Wolf

Chapter 6

~Aala~

As the sounds of the horses faded, I worked up the strength to move. I walked past the logs, to where the men tied their horses up before. I could see the nervous footprints left behind by the horses, wondering if their master would be returning. I knew that they would, for I was not the one to kill a human, no matter what.

I moved towards the entrance to the forrest slowly, flicking my ears everywhere to make sure that I wasn't being followed, watched or hunted. I was beggining to think that the Prince would just keep coming to the forrest everyday to look for me, but then again, it had only been two times so far, so that's hardly a compare.

I approached the last tree before the paddock. I sat in the shade, watching the horses graze as I had done before. I put my head in my paws and watched the people in the paddocks beside me. They couldn't see me, because of their dim eyesight, but I could see them, all the same. I knew that nobody would want to come and visit the forrest without good reason, and there really wasn't one today.

The sounds of birds overhead distracted me. They were calling to their mates that were gathering food from the field. I knew that the people wouldn't be happy, but the birds have to eat to survive, so they should be able to eat whatever they want. That's what Candace told me when I was a pup, anyway. Yes, a pup. I actually have to live the way that a dog would, with the puppy and all that. So I know how it feels for a dog, or a wolf. I saw something and I had to chase it. If it was my tail, it would be very sore by the end of the day. If it was a mouse, it would be dead within half an hour.

A beautiful bird, a huge black bird, swooped down to the ground, spotting a bug. I watched as he pecked the ground and pulled a long juicy worm from the deapths of the ground. The crow flew back to its nest, where no doubt little chicks were waiting to be fed with the worm.

I flattened my head against my warm black paws and the green grass. I didn't close my eyes, for fear that somebody would see me this far out of the woods, but I did let my guard down for a little while as I looked at the horses.

~Sam~

Alexander grabbed the bow and arrow and slung it across his back. The quiver held about fifteen silver arrows. They looked dangerously dangerous. I would hate for one of those to hit me. No doubt anybody would, really.

"What do you plan on doing with that, Sir?" I asked. I hoped that he wouldn't say shoot some wolves, though that would be wishful thinking, because I knew from the moment that he asked to go for a ride, he meant to the forest. Apparently he had heard that there was good game in the forrest, and now wanted to see for himself.

"Hunting. Where is the best spot?" Alexander said. He looked through the paddocks and at the forrest. I shuddered as a grin spread on his face. I knew instantly that he would want to go there. Where my wolf was.

"Um, the forrest over that way." I said, steering his glance to the forrest boundry from the village. He laughed, as though he waas that easy to fool. I sighed, knowing immediatly we were going looking for my wolf.

"But that's so far away. What about this one? Your father told me that there is excellent game." He insisted. I just nodded. That was all that I could do.

I led Shiver out of her stall and to the mounting block. I mounted her broad back and waited for the rest of the group to be ready. Ben was already sitting on Wire, and Alexander was just finishing with his horse. Shiver looked the stallion up and down. As soon as he walked out of the stall, she side stepped closer to Wire, who just glared at the new threat. I knew that Wire was the boss of this paddock, but I couldn't see what would happen with the new horse.

Shiver took comfort in Wire as we walked through the paddock gate. We trotted, letting the horses warm up before cantering. I scanned the forrest again, but couldn't see anything. I kept cantering and then realised that I could see something. And this something was my wolf.

~Aala~

I looked up again. This time I realised my mistake. Three horses, a black and two bays, were cantering closer. I could see the Prince, his friend and another well dressed man. I couldn't even guess who he was, though. They were cantering with speed. The Prince looked at me, then at the man nervously. I could sense that he was telling me to get out.

I quickly stood, backing away slowly into the shade so that they wouldn't be able to see me if they hadn't already. I brushed my tail against a tree. Some leaves got caught in my tail, and that's when I ran.

I turned full speed and raced through the forrest. I heard an unfammilar voice yell charge, so I knew that he had seen me. I continued to run. I ran further than I did this morning. Than I thought that I would ever need to run. I just kept running though. The trees grew so thick that I knew there was no way that the horses would be able to continue galloping, so I slowed. Birds overhead gave warning, though. I turned to see the prince, his friend and the other man. They were walking. I quickly hid.

The bush in which I hid in was small, but big enough to hide my coat. I couldn't sense if they were able to see me, though. I hoped that they couldn't. I lay as flat on the ground as possible. I tried to make my coat look like dirt, which is easy because of the colour.

"Where did that damn wolf go?" The same voice that led the chase growled. He paced back and forth with the prince and his friend just stood there, looking at each other. They could tell that something was not right with this pattern. They knew that I was hiding.

"No idea. I do know Alexander that the horses will be worried." The prince said. He was trying to steer him away from me. It was as though he valued my life. I felt so happy for a second. Then that second ended.