Fractures: Rewritten Chapters

It's for the best...

First published on August 3rd, 2021

Point of view: Stella

The arrow pierced my skin and lodged deep into my shoulder. I yelped from the pain as I swerved around to face our attacker.

My eyes found nothing other than the dark trees on the opposite side of the clearing. A light breeze blew from the woods and rustled the leaves. I sniffed the air, carefully picking out scents using my enhanced sense of smell. There's two of them! I felt my hackles raise. I glared into the trees and let out a deep growl.

My ears instinctively pinned back as I heard the sound of footsteps in the snow. Two figures stepped out from the darkness of the woods, one tall, one short. The taller male is wearing a set of leather armor that has seen better days. His black hair parted into a side bang that almost covered his right eye. The shorter one, a female with shoulder length chestnut hair, wore a red sweater along with black shorts and a short hooded cape. Her partner seems to have some sort of cleaver strapped to his back while holding a crossbow in his hands.

A sense of unease crept into my stomach as I realized that they are monster hunters, people who take the lives of feral creatures for bounties or merely for their own entertainment, or so I've heard. Feeling slightly intimidated by these two, I lowered my head and arched my back, trying to appear as big and threatening as possible.

"What do you want from us?" I snarled, knowing fully well that they wouldn't understand a single word.

The hunters exchanged a puzzled glance at each other briefly before locking eyes with me again. The female hunter narrowed her hazel eyes and pulled out the blades on her belt. They are a pair of karambits with glistening sapphire blue blades. She twirled them in her hands before taking her fighting stance.

I shifted my paws in the snow, feeling the dull sting under the rough pads while deciding whether or not to engage in a fight with them. Something tells me it would end badly for me if I tried to fight them, so my best option is to scare them off. I paced back and forth, baring my teeth at them before snapping my jaw at their direction.

The hunters stood their ground, but the guy frowned at me, seemingly confused from my actions.

The huntress turned to her partner, "Kane, should I just..." she gestured with her hand at me.

Kane groaned, "Suit yourself, Ciara. Don't get mauled." He reached behind and pulled out an arrow from the quiver attached to his belt. He then proceeded to reload his crossbow, taking his eyes off me a for a brief moment.

Now's my chance! I readied myself to charge, but Ciara was faster. One of her blades sailed straight through the air at me. My body of tensed muscles fuelled by adrenaline reacted instantly like a spring. I hopped to the left, hearing the blade land in the snow with a light "thunk".

I glanced back at the blade before looking mockingly at her. Really? This is all you got?

As if she was offended by that, Ciara gritted her teeth and charged towards me. I let out a snarl before dashing forward to meet her with my fangs. I wanted to scare them away but I don't want to cause any injuries in the process. I will just fake a chomp. That will scare her. My teeth were only a few inches away from grabbing her sweater when all of a sudden, she vanished in a flash of white.

Confused, I skidded to a stop before looking around wildly. How? What? Hm? Hearing a light chuckle behind me, I whipped around to face her. There she is, standing a few feet behind me, twirling her blades with an ultra smug smile on her face.

Now it's my turn to be offended. My eyes narrowed in frustration and a growl rumbled in my throat. Despite the frustration, I couldn't help but notice that she's standing exactly where the first karambit landed.

I tilted my head slightly. Teleporting weapons? I've heard of those at the Coven. They are super difficult to craft as they require compressed Ender Pearls as the main material. Heating and compressing Ender Pearls make them unstable and prone to exploding, which is why not many weapon smiths forge blades that provide the user with teleportation abilities. I glanced at the glistening blue blades in Ciara's hands. Those look so well made. I wonder where she got th-

The high-pitched whistle of an arrow interrupted my thoughts. I ducked just in time for it to sail over my head, narrowly missing my horns.

When I was distracted with Ciara, Kane quickly circled behind me to get to her, and fired a warning shot at me when I growled at her. The two monster hunters stood side by side between me and the spruce tree, between me and Rain.

Don't you hurt him! I felt a snarl rise up in my throat and bared my teeth. As a response, Kane clipped his crossbow to his belt and took off his cleaver from his back. It unfolded with a metallic click from a swish of his arm. This thing is almost as long as a battle axe, and that scared me quite a bit. I shrank back a bit despite myself.

Seeing my hesitation, Ciara held up both of her karambits and yelled, "Get outta here, you beast! Shoo!"

Realization hit me like a brick to the head. They are trying to protect Rain from me. To them, I am the bad guy of the story. Well, if their intention was to protect Rain, then he should be okay with them. I should hurry on out of here before they decide to gift me another arrow to the face.

I turned around and leaped into the trees. I heard both hunters sigh in relief. It's okay. He's in good hands now. I tried to convince myself. And yet, as I step away into the trees, it dawned on me. This can very well be the last time I will ever see Rain. My paws slowed. My heart cried out for him. Please, just one last time, let me see him.

As quietly as I can, I hid behind the trees and peaked out, hoping my dark grey coat can help me blend in with the darkness of the trees. Ciara is dusting off her hands with a look of triumph on her face. Kane is watching the trees closely, with his cleaver now folded in his right hand. No sight of Rain any where.

I began to get worried. He probably already had some back injuries from the fall, tossing him into a bush might have made them worse. I craned my neck to see the base of the spruce tree. Please let him be okay.

All of a sudden, Rain jumped out of nowhere and tackled the Kane into the snow. Ciara jumped in surprise at the sudden attack. Rain struggled to pin down the much taller hunter, throwing himself on top of Kane and shoving his face into the snow.

He raised his voice. "Run, Stella! Get out of here! Go!" Ciara immediately glared in my direction and drew her karambits.

Oh Rain, you idiot. Not daring to waste another second, I drove into the trees and ran as fast as my legs can carry me. It is now that I was suddenly reminded of the arrow wound in my shoulder, throbbing with pain with every step. But more importantly, now what?

Where can I go now?