I cracked the skull of yet another feral beast with my staff, it's foaming mouth still bared in it's snarl as the wolf collapsed to the ground.

I had lost count in my first week in the woods. Lost count of how many things had tried to kill me. I suppose it made sense. I had been warned since the cradle about the anger this world bore, if only from the curse that Llandelwyn had cast upon our plane before Valindra and Dagon sealed him away.

The world will do it's very best to destroy all human life. Even the very ground will betray a wanderer's feet.

As if I even needed the warning. Those words just as frequently assaulted my ears as the visions did my eyes. Every time I got a little more agitated, a little more confused, and now? Angry.

All I could feel was anger.

I was angry at the unfairness of life, I was angry at the chirping birds, the sighing winds, at everything that put a veil of peace on this bloodstained world. I hated it. And I was angry.

Waking up from that same vision with Valindra and Dagon again, I felt unnerved. This time it was as though those amber eyes stared directly into my soul, infecting me. The feeling of being watched would not go away. I crouched down by a stagnant pond, choosing not to look to whatever lurked beneath those green depths and instead cupped the water, splashing my face. I stared into the water, watching my reflection still.

Hard golden eyes glared back at me.

I furrowed my brow at the image, the eyes too close to Dagon's for my liking. I quickly shook my head of the thought. What kind of audacity did I have to think that I was anywhere near similar to Dagon. A legend in our time, who fought back against the epitome of evil. It was nonsense coming from my exhaustion-addled brain, that's what. My raven-black hair fell down around me like a curtain, blocking my view. As it always did.

Such annoyances... They made me so angry sometimes. It was moments like these that if I still had my flames, the world would have been set aflame a hundred times over. I settled for gripping the knife strapped to my waist and holding up a fistful of my hair, staring directly into the pond as I brought the knife across in a swift motion.

The strands of hair muddied the pond, and I was left with chin-length, unruly black hair. I huffed. It was better. Lighter.

A weight lifted off of my chest. I wish I could have done more of that. It felt good, cathartic even.

I went to dip my hair back into the pond when I heard an unearthly growl behind me. I froze, slowly turning towards the predator with my hand on my rod. My knuckles were white with how tightly I clutched it, my hand shaking with the strain of it. The wolf was built large and tall, yet it was scrawny, you could see it's branch-like ribs through its matted pelt. It must have been an alpha that lost its way, now struggling to survive. Howls from all around began to ring through, all very, very close to me.

Of course the alpha wasn't alone. The glint in it's eyes almost seemed to assure it's victory.

I clenched my teeth and spun around, leaping over the pond and sprinting through the trees. There was no way I could fight off a pack of them all at once, not without my sorcery. My heart constricted at the thought of using such a damnable magic anyways. The very flames that sentenced my entire village to death.

No. I would never use that fire again, even if I could.

The branches from the trees reached out towards me, slicing me as I sped through the forest, leaving a blood trail for that ravenous pack to follow. I could hear those thundering steps behind me, hot on my tail. Just ahead I could hear the rush of a waterfall, and I kept onward, desperate for the safety of the water.

It was all too easy for the cursed earth to attack, though. A vine whipped out from the soil and wrapped itself around my ankle, pulling sharply and bringing me to the ground. The ground rushed up to me as I skidded belly-down into the dirt.

Panicked, I scrambled for my knife, but my fingers slipped as I unsheathed it, and when I went to reach it I pushed it away. Taking it's chance, the earth happily enwrapped the blade from my hands. Adrenaline was all that fueled me now.

Without waiting I ripped and tore at the vicious vines but to no avail. My precious knife was lost to the forest. Thudding paws like low thunder stalked over, and from the angle of the forest floor, that same scrawny alpha looked like a king. It's brown fur gleaming with blood of other preys and it's jaws salivating over my frame. I closed my eyes and shuddered. Let's hope this is quick.

Yelps and howls were heard from my left, and both the wolf and I looked towards the sound. I could hear the creature's run, each of it's weighty steps like a war-drum through the woods, shaking the trees with it's sheer force.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

The alpha didn't have time to duck and take cover, not as the biggest, night-black wolf jumped through the trees, it's muzzle wide open with fangs like talons that tore through the other wolf's hide. With a shake of the head and a grotesque wet crunch, alpha's head went limp before the other creature dropped it to the ground, where remained unmoving. The wolf took a step back, it's claw tearing through the vines that bound me with ease. I quickly crab-walked away, but with the growls all around me... My legs wouldn't work with me. My heartbeat was too loud in my ears, my breath not catching. I was paralyzed before this monster.

