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Here it is, the final installement of the autumn wood series. I would like to thank everyone who has read the series, everyone who enjoyed it, and everyone who commented on it. As always, comments as appreciated (And requested).

Hope you enjoy it.

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Continued from A flight into danger...

"Greetings Youlin." I said, greeting the elder as I walked into the clearing that he sat in. The old spirit had lived for days beyond count, an endless span of years. He was so old that his orange fur was tipped with light grey and his eyes were white with blindness. And yet, for all of that, he was always out and about in the heart of the woods, his other senses so attuned that the loss of his sight did not hinder him at all. He was also the wisest of all of the spirits of the wood.

"You have a question for me Colos?" He asked, not looking up from the flower he had been tending. It was a beautiful orchid with bright blue and red petals, and the old spirit was nurturing it with his magic, slowly making it grow larger and more prolific. I bowed to his back and sat with crossed legs next to him, setting my bow aside.

"Yes master." I said, and waited for him to indicate that he was ready to answer. When he turned so he faced me, he looked me right in the eyes, which was disconcerting considering that he couldn't actually see me. He nodded for me to continue and I spoke once more, looking into his sightless eyes with amazement. "If our power keeps it autumn in this wood, why do the days grow longer and shorter, and why does it still get hot in summer and cold in winter?"

"A good question Colos." He said, smiling pleasantly. In the weeks since I had first arrived in my new home, I had learned that he liked it when I asked him questions like that, questions that had no easy answer. "The answer is that our power controls this wood. The plants, the animals, the very we breathe here is under our power, but we have no power to control things outside our wood. The length of days, the changing of the seasons, these things we cannot control. There was a time long ago, before the humans spread across the length and breadth of this world, when we spirits walked the whole of the world. There were many of our kind and every woodland was under our control. But other things in the world, the rivers and streams, the great oceans, even the stars in the sky, had spirits that guided them, and shaped them in harmony with all else. When I was a young lad, not much older than you as a matter of fact, we created this wood, shaping it as a home for our kind so that no matter how far we wandered, we would always have a place to call home."

"There were other spirits like us?" I asked and his smile widened.

"Like and yet unlike." He said, and touched the earth between us. The spot he touched became clear like water and images began to appear in it. I saw spirits like us in it, then the view shifted to creatures that looked like half-wolves. "These folk, the astral spirits, control the stars, guiding them along their paths. And these, the sea spirits, control the water." He said, indicating creatures that looked like they were part snake. "And last, these, the spirits of earth, control the stone that we stand on." The last group looked like they were part tiger. "In this time, long ago, the world was in harmony with itself. We spirits worked together to create places like this wood. These were places where our powers flourished, where we were protected from harm. There are still some that exist elsewhere in the world, though this wood is the only place were we, the forest spirits still reside." The elder fell silent as he remembered some past thing.

"What happened to the others?" I asked and he closed his eyes.

"A long time ago, when I was still as young and brash as you are, an event that became known as the Sundering came to pass." He said, and his voice became quieter, as it always did when he dredged up old memories. "You see, humans were once of spirit kind, much as we are now. They were the fifth race of spirits, once known as the spirits of life. Their domain was the creatures that walk the world now. They created all of the creatures that you may now find here. From the great herds of bounding elk and deer, to the smallest insects, all were the creations of the life spirits. But, each of our races had a flaw within it, a measure that kept us equal. Ours is our inability to kill others of the spirit races. Humanity's was pride. They were too proud of their gifts, their ability to create. Soon, they began to try to dominate all other spirits. The most dangerous creatures in this world were creations made to destroy or dominate us. It wasn't long before the other spirits contrived to take away humanity's powers. In an act that is often debated, the astral spirits combined their power with that of the earth spirits and created the moon in the sky as a reservoir to contain the power that they possessed. On one especially dark night, the four races of spirits gathered and used our powers to remove the power of the humans, forever imprisoning it within the moon. But humans were vengeful. They never forgot what we had done to them, and so, over the thousands of years since, their hatred for us has remained strong, but the reasons for it were forgotten. Though now, some humans are letting the hatred go. Humans like your father for instance."

"You knew my parents?" I asked and he opened his eyes once more.

