¨¨¨¨¨^~†*§ §*†~^¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨^~†*§# #§*†~^¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨^~†*§## ##§*†~^¨¨¨
¨¨^~†*§### ###§*†~^¨¨
¨^~†*§#### ####§*†~^¨
¨¨^~†*§### ¨ ¨ ¨ ###§*†~^¨¨
¨¨¨^~†*§## ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ##§*†~^¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨^~†*§# ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ #§*†~^¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨^~†*§ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ §*†~^¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨^~†* †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† *†~^¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~† †~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~ just off the coast to the baltic sea ~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^ there's a freshwater pond, secluded ^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~ among ashen and juniper. a cleft in the ~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~† limestone bedrock, sharp-cut from the †~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨^~†* surrounding plains, a ninety degree *†~^¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨^~†*§ drop down, down, to the midnight-black §*†~^¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨^~†*§# water. #§*†~^¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨^~†*§## ##§*†~^¨¨¨
¨¨^~†*§### ~~~~********~~~~ ###§*†~^¨¨
¨^~†*§#### ~~** **~~ ####§*†~^¨
¨¨^~†*§### ~~~~~** fairies live here. **~~~~~ ###§*†~^¨¨
¨¨¨^~†*§## ~~** **~~ ##§*†~^¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨^~†*§# ~~~~********~~~~ #§*†~^¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨^~†*§ §*†~^¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨^~†* they speak to the sloane, caress it, *†~^¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~† urge it to grow thicker, tangled, with †~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~ longer and sharper thorns. they tell it ~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^ to stay just below the grass, so that ^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~ the animals what come to drink the ~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~† water cannot see it before it draws †~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨^~†* their blood. closer to the pond, the *†~^¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨^~†*§ sloane can grow taller, being able to §*†~^¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨^~†*§# hide also in the juniper. #§*†~^¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨^~†*§## ##§*†~^¨¨¨
¨¨^~†*§### the fairies will beckon the animals to ###§*†~^¨¨
¨^~†*§#### push forward, tell them that they're ####§*†~^¨
¨¨^~†*§### almost at the water, that they may ###§*†~^¨¨
¨¨¨^~†*§## drink soon. and they will tug on the ##§*†~^¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨^~†*§# sloane to make sure that the thorns cut #§*†~^¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨^~†*§ deep. when they finally find the path §*†~^¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨^~†* down between the rocks, away from the *†~^¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~† bushwork and into the cleft, they are †~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~ bleeding from a thousand wounds. as ~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^ they drink from the dark water, it is ^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~ in turn drinking the animals blood. ~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~† †~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨^~†* the circle is complete, the contract *†~^¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨^~†*§ carried out; the animal is abandoned to §*†~^¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨^~†*§# find its own way back. the bushes roots #§*†~^¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨^~†*§## drink the nutrutious water. the fairies ##§*†~^¨¨¨
¨¨^~†*§### dance in the sunbeams. ###§*†~^¨¨
¨^~†*§#### ####§*†~^¨
¨¨^~†*§### †††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††† ###§*†~^¨¨
¨¨¨^~†*§## ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ##§*†~^¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨^~†*§# ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ #§*†~^¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨^~†*§ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ §*†~^¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨^~†* ¨ ¨ ¨ *†~^¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~† †~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~ ~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^ ^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~ ~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨^~† †~^¨¨¨¨¨¨¨