A Wolf's Courage(Tales of Europa Book 1)

Chapter 3-Feathers and Flowers

I grab the girl as she falls, my arms gently encircling her slim frame. Brushing aside her tangled hair, I stare at her unearthly beauty. The flesh of her cheeks and lips, are the color of rose petals against her dirt covered skin. The fawn color of her hair, the same hue as her long lashes and thin brows.

Her mouth is parted slightly as her chest slowly rises and falls. Gently, I hook my arm under her legs, cradling her back as I stand up. Turning on my heel I head out of the cave, a series of caws sounding behind me as my feet carry me over the stone bridge.

My guard Draxen, greets me when I come to the bridge's end. The reins of the two horses clenched in his gloved grip, his hawk like eyes widening in surprise at my charge. Releasing the reins, Draxen opens his arms as I place the girl into his gentle hold. Nodding, I hurry over to my saddle bag and throw on my boots, tunic, and trousers. Thinking better, I also grab a thick woolen blanket and rush back over to Draxen. Deftly, I wrap the girl in the woolen fabric, Draxen's old and weathered face grim at her now shuddering form.

"I worry my prince," he utters, his voice rumbling through his large chest. "Why is that Captain?" I ask, hoisting myself up onto my mount's saddle.

"The girl is young and fragile my prince," he drawls. Placing her back into my waiting arms. I brush aside a stray lock of her hair, the strands woven with white flowers and bird feathers.

"When she looked at me in the cave Draxen, her eyes told a different story," I say. "They were not filled with childlike innocence but with intelligence of a young woman, but don't fret old man I will learn her true age soon enough."

Grunting, Draxen hoists himself onto his horse, his long cape falling down the horses's flank like wings. The rings of his chain mail clinking like hollow metal coins. "I presume that she is what convinced you to join the hunt," he says, as his mount comes up along side mine.

"I believe you are right Captain," I answer. Carefully, I settle her against my chest and with my free hand I clutch my horse's reins. Snapping them, I send my mount off at a trot with Draxen just a step behind. We head back through the forest, the air still gray with smoke from the fires the men set to flush out the animals. After crossing the second river, its waters choked with ice and limbs, do I see the aftermath of today's hunt.

Rows of lifeless bodies of fox, rabbit, and a couple of boars line the mossy ground. The rest of the hunters drag over the carcass of a large stag with their fangs sunk into the flesh, its great horns as large as a man's head. The other men wait by the horses, already in human form and fully clothed, they have begun to secure their catch onto their mounts.

"Murderers, thieves, kidnappers!"

A voice  shrieks, the piercing sound ripping through my skull with such emotion of pain and anger. Then my head soon feels as if it's been hit by a heavy ax. Clutching my head, I fight to stay upright in my saddle and keep the girl from falling out of my hold.

My ears ring as the men finish gathering the hunt's spoils. My vision blurring while I gaze into the tree branches above. The small feathered form of a crow, drawing my gaze with its haunting cries. It's blue-black coat a stain against the pale emerald green of the leaves.

"Ah, and what did our young prince find amongst the trees?" my cousin Varrick crows. His blood red cape flapping behind him as he prowls over to my mount. The sword at his belt gleaming with malicious intent as his snake like eyes settle on my charge. A growl rumbles through my throat as I grasp the pommel of my own blade. "Tis no concern of yours cousin," I hiss. "But I would advise you to show the proper respect to my mate."

Silence fills the clearing, the others pausing in their tasks to gaze upon the girl tucked against my chest. A gentle breeze flows across her face, a few locks of her hair fluttering like a butterfly's wings. In turn they bow their heads, the humans with hands across their hearts and the wolves with their tails tucked low.

Nodding, I flick my horse's reins and gallop away from the clearing. Draxen follows without a sound, his mount's hooves thundering against the ground. The men shout out orders as we gallop away, their voices quickly replaced by the sound of their own horse's hooves pounding over the hard frozen ground.

The ones still in wolf form, run alongside my horse's flank. Their heads raised in triumph as they let out a steady stream of victorious howls. The sound echoing over the valley as we leave the woods and head into the open hills of the countryside. In her sleep, my mate clutches at my tunic, her brow furrowed and lips twisted as if in pain. 

Gingerly, I press my lips to her brow, a small gasp escaping me when my lips feel the cold of her flesh. I urge my horse faster, the cold wind whipping against my back and shoulders as I head towards the giant form of Brindhall Manor. Its shadow hovering over the village as the sun begins to rise. I silently pray to the Goddess that I am not too late, I can't lose my mate to the winter's chill. Not when I have waited all of my life to meet her, seventeen long years of waiting that could be dashed to pieces at any moment.