Astith's Prophecy

Chapter 1

~TN's POV~

Running. Running. I have to run. Something is chasing me, but I don't know what. I was in some forest, but it is not the forest that I live in. It was probably nighttime as I can barely see anything in front of me. I did not have time to think any more about the forest as I continue to run. I don't know how long I have been running, but I can feel my lungs burning, and my legs going numb.

I turn around trying to see what was chasing me. That is a mistake. While I have my head looking behind me, I did not see the cliff up ahead. When I feel my right foot catching air instead of ground, I know that I was in trouble. My left foot twists painfully. I try to scream, but nothing comes out as all the air from my lungs was used up. Luckily, or unluckily, the cliff wasn't high enough to kill me, but it is high enough to break my right arm when I land. My vision goes black from the pain before it slowly comes back. I desperately gasp for air as I lay on the ground for a minute or two before rolling onto my back. I sit up and pale at the sight in front of me. A giant, black blob looms over me. I can't make out what the blob is, but I was afraid of it. I can feel its hot breath breathing on me. I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe. This terrifying thing, this terrifying monster, is going to kill me. The monster roars so loud that the birds on the other side of the forest fly away. And then it lunges at me.

-End of Dream-

My eyes snap open. I can feel my body flinging up, making me go dizzy, but I ignore it. I look around in a panic, trying to see if that thing is here. After seeing that I wasn't in danger, I fall back and land on the soft bed that I was laying on. I sigh as I replay the dream, the nightmare, in my mind. I shiver in fear as I can almost feel the sharp teeth digging into my flesh, my blood pouring down my body and onto the ground. Before my mind can go any further, I hear a whine to my right side. I quickly sit up again, grabbing a dagger underneath my pillow. I point my dagger to the sound and see a large, dark grey wolf sitting on a dark red rug. Its big, golden eyes look at me with concern. The wolf and I have a staring contest. Once my brain realize that this wolf is my friend, I put the dagger down.

"Sorry," I mumble to it.

Him. I remind myself. Him, not it.

I gesture for the wolf to jump on the bed, and he obeys. He jumps onto the bed and lay on top of my blanket-covered legs. I reach out and comb my fingers through his soft fur, starting from the head and down his back. I did this a few more times before I can feel myself relaxing.

While I card my fingers through his fur, I look around the room more slowly. From where I was sitting on the bed, I see a heavy looking desk in front of me. There was a half-melted candle and more daggers on top of the desk. The chair near the desk was pushed away and angled, like someone who was getting up from sitting in it, obviously me. From the left side of the room, there is a window that show nothing but trees, trees, and more trees. It makes sense since I live in the middle of the forest. To the right of me is a closed doorway leading to the hallway connected the rest of the house.  Near the door is a single-hand long sword with a simple leather wrap handle with a ruby gem at the pommel. It is sheathed in a dark purple scabbard and a brown leather strap. A pair of half-calf, dark brown boots were also next to the door. A little further away from the door is a small drawer with a hairbrush and hair ties. There were also little wooden animals that I carve myself. My favorite is the wolf.

Before I can go more in depth in my mental room tour, I feel something wet touch my cheek. I flinch from the sudden cold and turn to see my wolf friend close to my face. I huff in annoyance before pushing his face out of mine.

"Don't do that, Dark," I say.

For some reason the wolf, Dark, looks smug. I snort in amusement before scratching behind his ears. He seems to enjoy it by the way his tail is wagging. I swear he is more a dog than a wolf. After a minute, I stop scratching and get up from the bed. Or at least try to get up. Dark was will laying on my legs. I can feel my legs going numb. Going numb just like-

Dark must have sense something wrong as he whines. I look at Dark and see it looking back. His eyes were asking if something was wrong. Maybe I should take back what I said. Dark acts more like a human.

"I'm okay," I say, in a low voice since I haven't used my voice in a while. "I just have a bad dream."

Dark tilts his head to the right, asking me to explain the dream. So, I did. I told Dark about how I was in an unknown forest and having something chasing me. I explain how I fell down a cliff and that the monster was looming over me. I also explain how the monster lunges at me before I woke up.

"So, what do you think," I ask. "Do you think something is coming?"

I look at Dark, expecting him to answer. Obviously, he can't. He does what looks like to be a shrug. I huff.

"Real helpful."

Dark looks at me with amusement in his eyes. I huff again and push him off my legs. I get up from bed and wobble a bit as my legs fell asleep. Once the blood is back in my legs, I stretch my arms up and let out a loud yawn. I spot Dark doing the same thing out the corner of my eye. I go to my drawer to grab the clothes for the day. I grab a simple black shirt with dark brown pants. I took off my nightgown and toss it to where the chair was. I step into my pants first and then tug the shirt on. I grab the hairbrush and start brushing my messy, long, black hair. It is a little bit too long. It goes all the way down to my mid-thigh. Maybe I should cut some off. Not now though as I have a lot of things to do. Once I made sure it was less tangle, I grab one of my hair ties and put my hair into a high ponytail. I put on my boots and walk out my room.

As I walk out, I see a door across from my room. To the right was a hallway leading to the main room which is the living room and kitchen. I walk towards the door across from me. It is the bathroom. I hear Dark walking to the main room as I freshen up in the bathroom. I stand in front of the sink with a circular mirror above it. In my reflection, I see a girl with dark brown eyes staring back at me. The shape of the eye is cat-like. The skin is a light tan with a few beauty marks on the cheeks. The nose is short and straight. The hair is tightly pulled back with only a few strands of hair that slip out from the hair tie. I wouldn't say I was bad looking. I was a little plain though. Not that I care as I rarely see people, and Dark seems unaffected by my appearance. Then again, he is a wolf so Dark would not know anything about human attraction.

Enough of admiring my beauty, insert sarcasm here. I have a full day of work to do and I want to at least them finish before evening. I brush my teeth and wash my face. Once I was finish, I walk out and went to the main room. As I walk in, I see a doorway to the left of me. There was a black heavy coat with red fur-lined hood. The edges of the sleeves were also line with red fur. Towards the middle of the room is a dark brown couch with Dark laying on top of it. There was a neatly folded, old blanket and pillow near one of the ends of the couch. To the back of the room, just behind the couch is a little kitchen area with a furnace, two or three cabinets, a chair and a table build for only two people. I turn to the right and see a fireplace and a heavy chair with a dark red rug underneath it.

Dark gets up from where he is and barks impatiently. I chuckle and go to the kitchen area.

"Alright, alright. I'll get the food," I say as I grab the preserved meat and vegetables and start cooking.

As I was cooking, I went through my mental to-do list for the day.

Okay. First, I need to gather the rest of the firewood that I didn't get yesterday. Then, I have to hunt some more game before winter hits. Hopefully, I can finish all that before noon as I have to go to the village to sell the firewood.

I frown at the thought of going to the village. I sigh as I can feel the day is going to be long and I haven't even started yet.

Written by: TNckitty