Tangle and the Night of Bitter Air

As told by Horizon the Hawk to the creatures of the Idyllic Reaches

This is the story of Tangle and the Night of Bitter Air. I tell you this to teach you caution.

We listen so we will be cautious.

Once there was a young fox named Tangle who lived in a patch of woods that borders a human cemetery. Tangle had been raised to know the Rules of the Woods, including a rule taught to all creatures who live near a cemetery: never go out onto a cemetery during the Night of Bitter Air.

This night comes once every four seasons, late in the fall when the air has cooled and half the leaves have fallen. If a creature of the woods goes out onto the cemetery on the Night of Bitter Air, the Old Predator and Its dead servants will reach up and pull you down under the ground, right into the Old Predator’s throat. Every creature who keeps the rules knows to stay safe in their dens on such a night.

But Tangle was curious.

He was beginning to doubt the things his parents had taught him about the Rules, and he was not sure if he believed that such a strange thing as the Night of Bitter Air could be real.

The Night came. His father came to him and implored him to stay in his den, and Tangle reluctantly agreed. However, late in the night when the moon was bright and high above the trees, Tangle was roused from his sleep by the sounds of the Watcher of the Woods announcing intruders. Despite his father’s warning, Tangle left his den and went to see what was happening.

Three adolescent humans, dressed strangely and carrying lights in their hands, had left their dens, crossed the woods, and had entered the cemetery grounds. They were loud and careless, pushing and daring each other to go out further.

Tangle hid himself in the bushes to see what would happen. At first, nothing did happen. After a while, Tangle became bored and had assured himself that the stories about the Night of Bitter Air were nothing but fantastic stories imagined up by his parents. He was about to leave and go back to sleep when he heard a rumbling.

The humans had heard it, too. They looked down at their feet because they had felt something rumbling beneath them. Suddenly, a dark cloud composed of dead insects and creatures rose from the grass between the tombstones, and as one giant claw reached out and encircled one of the humans, starting at the legs and eventually covering the torso. It pulled her down to the ground and began to drag her. She screamed and pled for help, but the other humans could not help her. The grave of a dead human opened, and a terrible human skeleton caught her and pulled her down under the ground, and the cemetery went silent for a heartbeat.

Tangle was so terrified that he could not move. He only stared, wondering why the humans had frozen in place when they should have been running back towards the woods.

The cloud rose up again and grabbed the second human, likewise pulling him way and down into the clutches of the Old Predator.

The third human finally understood his situation and began to run away, but it was too late. The dark cloud of the dead reach up and took his feet.

At this moment, for reasons known only to Tangle, he felt compelled to help. Perhaps he could not bear to see another creature, even a human, taken in such a horrible way. Whatever his reasons, he ran out from his hiding place, crossed the border into the cemetery, and sank his teeth into the coverings of the helpless human to try and pull him away. Tangle’s strength was no match for the power of the Old Predator. The coverings ripped off in his teeth, and the helpless human was pulled down into the ground.

Tangle suddenly realized where he was standing. In a panic, he ran back to the border of the woods, but the cloud of the dead shot up in front of him, blocking his way and trapping him in the cemetery. The cloud reached down, wrapped around him, and began to drag him towards the gaping hole where the skeleton awaited him.

Fortunately for Tangle, the Watcher of the Woods—an owl—had seen what was happening, and hurriedly flew around to rouse Tangle’s parents and two sisters, who each had dens around the woods. The family came running and arrived at the cemetery just in time to see Tangle being dragged away. In a desperate attempt to save him, the family ran out into the cemetery. His father reached him just as Tangle was being lowered into the ground, staring directly into the Old Predator’s throat. His father grabbed his tail; one sister grabbed the father, the other sister grabbed her, and their mother grabbed the sister, forming one long chain of foxes. They pulled together, and Tangle miraculously was pulled free.

They pulled all together until they entire family crossed safely across the border of the woods. The Old Predator cried out in fury, and the dark cloud pursued them, but did not reach them before they crossed the border. The cloud hit the border and shot straight up into the air, unable to penetrate the forest. The Old Predator was defeated, and left unsatiated.

Tangle’s family gathered around his quivering frame to console him. He was extremely lucky that his family had risked everything to save his life.

What is the lesson of this story?

It is that all creatures, young and old, should take seriously the Rules of the Woods, even those that seem mysterious or strange. And if any creature finds themselves in dire need for breaking the Rules, their only hope is the help of the people that love them the most— that vine that not even the teeth of the Old Predator can cut.