Winter's Burn

• III •

He ran.

He didn't know how fast or how far, but he was running. He ran until he felt like his legs would fall off. He ended up I'm a small clearing, surrounded by thick foliage. A small, calm lake sat in the middle, a rock poking out slightly above the surface of the water near the edge. He collapsed to his knees, cradling his hands to his chest. What the hell does he do now? How did he even do that? He stared at his hands, just waiting for them to spark up again and electrocute something else. He hoped he hadn't hurt anyone. He hadn't looked around long enough to see if anyone got hit by whatever came out of him. He ended up leaning back on his heels, the scenery of the clearing slowly calming him down from his hysterical thoughts.

After he took some deep breaths with his face buried in his hands, he looked up at the feeling of eyes on him.

His eyes met with a figure just out of the trees, seemingly having come suspecting she would be alone.

She stared at him with giant doe eyes, filled with a mixture of fear and surprise. He stared with the same expression, but not due to her being here, not even due to her being a stranger. He was staring at the pointed ears and the curled, ram-like horns adorning her head.

That quiet period of curiosity was short-lived, however, as the girls eyes showed less fear and more anger. Almost too fast for him to register, her demeanor changed from that of a scared fawn to that of a deranged bull. Her large brown eyes became almost black as she ran towards him at full speed, the shadows of the surrounding trees seeming to close in around him.

She let out an ear splitting shriek that sounded almost nonhuman, as if two birds were screaming at different frequencies. He quickly ducked under her arm and bolted out of her path. She quickly pivoted around, unbridled rage evident on her face, and ran towards him again, this time landing a kick to his stomach.

The world seemed to go in slow motion as he hit the ground, the girl now towering over him. In a last ditch effort, he grabbed her by the leg, pulling her down to the ground with him, grabbing her shirt when it was within his reach. She thrashed around violently, attempting to free herself from his grasp. Her horn nicked his face slightly and he could feel his left cheek bleeding. This distracted him long enough for her to escape his hold, returning to her feet and leaving him on the ground.

He tried to grab her hand to keep her from leaving, the intent being a simple effort to learn what she was, but apparently, his body had other plans. As he reached out and touched her hand, the green sparks returned, igniting his fingertips.

She yelled out as the sparks made contact with her hand, burning lightning bolts halfway up her right arm. She ceased her aggression at this, her eyes calming back to a dark brown and her cornea turning white once again. She reverted back to the doe eyes demeanor she had at their first sight, breathing heavily and staring at him for a moment before darting back into the forest.