The Huntress Race

Chapter Three: Strangers in the Forest

" What happened?" Breaking Dawn exclaimed in fear. Silver Frost had arrived back at their home with an unconscious little girl. " Alex, wake up!" Shadowed Moon exclaimed as she nosed the little girl's arm. " Don't get too close, she's hurt," Silver Frost murmured. A brown coloured wolf leaped out of the shadows. " What happened? Oh I knew we shouldn't have let her tackle them alone," the wolf exclaimed with an upset tone. " Be quiet, Tall Oak, Alex mustn't be disturbed," Silver Frost hissed. Tall Oak sniffed the child and licked her face gently. The little girl wriggled away from the wet tongue and blinked open her eyes. "What?" She asked groggily. " Now look what you've done, Tall Oak," Breaking Dawn snapped. "What?" Alex asked again, her eyes unfocused and cloudy. " It's fine now my dear, just sit still while I get rid of that horrid arrow," Silver Frost reassured her. " Don't worry about it, I don't care if it hurts," Alex said with a shrug of her lean shoulders. The kid lifted her hand and yanked on the end of the arrow, it came out with a sucking noise and blood dripping off it. Alex's eyes clouded for a second before she lay down again, " Yeah, should of let you take care of it," Alex said as her eyes rolled up in her head and she lay still again on the blackened ground. " Alex! Get up," Breaking Dawn said as she shook Alex's shoulder. The child didn't respond but after a few more tries she sat up with a wince. " You can rest later, right now we need to tell you something important," the copper coloured wolf said. The kid yawned but was more awake than before. " There are humans here, they are having a contest," Shadowed Moon informed. " Humans always have contests, why does this one involve us?" Silver Frost asked. Of course, a Silver Frost wasn't present when the others had found out their information. " This one is different, all four races have joined in this competition," Breaking Dawn said with a shudder. " What! The four races have never met for a competition, never in my lifetime anyway," Alex exclaimed. " They are in the forest right now," Tall Oak informed. " Do you think we should follow them?" Silver Frost asked in confusion. " No, we have to hide in the centre of the forest," Shadowed Moon said. " Why? This whole forest is our home? A silly contest of strength between the humans is not of our concern," Silver Frost inquired. " Yes, but these strangers are not showing off their strength, they are hunting in this contest," Breaking Dawn said. " What are they hunting?" Alex asked. " The Huntress," Tall Oak said quietly. " We will go in the morning, Alex can't travel tonight," Silver Frost said. " It is decided, the strangers will not find us. If they do, however, we can handle whatever they dish out," Shadowed Moon said with a determined smile. The group let out a howl together, their warning howl to other life forms in the forest. Anyone looking for The Huntress would have to go through them!

" Look out!" I cried to John. He dived to one side of the trail we were following. Closely behind him came a huge axe that swung on a roped. " Thanks Iris, this forest has way more traps than I thought. We have almost died ten times in one day," John puffed, his face red and beaded with sweat. " If this keeps up we'll never be able to find The Huntress before we die," I answered with a laugh. We slowly made our way forward, testing every vine that stretched across the path, in case it was a trip wire. Traps were around every corner of this forest, even the trees had hidden perils. When night arrived I knew I would be ready for a long sleep. With a start I remembered that our plan involved looking at night, I groaned in annoyance. " We need to keep going, we will never find anything in this part of the forest," John said as he gestured to the beautiful green trees and blooming flowers. John pulled ahead as I bent to tie my pack together more securely. I personally didn't want any nosy critters getting in my lovely pack. Then I heard a sound that would haunt my nightmares forever, a sharp cry of horror and sheer terror. I leapt to my feet and sprinted towards the sound. I reached a clearing where I saw the most gut wrenching sight I had ever seen. One of the race three girls lay staring at the sky, her head was at an odd angle and her body was covered in blood from huge rips in her flesh. I recoiled in horror at the sight but the thing that really made my blood curl was that another figure lay next to her, the figure was almost unrecognisable, he too was ripped up and dead but he had died with a scream frozen on his blood covered face. The unfortunate victim was none other than Josh! " Oh gosh, oh gosh," John stuttered as he backed in the opposite direction from the grotesque sight. " John no!" I cried as he tripped over a rock and plummeted backward down a steep hill. When I ran to the last place I'd seen him I saw that he was still alive. " No!" I gasped, he had landed at the bottom of the hill okay, the only problem? He had landed directly on top of a snare, half hidden under some leaf mulch. His leg was caught in the snare and he was rapidly losing blood. I ran down the hill and knelt next to him, still frozen from the shocking ordeal of the dead people I was frozen in shock. " Iris? Will I live?" John croaked as he stared at me. " Yes, yes you will. You just lie still while I go get help," I cried. In most circumstances I would have treated him myself but I had no supplies and was forced to go for help from the others, maybe they could transport John home? I sprinted through the forest and kept running toward the direction that Sally had gone. Then the thought struck me, where had Sally been when Josh had died? She should be close to me if they were walking together. I decided I would comb the area and if she wasn't there I would look somewhere else.