"Yes, I knew them. Your mother was a spirit, one of best druids I had ever seen." He said, looking down at the earth once more. "She and my daughter grew up together, and never have I seen a pair that was closer. When my daughter had Shae, your mother was named the godmother." I looked at him in shock and he smiled at me. "Yes, Shae is my granddaughter. Anyway, your mother was out in the periphery one day while a blizzard raged outside the wood. She found a human who had been caught out in the storm. He was barely clinging to life and she took him to her camp and helped him recover. When he had fully recovered, he asked to stay in the woods with her and she took him before us for judgment. We allowed him to remain in the woods, but not in our home. For three years, they lived together in the near outwoods. Your mother taught him our ways of living, and some of the druid skills. The man turned out to be an herbalist, a man who loved nature more than anything. That is, until he met your mother. They fell in love and came before the elder's council, seeking our permission to become mates. I could see that they were soul-bonded, and I wished them all happiness, but the other elders forbade their relationship. They believed that we couldn't risk a human, or even a half-human gaining power again. I disagreed, for I believed in the legend of the Sentinel, so they came to me for help. I went against the wishes of the council and kept their secret, until something happened that made it impossible for them hide what they had done." He fell silent, a single tear running down his face as he remembered the sad event.

"What happened?" I asked after a moment, fearing that I knew what was coming.

"Your mother became pregnant." He said. "When the council found out, they were enraged. I bought them time with my magic, hiding them in the only safe place I knew of, the Mist Glades. But, for all of my efforts, it wasn't enough. One of the council found them and cast a powerful spell that poisoned your mother. She survived the poison, but she was too weak to live much longer after that. She died giving birth to you. Your father loved your mother so much that her death nearly killed him too. I gave him the only gift I could. I made you as human as your spirit blood would let me and told him to take you to his village. He did, but he couldn't live without the woman he loved so much. He left the village and came back to the woods. But, before he disappeared from the human world, he left you on the door step of his sister, the woman you grew up calling your mother. He died out in the woods, sitting alone in the grove they had called home while they had been together. I buried him myself alongside your mother. These flowers have grown over their graves everyday since then." He brushed his fingers along the orchid he had been tending and I looked at him in shock.

"My parents are here?" I asked and he nodded.

"Indeed they are." He said, and waved his hands, causing a small wind to sweep through the gathered orchids, causing the golden pollen of the flowers to float away on the breeze. "I help these flowers to grow as a reminder of those two. I loved your mother as a daughter and all I wanted was for her to be happy. But, what's done is done. Come my young friend, there is another matter that I wished to speak to you about."

The old spirit got to his feet and I rose beside him. We walked side by side from the clearing, and as we passed under the trees, he spoke once more.

"You and Shae have been spending a lot of time together." He said, and I looked at him with apprehension.

"Yes, she is a good friend." I replied, trying to keep my heart under control. If he found out what we had done, my mate and I would be in trouble.

"You love her don't you?" He asked and I stopped short, my stomach doing flip flops in my guts. "Come now, Colos, I may have lost my sight years ago, but there are some things I can still see."

"She is my soul mate." I explained, preparing to plead for my right to a mate. But, before I could launch into my defense, the old spirit interrupted me.

"Are you really willing to give up everything for her?" Youlin asked, "To defy your fate?"

"If that is the price of having Shae as my mate," I said, gripping my bow a little tighter, "Then I pay it willingly."

"I expected nothing less from you, considering who your parents were." He said and smiled. I was shocked that he was taking it this well. "How long have you known that my granddaughter was your other half?"

"Since our eyes met for the first time." I said, and paused a moment before continuing. "I don't think that I can live without her."

The elder nodded and we continued our walk. "If you are truly willing to give all for her, than no power, not even the council, will be able to prevent you being together. But I don't think it will come to that; even the most traditional of the council members wouldn't dare deny the Sentinel." He stated, and we fell silent for a few moments, listening to a few squirrels going about their business in the trees above us. Once we passed the chittering rodents, Youlin spoke once more. "Your powers are greater than even mine Colos, but they come at a very dear cost. Can you be both the Sentinel and the soulmate of my granddaughter?"

"I am not sure that I understand what you are asking." I stated, stepping over a protruding root. Youlin smiled benignly and continued.

