Maternal Instinct

“Mama!” Relife washed over Mahannana and her tears turned to tears of joy. “Mama, you found me!”

“We are going to have a talk later, young lady!” Selena growled. “What in the hell were you thinking, going off by yourself?” She looked back at her daughter and, to her surprise, Mahannana simply smiled at her. ‘She’s okay! I made it in time!’ Despite her anger, Selena couldn’t help being relieved that Madoka could still find it in her to smile after having been through a living nightmare. She had no clue why her daughter was here when she should’ve been at the library, but Selena couldn’t help but think that it was a miracle that she’d been nearby. She had taken Bisky on a quest to mine some minerals and the nearest deposit was only a few miles away. She’d suddenly had a bad feeling and, as soon as she’d caught her daughter’s scent, she knew that something was wrong. But, while she’d managed to save Madoka, the pervasive scent of blood being carried on the wind told her that multiple others hadn’t been so lucky.

“How’s your injuries? Can you walk?” Selena kept her eyes on the elf as he slowly pulled himself off the ground. “No, I fell down the hill and broke my ankle.” The elf stood and faced the mother and daughter. “You’re not an ordinary wolf.” He stated. “What’s it to you?” Selena gave a low growl and pressed her ears back. “You’re protecting that human. You’re suicidally illogical, protecting a species that only brings destruction.” Selena ignored him. ‘There’s no point in engaging with him. Elves are fanatically racist against humans and see them as blights on the earth. And I’m not strong enough to do serious damage.’ The Elf pulled out two more knives. “What a nuisance.” The instant Selena saw the blades; she let out a massive roar. ‘I have to stop him! I have to scare him shitless so he won’t dare mess with us!’

“What the-?” Mahannana crouched on the ground in confusion as the earth began to shake. “Ahh!” The intensity of her mother’s roar made the pressure in her ears build up and, screaming in pain, Mahannana clapped her hands over them. ‘It’s not just the ground shaking!’ She realized that the trees and foliage were waving as if a great wind was blowing them. ‘Is that mama?’ To the girl’s shock, she could visibly see the sonic waves coming from her mother’s mouth with each bellow. As her mother continued roaring, her force seemed to increase. Mahannana looked at the elf. ‘It’s actually working?’

Dropping his knifes, the elf covered his ears, but it didn’t help. “Ugggh!” He looked ill and, with every passing second, seemingly grew weaker. Stubbornly, he dug his feet into the ground, but Mahannana could see his body trembling. The elf continued groaning as a trickle of blood started coming out of his eyes before, like a switch flicking off, his eyes rolled back into his skull and he collapsed.

Selena panted heavily, waiting for what was next, but the elf didn’t stir. ‘Did...did I really do that?’ She’d only wanted to intimidate the elf that had attack her daughter, but it was as if the anger inside of her had transformed itself into a weapon. Once she was confident that the elf wasn’t waking up any time soon, she ran to her daughter’s side. “Come on, Ma-Chan! I only knocked him out, so we need to get out of here before he comes to!” She nosed her daughter’s side. Groaning in pain, Mahannana grabbed fistfuls of her mother’s fur and, with laborious effort, was able to pull herself onto Selena’s back. “Are you ready?” Selena asked as Mahannana slumped over her shoulders. “Yeah.” The girl said tiredly. "Hold on the best you can!” And with that, they were off.

To Mahannana’s surprise, the ride was smoother than when she’d been on Fang. Despite feeling like a lifetime ago, it had just been this morning that she’d climbed on the arctic tiger behind Kern. “The others!” She remembered suddenly, trying to pull herself upright. “Mama, we gotta go back! I was with a group of raiders! We have to help them.” Selena kept bounding forward. “I hate to say it, but I don’t think there are any survivors. With how strong the stench of blood was, multiple people had to have died.” Mahannana felt like someone had punched her in the stomach. She’d known all along that everyone was dead, but she’d wanted to convince herself that they’d managed to fight off the elves. She recalled the blood splattered on the elf’s face. ‘Kern, if it wasn’t for you...’ Mahannana felt like she was being strangled but, despite her immense sorrow and emotional distress, she couldn’t make herself cry or outwardly grieve.

“When we get back to town, I’ll get someone to check it out. Why in the world did you come out here? How did you get out here?” Selena questioned. Mahannana laid herself down across her mother’s neck. “I took a request. Some raiders wanted a mage with medical skills to accompany them to clear a monster den. I know I shouldn’t have and that you would have told me no, but...” She closed her eyes in exhaustion. “It was supposed to be quick. I was going to be home before you were. And the men were so nice...” Selena realized what had happened. “You were ambushed by elves.” “Yeah. One of the guys...he saved me.” Mahannana said simply. “I’m sorry I was so foolish. It’s probably my fault they all died.”

“Hey, don’t you dare think that!” Selena snapped. “It wasn’t your fault! You made a foolish decision, yes, but everyone and all the books said that elves haven’t been this far inland in hundreds of years! This isn’t normal!” ‘If only I’d told you what I'd overheard in the tavern.’ Selena thought bitterly. ‘But it was just a rumor. How was I supposed to know that...?’ “Everything will be okay, I promise.” She assured her daughter. “We’ll get you to the doctor. You’re going to be fine.”

“Yeah.” Emotionally burnt out and utterly exhausted, her mother’s movement lulled the mage into an uneasy sleep.