Blaze in the Darkness | ✔

Chapter Fifteen

The next day was much the same. Yesnu had bid them goodbye in the morning, leaving me with Juglus and the two other wolves. Thoysal hadn't come in the night. Nobody had come.

He had promised he'd keep me safe, that he'd stop whoever tried to capture me. Being carried around in a net that hurt me counted as captured, in my mind. At least the bottle hadn't hurt.

The wolves slowed down until they stood still next to a little stream. All birds dropped their song, recognizing the three predators. Sunlight barely managed to get through the thick canopy, one of Todas' signatures.

They lapped up some fresh water, leaving me next to a tree. I looked at the forest longingly. My momma was there, somewhere. If only I could reach her.

An odd smell tickled my nose. Instead of Todas' normal scent of decaying leaves and plants, it was like a hundred blooming flowers. I looked around, but no flowers could be seen. Could they be in the tree?

I glanced up, only to pause in shock. A woman in green-colored, metal armor looked back at me, her blond braid falling from her shoulders. Her brown eyes seemed to will me to be silent.

She quietly nocked three arrows on her bow, her armor somehow not making any noise. Then, she let the bowstring go. Before the three werewolves knew what happened to them, an arrow imbedded itself into their side, where their heart was.

They snarled in rage and pain. The sound made me whine, my body trembling. Juglus looked around, trying to find out who did it. His eyes settled on me, no one else being in the vicinity.

He stalked over to me. His steps only faltered a little, the rage stronger than the pain. The furious wolf scanned my trembling form for weaponry, growling when he found none.

"Up here," the woman called. Juglus looked up, only to receive an arrow to the eye. I whined as his form landed on top of me, pressing the net into my fur. Wolfblood turned made my fur warm and sticky and awful, and the weight made it near impossible to breathe.

The wolf was lifted off of me. I looked up to find the woman with antlers, kneeling next to me. Her floral scent was almost completely drowned by the metallic blood.

"Shh, it's okay," she softly murmured, but the silver blade she had in her hand made her words lose all credibility. I whined and try to crawl backwards. The net kept me from going further than a few millimetres.

The woman brought her blade down. I closed my eyes and tensed up, ready to be killed just like the three werewolves. The pain never came. Instead, I could hear rope tearing.

Warily, I opened one eye. Two brown ones looked back at me, filled with worry. I slowly stopped trembling as I realised the blade was gone.

She slowly took a step away from me. The distance helped a bit, but not much, not while I knew she could easily kill me. She said, "The net has been opened. If you come out, I can heal you."

I took a moment to think of my options, never looking away from her. If I stayed here, the net would continue to hurt me, like it was doing now. If I ran, I could get this blood out of my fur and heal on my own. A shudder passed through my body as a trickle of liquid slowly went down.

Watching her for a few more moments, I coiled up like a snake about to attack. Then, I jumped, running away as fast as my aching body would allow it. Trees and shrubs turned into a blur. She couldn't follow me, not with the heavy-looking armor she was wearing.

My paws took me as far as they could. I slowed down, my breath coming out in ragged gasps. My entire body was crying out in pain, the skin red and angry where my fur had been cut away by the silver net.

I could only set a few more steps before my paws gave out and I crashed onto the forest floor. Panting and whining softly, I lay there, listening to the distant yowls of some creature. The wolf blood had mostly dried, making my fur sticky. I was about ready to give up when I saw a glowing, green light.

Curiosity drowned out my pain as I looked at it. It was a pretty light. Could it be a spirit, taking me to the Realm of Spirits? It seemed like a nice light.

The light became larger and brighter, as if it was coming closer to me. I couldn't move, but then, I didn't really want to. I just wanted to stay there and look at the light.

The spirit paused when it was right in front of me. Still, my eyes were glued to it. Something gray moved in the corner of my eye, but I didn't pay attention to it. The gray thing was nowhere near as interesting as the green light.

A projectile cut through the air above me, and the green glow vanished. I snapped out of my trance, scrambling backwards when I saw the lethal feline in front of me, an arrow embedded in its eye. The green gem between its oversized ears was dark and void of magic.

The woman from earlier knelt next to the greencat and retrieved her arrow. She muttered a prayer in a tongue I vaguely recognized as the Divine Language before turning to me, worry clouding her eyes. "My name is Raset. Can I protect you? Just until you are healed enough to protect yourself? A firefox like you shouldn't fall prey to the many predators that roam these woods."

I watched Raset silently for a few moments, weighing my options. She hadn't hurt me; she had actually saved my life, twice. And she knew the Divine Language... That had to mean she was someone special.

Eventually, I nodded. She gave me a smile and said, "I'm going to pick you up, alright? I'll carry you to my home. I can care properly for you there, and there's a firepit as well."

The thought of fire and food perked me up enough to keep from flinching when Raset gently took me into her arms. Her armor was surprisingly warm, as if it lived. I leaned closer to her and allowed her to carry me as she walked through the forest.