If you’ve been in the trenches with us this month, you know that the speculative fiction scene is currently possessed by the spirits of Gothic Folklore and Woodsy Necromancy. We’re moving away from clean magic systems and diving headfirst into the dirt, the roots, and the blood-pacts made in the dark of the forest.
Today’s micro-fiction is inspired by the stunning, eerie photography of Sandra Seitamaa. Looking at this image—the beaked mask, the twigs acting as twisted antlers, the cloak of heavy black feathers—it’s the exact visual embodiment of the old, dark magic we are all craving right now.
Let’s take a walk into the woods.
The Carrion Priest
They called him the Carrion Priest, though Elara was certain he had never seen the inside of a church.
She knelt in the dead, dry grass, the sun offering light but no warmth. Before her stood the emissary of the rot—draped in the heavy, black feathers of a hundred dead crows, his face hidden behind a long, unyielding beak. Branches and twisted roots grew directly from the leather of his mask, as if the forest itself was trying to pull him back into the soil.
“I brought the silver,” Elara said, her voice shaking just enough to betray her.
The Priest didn’t move. He didn’t speak. In the indie lit trenches, we know that true monsters don’t need to roar; they just need to wait you out. The silence stretched, heavy and suffocating.
Finally, the Priest tilted his head, the twigs on his crown snapping against each other like dry bones. A raspy, hollow voice echoed not from the beak, but from the rustling leaves around them.
Silver buys bread, little bird. It does not buy breath.
He stepped forward, the sunlight catching the harsh angles of his mask. If she wanted to raise her brother from the earth, she had to pay the earth’s toll. Elara drew her iron dagger, pressing the cold edge to her own palm.
In the deep woods, you don’t buy magic. You bleed for it.
Thank you for visiting with me. For more Flash Fiction or Literature related content, visit my blog at The Ritual. Copyright Mind on Fire Books.
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