A shiver ran down my spine as the Feral Wolves came into view, the most deadly and feared beasts of the north about whom I'd heard more rumors than I could possibly count started emerging from behind the trees coming at me from all directions with great speed.

To my utter horror, the ground covered in snow around me was slowly being crowded by the scary but magnificent creatures, they were still at a great distance from me for they looked like tiny specks getting larger slowly but surely.

I was shivering clad in my ragged clothes, maybe because I was cold or maybe because I was scared and overwhelmed for I had mixed emotions.

My brain had gone numb, since I simply couldn't comprehend what was happening around me, maybe I felt this way in view of the fact how unbelievable all this was.

With all the energy I could muster up, I sat myself in an upright position, with one hand on the pyre of wood supporting my body and the other on my forehead massaging the temple, as my brain hammered repeatedly against my skull.

I tried to lift myself up and rise to my feet with all the energy I could coax out of me but it wasn't enough for I slumped back down to my original position, as a result, the logs of wood I'd been laid on shifted and rattled under my weight.

It was like someone had sucked the energy out of me and left me empty inside.

My body was covered with snow as it rained from the sky with great intensity, the people of my village called it a snowstorm and the villagers had this belief that it marked the beginning of something truly greater than themselves.

My attention was back onto the wolves as they were closing in on me. The people standing around me continued their chanting.

I hadn't been able to see the man trying to wake me up clearly for there was only darkness around me but the dark had now transformed to light.

As a result, I noticed the bizarre appearance of the formidably large group of people surrounding me.

They were all dressed in black gowns and shiny, dark blue cloaks with a long hoodie over their heads which came just above their foreheads and a silver chain of a locket with a gem of the same color as the cloak embedded in the center of a small circular silver plate the size of a bangle which came down just below their chest to complete their mystifying look.

I felt this familiar surge of electricity within me like a rush of energy in my body as the wolves were nearing in on me.

As the wolves closed in on me, I felt like my body would explode from the energy being emitted from me and flowing out in every direction.

I didn't know what was happening to me, I felt so airy like I didn't exist anymore.

I was just an embodiment of nothingness, that is when everything started fading out and all that was left was darkness and gloom.

I shifted in my position, trying to make myself more comfortable but a rough, gnarly branch of a tree isn't exactly the snuggest place to sleep in.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

I knew it was morning because just after the break of dawn, the puffins would start chirping all over the northern region of the world and one could hear their shrill and highly annoying chirp from far away.

I for one could hear it just fine, they felt like a woodpecker pecking in my ear.

With a scowl on my face, I woke up dreary-eyed and yawned very audibly, I stretched out my body as best I could for there wasn't exactly room for exercise.

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and forced myself to get up as I leaned against the trunk of the tree to support my weight.

I really didn't want to say it, but I.....I remembered the dream but didn't want to fixate on it too much and overanalyze its meaning. But I just couldn't help it, these dreams had to mean something.

I'd had visions before but none quite as detailed and long as this one, the others were just blurry images I couldn't even remember properly whereas this one....this dream had been much more specific.

I decided to dwell on it later, to try and decipher its meaning but for now, I had to hunt. I wasn't exactly cheery about the idea but damn me if I didn't admit I was just a tiny bit excited to go on my first hunt.

had shot before when I got the chance but only at inanimate objects, I'd heard one of my cousins describing his first hunt as the most exhilarating experience of his life, the adrenaline rush, the excitement a hunter felt when he caught his first prey was indescribable......I involuntarily sighed out.

I reached out for my bag, the bunny had disappeared inside.

I reached into the bag and when I looked inside it, I really saw red.....I was glowering from anger.....my body was shaking so violently from fury I'm surprised I didn't fall off.

I'd saved that little white scum's life and what had he given me in return....he'd nibbled on all the apples and also eaten some of the peanuts, that ungrateful piece of shit... Gah!!!

No, no...I was not going to lose my temper...no, I couldn't afford to lose my temper but there's only so much a seventeen-year-old can take.

But I was really mad, I'd shown the hare kindness when I wasn't even sure I'd survive to see another day.

No, Bella....be reasonable, could I really blame the rabbit.

I mean who knows how long he's been out here and I didn't know what he was feeling since I hadn't really known real hunger but I was getting an inkling of what it felt like.

The bunny was still sleeping....um, I know this sounds silly but I think there was just a hint of a smile on the bunny's face, there was no way I could be mad at him now.

I stilled, not from fear but concentration as I heard a chirp most probably from a puffin, the bunny's ears pricked up instantly as did mine.....figuratively speaking.

I slowly stood up on my feet as I thoroughly scanned the tree with my piercing eyes until my gaze fell upon the puffin, as it merrily sat there chirping his fucking head off with not a care in the world, it had no idea what was coming for it.

My mind was very much active now, so I could think straight which enabled me to make much calculated moves.

The puffin was sitting on a branch on the other side of the tree at the same height as me, my gaze never left him as I bent down and noiselessly pulled out the bow from the bag and loaded it with one of the arrows I'd spent so much time making, carefully sharpening them.

And sealed the opening of the bag knotting it with a semi-thick string, so the bunny wouldn't jump out and distract me from my target.

The puffin was still lost in its thoughts, paying no heed to the girl who was so eager to put an arrow through its heart.

I loaded the arrow onto the bow with shaking hands, pulling the string towards myself to make it taut but not too taut or there would be too much tension in the string and it could break but taut enough so that the arrow would hit the target with enough force to substantially injure it.

I made an attempt to calm my nerves as I took a deep breath and relaxed my hands as I held the bow in place aiming at the puffin.

The pace of my heart quickened with time, in that moment everything phased out, I could no more hear my raging thoughts or think about my quivering legs, my racing heart.

I could think about nothing but my target. In that moment, I wasn't myself, I was just a hunter aiming for its prey, in that moment, I was truly feral.

The moment I was sure my arrow would hit the target and the timing felt just right, I let go of the arrow.

I grew more anxious as the spell of my indifference to my surroundings was broken. The arrow went snipping through the air , aimed right at the unsuspecting bird.