Prologue: The Beginning Of Fate

1109 Words
She heard the screams of her family trailing behind her. She ran. Her lungs on fire, her mouth gasping. The cool mist of fog heavy in the air. Maze knew there were hunters near by. The smell of fire, and the blood of her ancestors hung heavy in the London air. She suppressed the reality, she ran. The screams of her mother suddenly silenced, the smoke from the raid falling behind her. She ran, Goddess knows how long. Her limbs ached, all of this on the eve of her 14th birthday, why me? She thought, but she didn’t have time to cry. No time to think, she was fortunate to have time to run. After the smells of tragedy dissipated and the fog grew heavy once more around her, and slowly, but seemingly all at once the night ebbed back into life. The frogs croaked and the cicadas deafened the area. Only then she knew she could slow, for the wilderness assured her that the show was either over or far enough away that silence had been silenced and life here remained undisturbed. Maze panted and grasped her bare knees, her loose gown had clung to her body, pasted on with sweat. Her feet bare, she shivered and stood this way for a long while trying to regain her strength. Tears flowed freely from her eyes now, as she tried to process what happened. But for that she didn’t have time. Realizing she had no idea where she was, and she had no idea the hour. She tried to gain her bearings, there was no stars tonight, and the towering trees hid what was left of the moonlight. So there was no telling where the Goddess hung in the sky. Blinking away tears she stood and tried to make sense of her position in the forest, running her hand down a tree attempting to find moss. Sniffing the air to locate the river that ran through these parts. but to no avail, lost, she was lost. A twig snapped behind her, and she spun quickly in the direction. Eyes, golden and at least a foot taller then her own peered at her. Fog encasing it’s identity, but even in the absence of light they glowed. She was afraid to move, her heart and mind racing. Fear and adrenalin returning flooding her body once more. Maze tried to gather her thoughts, as she darted her eyes around the forest, looking for the best escape route. Once she looked back where the creature was it had dissipated. She searched the area with her eyes, nothing. She sniffed the air. But there was no smell, just that of fog and pine. So she limped on in the opposite direction. Deciding it was a trick of the mind, and nothing of importance because the forest didn’t heed her fear. It didn’t stop to listen, it continued to sing the songs of the night. She limped on, adrenalin seeping away, fear replaced with uncertainty. Body aching, bruised on the verge of collapse she pushed forward. Finally Mazicane had time to think on her journey, remembering the day prior. She had spent the morning on the farm outside, tending the garden like any other day. Her father tending the cattle. Mother was cooking for the party. The day was unusually warm for spring. Some would argue perfect. Crops were planted a week early. Her extended family from all over the country side were coming to visit. She was brimming with joy, and anticipation. She had finished her chores and went to the cabin to wash up. The cabin my father had built with his bare hands. Where the doctor raced in the middle of a storm unlike any other of that decade fourteen years prior to deliver me, administering care that saved my mothers life. The home I grew up in. Tears stung her eyes as emotions flooded her. Onward she limped. Her family only reunited once a year, once the frost had melted, and the birds sang. Her farm happened to be in the middle ground between packs and spacious enough to accommodate her grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and the wives husbands and pups there of. Divided between many packs and territories, were the members of her tribe. A total of 28 family members and growing. All Strong most ranked either by marriage deeds or birth. Her mother and father a rogue by choice. Left their pack Hemlock Grove with members of at least 300 before her birth for reasons not entirely explained. She finished changing into the dress that her mother had made, a soft simple cotton, that her mother died sky blue with hand embroidered green and purple detailed flowers around the hem. Long flowing sleeves and puffed at the bottom, modestly cut, it was easily the most beautiful dress her mother had made for her yet. She tied her long chocolate hair back with a ribbon that matched her dress and set the table as her family started arriving. Mothers laugh had filled the room, as she had welcomed her own parents and her sister with open arms. The pups of her cousins echoed from outside, they were in a friendly game of chase, as more and more wolves filled the house and the smell of steaks potatoes and beans filled the air. Bonds set and tied before the beginning of her life were renewed. And all to soon within the hours to come they would be severed. Eventually Maze came to a clearing, and on the edge was a pile of rotten logs, she had fled her farm around ten and judging by the place of the moon it was past 4. the sun would be rising soon. She was cold, and her body screamed as she made her way to the logs. exhausted and unable to think anymore She curled up under the protection of limbs from a fallen tree, knees tucked to her chin and cried herself to sleep. That’s how they found her. Lost, cold, on the verge of hypothermia and alone in the forest.
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