Snow and Fire

An Angel

It was freezing. The snow whirled around me, biting at my bare skin and clawing at my eyes. I couldn't shift back now, it would take up too much energy. I staggered through the snow, gasping as the cold found its way into my lungs and attacked them. I bent double, my breath coming in great hungry gasps.
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I suddenly looked up, sensing something. I sniffed deeply, crouching a little to get a better scent. I switched to all fours, my bare hands instantly going numb. I went along a little, sniffing. It was a strange scent, sweet but spicy, with a slight earthy tint to it. It was like a spring forest after rain. I was so wrapped up in the scent that I didn't notice what was right in front of my eyes. My hand brushed it and I looked down.
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A book. Half buried in snow. I took it in my hands, standing back on two legs, barely able to feel the rough leather binding beneath my fingers. The pages were damp from the snow, but the ink was still perfectly preserved. I couldn't read it, it was in a strange language that I had never seen before. The letters, or whatever they might have been, were flowing and oddly beautiful. I traced one of the words with my forefinger, wondering what it was. And more importantly, where it came from.
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The scent was stronger on the book, amongst the smell of the leather and parchment. I knew then that it was the scent of a person, but they weren't human. I could read human writing, well, just about. Reading and writing had never been my strong suit. I sniffed at the book, inhaling the scent again. I began to sniff along the ground where my hand had met the book, the scent getting stronger and mixing with something else. That something else was the strong smell of horse along with something else, something far different.
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Blood. It's iron stench got right into my senses, making me dizzy for a second. I followed it, almost breaking into a run despite the snow clawing at me still. The forest like smell got stronger too, and I was soon running on two legs, even though I felt like they were about to give out beneath me. I was so cold, my body numb. My bare arms had no feeling left in them and I could only feel my legs through the pain that shot up them with every step. I was getting so close now. I looked around wildly, scents invading my senses and making me dizzy. I stopped for a moment, trying to focus on that one original scent. I shut my eyes and breathed in deeply. There it was, stronger than ever. My eyes snapped open again, and that is when I saw what I had been tracking.
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She lay splayed, half buried in snow like some sort of angel fallen from the heavens. Her long red hair stood in stark contrast to the whirling whiteness around us. Her eyes were shut, her long dark lashes had a few snowflakes clinging to them. She had the face of an angel too, with pale skin, dark red eyebrows above her closed eyes and a pair of perfectly formed rose pink lips. The only thing that marred her beauty was the blood running down the side of her head, almost blending in with her hair. I crouched over her, touching her face with the back of my hand. I find not know how long she had laid there, only that her skin was as pale as the snow around us and probably as cold too. The sleeveless fur coat she wore offered little protection from the cold, the light long sleeved shirt beneath being the only thing covering her arms apart from a pair of bracers. Without thinking I picked her up, finding she was as light as a feather in my arms. The knee high boots she wore were made for riding, yet all that remained of her horse was the smell on her clothes and the air. Her long hair had fallen back, revealing a pair of perfectly pointed ears. She was an elf. I ran my finger along one of them, part of me hoping she wouldn't wake up at that moment. My hand brushed over her face, feeling a slight warmth. She was breathing, albeit gently. I suddenly found myself feeling strangely protective over the elf, though I couldn't fathom why. I would take her back to the village, tend to her wounds, she would go back to her own kind when she was healed.
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I looked ahead, blinking in the snow. I could see the village lights in the distance, glowing like beacons. We didn't have far to go. I shifted the elf in my arms, she was as limp and as light as a rag doll. I could barely feel her, my arms and hands were so numb. Gritting my teeth, I began to trudge thorough the snow, my eyes focused on the village lights.