The Wolves of Bellrose

Chapter Four

Alouette and Aldert carefully retraced their steps to the village edge, whereupon they found the scuffed tracks and jacket. They followed the tracks a little further into the forest, until the tracks vanished. Not any sign of where the victim and their attacker might have gone. With little noise and even less speaking, Alouette and Aldert searched the small clearing, for any small signs of anything. Though they were both desperate to find the missing person, they also knew they had to be calm and methodical in their searching for tracks, otherwise they would miss some sign that a calmer person might not have missed.

Alouette whistled to Aldert as a snagged thread of cloth caught her eye. They followed the direction the thread lead in, draping lightly across low-hanging branches. The wind whispered through the trees as they closed overhead, the forest becoming thicker and darker as they progressed. Insects and animals growing quieter and quieter with each step they took. Even falling leaves seemed to descend with caution from their heights, to land softly upon the dark soil. A faint, but clearly well-travelled path, not much wider than an animal track guided Aldert and Alouette now. Their foot-falls were muted against the packed dirt, their steps careful to avoid leaves and twigs.

As they were but a few steps from the end of the tree-line, all natural sounds of the forest ceased. Even the trees stopped rustling in the faint breeze. They both froze where they were, one foot in the air about to land. The sweet smell of rotting decay filled the clearing ahead of them, drifting back to them. As they strained there eyes, they could see faint movement at the mouth of a particularly large cave. They could have stood there for hours before the figure retreated. Instead, as the sun struggled to reach its zenith, the shadow slowly disappeared deeper into the cave. Alouette and Aldert slowly moved from the path into the trees around the clearing to try to get a better idea of what they were dealing with.

The untrimmed grass in the clearing waved in a non-existent breeze. The cave mouth was huge and as they got closer they could see if was not naturally that large. Large gouge-marks raked across the black rock, though the marks were not as sharp as they once would have been, as if they had been weathered over many, many years. Nothing else grew in the clearing, save for a sole leafless tree, as if even the forest was too frightened to encroach upon this territory. The tree itself was nothing special, not much more than what appeared to be a dead hunk of wood, but upon closer inspection Alouette could see the faint etchings upon its trunk that signal a witches' hide-out. And of course, the human skin that was draped upon one of the lower branches also proclaimed this a witches' hide out.

A Black Annis' home, to be more specific.

A Black Annis was an especially evil witch that walked the earth. It had no soul, as it had long ago withered with any humanity it might have had as an ordinary witch. These witches chose the path of dark magic. As a result of their practising of all types of dark magic, including necromancy, they were often considered immortal. However they were not immortal and very killable. They usually only left their dwelling during the night, often moonless nights were their favourite. And their favourite snack was usually children. This Black Annis was acting hugely out of character by taking a fully grown human during daylight. That just made Alouette and Aldert approach the situation with even more caution than before. As one they pulled back into the forest together, barely making a sound as they drifted quietly through the trees, to a clearing out of sight of the witches territory and hopefully well out of her hearing. Sound finally returned and they both exhaled and looked across at each other. Aldert leaned against a tree and rubbed his forehead, while Alouette paced in front of him, eyebrows creased in concentration.

"So, uh, this is an unusual case," Aldert stated, breaking the tense silence of the clearing. Alouette stopped pacing, placed her hands on her hips and sighed.