"Being a soulmate means that your mate always comes first." He explained, "But as the sentinel, you are linked to this forest more strongly than any of us. And that bond brings with it the responsibility to defend it. If you would truly be both Sentinel and Soulmate, then if both are threatened, you must put your mate first. Can you make that choice?"

"I think so." I said and the elder nodded.

"Then you have my blessing." He said, and we stooped to duck under a hanging branch.

The moment we stood back up, I felt a sudden feeling of wrongness come over me. It was a feeling of pain and terror so intense that my blood ran cold. The pain was so intense that my whole body ached. The terror gripped my heart so tightly that my fur was standing on end and my skin was tingling fiercely. My bowhand was convulsively squeezing the wood of my bow so hard that it was starting to groan. My legs gave out and I fell forward to my knees, gasping for air. The feeling faded after a moment, but the effects stayed with me. Youlin knelt beside me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"What is it Colos?" He asked and I gasped, shaking my head and forcing my fingers to relinquish the bow.

"I don't know." I replied, putting one hand to my chest. "Something is wrong."

"It is the power of the Sentinel." He said, helping me to my feet. "The forest is being threatened."

"I have to go." I said, turning and running off into the trees...

***

I stood on top of a small ridge, just on the inner edge of the area the other spirits called the periphery, the outermost reaches of the wood. I was looking down at a sight I had hoped I would never see. Down below, a line of torches came deeper and deeper into the woods. There were four torches bobbing along between the trees and I knew in my heart of hearts who it was that was holding them. I swung into the tree I stood beside and then leapt from tree to tree in total silence, running along the branches of the trees with an agility born of instinct. A short time later, as I knelt on a tree branch, camouflaged by the leaves, I saw the village blacksmith and his three sons walking through the trees, torches in hand. The small procession of torch bearers stopped in a small clearing and I dropped to the ground behind the tree, crouching with my back to the trunk, my ears tilted back to listen to what they were saying.

"These trees are dry, they will light easily." The man I had called father for so long said. "This ought to teach Colos a lesson."

"Father, this doesn't feel right." The youngest son said, looking around with darting eyes. I could smell his fear even from where I was standing. "Why can't we just leave him alone?"

"He must pay for what he has done!" He said, striding toward one of the tall trees that stood near the edge of the clearing. "Never forget boys, it was he who forced me to kill your mother. It was her dagger that he used to kill the hunter. It was her who taught encouraged his defiance. It was her that lost me the regard of the town. No, we cannot let him go."

A dark rage threatened to surge to the fore, but I clamped down on it. He had murdered my aunt, the only woman to care for me when I been growing up, the only living link with my parents I had had. I peeked around the edge of the tree I sat behind and saw that the smith's sons were looking terrified of their father. The man's eyes held a glittering madness that I recognized as a sign that his mind was unhinged. I felt a smile twist my lips and I reached for an arrow. With luck, I wouldn't have to take another life today. But, just as my fingers touched the red fletching of the arrow, my father thrust his lit torch into a pile of dry leaves at the base of one of the tall trees in the clearing. The leaves caught in an instant and the fire rapidly spread. The brothers tossed their torches into other piles of leaves and the entire clearing was soon on fire. As the acrid scent of smoke filled the spaces between the trees, I could feel the trees burning in my soul. My flesh burned with sympathetic pain as the trees caught fire, the feeling growing ever stronger with each tree that caught.

Desperate and in pain, I leapt to my feet. On instinct, I reached deep inside myself, feeling the power of the forest spirits resonate as I touched it. Heedless of the blaze that was wrapping its way up the trunk of the tree I knelt beside, I placed both hands on the bark, my fur sparking with energy. I felt the fire getting closer and closer to my flesh, but I didn't move. Instead, I brought my power to bear, focusing it into the tree I touched. Moments later I felt my spirit join with that of the forest itself and my power reached out searching tendrils, touching every tree and plant that burned, and even more around them. I summoned forth deep reservoirs of water from under the ground and the flames started to gutter and spit. I called forth more water from the ground and the flames went out, changing to white and grey smoke as the trees put themselves out. Smiling to myself, I moved off into the gathering mist.

