On the run

Aaliyah Wind whipped through my fur as I race through the forest. The only sounds are those of my paws hitting the ground, and the hunters, as they scramble to catch me. I feel an arrow zip by my ear, the scent of wolfsbane following with it. I push myself to run faster. I had avoided hunters for three months, but today my luck ran out. I shouldn’t have stopped in this town. I knew I shouldn’t have. I was just so tired of running that a peaceful night’s rest, and a full belly, was too much to ignore. Now I wished I could have done what I always do, keep moving. I scan the forest as I run. Everything is unfamiliar, I have definitely never been here before. “She is over there, shoot her! You better not lose her again!” I hear the lead hunter scream. Another arrow whizzes by, barely missing me. I smell at least six hunters, and this area was completely unknown to me. I just have to get far enough away to lose them and hopefully disappear again. I jump over fallen trees and patches of raised dirt, my legs and lungs burning. I am running out of steam fast, my wolf whining in my head. I push harder, willing her to continue as I came up on a cliff. I stop and sniff the air. Water. I look over the edge and take a deep breath. It was a river. I pace back and forth trying to gauge if I will make it if I jump. My wolf urges me on, she knows we are running for our life. “Don’t worry Nyx, we aren’t dying today.” I mutter to her and leap off the cliff just as an arrow blows by me and grazes my shoulder. I howl in pain at the wolfsbane laced arrow as I fall from the cliff. I can hear the hunters panicking “she jumped! Get down there and find her! Bring her to me!” The hunters retreat to find another way down as I fall aimlessly through the sky. After what feels like forever, my wolfs body crashes into the water with so much force it knocks the wind out of me. “We have to get out of the water and tend to our wounds” I say to Nyx. I struggle against the current to swim to the forest line. I know my human body wouldn’t stand a chance. I push my body harder, paddling to the shoreline. After what seems like forever, my exhausted muscles give out just as I reach the shore. Exhaustion hits me, along with the pain from the wolfsbane. Nyx whimpers in my head as she’s forced to shift back to my human body. Wolfsbane is deadly for wolves, and I had to take a break. I lay naked on the shore, consciousness trying to leave me. I drag my body up the shore, leaving a trail of blood behind me. I try to pull myself up, but darkness takes over.