Chapter 36: Death road

Four years

It had been four years since her Tribe was massacred. An entire Tribe whipped away from the surface of the world. Her brother, her father, her mother, … her entire life!
And in these past four years, only one question had been running through her mind:

Why?

Why had they attacked her Tribe and killed everyone in the process?

Because they are Drow? Because they feel pleasure in killing Surface Elves? Or was there more behind this ruthless attack?

Her mother’s last words were still echoing in her mind.

“They were looking for …”

With that in her mind, Fae was sure that it was not just a random attack. What had they been looking for? Had they found it? Or were they still hunting and killing other Elves in their search?

These questions had driven her to frustration more than once. She had screamed to the ground, to the trees, even to the sky, demanding an answer. An answer that wouldn’t come. But her search went on. Day after day and night after night. In these few years she had been traveling on their own, she had seen many things. Things that had surprised her and others that didn’t. Yet one constant returned: 

Drow were hated.

And with that, many hated her as well. Her dark skin and white hair were enough to spark the fear in people's eyes and to pick up their swords. She was thankful for those who were looking past her dark skin, but they were only a few. Yet nobody had been able to help her. They all said that if she wanted an answer, she should go to the Underdark, the place where the Drow live. But in her current condition, they discouraged her from going. She was not strong enough. Yet nobody was prepared to spend time in training a single Elf to go on a suicide mission.

And so Fae stayed alone, wandering over the surface with the fading sun at the horizon. At her right side, a forest filled with giant trees. They were not as majestic as the trees in the Moonwoods, but they were big nonetheless. On the left side she looked over the fields which seemed to serve as crop farms for the nearby village. Knowing to stay away from these so-called ‘farmer villages’, Fae pulled her hood deep over her head, hiding her dark skin and white hair. It was mainly these small settlements that had the strongest opinions about her appearance. She could not blame them …

“Hey, young boy”!

A loud voice suddenly filled the air. Fae flinched when she heard the heavy sound of steps coming from behind her. How had she not noticed this person walking up to her? Daring to take a peek, Fae carefully looked over her shoulder, to see a broad shouldered man , like three times as wide as she was, standing in the middle of the road, carrying a heavy log on his shoulder. Fae tried to remember the name for these kinds of people. Lumbermen? Woodcutters. They would bring down large trees, cutting them to be used for tools, homes or to create fire. 

“Where ya going?!” The man said with a broad smile while he walked up to her. Her reaction was to walk away. Talking to humans never brought her real good, but just ignoring this guy would maybe bring more harm then when she would give a simple reply. Bending her head more down, being certain that not a lock of her white hair would be visible, she gave her reply.

“Nowhere …”

Hoping that would be enough, she already turned around, ready to leave, but she could hear the man chuckle and his heavy footsteps, indicating he was following her. 

“Well, then ya have arrived, dear boy. Because this is the middle of nowhere.” 

The man laughed, thinking his own joke was funny. This village was one of the only few in this region, with no large settlement nearby. You could say these lands were ‘nowhere’.

“I can tell you, if you are looking for a cosy Inn to spend your night, you don’t need to look. There is none. That village is made of farmers who live on their own in peace. They have no need for heavy traffic.”

The man sighed, like he regretted that what he just said was the truth.

“Ya are not gonna sleep in the forest, do you? Not that comfy. A traveler alone needs his eyes on his back. Are ya hungry? Ya look skinnier than a fresh born rabbit!?”

The man rambled. Fae wanted to reply that she wasn’t hungry, but on the moment she wanted to speak up and then walk away quickly, her stomach suddenly growled louder than a lion's roar. Fae gringed, hating that her own stomach betrayed her. Oké, she was hungry. She had planned to hunt in the woods at night, when her eyes were working the best and when no one else was around. 

“Ah, see, Right I was! Come on boy, ya can stay at my place for a hot cup of soup.”

And before Fae could even open her mouth to protest, the man had already draped his arm around her thin shoulders, making any escape impossible, almost dragging her over the road.

And while the man was rambling some stories about the forest, Fae saw the village coming closer and a spark of fear rose in her chest. But the lumberjack was not guiding her towards the village. Instead, on a fork road, he took another route and when Fae looked up, she saw a lonely hut standing at the other side of the fields. It wasn’t large, but it had a firm roof, a chimney that was smoking and at the side there was a small outbuilding, stocked with wood. It was hard to decline that this was the man’s home. And before she could even take it all in, she stood inside.

