries. Durga knew this to be the border of how far the peaceful, non-thrill seeking boulder gnomes would go. All feelings of guilt at what she had planned were trumped by the promise she had made to Inanna years ago. They took a turn to the west, riding down-hill for what felt like an eternity to Nuria. Her stomach was starting to grumble and it was getting chilly out.
“I’m ready to go home now, Durga. Let’s go back,” Nuria said.
Instead, Durga picked up the pace, forcing Nuria to hold tight as she quickened into a gallop. Just a little further andDurga could execute her plan. She had ventured out this way in the past few days, looking for signs of what she knew was the only answer to fulfilling her promise to Inanna.
Nuria screamed into Durga’s ear , “put me down, put me down! Stop!” But all she could do was hold on tight in her growing terror. She was quite resolved that she had to get off and quickly. They were so far from home and Nuria had a sinking feeling that she had not experienced before. The safety of home was far away and Durga seemed completely alien to her. She longed for the warmth of the gnome caves and a slice of berry pie. She had to get back!
Nuria decided she would jump off just as soon as Durga slowed. All she needed to do was walk back uphill and surely the gnomes would be there waiting for her.
The aspens were soon traded for tall spruce trees and the air began to grow crisp and chilly. Even though they were headed downhill it was as if they were leaving summer behind and heading straight into autumn on a mountainside. They leapt over big mossy logs, swerved between trees and dodged low hanging branches as Durga surged on, frost crunching underfoot as she went.
As they crashed through a dense border of spikey gorse they suddenly came splashing into a wide river. The water was only up to Durga’s knees but the current was quick enough to force her to slow down and focus as she began to wade in.
Nuria took the sudden slowed pace as her chance. She didn’t think twice before she leapt off, splashing into the swift moving river and immediately losing her footing. The current had her racing downstream and out of Durga’s sight before she could even react to Nuria’s dismount.
Durga reared and spun back to shore. She tried her best to work her way down the rocky bank in the direction Nuria was being swept away but the brush was getting too thick andthe current slowed her down too much, so she had to cut back inland.
The ice cold waters nearly shocked the breath out of Nuria as she gasped and sputtered, kicking her little legs and waving her little arms frantically, trying to keep her head above the water. None of the gnomes had taught her to swim in deep water (boulders do sink after all). She was going under too quickly. Her screams gurgled as water splashed over her head.
As a shallower part of the river approached, Nuria kicked down her feet to keep her head above water and looked around in the brief moments of respite, hoping to find something, anything to grab ahold of.
Just as she rounded a bend she could see a big tree up ahead that had toppled over on the far side of the river bank and was leaning just above the water. Relief washed over Nuria. It was fast approaching so she kicked and splashed as hard as she could, trying to direct herself to the opposite side when she noticed two large figures dressed in a shock of bright orange and yellow sitting by a campfire just beyond the toppled tree.
Nuria yelled out and waved, desperately hoping to catch their attention, not caring who or what they were. The larger of the two immediately jumped up from his seat and raced into the river, using the tree as an anchor as he leaned out and plucked Nuria out of the current, sweeping her into his arms. She grasped onto his neck and stared with wide eyes for a moment, realizing he looked like a big version of herself, before she gave into her exhaustion and collapsed, leaning her head on his big chest as she was carried back to shore.
“Paul, is she ok? Where did she come from? Why is she naked?” the other human shouted, increasing her pitch with each question.
“I don’t know Jenny, I just grabbed her!” Paul shouted back. The peaceful morning they were having had been completely flipped on its head.
Paul and Jenny had made something of a monthly ritual during the warmer months, before winter set in, finding new backcountry spots to explore to escape the madness of the city. Each outing was as revitalizing and serene as the next and often involved spotting elusive wildlife that would never dare get so close to town, but a human child was the last thing to be expected.
“Take off your jacket and lay it down by the fire, we need to warm her up, she’s hypothermic,” Paul instructed, trying to remember the first-aid training he did years ago as he lay the now unconscious Nuria down by the fire. Jenny and Paul shared worried glances and huddled close to her, trying to shield her from the wind.
On the other side of the river Durga had heard shouting as she crashed her way around a bend, scratching her coat up on the thick bracken and getting twigs tangled in her mane as she went. When she poked her head through the brush she could see a tall man in a neon yellow jacket carrying Nuria out of the water towards a woman by a fire. She made sure to stay hidden as she watched on. She hadn’t expected humans to be so far up but this could make her plan much easier than expected. She knew the humans were Nuria’s only chance at a safe life. Her plan had been to get her as close to the nearest town as possible, which was another few hours’ ride down the mountain. She prayed these two would do the trick.
Sure enough, after a few minutes of what looked to be a heated discussion, the humans grabbed their packs and the man scooped up the now limp Nuria, wrapped in a bright orange puffy coat, and they all headed west towards the town. Durgacould only hope Nuria would end up well looked after and that Inanna would have approved.
