The Call of the Woodland Spirit

Chapter 24

I awoke to feel sunlight dancing on my eyelids.
The sudden warmth tickled, and aroused me up from sleep. The covers felt snug around my tired frame, and I cuddled deeper into the blankets, fighting back the need to be awake by now. I blinked as I watched the light drafts of the new morning sun fill in the cabin. Hazel still wasn't back yet, I thought with a yawn. That's fine. Not like we needed her anyway. My train of thought came to an abrupt end.

We..?

I turned my head slowly to my left, now realizing what had happened last night. I had whined and cried like an insolent child for him to stay the night with me. Even though he had had plans with his father-in-law that I had really wanted him to go through with, I had been the one who stuck a pin in it. My mind clouded over with guilt. I shouldn't have done that..

Arashi was still asleep. Sometime in the night he had rolled over to be facing me, but still a respectable distance away. I peered curiously at his face. His lashes stirred against his cheeks as he dreamed peacefully, and a pleasant look had fallen across his face. Brown locks fell party over his shoulder and down his back. His head was resting comfortably against the snow-white pillow, and the blanket was up to his shoulders. He was lying on his side and his chest rose and fell with every gentle breath. I had.. never seen him look so tranquil. It made me smile a bit, knowing that he gets to sleep well.

A blush was residing deep in my cheeks, admittedly. I had never shared a bed with anyone. Even though Arashi and I were not close in that sort of way it still felt strange, yet oddly comforting.

I fought back another yawn. I flipped the blanket off of me—carefully, as to not wake Arashi— and swung my legs off the side of the bed. From there I began to finger-comb the tangles in my hair and did my morning stretching. It was during this moment that I had felt it.

It knocked the little wind I had in me at the time. I leant downward as it rushed over me, coughing and sputtering for air. It was such a cold feeling. A cold.. entrancing feeling. I kept my noises at a minimum, but at the only minimum I could. I pressed a hand to my throat and looked wildly around the cabin, wondering where it had come from. "What the—COUGH—"

I was pushed to the ground, coughing into my arm as tears pricked my eyes. My knees ached from the hard fall onto the wooden floor and I gasped for air. What the hell was that? I quieted down for a breathless moment, listening intently. Arashi's breathing was still soft, so I fortunately hadn't woken him. Dazed, my feet ushered me to stand. I wobbled slightly, but balanced myself. I took an unnerved look over my shoulder. Arashi had cuddled deeper into his side of the bed, almost completely wrapped inside the blanket. It made me crack a smile even after the strange phenomenon I had just experienced. He looked quite comfortable, and I would really hate to interrupt whatever good dreams were clouding his mind. I had a feeling it had been the only good dreams in a while.

I then held back a yelp as my breath was cut off once more, but only for the briefest moment. I rocked on my feet and took a gentle seat on the side of the bed. My mind went blank, my back became perfectly straight, and eyes wide with entrancement. It had me in its hold; whatever it was. It seemed I was mesmerized, but by what I did not know. I stood up again, unable to control my actions and think any thoughts of bewilderment I was currently possessing.

The strange feeling led me toward the door, without even a backward glance at the man who had taken care of me thus far, and pushed me into the icy outside world.

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I skidded on the ice, but the power overtaking me didn't even allow me to let out a little yelp. It had probably been about ten minutes of walking, and I couldn't even see the camp anymore.

The harsh, biting wind blasted into my face, and I was still wearing my night clothes given to me by Hazel. I felt as if I had frostbite, deep inside where the entrancement couldn't control my thoughts. I was so cold.

I was nearly to a field of snow, overtaking almost everything. It looked like a fjord, but without the frozen water. It was much larger, though, and the evergreens parted to make way for the icy expansion as I kept my pace. I walked, in the same uncontrolled state, until the invisible force directing me paused. I looked down blankly.

The socks I had on did nothing against the cold. Snow crunched and mushed up beneath my feet, allowing an uncomfortable feeling to pass through my body. The force did not take note, however, as expected.

I looked up curiously. It was a beautifully bright morning. Very little clouds were against the blue sky and the sun shone pridefully down at me. Ironic, it was, to be such a serene setting on a day where I wasn't even in control of my own body. To be honest, I was freaking out inside, but couldn't do much against it. Fighting it, whatever it was, wasn't an option.

The intangibility of the force was frustrating, as I couldn't see it, hear it, or touch it. I just felt the presence, and that was more than enough to make me feel unnerved.

I nearly flinched internally as my body began to move again, forward. I stepped onto the vast field, and immediately felt something different. This field felt solid. I could almost feel the force within me shrugging at my commentary. It's probably just the thick layers of ice formed into the ground. That's all you're feeling. Keep walking.

And so I did. I kept waking as if nothing was wrong.

In a moment or two of silence from the outside world, I heard a thump.

I looked up from the ground and saw that about ten feet away from me was a bunny, as white as the snow it was sitting on. It was small and fluffy with big, floppy ears and a cotton tail. It was staring right at me, dauntingly so. At first, it almost seemed stupid to me. How could such an adorable creature be daunting? Even though I sure felt it was, I wanted to push away that feeling. I was definitely not scared of a little rabbit.

I looked around me, mouth slightly opening In acknowledgment. I hadn't realized how far I was from the line of evergreens I had walked through to get to this field. Beyond those trees was the camp of Sirmiq Mountain, which I couldn't see at all anymore as much as I tried peering over the treetops. I now looked to be about in the center of the frozen sward face-to-face with a harmless little rabbit. I turned back to it with a furrowed brow. While I had been looking away it had slowly crept closer. It was now at a distance that it shouldn't have been. I thought wild animals didn't come near humans. Bunnies especially.

It puzzled me, yet I watched as the creature inched closer. It was now so near I could see it's small pink nose twitching, as if sniffing. Still, it would not take its eyes off me. How strange, I thought as I found myself stepping closer as well. The rabbit stopped in its tracks, looking up at me with a face I couldn't comprehend.

Well, I shouldn't be able to comprehend it in the first place, but the fact that I didn't just made me feel more bothered. I looked deeply into its eyes, trying to get something out of it. They were a pale sort of hue. The sun's light shone off of them, and I could almost see...

C-CRA-ACCKKKK.

The rabbit sped away, frightened by the sudden noise. I hadn't seen where it had gone, but the moment I realized it had dashed the invisible forced emptied from my body. I wavered a bit from where I stood, gasping. It was... gone. Was it the rabbit somehow?

CRACK.

I screamed that time. Cracks shot out from beneath my feet, spreading vastly in all directions until long fissures were created. The ground beneath me groaned, rumbling against my socks. I yelped and wildly swung around my arms, having nothing but air to grasp on to. I flailed for a bit, then steadied myself the best I could.

My entire body was shaking horribly.

It took just one more glance downward to realize I was standing on a frozen lake, covered just barely with a thin, thin layer of ice.

One wrong move, and I would fall in.

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