The Forest's Songs

[Willowsong]

"Do I have to?"

Willowsong was shocked. Why would this human dare to question her request? And why was she thinking like this?

"Don't you want to?", she said, instead of insisting on her, and indirectly his own wish.

The witch reached her other hand to his face, but stopped shortly in front of him.
She was so close now.... Why would she have to follow Talwyn's wish? Maybe he no longer wanted to be returned to his original form. Maybe he could just be with her, forever. He was the first one not to transform in front of her. Maybe it was fate?
But that was not his real wish, was it? It was just the magic doing its work.
Hesitating, Willowsong pulled her hand back and pressed herself closer to Talwyn.

"Would you like to do something else instead?", she muttered.

[Talwyn]

"Don't you want to?" She asked him. He shook his head in response. If she truly desired him to read the book, he would. But no, what he wanted right now, was merely to hold her. To feel her body cuddled up with his. He eyed her patiently as she seemed uncertain of what to do.

When she finally pressed herself closer to him, he embraced her and ran his hand through her long and beautiful black hair. "Would you like to do something else instead?" She muttered. Taking her chin in his hand, he turned her face so he could look into those emerald green eyes. He whispered softly into her ear. "I wish to make you happy. I wish to hold you... protect you... If you truly desire me to read the book I shall my love. But I wish this moment would not pass..."

[Willowsong]

Her face in front of his, was too much. She had to shut her eyes and pull her face away from him, breathing heavily. What was this? Human instinct urging her to get involved with this man? She wasn't even a human! She was...whatever nature had chosen for her to be.
Managing to bring together all her wits again, she turned back to look at Talwyn. Again she had the urge to kiss him, but that would ruin everything!
...she had to at least fulfill his one wish.
Talwyn running his hands through her hair further began to assault her resolve to...help him. But she managed to keep her composure up.

She smiled, again speaking in that hypnotic and seductive way.
"Please, I wish to hear your voice...", she raised both her hands to run over his cheeks, hoping to persuade him this way. He seemed to long for her skin, so that's what she would give him.
"...read this chapter, and afterwards I will do what we both want. What you want...", she finally managed to say.

[Talwyn]

A shiver once again passed down his spine as she ran her hands over his cheeks. With some reluctance, he picked up the book again. When she told him she would do what he wanted after he abided by this one wish, he looked into her eyes. His hazel colored eyes, that seemed to be a dark golden-brown color, were filled with desire.

Unable to speak, he merely nodded and tore his eyes away from her with great difficulty. Looking at the page, the weird letters were dancing before his eyes. He blinked as they started to tear a bit and concentrated harder at trying to fulfill her wish.

Raising a hand, he rubbed his eyes. Something was wrong... His eyes, they seemed to burn! But, she had warned him for that hadn't she? Yes, he was fairly sure she had. Going on, the feeling got more and more intense until he cried out in pain.

"It hurts!" He cried out. "My eyes! They burn!" Unable to tear his eyes away from the
pages, he called for Willowsong. "I cannot read this my love... It is burning my eyes! Make it stop! Please! I beg you!" He was pleading with her now, not knowing that he had to hold on for only a few more moments to let the temporary transformation take place.

[Willowsong]

Willowsong started as Talwyn suddenly cried out and pain and started pleading with her.
"Shh, listen to my voice.", she said, rising up to be crouched on her knees. The witch pressed the cursed human against her chest, holding his head protective like a loving mother.
The transformation was expected, but it wouldn't take long now. Her only worry was that he'd wake up from the spell too early or be transformed more than she intended to.

She started to sing a beautiful song, softly caressing Talwyn's hair as the transformation completed.
Lovingly cradling his head, she finished her short song as the pain would subside.
"Better now?", she whispered into Talwyn's ear, wiping a strand of her long black hair out of his face.

[Talwyn]

Her voice soothed his pain. The song hypnotizing him to the point he forgot the pain he was in. The pain subsided and he felt... strange. Things seemed... different, as if his eyes could paint a much sharper image than normal.

All colors seemed more vivid, more vibrant, alive even. As the witch whispered in his ear, he turned to look at her. Even before he had fallen under her spell, he had noticed she looked rather pretty, and thanks to her spell she had made him feel like she was the most beautiful thing on the planet.

The change to his eyes however, made her seem even more beautiful. So beautiful that merely gazing upon her made his heart ache and tears flowed freely. How could so much beauty be caught into a single person? Reaching out tentatively with his hand, he touched her arm.

Slowly, he moved his hand upward, never losing contact with her skin. Finally touching her cheek, he smiled. Happy she was real and not some illusion. Having forgotten all about the book once more, he slowly moved his face closer to hers, almost touching her nose with his. "How could any one possibly be this beautiful..." He whispered quietly, as if afraid to chase her away.

[Willowsong]

"How could any one possibly be this beautiful..."

Willowsong's eyes looked back at Talwyn's ones. They had turned into an amber colour, the pupils had turned into black, lizard-like slits. The magic had worked.