The black wolf turned to stare at me then. It was at least three times my size, which said something, because even for a woman I was quite tall. Upon closer inspection, its black furs were actually feathers, that gleamed in the spotty forest light. But when it looked at me, with those scarlet eyes... It looked unnervingly conscious. A twig snapped beyond our sight, and the wolf's hackles raised, a violent snarl ripping through it's jaws. It turned around and lunged towards me, and I cried out, squeezing my eyes shut.

It's mouth clamped on the back of my shirt, and my eyes flew open as he growled with effort, flinging me over his back to land on his thick hide. Without wasting another moment the beast below me took off, heading towards the sound of the waterfall, it's legs sure and steady despite the speed with which it ran. I gripped it's fur-feathers and pressed my head to it's shoulder, unsure of why it was saving me, but thankful nonetheless.

At least, I was thankful until we broke through the trees, and the waterfall was clear as day. As was the sheer drop that came with it, down to place that we couldn't see. The wolf below me didn't slow, in fact if anything it sped up, as though dropping down into unknown depths wasn't a bad idea.

I twisted my head back behind me, my eyes widening as the rest of the pack sprinted after us, now looking at us with vengeance, less as prey. Even they began to back off though, seeing our destination.

I leaned down next to the wolf's ear, whispering softly. "I don't think we should jump this," it huffed, it's ears now pressed back. "No, please, we shouldn't-"

"Shut up," it barked, and my eyes widened at the words. Without much more to say, he leaped over the edge, and at first, with his speed and the power of his jump, it felt like we were flying. Then my stomach rushed up through my throat, my hair lifting up above me as our descent began.

I quickly forgot all about the fact that the wolf could speak as I neared the water, and slammed into it.

~~~

I could smell before I really knew I was awake. There was a gentle crackling fire, one that smelled delicious, like a rabbit roast, tinged with smoke and the scent of ash. Slowly I rose from my position, noting that my skin was still quite damp. And chilly. My eyes flew open then.

Damp? I fell from the waterfall...

My skin was bare? Where were my clothes?

My eyes landed on a large man in front of me then, my heart in my throat. He had a vicious scar over his bumped nose bridge, his red eyes were lowered to the fire, eyeing the spit with hunger. His hair was black and long, tied back in an unruly braid. Just above his ears were raven feathers, three of them, spread out like a fan. They seemed to grow from his skin.

That's when I realized that this man was not human. Far from it, in fact. After a little bit of thought, I recognized those eyes, the eyes of the wolf who had saved me. So if the feathers were any indication, and his wolf form with the feathers rather than fur... He was a Shifter. An immortal blessed by the Old Goddess Naeyv with the ability to take on the characteristics of any animals they choose, though they typically had a favoured form. Trueskin, if I recalled my lessons correctly.

I would wager he much preferred the elegance of his raven form.

My arms crossed over my bare chest, shivering slightly. His eyes flicked up briefly, before glancing back down to the fire, not even caring that I was totally naked before him. "Thank you for saving me," I muttered over the fire, and he grunted, reaching forward and plucking a stick with a roasted rabbit on it, and tossed it over to me. I sucked in a breath as I caught it, fumbling slightly before sighing. I casted aside my last piece of dignity and bit into the charred flesh. It had no spices to it, but still... It was better than foraging half-safe berries from the woods that had been cursed to seek out my death.

My stomach, for the first time in this week alone, was full. I licked my fingers of the game, sucking away the last of the juices, glancing up through my lashes towards my saviour. He was staring directly at me now, his scarlet eyes contemplating. It took another moment before he spoke again, once more averting his eyes back down towards the fire.

"Your clothes are gone. Disintegrated as soon as they touched the water. Serious disrepair will do that." I sighed, resting my forehead on my knees. Something small flopped down beside me, and I looked up and saw the skin of two rabbits, still bloodied. "I will teach you. How to hunt, how to create your own clothes, how to survive. Then I'll drop you off at the nearest city, and we won't have to bother with each other ever again."

"But why?" I couldn't help but blurt out, even when I knew just as well that the answer was obvious: The Imperial Fae Queen Theanne had decreed it, so every race under the Fae Empire's rule had to put in their best effort to ensure the safety of humans. I could clearly that the Shifter didn't want anything to do with me, yet some unspoken force pressured him into it. I pitied him. There were doubtless hundreds of other things he needed to do, but when he saw me, he was chained down. I was just a bother.

Something deep inside me cried out at that thought.

I lifted my gaze, determined. "I'll do my best to learn from you, then. What's your name?" I couldn't help but blurt out, and his gaze narrowed dangerously. It was wrong of me to expect an answer.

"You haven't earned it yet. Get to scrubbing," he jerked his chin at the skins, and I quickly grabbed them, rushing to the lake beside us, the one he must have pulled us from.

I plunged the skins in the frigid water. And with it, took my first step into surviving in the wild.