The Hunt

Home

We left Wilworth carrying bags of groceries. This was the longest I've gone without eating and now that the shock of being banished was gone I was starting to get really hungry. I hoped for Megan to turn on some road and lead me to a small cottage in the woods but she kept walking deeper into the woods. I lost track of time, we walked in silence and when Megan finally stopped I looked around. There was no cottage, no small cabin, no structures just trees.

"We're here." Megan looked amused at my confused expression.

"Where is here?" She smiled and walked right into a large cluster of tall bushes when she didn't return I followed her. The bushes hid an entrance to a tunnel, I bent down to not hit my head but after the tunnel made a right turn it opened up to a cave. I looked around amazed. Megan had filled the cave with torches, there was a place for a fire in the middle with a pot that she was already filling with water from a waterfall that turned into a small pool at one end of the cave. She had a wardrobe, a bed, a large mirror with strange runes carved around it, and other household things here and there. Megan had stopped what she was doing to look at me, she had a smile in her face and I'm sure she was really proud.

"It took me a while to find a place like this, I did a lot of trading with some of the people in Wilworth."

"I didn't know you could do magic." I was standing in front of the mirror.

"It's more of a protection spell. No one can see through it, and it shows me if there is anyone nearby. It took a full year to get that bad boy off an old witch. The torches were charmed as well to sense whenever I entered and to burn for a really long time without needing to replace them. The bushes were grown by me I used a growth potion on them to block the entrance and I gave good money to a wizard for a protection spell to seal the entrance. Along with a magical toilet that makes anything dropped in it disappear." Megan had opened a door and as I look around again I saw another door. The doors seemed carved into the wall of the cave itself.

"Where does that door lead?" I pointed to the black door at the very end of the cave.

"The cave extends to a series of more tunnels and caves. I figured having something that large with just one person would be dangerous. I haven't explored it all but I'm sure there is another entrance somewhere. I sealed the door so nothing or no one could open it except me. Of course now that you're here maybe we could expand." She looked down and went back to her cooking. 

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I couldn't sleep. I stared at the top of the ceiling of the cave, Megan's breathing was heavy as she was deep in sleep on her bed. She gave me some blankets and I found a place by the waterfall to make my bed. The sound of water was calming but now it was also frightening as I remembered the river and the night of the hunt. My thoughts drifted to home, my parents would probably in some council talking about the chances of my survival. Wondering if I pose a threat to their pack, if I would return for revenge. My mother would be worried, she wouldn't show it but she would cry herself to sleep in the arms of my father as he too would cry silently. I reached out for my sword, the pack was furious when I decided to take this with me but there was nothing they could do to stop me. It was in my family for generations and being the oldest was passed down to me. I fell asleep clutching the sword dreaming of home.