Chapter One - The hunt

Ariel moved carefully through the darkening forest. Her blue eyes darted back and forth, taking in her surroundings as she walked deeper into the forest. She moved at a slow pace, making sure she didn’t accidentally step on a dry twig or stumble on a rock or exposed root. Any sound could tip of her prey and make it run away, forcing her to start over.

Her bow was at the ready, string pulled back and arrow ready to pierce through the cold air and any creature that was bold enough to attack her. There didn’t live many creatures in the woods this far north, making it easier for her to look for the one she was hunting. But in her experience, one could never be too careful. She was there for one reason, and one reason only – to take out the wolf that had been bothering the town for the last couple of days.

The mayor had personally asked her to go on the hunt for the beast, she was the best option of them all. Focused, determined, and most importantly, stealthy. Her smaller frame made it easier for her to move at east and with minimum sound. And her dark red hair was hard to single out in the darkness for anyone who might want to hunt her down instead.

It was why she had walked into the forest when the sun was setting, taking advantage of the short, but dark night that covered her. But the hunt had taken long than she had anticipated, the trail of prints taking her deeper into the woods, far away from the civilization. But she didn’t worry. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness a long time ago, making it easier for her to make out shapes and movements, even with the looming shadows.

In the distance she could hear an owl hoot, and now and then she heard the ruffling of leaves from other small animals and rodents that lived in the forest. The sounds were calming, it meant that nothing was disturbing the peace and life of the forest. The creatures that lived there wasn’t in fear or hiding. A forest milling with life was calming. It wasn’t until she stepped into a clearing, and everything fell silent that her senses perked up.

Listening intently, she turned her head back and forth. There was nothing there beside more trees and herself. It was alarming, it meant everything else had fled. She took stand, drawing the string of her arrow further back, arrow at the ready. She continued to walk around, mindful of where she stepped as she walked around in circles. Her eyes were squinted, focusing on the movements in the shadows. That’s when she spotted it.

A shimmer of golden in the mist of green and black. At first, she thought it was her eyes deceiving her, but then there were more of it. And the more she looked, the bigger the spot of gold grew. She held her breath as a big golden wolf stepped out. She kept here arrow at the ready, aimed at the wolf before her. But there was something keeping her from releasing it. The wolf stood calmly, it didn’t snarl or showed any sign of attack. Instead, it just stood her, watching her, like it was studying her.

Ariels eyes found the wolfs, clear blue meeting amber. There was something about those eyes, they didn’t look like a wolfs eyes, more human. A howl made her head snap to the right. It wasn’t the howl of the wolf before her, but the one she was hunting. It wasn’t far away.

She could hear it, the sound of paws hitting the ground gave it away. She glanced at the golden wolf; it was snarling now, but not at her. It was getting ready for the attack. Focusing on the sound of paws Ariel turned her attention towards the oncoming wolf, she could barely spot the movements before the other wolf leaped into the clearing. A growl escaped the golden wolfs throat, and the grey wolf took at as an invitation to attack. With claws out and jaws snapping the smaller wolf looked like a rabid beast. There was foam dripping from its mouth, the snaps loud, and it didn’t seem to hold focus. The golden wolf easily avoided the wolf. It looked like it could easily beat the smaller wolf but refused to attack back.

Ariel stood frozen for a solid minuet, just watching the scene before her, her mind going through what she needed to do. She had let the bow drop a little earlier, and lifted it up once again, carefully aiming at the rabid wolf. She didn’t want to hurt the golden wolf, something told her she would come to regret it at a later point if she missed.

With her arrow at the ready she focused on the greying wolf, taking a deep breath, and adjusting her aim one last time before letting the arrow fly. For half a second the arrow swished through the air before embedding itself in the wolfs neck. It cried out one last howl before collapsing to the ground, arrow sticking out. She had aimed for the main artery, wanting to kill the wolf swiftly and with as little pain as possible. From the looks of it she had made it.

The golden wolf had hunched down, readying itself for the attack that never came. Now it rose back up to all four, staring at Ariel with yellow eyes. Hadn’t they been amber just a few moments before? This wolf was a curious creature, but Ariel kept her arrows at the ready in case it decided she was a threat. She had just killed another wolf; how could it know if she wouldn’t do the same to them?

But much to her surprise, the wolf turned around, and she could have sworn it gave a short bow before running of into the deeper parts of the woods. Letting out a sigh of relief she put the arrow back in the quivers at her hip before she walked over to where the wolf had fallen. But instead of finding a dead wolf she found a naked girl in its stead. The girl couldn’t be that old, a mere teenager. The arrow was pointing out of her neck, now covered in blood from the larger creature that had been hit by it. Ariel didn’t expect it, but the guilt she expected to surround her didn’t come. She hadn’t just killed any ordinary wolf. The mayor wasn’t going to like this.