The hut was of common standard. One large room with an open fire at the back. A large kettle was handing over it, releasing the sound of boiling soup. A few windows at the side that brought in the fading light, a wooden table and some quick made chairs. On the other side, there were two beds, a large wooden tub and some logs that were cut and ready to be thrown into the fire. 

Fae guessed that people like him didn’t need more than this. Lumberjack men were mainly away from home and only returned to eat or sleep. The man didn’t seem unhappy with his upbringing.

A little bit forceful, the man pushed Fae towards one of the small chairs that he had placed before the warm open fire. He hadn’t done it with the means to actually make her fall, he had just guessed that such a ‘young boy’ would be able to handle a push. A bit wobbly, Fae fell on the chair and in the process, her hood fell a bit backwards. Fae tried to grab it quickly, but the frown on the man’s face revealed that he had seen what was under it. That spark of white hair.

Before Fae was even able to sputter a word, the robust man had already ripped the hood from the girl's head. He saw his eyes drifting over her entire body. Over her white hair, over her dark skin, her pointy ears, her eyes. Fae waited, she waited for the typical sound, that disapproved grunt that would mark the rise of his hate toward her. And she did hear a sniff, but not as disapproving as she had expected. Fearful, she let her eyes rise up, only to see the man still looking at her.

“You could have told me you were a girl …” He muttered before he turned around, placing his attention back to the soup that was boiling. There were no signs of hate, no signs of fear. He didn’t back away from her like most others did, neither did he grab the axe that he had placed at the wall.

“What are you?” he asked, his eyes still focused on the kettle of soup he was still stirring.

“I … I’m a Night Elf.” Fae whispered, afraid that he wouldn’t like the answer like the rest had done. They had never believed her when she said what species she belonged to. She kept waiting for the point where he would turn on her, but the calmness he was radiating kept going and the man only gave a huff before picking one of the wooden bowls, filling it with the steaming soup before he turned around and offered the bowl to her.

“Here, eat. You look starved.”

Fae quickly grabbed the bowl, fearing that he would just let it fall if she didn’t take it into her own hands. On top of that, she was indeed starved and when her eyes drifted to the warm liquid, the scent filling her nose, her own stomach made clear that she was more than starved. She grabbed the spoon letting it twirl in the bowl. She looked up from it, seeing that the man had picked another chair and took a seat at the other side of the fire before he picked his own bowl to start filling in.

“I didn’t mean to …” Fae started, but her words were cut off by a stern look from the man.

“Eat!” He said, a slight ordering sound in his voice before he continued to fill his own bowl. He blew the steam of the soup before taking one or two spoons into his mouth, giving an approving hum. Fae did the same.

“Ya are lucky it was me who found ya, girl. If one of those village people had seen ya, ya would have been in trouble. Ya look awfully like ….”

“A Drow?” Fae added. The man looked up, letting his eyes run over her again before he continued to eat. It was enough as confirmation.

“But I’m not.” Fae defended herself. “I’m a Night Elf.”

“So ya already said.” The man replied, taking another sip from his soup. The soup itself wasn’t the best, it missed some flavor, but it was food and Fae was more than glad to have something filling her stomach.

“Where ya come from?”

“The Moonwoods…” Fae replied, before taking another sip. She saw the man nod, his mind probably trying to recall some information. 

“Never seen ya kind before.” He said between two sips, his dark brown eyes resting upon her again, like he was taking in her features.

“I can imagine …” Fae whispered. Her kind was not known for traveling. They stuck to the place they knew best, preferably away from other societies or groups. 

“Yet you do know about Drow?” She asked with a curious tone.

“Tales, girl. There are enough tales about them to let any creature on the surface be aware of them. Even those that never encountered them are afraid of the wicked Elves from the Underdark. Yet I am smart enough to recognize one when I see one.”

Fae frowned. She had noticed. Anytime she came around humans, it had been the same tale. Screams that she was a Drow, only by the look of her dark skin and white hair. Humans must be fearful creatures or maybe they were just too superstitious. She had noticed that when her path had crossed with other creatures, that they were still aware, but less filled with hate. They had never trusted her, but instead of throwing rocks at her and reasoning their sword, they had just warned her to turn around and take her leave. Yet humans were too quick to judge … except this specimen then …

‘So, what ya looking for in this area then?” he asked, taking the last sip of his bowl before putting it aside.

Fae stirred in her bowl with her spoon, avoiding his gaze.

