Far Sighted Ch 7: A Predator's Presence

Chapter 7

A Predator’s Presence 

         Branches tore away at my already ragged clothes.  I didn’t feel the scratches from the thorns tearing into my bare arms.  Panic clouded my mind and I didn’t know where I was running to; I had even forgotten what I was running from.  I was just running.  I knew I had to get away.

         “Adanna!”

         The voice barely registered as my legs propelled me ever faster into the depths of the forest.  Why couldn’t I stop?

         “Adanna, stop!”

         I raced forward.

         Breaking through a thick patch of underbrush, sunlight blinded my path.  I slowed to shield my eyes, but couldn’t--wouldn’t stop.  The clearing soon ended and I found myself encased by trees once more. 

         Sure I had come far enough, that I had lost whoever or whatever had been chasing me, I slowed and took in my surroundings.  Nothing but trees, an endless sea of trees.  Greens and browns blended and swirled in the vastness of never-ending trees.  Where was the open air?  I was suffocating.

         Trying to calm and clear my racing mind, I slowed my breathing.  One deep breath in and I was choking on the stench, my old nemesis.  They were looking for me.  They knew I was here and they were going to find me.  The sounds came to my ears just moments later.  The crashing and slashing of underbrush announced the closeness of their presence.

         Which threat was greater?  There was no way to evade both.  Do I turn back and face the unknown, or turn myself over to the men who reveled in pain? 

         Before I could make a decision I felt a hand cover my mouth from behind and pull me to the ground.  My instinct to fight kicked in and I threw my elbow into my attacker’s stomach.  There was a soft grunt, but no loosening of his grip.

         “Are you trying to get caught?”  The demand was hissed right into my ear, quiet enough that it would be heard by no one else.

         He obviously meant this as a rhetorical question, as his hand remained over my mouth, silencing any response I would have given.

         I finally realized who he was.  Sir William.  Then I remembered why I was running, or more importantly, who I was running from. 

         I bit down hard, drawing blood.  He didn’t even flinch, though I could almost picture him gritting his teeth against the pain.

         “I am not your enemy, Adanna.  I’ve never tried to hurt you, nor has Charles.  Can those men say the same?”

         I grudgingly admitted he was right.  But Sir William and Charles, they were…different.  They were something I couldn’t begin to explain, and I feared what I didn’t understand.  I had only heard of such happenings in stories--stories meant to keep little children in line.

         “I can promise you Adanna, we will never hurt you.” 

         My struggles ended, but not as a result of Sir William’s efforts.  The men had appeared and I suddenly remembered the fear they instilled deep in my core.  I was frozen.

         I knew Sir William could feel that I was paralyzed with fear, yet he refused to release his hold. 

         The tracking party was small, consisting of only three members.  They passed quickly, pausing only once to check the trail they followed. 

         Sir William waited a few minutes after their passing to relax and shift his weight. 

         “Are you going to run again, or can I let you go?”

         He removed his hand from my mouth so I could answer.

         “I won’t run.”  I could say nothing more, not to him. 

         I would run, but not from him.  I would run from the monsters who chased us.  I would run with Sir William and Charles.

         “We have to get back to the cave and warn Charles.”

         And so I followed.  What else could I do?

         As Sir William stealthily led us back to the cave, I lost myself in thought.

         I knew what Sir William and Charles were and feared them, but why did I still feel a connection?  Why did I still have to trust him?  Was it even possible to fear someone and trust them at the same time?

         Too many questions, too few answers.  I remembered when life had been simple.  When the hardest question to answer had been, what do you want for supper.  How had life become so complicated and intolerable, so dangerous and unpredictable? 

         Before long we arrived at the cave entrance, Charles standing outside, awaiting our return. 

         “They’re back.”

         “I know.  We nearly had a run-in with them.”

         “We have to leave.  I’ve packed some supplies.”

         So we fled north.  To where, I couldn’t say.



         We’d been walking for half a day and into the night, Sir William and Charles in the lead, looking back every now and then to make sure I still followed.  Weaving our way through the trees in the dark made the going slow.  We were even further delayed when either Sir William or Charles would turn back and mask our trail.

         The forest was thinning, giving way to gently sloping hills.  The full moon shone down, glazing the landscape in hues of blue.  The forest eventually disappeared completely, leaving nothing but open hills. 

