A Thorny Tale

A Thorny Tale: Part nine

Chapter Thirty-One

Briar

After I had finished my business in the woods, I was making my way back carefully with the lantern I had from Hunter's stash for tonight's activities to pass the night away with.

I had gone a fair distance so as not to be seen but now I wished I hadn't of done that. The lights of the campfires could no longer be seen. The darkness was oppressive out here and I felt there was more out here watching me than I could guess at.

I decided to cast my magical senses wider to feel the nature around me better and get to know the lay of the land but it was kind of a sensory overload for me. The nature all around me could clearly sense my presence in their midst as they were drawn to my magic and they all wished to commune with me but it was all too overwhelming to handle the intense sensation.

I slowly retreated from their reach carefully so as not to be ensnared amongst all the gentle green lights of energy I sensed more than actually saw but as I was retreating, a red spiking energy sensed me in this world and shot toward me in this magical landscape of the mind.

I reacted without thinking and I blindly snapped the connection fast and found myself being thrust back into the real world around me with my feeble lantern's light fighting back the darkness.

It took a moment to regain my normal night vision and senses but I knew I needed to go and quickly. I pushed off in the direction I judged the camp was in, jumping over the tree roots that the wildly swinging lantern in my hand revealed in my hurry to try to get away from whatever was out here looking specifically for me now but it was too late as I heard a crashing sound that seem to come from all around me and I halted in my escape, trying to get my whooshing breath back under control as I watched the darkness in rising fear.

I slowly spun around in a circle holding my lantern out away from me to shine further into the darkness to see what was out there and I halted as a pair of eyes glowed back at me and slowly blinked.

So this was some kind of animal but how could I sense an animal? I could only sense plant related things as far as I knew but I didn't want to find out what this was and I knew I was too far away even for the fleet footed Fae guards to reach me on time to stop anything from happening to me even if I called out for help now, that much I knew to be true.

I placed one trembling foot back and then I slowly slid my other foot back as well. But the thing in the dark gave me a warning growl and I froze my movements.

After what felt like an eternity of waiting, my arm holding the lantern up was beginning to tremble and a cold sweat slid down my back. Only then when my body was beginning to feel the strain of freezing in place did the creature then stalk out of the darkness slowly, first revealing one fur covered paw after another and its pointy eared head appeared a moment later, blinking green gold eyes lazily up at me as it approached.

I realised as it revealed more of its form that I had seen something like this from a picture book I once looked at, that this was a wolf that stood before me but of a curious colour, the wolf's fur was the same colouring as its eyes were that was reflected in the light of my lantern and the animal halted right there in the circle of my light.

As I stared in shock at the beast before me, it studied me back as well with it's glowing eyes and then it began to slowly walk closer towards me, it's body on high alert, it's ears twitching back and forth as it kept watching me.

Soon it was right in front of me, my head dropped down to keep it in my line of sight and the wolf sniffed me delicately and made up its mind about something as it pushed its huge head into my empty hand and nudged it as if it wanted me to rub its head like a pet.