Are You Soulless?

Well, this certainly wasn’t the swamp. The young Abraxas had told her mother she was going to go exploring a bit, and she was clever enough to follow her own trail out of here if she had to, but she found herself drawn further in. She had started off by following a game trail, before a distant shimmering between the trees had caught her eye. She had looked to the well worn trail for a moment and drew in a deep breath, then looked back to the trees again. It was swaying from side to side, beckoning.

The first step was the hardest, but once the greenery was closing around her legs, she laughed joyfully and bounded forward. It was something stronger that was pulling her off the well-worn trail. Maybe it was fate?

Heavy footfalls announced her presence, her quills catching in the underbrush and vines as she continued to charge forward, giggling all the while. The will-o-wisp was gone by the time she reached her destination, a small clearing where they sun broke through the canopy, but it wasn’t enough to take the smile off her face. She spun one way, and then the other. There was beauty here. She allowed her eyes to drift shut as she inhaled the earthy scents around her. Abraxas really was amazing to share these wonders with them.

“Speech”