“Drow …” She whispered while her eyes wandered to the crackling fire that seemed to dance above the wooden logs. She could hear the man taking a deep sigh, releasing an ‘ah’ in his wake. Fae was glad he decided to not ask any further on that subject.

“Well, now we have that out of the way, I would like to know ya name. I can’t keep calling ya girl, can I?”

Fae looked up in surprise. Not once had they asked her for her name. 

“Fae …” She said, almost scared to reveal her name.

“Herbert.” The man replied before getting off his chair, picking up a large kettle and turning around again.

“Listen kid, I still need to do some work outside and my son will come home soon. In the meantime, I suggest ya take a bath.” he said, flinging with the kettle. Fae could only look in confusion.

“No offence, but ya smell a bit.” he said with a grin and a quick flick to her dirty clothing. It was only then that she noticed she was indeed dirty. Her clothing was stained with stains of mud and other sticky stuff. Her hair was somewhat tangled and now that she took notice, there was an unpleasant scent around her. Fae swallowed and shrinked a bit. She had been alone for such a long time, that she hadn’t always taken notice of her own condition. 

“I will fill up the bathtub for ya so that ya can clean yourself up. I will give you some fresh clothing. Just a shirt and pants from my son. Not really feminine, but it will do. And no need to worry, neither me or my boy will enter. Just drop a booth outside when you are done. Then we know we can come in.” the man rambled before he went outside and filled the large kettle with water to hang it above the fireplace. Next he started to fill the bathtub with cold water, to later add the warm water in it so that it wasn’t freezing. Without saying another word Herbert left the house and closed the door behind him. A mere minutes later, Fae could hear the sound of an axe splitting some wood logs. 

A bit hesitating, Fae stood up from her chair and peeked outside the window. In the last light of the day, she saw the man cutting down the log he had dragged from the forest. The sound of him chomping down the log had a certain rhythm and Fae could not deny it that it calmed her in some way. Taking a deep breath, she started to take off her clothing. She unwarped the leather clothing from around her arms and chest. The furs she had worn to keep her warm were clashed together, dirt sticking into it like glue. The cloak she had was already tattered when she had found it, but now it was even frayed more. 

She dropped the clothing on the group, revealing her refined feminine body. You could say what you want, but Fae's body was not unpleasant to look at. And her upbringing in her Tribe, had taught her to not be shy of her body. She did not fear being seen naked. Yet maybe that is also a bit due to naivety. Little did she know how certain men looked upon women.

Just the moment she wanted to step into the water, she heard a voice talking outside. Another male, but much younger than Herbert. She could only figure that this was the son Herbert had been talking about and after sharing some words, the sound of woodcutting continued in a duet. 

Fae sighed when the water engulfed her. Even when it wasn't hot, it wasn’t freezing cold either. Not that she wasn’t used to taking a cold bath. The water of the river wasn’t warm either. Feeling the water on her skin calmed her and even her muscles released the tension she had. In the past two years, she had been traveling alone, living from what she could find in nature, sleeping under the open sky or in a tree. Yet always alert, with at least one eye open just in case something would attack her in the open. But now, she could let that fear go. Soaking in the water, Fae dropped herself in the water until it reached her lips. With her fingers she started to untangle her long white hair, cleaning it from whatever had caught in it. She enjoyed her stay a bit longer than she had expected for when she decided to step out of the water, she saw that the sun had already drifted behind the horizon. Quickly she dressed herself up. The received clothing were a bit large and far away from feminine, but they would do. It was strange to see herself fully covered like that. But she didn’t allow herself to take much time to stare at herself and picked up a booth and threw it outside the door.

It still took the males a few minutes before getting in, to not look like they were rushed to enter. The son quickly introduced himself as John. He was friendly, offering Fae a smile. She was glad he didn’t ask her any question. He probably already heard the story from his father when they were still outside. Fae was still sitting at the fire, watching the flames dance while the men were chatting a bit, discussing what should be done the next day while they cleaned up the bathtub. Fae had offered it to do it herself, but the two males had made clear they didn’t agree with her offer. She was their guest.

After everything was done, Herbert gave a loud yawn, stretching his muscled arms above him.

“Oké, time to go to sleep.” He murmured before he stood up from his chair.

That was Fae’s sign to leave. She wanted to pick up her stuff when Herbert turned towards her.

“You can sleep in that bed, Fae. I can imagine you can use a good night’s rest. I’ll sleep on the ground.”

“But …” Fae wanted to argue, but Herbert had already picked a large blanket to put it on the floor.

