Elphame

Lost

My feet wander around the forest, unsure if I am walking further into it, or back towards home. The sound of water is getting louder, and my dry lips beg for a taste of clean water. ‘Next time we decide to run into the woods, make sure we bring water and snacks’ I scold myself. My mind flashes back to water it was that came out of my hands. My eyes glance down at them, trying to find the difference in them, but there isn’t one.

None of this makes any sense to me. Why is this happening now? I decided to sit on the forest floor for a while and rest and try to regain my strength. I close my eyes for a few moments and listen to the water running in the distance, and before I know it I drift off. My eyes were swollen with tears, and my body felt like the energy was drained from it. It was easy to fall asleep, but it was not what was supposed to happen.

The sound of low growls make my eyes shoot open. I wake up to see glowing yellow eyes staring back at me. It was pitch black, only the light from the moon offered the slightest glow. I moved quickly backwards against the rock my body was just slumped against. The creature takes a few steps forward as I moved backwards, not allowing me to further the distance. As it stepped into the moonlight I could make out light brown fur, it almost appeared red with the light directly hitting it. Man sharp teeth and it’s lips pulled back against them, bearing it’s teeth at me.

It was a wolf, but not like any I had ever seen before. It was standing at least 7 ft tall on 4 legs, and it’s eyes had a glow to it that seemed unusual. The wolf slowly walked towards me, continuing to bear it’s teeth “Give me anything you have” I heard a harsh low growl. Hearing this shocked me, I did not know how to respond and thought I must be losing my mind. ‘maybe I’m still dreaming?’ there’s no way this is real. “You can talk??” I say confused. A low chuckle pierces the air. I realize there are no sounds around us, even the crickets have silenced themselves in the presence of this beast. “don’t make me repeat myself”, it bellows out again. It snarls and let’s out a loud growl, making my hands begin to shake.

“I don’t have anything to give you” I pleaded. In this moment, I wished I had something on me, literally anything to give this creature so it would hopefully spare my life. Before I had a chance to plead any further it begins moving towards me again. My heart begins to pound against my chest, trying to run away from my body before this scene plays out. “I really don’t, please don’t hurt me… I’m lost” I beg. I do not want to die yet. I have so much life left to live. “what's a pretty young girl like you doing lost in the woods?” the low grown calls out. “I got into it with my family” I said hesitantly. Trying to understand why the creature cared in the first place.

“ Oh, so you left on bad terms with your family” the voice continues, moving as the wolf begins to circle me “you ran away on your own into the woods” it continues, “and you have no protection”. The wolf began smirking and laughing from his gut. “I think I’ll take you home and make you my third s*x slave” as he said this I began to walk backwards. Trying to escape the death circle and the wolf’s grasp. He picked up his pace however, and before I knew it he was inches away from me.

“I can give you anything you want, get me somewhere where I have cell reception and I can get you money. I can get you shelter, clothing, jewelry, anything you want. Just name it.” I was lying through my teeth. My family did not have enough money to meet ridiculous demands from a wolf. Maybe I could trick it into letting me go home and gather these things though. Then I could tell my parents what’s going on and hopefully we can figure it out together. The wolf paused for a moment, seeming to consider what I said. “oh really?” he replies. I nod my head so fast, I think it’s going to fly off of my neck. “y-yes” I shakily reply.

He moves even closer to my face, I can now smell his breath. It wreaks of rotten meat and eggs. In this moment, the confident Iridessa I had become, quickly faded into the background as I tried any tactic possible to survive. “I do not care about any of those things.” Spit flies off of it’s teeth and droplets land on my cheek. “Anything I want, I will take. Including you.”

My body feels like it’s convulsing with fear. My spine shakes, and my heart is beating so fast I’m convinced a heart attack will kill me first. The wolf leans closer to my neck and begins opening it’s mouth when I use all my strength to push it away. The energy flows again through my hands, but this time it is very full. I do not have much strength left in me. It is enough to throw the wolf back and into a tree stump. It laid there for a moment, and for just a second I thought I was going to be able to escape. However, it stood up and shook it’s body. Throwing dirt left and right, and helping him refocus. The wolf stared at me for a moment and said “are you a witch?”. ‘A witch’ I thought. I had never paid much attention to mythology. I was practical minded. I believed everything had an explanation. I just haven’t figured out what’s going on with myself yet. Witches, werewolves, vampires, fairies, these were just made up stories. ‘right?’

“ No, I don’t know” I reply. As I finish, the wolf lunges at me again. It was as if he used this moment to catch me off guard. ‘ You should have been ready’, I tell myself. I try running backwards but the wolf moves so fast I can barely see where it’s coming from and where it’s going. Before I know it I hear a snarl above me and it’s paws hit my chest. Knocking me to the ground. The weight of only two of it’s paws on my chest feels like enough to crush it. I’m gasping for air as I see the wolf bare it’s teeth and bring it’s jaws closer to my neck again. I see something flash in the corner of my eye. I turn my head to see metal appearing out of thin air.

First a chest appears, showing a glistening grey tinted metal that appeared very durable. Next, I saw legs and arms forming. Their right hand is holding a sword, and their left is holding a shield. The shield has bright golden emblems surrounding it with sky blue patches throughout. When their legs appear they are already running towards us. ‘What is happening?’ I think to myself before I feel the wolf’s teeth beginning to press against my neck. The wolf is thrown off of me in an instant. It hits the ground hard, landing at least 10 feet from where we were. “You will not touch her. She is under my protection. Leave now, or I will kill you and eat you for dinner.” I hear a woman’s voice call out from under the armor.