Sanctum: Evigilationis

Snowy Revelations

She was gone. And I knew it. I decided to wander a little, try and see what I could find. I walked into the kitchen to find that there was a meal layed out for me. I guess she was going to bring in some food, but didn't. I hastily ate the meal, then realized, I am going to have to find food to keep me going. My eyes wandered to the armory. They lingered there until I remembered Cecelia's words. Only use if you need them. Although, she had been kind enough to leave a hunting knife on the table. I searched the chest that would have held food, if there was any. No dice. 

I looked around desperately to see if there was anything else or anyone else. Nothing. I was alone again. I took a look outside. Snow was falling, just like it fell when I first got there. Steadily, without pause or stop. There was no wind however. The birds were outside. I could hear them singing in the cabin. Something else was there. A note.

"Dear Daedalus, 

You need to know. This cabin is yours. So are it's contents. The woods that you see are from your imagination. Or so I have been told by Cecelia and Alexandria. You may not remember me, or them, but whatever you do, until you remember some of those things that you learned, you CANNOT go into the dark sections of the forest. I know you have seen Cecelia. She would have given you this note. But whatever you have thought of until this point, it is all wrong. Just as you are indeed in a coma, we are only spectres. Only thoughts and memories speaking to you in your unconscious state. We can visit you when we think of you in an unconscious state as well, like sleeping. Whatever is in your mind, you may have to fight. You may have to survive alone for a while in between our visits. As a spectre, I possess all the memories of your mother. But she possesses none of these memories made in this place. Above all things, you can go anywhere in the forest during the days. Stay away from the dark. ~ Catherine

I stood there in stunned silence. I could go anywhere during the day? I had to stay away from the dark part of the forest. These rules seemed simple. I looked again at the note. It was written on clean but old looking paper. The handwriting was scratchy, yet fluid. She knew exactly what she needed to say. 

"Well," I said "I am not getting any food like this." I grabbed the knife. "I'll see what I can do with this."

As I stepped outside, I froze. But I was not cold. The sun was setting. And that is when I first saw them. The reason why Catherine wanted me to stay away from the dark part of the woods. Far off, I saw them. A pack of wolves. 

Even from this distance, I could easily see them. Their coats had an uncanny beauty, they were grey and seemed to flow like fog. Slowly and steadily. Even as they ran, their coats barely moved. From this distance I could see their teeth. Long, Sharp, and curved slightly. These were no natural wolves. They seemed engineered. Not only were they too perfect, but they were frightening.

As I stood there I watched them as they moved. Strategically and easily. Then suddenly they made a sharp increase in speed. And they were coming straight for me. Then most of them stopped. The very edge of clearing still had light in it. However one of them continued on towards me. 

I noticed now how wickedly sharp their eyes were. They made the teeth in their mouths look like dull blocks of wood. I knew those were eyes that could point out a weakness and exploit it. The wolves also looked to be wearing collars. Not the nice kind of collar that you would put on your dog, a collar made of the roughest materials. However they all had a large brass name plates on them which i could read from a while away. Some were names like "Greed, Arrogance, Impulsiveness, Hatred, Anger, Grudges." Some also included fears, and others still had names of the problems I had.

The one called "Arrogance" was the wolf that charged me. I drew my knife. Suddenly time seemed to slow down. I saw the way that his muscles were moving in his legs and thighs. I watched where his eyes wen't. They went from my knife to me, looking at me as one looks at a piece of choice meat. Trying to figure out the best place to cut. His eyes locked. My knife reacted as he feinted to the left then jumped with all his might. My reflexes took over. I side stepped and ducked. It only partially worked. His claws gouged out a few cut on my back. I felt them, but they dissipated when I looked up to see the wolf preparing to charge again. I got into a better position. This time When he pounced i saw that his beady little eyes were focused right under my neck. Near the collar bone.

He pounced again, and once again my reflexes took over. I side stepped again, but when I ducked, I immediately launched myself into a spin. I saw him jump over as he realized his danger. He looked at me to see if I noticed. There was pure fear in his eyes as my knife swung and made contact.

A sickening shwickk....... yelp of pain. Then there I was with a wolf that would not go down so easily. I noticed the sun was going down. I did not have much time. This time when he jumped, I knew he was injured, so I charged him. Mid-jump I saw his eyes widen, I had startled him. I grabbed him by the mouth before he could hit me, but it was too late. We crashed into the snow.

All I saw was a fury of white as his teeth snapped at my neck. I was so busy wrestling him that I forgot all about my knife that was still clutched in my right hand. I let the wolf bite down on my left arm. I wet out a wail. His teeth are like ice, yet are as painful as a searing brand. He seems to think victory is at hand.

"You have got some teeth, but I have a Bite of my own!" I yelled swinging my right arm, knife in hand, towards the wolf. The knife went into his neck, his eyes widened with shock. I shook the knife and as it went in, it ground against bone. Arrogance stopped clawing at me and his bite lessened in strength.  I have the knife another good shove for good measure, and he collapsed on top of me. Stink filled my nostrils as he took his final breath and exhaled.

He was heavier than he looked. His blood was flowing over my arm, oozing from his mouth. I gave him a shove to get him off, but only more blood came out.. I heard enraged howls and growls as I pushed him off. The other wolves would finish me off for sure. I remembered how much I used to want to see Cecelia. All the hopes that I had. All the dreams. They were about to be crushed unless I did something. I finally got Arrogance off of me and picked up my knife. I was still a little shaky but I soon regained my balance, and what is more, I stood and prepared to fight. The sun went down and now the Wolves advanced up the hill. They took their time knowing that they could outrun me to the door, and they could overpower me. I gripped my knife tighter and started slowly retreating.

Then suddenly A shadow appeared on my left and right. I thought they were wolves, until I saw the wolves reaction themselves. They yelped in surprise as the shadows attacked them, scaring them off. It wasn't until then that I got a good image of them. Dogs. I was saved, for now. The wolves yelped back off into the darkness and the dogs and myself fled back into the cabin. I was tired of the world outside, and right then sleeping sounded like the greatest thing since sliced bread.