She almost pulled her face back when he touched her face again, and that, combined with his lips so close to hers, and with that compliment of his... she had an extremely hard time resisting her natural urges.

"The book...", she muttered, her eye lids flickering. No! If they kissed, there was no telling what could happen next! He'd painfully transform into an animal, unable to ever change back!

Willowsong still didn't move from her position. Maybe there would be no transformation this time?
"...read...", she muttered again, her eyes now closed.
Talwyn's eyes wouldn't be like that forever. It was incredibly hard keeping a temporary change like that for a long time. If Talwyn didn't read the book soon, she'd have failed him!

[Talwyn]

Turning back to the book with great difficulty he muttered what the point was. He couldn't read it anyway. Still, it was her wish that he'd read it to her and as he had said before, he was her humble and willing servant. His eyes went wide and after closing them and taking a second look, he quickly turned back to Willowsong.

"The letters! I can read them now!" He exclaimed with a voice full of joy now that he was able to carry out the wish of the one he worshiped. He shifted around a bit, trying to find a more comfortable way of sitting that also allowed her to cuddle up to him. He smiled gently at her and then started reading.

After reading for what seemed an eternity, he finally reached the end of the designated chapter. It had been very interesting and somehow he couldn't help shake the thought that it somehow was important.

He turned to face Willowsong once again. "Was that enough my love? Did that please you?" Embracing her with a tight, yet gentle hug, tears flowed from his eyes once more as his hand ran through her hair. "Please tell me you enjoyed that! That it pleased you."

[Willowsong]

"The letters! I can read them now!"

"I knew you could do it!", she encouraged him, although that was a sweet lie. She wasn't sure if it would work at all, but there they were.

She cuddled her small frame closer to Talwyn's, trying to make him as comfortable as possible as he read what he originally had intended to read.

"Was that enough my love? Did that please you? Please tell me you enjoyed that! That it pleased you."

"It did. Did you enjoy the read as much as I did?", Willowsong said, smiling, as she slowly pulled the book out of his hands and dropped it into one of the many corners of her cave.
"Please don't forget what you read. Promise me.", she said.

Now she had fulfilled her promise. Was it time to release him of her control now?

No..., she suddenly thought. She stroked Talwyn's cheek with her pale hand again, smiling widely.
"You did well, Talwyn.", she whispered. The magic just didn't seem to stop in its work. She felt like the air between them was exploding with it.
What was it trying to do anyway? Bring them together? Transform Talwyn? What?
But even though Talwyn's mind was dominated by her will as of now, his body just plain out refused to the effects of Willowsong's curse. The witch could almost see invisible sparkles dancing around Talwyn's body as it attempted to transform his body. But it just didn't work.
Instead, Willowsong got this strange, and urgent desire to kiss him. No! The last time she did this her visitor turned into a wild creature! But this one seemed to immune to her magic...

"Now it is your turn. What is your...desire?", Willowsong managed to say, her wide grin turning into a seductive smile as she tried to see something else in Talwyn's eyes than just the enslaved will. Maybe a faint knowing, or resistance? But there was no such thing to be seen. He was hers to control. But still, she was eager to hear what he had to say now.

[Talwyn]

He nodded with delight when she asked if he liked what he had read. "Yes, it was really interesting... and for some reason it felt like it was important that I knew." He responded, looking into her eyes. "Please don't forget what you read. Promise me." The young witch asked of him.

Taking her hands in his he nodded. "You have my word love. I swear I shall never forget what I just read for you." She touched his cheek once more with that beautiful, ivory colored hand of hers. He swelled with joy as she told him he did well and he could think of nothing else but her as he stared at her.

He had remained silent and still as she was struggling with her own feelings. As her wide grin turned into a seductive smile she asked him what he desired. He stopped breathing for a few seconds. She wanted him to tell her his desires? Well, he had but one of course. Her. She was all he desired.

"What... I desire? Do you even need to ask? You of course my love. You are all I need." Now that she had asked what he desired, it was even more difficult to keep the magically induced lust in check. "You are all I want..." He whispered as he took her head in his hands and slowly tried to kiss her.

[Willowsong]

"You are all I want..."

Even though Willowsong already knew he would say that before he even opened his mouth, she still felt flattered by it. As he finally leant close to kiss her, Willowsong didn't resist. In fact she leant closer to, and their lips finally touched. The feeling was wonderful, and Willowsong already began to get carried away when it happened.

Magic began to violently tug at Talwyn's skin, trying to change his form into that of a wolf, but instead some sort of strange power repelled all the spells, and instead it came back crashing on its caster: Willowsong.

She pulled her face from Talwyn's, as the familiar nausea of a transformation overcame her. Fortunately, her shapeshifting wasn't accompanied by pain, but instead by loss of orientation.

