The Ash Stag

What it looks like, and what it does

A tall stag of cracked black char with ember glow in the seams. Antlers like burnt branches, each tine tipped with a small wavering flame. Ash falling from its flanks. Behind it, a path of green shoots in grey ground.

Walks the burn at dusk. Lies down at dawn. Allows people to rest against it for warmth.

What is known

Rangers on three continents report it after large fires. It is seen at dusk walking the burned slope slowly. Its hoofprints become seedlings.

It does not eat and it does not run. At dawn it lies down at the edge of the burn and is a log.

What it can do

• Brings green growth to burnt ground within a week
• Is warm to the touch, and can be leaned on

Where it stops

• Does not appear after fires set deliberately
• Fades when the first autumn rain falls on the burn

An encounter

Tuilagi sat against the animal until morning. It was as warm as a stove. At first light it lay down and was a charred log. Under it was a plain river stone, also warm. He left the stone, and when he came back in spring there were wildflowers all across the slope and, in the middle, a single sapling in the shape of a hand.

Sione Tuilagi, forest ranger, Ridge above the Callum valley, Three weeks after the fire

What is established, and what is only said

• established: Eleven sightings in nine countries, each after a fire with a recorded fatality.
• rumor: That the stone is warm for exactly as long as someone remembers the name.
• interpretation: It may be what the fire leaves behind when it has finished: a thing that goes on after.

Still unresolved

It appears only after fires that killed someone. At each site rangers have found a plain stone at the spot where it first lay down.

Where it has been recorded

• The Callum Valley (confirmed) — Recorded by Sione Tuilagi, forest ranger.

Connected entities

• Oda Brandt — Opposite weathers: one is warm and walks the burn, the other is cold and walks the village. Both have been sat beside through a night.
• The Boiler Salamander — Both stand between people and fire. One comes after the burn. The other prevents it.