Hydrangeas and Callunas

Chapter 3: Wolves and Lutes

It wasn't long before I began to feel weak. Being thirteen and alone in a vast and dangerous forest wasn't easy. I spent the nights in trees and spent my days moving slowly along the ground trying my best to not draw any attention to myself. But these three weeks felt like another three years.

I knew the woods were dangerous, I had grown up in them. But I had never been alone as I was now. My mother or father would always be with me, telling me what berries to eat and what plants to avoid stepping in, and we always got home before dark. Or did we?

These days I found my memories slipping. I could barely remember my parents faces and their last name-my last name-eluded me. I just couldn't remember for the life of me.

Maybe it was the exhaustion or maybe it was something I ate but my memory was not what it once was.

Regardless, how well I could remember names didn't effect my survival. I stooped down to pick up a handful of red berries I recognised as edible. I shoved the handful into my mouth all at once and I could feel the juices spread across my chin and around my mouth. I wondered if I vaguely looked like my parents when I found them that night.

I shook the thought from my head with a quick slap to my right temple and continued my trek through the trees.

I adjusted my bag on my shoulder and looked up at the sky through the small holes between branches and leaves. Today was a bright blue day. The sky held pastel colours and thin white clouds wove their way across the expanse of open air. I absentmindedly began wondering what flying would feel like.

SNAP!

The breaking of a branch behind me tore me from my thoughts. Instinctively I jumped to a tree and stood with my back pressed to the rough trunk.

I listened intently and after a few seconds heard a heavy breathing from only a few feet away. I sucked in a large amount of breath and held it, hoping desperately I wouldn't be noticed.

Ten minutes passed and everything was silent. I thought it best that I should try my chances and look around. Mustering up as much courage as I could, I slipped towards the opposite side of the tree.

I was met by the face of a gigantic wolf only a foot from my own. My eyes widened as the creature seemed to smile, it's hot breath soaking my face. I began trembling as I tried reaching for my small knife but the animal jumped at my movement and I only just jumped out of the way when it lunged and caught it's teeth in the trunk of the tree where I had been seconds before.

I began running as fast as I could, looking for any tree I could climb quickly but in my panic I couldn't pinpoint any. Shortly after I began running I already felt the pounding of large padded feet behind me. This is it, I thought, this is where I die. The thought didn't hit me as hard as I thought it would. My pace began to slow and I turned to face the large wolf that would soon be my escape.

Suddenly an arrow pierced the beasts hide and it howled in pain. Turning its attention from me to an unknown source, the wolf walked off growling and trying to find the one that had hurt it.

I shook off my feeling of giving up with another slap to the head and began backing away slowly. A swift pair of hands grabbed me by my waist and over my mouth. It took a few seconds to get rid of the surprise and that's when I started struggling.

I felt myself get pulled behind a fallen log and a figure appeared before me. It was a young elf, probably no older than 150 years old. He had platinum blonde hair that hung past his shoulders and sat delicately across his face. His features were soft and his green eyes held a gentleness that reminded me of my mothers.