Trying to stumble away from a confused Talwyn, Willowsong suddenly grew two more pair of arms, and her face seemed to burst out into a large set of mandibles and eight green eyes. She hissed and coughed as her organs realigned.
Meanwhile, all of her spells lost their power, causing Talwyn's eyes to change back and his will released from Willowsong's power.
Just as Willowsong's skin began to turn black, she brought her eight eyes down on Talwyn, focusing. Her transformation stopped, and she began to turn back into the Willowsong Talwyn knew.

As her additional legs pulled back into her sides, Willowsong quickly pressed her fur gown closer to her again, staggering away from Talwyn.
This whole incident had been weird. This human wasn't just cursed, he must have had some sort of demon magic, unnatural enchantments on him. She had never experienced such a violent backfire...

She looked back at Talwyn with her normal set of bright green eyes, then fallinging into a crouched position in one of the cave's darker corners.
As her beautiful voice returned, the witch wanted to speak, but brought out nothing. They had tried to kiss, and maybe Talwyn had forgotten it now. Maybe he'd try to run away now, after having seen her as a disturbing half-spider, but it didn't matter to Willowsong. The spell was removed, Talwyn could decide on his own now.
She had done her part, right?
A sole tear ran down her cheek, but she quickly wiped it away before it became too obvious.

[Talwyn]

Finally, he touched her lips. The sensation was overwhelming. He could feel his desire growing along with his passion. And then everything came crashing down. Watching with fear and confusion as his love stumbled back while undergoing a gruesome transformation, the magic hold on his mind dissipated.

Eying the half transformed witch, Talwyn sorted through what had just happened. He remembered everything clearly, as a small part of his mind had been railing at what he was doing, even while under her spell. Recalling what he had read, his stone fist crashed into the ground with frustration.

"Useless. It was all useless. I should have known." He uttered softly. Finally rousing himself from his fit of anger, he realized Willowsong was watching him silently. Remembering the kiss, he felt himself grow angry once more. She had tried to keep him under his spell even after they were done!

Getting up, he walked over to her with the intent to rail at her for betraying his trust in her. It was then however, that he saw the trace of a single tear. Images of what had happened flashed before his mind's eye, and he realized that she herself had fallen under a spell. A curse even.

One far worse then the spell she had used on him. The curse of loneliness. He sighed and let go of his anger. The spell had backfired and he had regained control of his actions. Everything had turned out all right. And he just could not bring himself to get mad at her for trying to fight her loneliness. It was a feeling he knew all too well.

Kneeling before her, he wiped away a second tear that had started to run down her cheek. Giving her a friendly smile, he pressed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Thank you for your courage. For your willingness to help me. Not many people do." He got up and extended his hand to help her up.

[Willowsong]

"Useless. It was all useless. I should have known."

Willowsong trembled at this, silently crying to herself. It had all been in vain. She was useless.

And just as she thought Talwyn would kill her for her involuntary abuse of magic, he reached out to help her up.

"Thank you for your courage. For your willingness to help me. Not many people do."

Sobbing, Willowsong looked away, declining the offer of him helping her up.
She suddenly coughed, an aftereffect of her organs realigning briefly. She was still trying to suppress the nausea of getting hit by a large 'dose' of her own magic.
But when Talwyn kissed her on the forehead, she looked up. Still, she didn't say anything, but now she just eyed Talwyn curiously, again trying to spot any change to any of their bodies. Was he still under her spell? No, this time had done it out of free will.

"The book couldn't help you. Neither can I. We are destined to be alone. You should leave.", she whispered, avoiding eye contact as she fought back the tears. Why was she feeling the need to cry anyway? Another one of those human instincts?

[Talwyn]

"Destined?" Talwyn scoffed at the word. "I have been destined to spend the rest of my life like this it seems." He looked angry, but not at her. No, his anger was aimed at the world. At the gods. At destiny.

"But do you see me take it laying down? No! If that is what 'destiny' has planned for me, then 'destiny' should think again!" Gesturing wildly, it was obvious he would not surrender without a fight.

"Going on about it being your destiny, yet doing nothing to try and change it? That's being weak! That's giving in to destiny. If you do not like what destiny has for you, speak up! Fight it!" He took her hands in his and looked at her. Fierce determination burning in his eyes.

"Even I have not given up my hopeless quest! And if you would only open your eyes and look at the facts, you would realize that you already succeeded." He looked into her eyes, waiting for realization to hit her. "I am certain I'm not a very good friend, but I'm a friend nonetheless."

[Willowsong]

Willowsong watched in amazement as Talwyn, just having suffered a severe backstroke didn't lose his will to change his destiny at all. Instead, he just seemed more eager to do so than ever.

The witch raised her hand in front of her, that had just transformed into spider's claw and back.

"I am certain I'm not a very good friend, but I'm a friend nonetheless."

Willowsong gave a sad smile.
"What would you have me do then, friend? These books fed my power, but I am still cursed. And that for a longer time than you."
Sighing with resignation, she pulled one of her furs of the floor and wrapped herself in it. The day was getting strangely cold.
"What else can I do.", she finished.