Guardian of Evanacliffs

The chase

I hid my face against my mother’s back, taking in her scent. She smelled sweet like the cinnamon cake she tried to bake earlier that day. The men were coming closer while pointing their guns at us. I closed my eyes, waiting for the sound of a shot fired. Luckily it never came. Well, at least not in that exact moment. One man stepped forward with a smirk plastered on his face. He raised the gun to aim it at my mother's face when she decided to speak. “Don’t you think it is kind of weak to fight me in this way? Without giving me a single opportunity to fight back? What have I done to you to make you fear me this much? I never attacked your people? I lived my life as ordinary as you. So tell me, what did we do for you to hunt us down?” He chuckled while lowering his gun. “Stand down guys, this one is all mine.” He walked a couple of steps closer to my mother but instead of her taking a step back, she raised her head even more as to show him who holds the power. “Love, it isn’t about what you did to us, I admit we didn’t even realize what you were in the first place. It is all about what you can do to us, to our children, and the blood your kind would spread while giving birth to more of you monsters. And also, this forest could provide for more living space and food for the village. Which is easier to destroy without the so-called guardian to protect it.” His face turned from a sour expression back to his creepy and self-confident one. He again raised his gun, ready to shoot. This was the moment my mother realized that even with the help of the mood goddess, she could never survive. From here on, everything happened in a split-second. My mother turned around to grab my shoulder to push me into the river. She told me to run, right before she stilled and fell onto her knees. Blood pooled down her body as she was shot right in her chest. She mouthed the word 'go' as I was dragged along the stream. A weird ringing sound kept playing in my ears as a result of the sound of the gunshot fired close to my still sensitive ears. At that moment, all I could do was just stare. I didn’t feel anything anymore. I didn’t feel the rocks as my body smashed onto them. I never felt the cuts or bruises they created. I let myself be dragged along with the water as the end of the river came in view. A waterfall. I never tried to get out of the stream. I just closed my eyes and laid back as my body fell about 100 meters. After that, I only remembered the darkness taking over me as the oxygen disappeared from my body. I heard the hunters talking in the distance through a ringing sound. They said something like there was no way I could’ve possibly survived that fall. But I didn’t care anymore. I didn't care if I was alive or dead. I just lost both of my parents in one evening. Now, I had nothing more to lose or even to fight for which caused me to just give up and give in to the darkness as the pressure of the water pulled me down under even further.  

I found myself waking up with a weird feeling on my face. It was wet and smooth and it repeatedly touched the left side of my face. I opened my eyes slowly, only to be spooked by a gigantic wolf. He looked at me with his big yellow eyes while tilting his head slowly. It was like he was trying to figure out what or who I was. I tried to sit up straight to take in my surroundings. It seemed like a cave. How did I get in here? This question was soon answered as I saw trees on one end of the tunnel and some water of the waterfall at the other end. The wolf shook his grey fur before looking back at the forest. I saw some pawprints and drag marks from the water to here which meant this little wolf just saved my life. I stretched my arm out to his head while he just stood there, not sure what to do. Eventually, he came closer and allow me to pet his head. Unlike my first thoughts, this wolf seemed to be a regular wolf. His scent had nothing humans to it so the question remained. Why save me? A crackling sound made both of us turn our heads back to the forest. The wolf looked at me one more time before sprinting back to the trees. Disappearing along with all that's left of my happiness.