It was three days after we had entered the wood, and since then, we had encountered a few more bears and dozens of small wolfish creatures, all of which we dispatched quite easily. I awoke early with the sun glaring in my eyes, and got up from my sleeping mat, noting that Alexandra had already gotten up, and was bathing in the lake we had set up next to. I averted my eyes, instead tying my cloak on and began to pack the bags back onto our horses, leaving the food bag out for breakfast. I heard Alexandra get out of the lake, and waited for her to dry off with one of our blankets and get dressed before turning to her.
"So do you want to cook breakfast, or shall I?" I asked, and she shrugged, tying her hair back into her ponytail.
"You cooked dinner last night, I'll make breakfast." She said, and I sat down on a log, as she crossed to the food bag, pulling out a few slices of bread and the stick of butter Oneiric had given us before we had left. Then she pulled out the small gas stove that we had, setting a small pan on top of it before setting the buttered pieces of bread on it, letting the stove toast them. She crawled over to the log I was sitting on and sat beside me, resting her elbows on her knees as she sighed.
"I hadn't known the trip would take this long." She said, and I looked at her, confused at what she was saying.
"What do you mean?" I asked, mildly confused. "It's only been three days so far."
"I know..." she muttered, hanging her head. "It's just that the last time I had to get through the forest, it felt like we were moving so slowly, and we got through in only a few days."
"Well, maybe you went through on a different path." I said, and she nodded.
"Maybe. Although you can never tell with this forest." She sighed again, and I set a hand on her back.
"Don't worry, we'll be out of here before you know it." I reassured her, and she grinned.
"I doubt it, but thanks anyways."
Alexandra got back up, pulling the pieces of bread off of the stove, grimacing.
"Shit, they're burnt." She groaned, sitting down beside the stove. "And we only have a few pieces left."
"Don't worry, we can still eat them." I said, sitting beside her near the stove. "Here, give me those and then we can cook up some sausage to go with it."
"Fine." She muttered, handing me the pieces of mildly burnt toast, and pulled a sausage out of the bag, pulling her knife out and beginning to slice pieces onto the stove. I took a bite out of one of the pieces, and was surprised that it wasn't as bad as I had thought it would be. Granted, it was still bad, but I took another bite and swallowed, forgetting about the bad taste as I watched the sausage sizzling on the stove.
When we had finished our breakfast, I got up, lashing the food bag onto the horses as well, before helping Alexandra into her armour, before we finally climbed onto our horses, beginning the day's journey. We rode for an hour or two, shooting a small wolf creature as we rode, leaving its strange body on the road, after pulling our arrows from it. Nothing in the woods was friendly, and only a few things were edible. We passed by another lake, noting strange creatures swimming beneath the surface. I saw a fin surface as we passed by, before the lake passed out of view through the thick woods. We travelled for another hour or two, before seeing another bear, rampaging down the path, headed straight for us. We slung our bows around, sending two arrows into its thick coat, but before we could send off another few to kill the beast, it was upon us, but instead of attacking, or even glancing at us, it kept loping past, travelling down the path, paying us no heed. I quickly glanced at Alexandra, a look of sheer terror upon her face. I drew my sword, as she nocked another arrow. We slowly managed to edge our horses further down the trail, before they stopped, refusing to move another inch. We climbed off, tying the horses to a tree, before continuing on foot. We made it another hundred meter, before we heard an earth-shattering growl, and the trees ahead cracked, as a giant beast lumbered down the past, blood caking its muzzle and matting its fur. It was nearly 15 feet tall, slowly lumbering down the path, with six immense legs shaking the ground. I looked up at it, noting its immense wolfish shape, with fangs as long as my sword. It saw us, growling again, as it picked up its pace, and Alexandra drew back her bowstring, letting loose an arrow right at it, burying itself in the beast's eye, making it scream, before launching itself at us, mouth open, ready to eat us in one gulp. We dove to the side, hiding behind trees, as the beast barrelled past us, tearing saplings straight out of the ground as they got in its way. By the time it had stopped and turned around, Alexandra had nocked another arrow, sending it at the creature. However, this one merely got caught in its fur, seemingly just a small annoyance. It growled again, this time running straight at us. We ducked behind a tree again, but it crashed directly into the tree, uprooting it, sending us flying as the tree was torn directly from the ground and thrown some ten feet. I managed to get up, but saw that Alexandra had hit a tree, and was lying on the ground, moaning. I ran over to her, making sure she was alright. Unfortunately, she looked unconscious, but no blood seemed to be oozing from her, so I got back up, staring down the creature. It growled, and I ran to the side, drawing its gaze away from Alexandra.
YOU ARE READING
Cǽrvelle-The Journey
FantasyA young boy named Collin is sent to a private boarding school in Scotland. However, when his school is bombed during the Great War, he and his friend Holly fall into a world unlike anything they have ever seen, ranging from desolate wastelands to th...