My father looked around with shock as the flames died and he peered through around, trying to see the cause of it through the smoke, but he could pierce the hanging clouds. Gradually, the smoke and mist were born away on the wind. When the madman could at last see again, he found himself staring down the shaft of an arrow nocked to a bowstring that was bent back to my ear.

"Who the devil are you?" He asked, staring at the point of my arrow. I could understand his confusion, because he had never seen me in my spirit form. Even if he had, I doubt he would have recognized me. My orange furred face was blackened by soot and some of the fur on my hands was singed off. But it was impossible to miss the rage in my green and blue eyes.

"You should have stayed away father." I said, my aim not wavering and my arms not quivering from the strain of holding the bow back for so long. His eyes went wide and I spoke again, looking at my former brothers. "Go now from these woods and I will spare your lives. Carry this message with you to everyone in the village and all the hunters who come looking for profit. Tell the world that I, Colos, Sentinel of the Wood, protect this land. These woods are not safe for your kind anymore. From this day forth, any human who enters these woods bearing them ill will never again be seen in the outside world."

"Don't listen to him boys, he doesn't have the guts to kill us." He said, and I knew without a doubt that he was absolutely mad. I knew that they had found the dead hunter when they had woken up from the beating I had given them the last time we had run into each other. He knew I had killed the hunter and should have known perfectly well that I could easily kill him too. My fingers twitched and the arrow quivered on the string as I reflexively restrained myself form loosing the arrow.

"Your father has made his decision." I stated, and looked at the brothers. "What is yours?"

"Father, I am sorry." The eldest said, "But I can't do this." With that, he turned and ran from the clearing, quickly followed by his brothers. When they had gone, I focused my gaze on the man that I hated more than anyone. He was watching me without fear and he finally spoke.

"Well Colos," My father said, looking at me with anger and madness lighting his eyes. "If you were going to kill me, you would have done it already. It would seem that we are at an impasse. You can't kill me and I will never stop coming after you. And someday, you will make a mistake and you will die. And once you are dead, I will find that spirit friend of yours and kill her too. No, better yet, I will take her and show her to the world. She will be the ticket to my fortune."

My fingers twitched again as I again restrained the urge to fire. I didn't want to kill him, despite all he had done. And, as I stood there, listening to him going on and on about what he would do once I was dead, the words of Youlin came back to me. 'Your mate must always come first. If you are truly willing to give all for her, than nothing will stop you.' I knew exactly what the price was for killing him. What it would cost me to stop him. I would relive the moment again and again, but even as I wavered, almost relaxing the arrow on the string, the image of Shae came back to me. If I didn't pay that price, she would be hurt, or worse, killed. A smile that was all teeth came to my lips and my resolve hardened. The price was indeed high for our safety.

"A price I pay willingly." I whispered and the twang of my bowstring echoed in the clearing...

***

The bonfire in the center of the Spirit village blazed brightly beneath the hanging stars and moon. The festival of the Autumn Equinox was in full swing and Youlin, the eldest of all, stepped forward before the fire, his voice lifted in the telling of a new tale. The tale of the coming of the Sentinel. The whole of the village was gathered to hear the tale, all but two spirits, each a half of the other.

I lay in my hammock beneath the hanging canopy of golden, orange, and red leaves that made up my roof. The sounds of the tale echoed between the branches of my tree home to my ears from the other side of the village and I smiled. They could tell whatever tale they wanted, I didn't care. For I had what I wanted. I took a deep breath that was filled with the musty scent of sex and yawned widely. My smile returned when my mate shifted against me, snuggling closer and pressing her naked body against mine. We were lying twined together beneath the blankets of our bed once more. Her head was pillowed on my chest and she was sound asleep. I smiled wryly with the memory of the day that the council sanctioned our mate bond and put an arm around the woman I loved. She smiled in her sleep at my touch and I briefly enjoyed the memory of the looks of shock on the faces of the elders when we had told them about our relationship. But Youlin had been right, they didn't dare try to deny me my right to Shae.

Smiling and resting my head on my pillow once more, I closed my eyes. Tomorrow, I would resume my vigil over the woods I called home. Tomorrow, I would wander far and wide, working to protect that which I loved. But tonight...Tonight, I was simply a man with the woman I loved...

The end.