“No butts, I can manage to sleep one night on the ground. It’s not gonna kill me.”

“As long if you don’t kill us in our sleep.” John said with a grin on his face, his attempt at making a joke. But that didn’t stop his father from giving him a light smack on his head and a stern look. 

Fae swallowed. She would prefer to sleep outside, under the open sky. But yet then sleeping in the safety of four walls would do her better than needing to worry about the night’s creatures. Fae walked up to the bed Herbert had pointed to and when she looked over her shoulder, she saw that John had already taken his place in his own bed while Herbert was matching some blanket together to form a makeshift bed. When Herbert blew out the light of the candle, fae could hear how fast the two men had fallen asleep, tired from their hard day of work. Fae tried to find some comfort, which wasn’t so difficult in that bed. It was soft and it was warm. So different from the cold wet ground or hard bark of the trees. Yet Elves didn’t sleep. Not really at least. Fae took a deep breath, before she faded into reverie …

It was still dark when Fae opened her eyes. Elves didn’t require as much sleep as humans did plus she was a species that lived through the night. It was her own body that made her aware of that. Nonetheless, she could not deny that having a full reverie was refreshing. It had been a long time since she had been able to take a full rest. 

Looking around, she saw the two men were still fast asleep. Carefully and as stealthy as she could, Fae left her bed and walked up to a window. The sky was clear, with stars flickering like jewels and a bright moon that was casting her light. Drawn by that familiar light and the urge to feel the cold air, Fae took her cloak and walked to the door and silently unlocked it. No, she would not leave. She would not disappear in the night like a ghost. These people had been nothing then kind to her and her mother had always taught her to return the kindness that was given to her. She just wanted to take a fresh nose and kill some time while she waited for the men to wake up.

She took a deep breath when she felt the cold air on her dark skin, a spark of joy when her eyes met the moon in the sky. Partly, it gave her the feeling of being at home. It was common to pray under the bright moon, thanking their goddess for protecting them. Realizing she hadn’t taken a moment to pray in a long time, Fae took a seat at the side of the house, folding her legs under her and placing her hands on her knees. Closing her eyes, she started to murmur some words of prayer. A thank you for guiding her to this safe place and a request to keep these people safe from harm.

Fae had no idea for how long she had been there, whispering under her own breath. She had been so focussed on herself, that she hadn’t heard the approaching footsteps.

“Who are you?” A voice said and Fae her eyes shot open. A few feet away from her, stood an older looking human. Thin, frail and with the need of a stick to support him. His hair was white as her own, but Fae knew it was from old age ...

A bit dazzled, Fae tried to stand up, which only startled the elder person. The girl had not noticed that she stepped into the light of the moon, revealing her dark skin. Not more was needed.

“DROW!!”

The elder man screamed with a raspy voice. 

“Drow! A Drow has come to kill us!”

Fae raised her hands, trying to say something, but nothing left her mouth. It was like her own voice was frozen, knowing that whatever she said, it wouldn’t matter. The instinct to run away kicked in, but when she heard a deep snore from inside the house, she knew she couldn’t. She couldn’t leave these people to the anger of the townsmen. Dazzled and trying to figure out what she wanted to do, the warning had already reached the nearby village guards, who came rushing towards the screaming men. And when the guards raised the alarm, the villagers, or at least, the men came out of their houses, carrying all sorts of weapons. A sword, an axe, a pitchfork. And if they had nothing of that sort, they quickly picked up a rock from the ground.

Fae turned around, wanting to flee back into the house, but her path was quickly cut off by one of the guards, who drove her away from the door. In a matter of seconds, she was surrounded by the villagers, who were screaming all over each other!

“Witch!”

“Drow!”

“Murderer!”

“Kill her!!”

“No, I’m not a Drow!” Fae tried, but her voice didn’t even come over the shouting. Fear started to kick in now that she no longer saw any way out. She was surrounded and she saw the guard raising their swords and spears, ready to strike. But before they could make their move, a large force drove them aside and from between the crowd, Herbert rose and took a stand between Fae and the raging men.

“What is going on here!?” He barked and Fae could see that some of the villagers backed off. But the fear never left their eyes and they quickly took strength from that.

“She’s a Drow! She must be killed!”

Herbert huffed and tried his best to make himself look larger.

“She’s not a Drow! Look at her eyes, you fools!” he barked, but his words fell in deaf ears.

“Witchcraft!”

“Drow tricks!”