         Sir William and Charles were uneasy about being out in the open for all to see.  The cover of darkness was their only comfort. 

         I could feel my eyelids begin to droop as exhaustion set in.  The distance between Sir William, Charles, and I was growing ever wider.

         They must have thought it safe to speak, me being too fatigued to pay attention, for they conversed as if I were not present.

         “She hasn’t made the connection yet?”

         “No.  She’s been too distracted to put things together.”  I hated that it sounded like Sir William was defending me.

         “It would be easier to evade our pursuers if she was aware.”

         “No, it wouldn’t.  She still wouldn’t be able to control it.”

         There was a minute of silence before Charles moved onto another subject. 

         “We need a direction.  We can’t just run blind.”

         “Our best bet is to go where they wouldn’t be able to track us so easily; somewhere secluded, but where there’s enough food and water to survive.”

         They went silent as they considered their options.  If I had known the area and if I knew I wouldn’t be able to glean any more information from their conversation, I would have lent my opinion.

         “Father’s canyon.”

         “King’s Canyon?”  Sir William nodded.  “You remember that?  You were very young when Father took us there.”

         “I remember, and it’s perfect.  Barren except for the springs and the deer that travel through for the grazing on the other side.”

         “King’s Canyon it is.”   

         King’s Canyon…what destiny awaited me there?

         My exhaustion must have caught up with me.  The scenery around me changed.  Rolling, moonlit hills were replaced with intimidating rock walls.  They rose on either side, closing me in.  I heard myself gasp in astonishment at the sudden change.

         Sir William and Charles whirled to see what had upset me.

         “Another episode?”

         “No, she’s not in pain.  It’s something else.”  Sir William approached cautiously, aware that I still feared him.  “Adanna?”

         “Where are we?”

         Sir William and Charles looked from me to each other, exchanging a questioning glance.

         “We’re in the foothills of the Granthor Mountains.  We’ve decided to head for King’s Canyon.”

         “No.  We’re not in the hills.”  I thought perhaps I was having a hallucination, but my mind was clear.  I could see this, but they couldn’t even though they stood right in the middle of it.  What was this?

         As quickly as it had come, it was gone.  I shook my head, a reflex to clear my mind, but there was nothing to clear. 

         “Adanna?”

         I looked up to find Sir William standing three feet away. 

         “Are you alright?”

         I didn’t want his pity or his help.  “I’m fine, just tired.”

         “We should probably stop and rest for a while, William.”

         “I suppose.  We’ve gotten far enough ahead of them, it should be alright.” 

         Sir William and Charles lay down where they were, nestling into the long, cool grass for the night.  I walked a few paces away and did the same.

         Though I was exhausted, sleep eluded me.  Questions plagued my mind, the answers tormenting and taunting in their elusiveness. 

         Sir William was restless.  I could hear him tossing and turning in the stillness of the night. 

         “You can trust us, you know.”

         I jumped, started to find Charles had snuck up beside me without my seeing him.  How could he be so silent, so invisible?

         “Especially William.  We’re only trying to help.”

         “How?  By taking me away from the only home and family I have?  By running me all over the kingdom, getting me captured and tortured?  By showing me your deepest, darkest secret and expecting me to readily accept it?”

         Charles grew more and more angry as I continued.  I would have kept going, but his eyes blazed with an unquenchable fire that left me uneasy.  He barely held in the torrent when he spoke.  “May I remind you, Adanna, that Sir William helped you, not only when that knight would have taken you as his unwilling bride, but when he risked his own life to go into that camp of barbarians and rescue you.  He endured the same torment that was inflicted upon you twice over.  Never forget, Adanna, you owe William your very life.  Nothing short of death can release you from that debt.”

         He rose and stalked off to lay beside his brother, not another word spoken.  He didn’t need to.  Guilt washed over me.  I had judged wrongly and on impulse.  What right had I to judge either of them?  Did a person’s shape define their character? 

         I still feared their wolf form, but I did not fear them.  I could recognize the instinctual fear now.  The flight response to a predator’s presence.

         Sleep finally found me in the early hours of the morning, the grey of the horizon already beginning to announce the start of a new day.



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Far Sighted Ch 8 King's Canyon  (13+) Imagine what she would do if she found out she was wolfen as well. #1566366 by Far Sighted