The villagers kept shouting, but Fae could no longer hear it. Her body had shut out the words and the sounds of the raging people. Fear was racing through her body, taking over every fiber from her muscles. It yelled to her to run, to flee, to break away. But there was no way out. Everywhere she looked, she only saw angry people with weapons in their hands, pointed in her direction, ready to strike.

She could feel her heartbeat in her own ears, she could feel how sweat was pearling down from her face. She could feel how her breathing was getting faster. Everything around her was moving in a blur with muffled sounds.

 And then she felt someone grab her arm. She was dragged down over the ground. She screamed, but she couldn’t hear her own sound. It was an instinctive move, when she made a symbol with her hand. She saw a body being lifted from the ground and thrown away. The only thing she could hear was the sickening sound of breaking bones.

And then it quiet…

The villages looked in shock to the person that had fallen on the ground, his arms and legs twisted in an unnatural position. 

“He’s dead!” One of the villagers said.

And then the sound of the crowd rose again, this time even angrier than before. Fae gasped for air, trying to crawl back to the wall.

“I didn’t, … I’m sorry, I did not ….” But she could feel her own voice stocking inside her throat. She could hear a roar, some yelling before she felt how she was picked up from the ground in a cradle way. She was dropped inside the house. When the door was closed, also the sound of the angry crowd had turned down in volume.

Fae fell down to the ground, sobbing in panic before she looked up to see John, who stood before her, watching in confusion.

“I didn’t want to, I shouldn’t, I didn’t know …” Fae tried to speak, but was unable to even finish a sentence. 

“Fae, hey, look at me. Look at me!” The voice commended, but not in a demanding way. Fae looked up, seeing that John had kneeled beside her, grabbing her shoulder to make her focus on him.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to harm him! It was an accident, I was …”

“Scared, I know. I would be scared to when that bunch of baboons would surround me like that.” He tried to smile, to reassure her, but it was a weak attempt. Fae could see the fear in his eyes as well. 

“But you have to listen to me. My father is trying to hold them off, but he will not succeed. There are too many of them. You need to leave!”

He let go of Fae’s shoulders to move over to a hatch, pulled the pin from the lock and pulled open the hatch door, revealing a hole in the floor that would go under the house. 

“You need to hide here and run when you get the change, do you understand?”

Fae nodded and walked over to the hatch. Before she crawled in, John quickly gave her her stuff and helped her down. Before he closed the hatch, he looked at her and gave her a smile.

“It’s not your fault …” he whispered before closing the door behind her. Fae could hear him walk out of the house.

“She’s gone! She vanished in thin air. She must have used her magic to escape!” John yelled.

“Liar, you helped her escape!” one of them yelled and Fae could hear a struggle break out. She could only imagine that the villagers were not all too happy that they helped her and that she so called escaped. She heard the guard command for the two to be captured, while another commanded to spread out and look for her elsewhere. Fae waited, even after the silence had returned. 

She had no idea when it was safe to crawl from under the house. But after several minutes of silence, she decided to take the shot. She crawled through the mud and moved a few logs aside. Peeking from her hiding place, she noticed that there was indeed nobody there. In the distance, she could still hear some shouting, but it was away from her in the other direction. She crawled over the logs, picked up her bag of stuff and started to run to the forest line. She ran like the devil himself was on her heels, she ran for her life. She had come across many displeased and scared humans this way, but they had all just chased her away and had left her alone when she was far enough. This crowd however, had tasted blood. Hers. She had killed one of them, an accident, but it was enough for them to return the favor. She knew if they found her, that they would not wait to kill her this time. 

The border of the forest was closing in. The woods would keep her safe. It was an area she knew best. With a leaping jump, she moved over some bushes, feeling the fallen branches break under her feet. And then a shout!

“There she is!” 

Fae looked aside, seeing one of the villagers pointing in her direction, a torch in his hand. He was soon joined by some others, all shouting to catch her. Fae didn’t wait and started to run deeper into the forest. She ran, jumped like a deer over the logs, hoping her agility would save her. She felt the air burn in her lungs, before she heard a sweeping sound through the air, followed by a painful sting in her shoulder. Fae lost her balance, falling on the leaf scattered floor. She didn’t have the time to look at what hit her and crawled up and started to run again. Reaching out with her hand to her shoulder, she felt something sticking out. Pain shot through her shoulder when she touched the arrow that had plunged in her shoulder and when she retracted her hand, she saw the red color of blood on her fingers. But the only thing she could think of was running. She kept running, even though she could no longer hear the shouting of the hunters. Fae had no idea how long she was running or in which direction she was going. She only knew that she had to run until she no longer could.

Fae kept running until exhaustion started to take over, the adrenaline left her body that had kept her going. Fae dropped to the ground and crawled towards a tree. There she felt the deep sting of the arrow in her shoulder. She barely had any energy to look around to see if she was safe, but her body was screaming for rest. Slowly darkness started to roll over her, like a veil over her mind.

A sound woke her up, something pulled at her shoulders.

“Fae!” The voice entered her ears and the young girl opened her eyes, only to see the worried face of John before her.

“Fae, wake up!”

Fae moaned shortly, shaking away the tiredness from her mind. 

“John, how …?”

“We escaped. No time to explain the details. My father is waiting a bit further away. We need to get away. The village is in a frenzy because of that man’s death. They will not stop until they have your head. Come on!”

John broke off the arrow from Fae’s shoulder. She yelped, feeling the blood run down her back. With some quick straps, the boy placed some bandage around the wound.

“It’s not much, but it will help until we find a safer place.”

In a quick movement, he threw her arm over his shoulder and dragged her up from the ground. With his body as support, Fae was able to find her footing and they started to stumble through the woods.

“Over here!” A voice yelled. Fae recognized it as Herbert’s voice. He smiled when they arrived and he placed his hand on Fae’s shoulder.

“Glad you are still alive. At least I didn’t punch that guard for nothing. Now, no time to talk, we need to get you far away from here.”

Together, they started to walk. None of them said anything, they only walked. The silence was broken by the rumbling sound of an approaching storm. Soon rain started to fall, drop by drop, until it was a screen of pouring rain.

“I think we are …” Herbert started, only to be broken by another shout.

“There they are!!”

“By the gods, don’t these guys know when to stop.” Herbert growled, giving Fae and John a push before grabbing a shortsword that he had at his belt.

“Go, run! I will hold them off.”

John didn’t wait for further explanation and grabbed Fae’s hand and started running. They ran for several minutes until a roar made them stop. A roar that could even be heard above the raging storm. John looked over his shoulder, worries in his eyes before his eyes looked back to Fae.

“I … I need to help him.”

Fae nodded, her hair sticking to her face in strands.

“Just keep running. Run towards the mountain, the villages don’t dare to go there. They think it’s haunted. I come looking for you in the morning.”

And without any further ado, the boy turned around and ran back into the darkness of the forest. Fae waited until she could no longer see him before starting to run away as well. The lightning flashed in the sky while tears poured from her eyes. Each time she heard something, she stopped and looked around. Each time she hoped to see them appear from the shadows of the trees, hoping that John and Herbert would still be alive. But it was only the thunder that joined her. 

Tears started to pour from her eyes. She knew she couldn’t go back. She could do nothing to help. She kept running with her eyes locked on the mountain in the distance. She could feel the soaking wet ground under her feet, until it suddenly slipped away. She yelped when she felt her body fall down a cliff, stones scraping at her body. When she was at the bottom of the cliff, she could feel blood dripping at the side of her head, the wound on her shoulder that had opened again. She could feel the wet rain on her skin and the coldness that was creeping in her body. Her vision became blurred. 

This was it … How hard she tried, she could not command her legs to move and stand up. Her arms refused to work ...

Pain and exhaustion took over her mind and the young Night Elf drifted away in the darkness.

It was no longer raining when she woke up by the sound of some rough sniffing and something wet against her face. Fae tried to open her eyes, to move her body, but everything felt cold and stiff. When she was able to focus, she saw a pair or big yellow eyes staring at her. Under those eyes were large canines that formed a snarl.

Fae yelled and she tried to crawl away but her shoulder gave away when she tried to push on it, falling back to the ground. Looking up, she looked straight at a giant dire wolf staring at her with a snarling grin. The wolf huffed and it looked like he was looking over his shoulder. From behind him, another wolf joined him. Fae could faintly see two figures sitting at the back of the large creatures. 

“Yeah, it’s still alive.”

“Then we take it. The Queen will decide what to do with it.”

The large wolf growled again, opening his mouth and took a step closer.

“No!” Fae screamed and she tried to turn around, only to stumble and fall. In a panic, she tried to climb back on the cliff, but her body was too tired to obey. Using up the last energy she had, Fae slumped against the rocky wall, murmening a faint ‘no’ when she saw the wolf approach, his fangs bared …