Wolfheart

~Dark On Me~ (7)

The flames had petered out to nothing more than faintly glowing embers that pulsated occasionally with the searing heat that gave them life.

I watched them blankly, eyes and face void of all emotion. I had eventually brought myself to stand sometime well into the folds of the night, and had watched the hungry flames as they burned the remains of Lanakila. Since that moment I was incapable of moving, I only stood somewhat unsteadily, rocking back and forth on my heels slightly.

Eventually, I turned my back on the repulsive, recent memories, and began to yet again, walk aimlessly. Once more, I was alone in the Evermore Forest. And in spite of all that had just taken place, I had a new purpose, a purpose that filled me with the flames of anger and hatred.

Though I knew nothing of this new adversary, I had this deep, guttural feeling that whatever it may be, its residence was this very forest, and I was going to track them down, no matter what may become of myself.

I tightened the blood-caked, leathery belt around my waist as I had seen the young lady do. It barely fit around my middle, taking into account that Lanakila had been much smaller than me, indeed. The one thing I had managed to salvage of the young lady, was her sword, sheath and belt. I knew not of the skills required to wield such a weapon, but it was all that remained of her, and I was resolved to keep it on my person for the remainder of whatever was to unfold in the life awaiting me.

For the first time in many winters, I felt a strong, upwelling feeling of determination. I was going to track down my new enemy, and I was going to confront them for what they had done.

Breaking into a run, a fast, vicious sprint encouraged by the whip of anger and fear, I travelled across the green Earth at my bare feet efficiently. "Thus, you are now the hunted." I growled beneath my breath, for only my ears to hear, but for only my opponent to take to heart.

Ominous clouds floated across the bright moon, thus the world went dark on me. The coverage of the trees filtered any remaining slivers of moonlight, preventing the majority from reaching the underlying foliage. My eyes readjusted themselves, and I had little difficulty carving my own path through the blackness as I moved on. As I jumped over a cluster of brush in my path, I reached out with my forearms and shifted into my fur. My paws raked the Earth silently as I landed, propelling my muscular wolf form deeper and deeper into the Evermore. I did not so much as hesitate to catch my breath, to rest my legs or regain energy. I had one driving purpose in mind as of this evening, and it was not going to leave my heart any time soon. No longer was I a lonely, useless, wandering man with nothing for his life. Though the reason was a morbid, repulsive one, I had received a forceful jab to my heart that told me, 'you have a reason.'

A cold feeling of impending horror began to creep up through my paws and deep into my bones. I slowed to a gentle jog, keeping low to the ground out of simple instinct. My ears flicked back and forth rapidly, and my eyes darted from shadow-to-shadow. The feeling of terror grew as I slunk closer and closer to what seemed to be the blackest areas of the forest. The trees here grew to monstrous sizes, so large that the average Evermore tree was a simple twig in comparison. These were the Elder Evermore trees, these grew as high as one hundred horses stacked, their branches stretched for positive miles in all directions, sheltering the very centre of the great forest. One could build a palace within one of these trees' mighty trunks if he so desired. The roots reached out in a tangled, wooden labyrinth, and it took effort for even my wolf form to launch over the ones that invaded upon my path.

Soon I resorted to slinking close the the grass, creeping along at a slow, steady pace. The undiluted fear was taking a tight hold on my heart and squeezing it mercilessly. I began to pant out loud, my long wolf tongue lolled out of my mouth and it was then I realized there was absolute, dead silence all around me, save for my own heavy breathing. The darkness here was a heavier ebony than ever I had yet experienced, and even I could barely make out looming, shadowy shapes.

I pushed myself onward out of sheer determination, yet halted abruptly in my tracks when I realized I had walked beneath the massive roots without realizing it. They curled and twisted in front of me, I squinted my eyes and was just barely able to make out a wide trail leading down beneath one of the largest of the Elder Evermore trees. Poking my head into the entrance of the tunnel, I observed that it lead down, deep down into a cave some mighty distance below the Earth and into the stone.

Assuming that this was where my enemy must be located, I took one single step into the cave-trail. Upon placing my right forepaw onto the trail, my entire being shuddered and my fur dropped abruptly. I fell heavily to my knees, throwing my hands out in front of me to prevent myself from slamming my face into the rock. My whole body trembled with the force of trepidation and dread, as if I could never have even a sliver of hope for survival as soon as I dared to enter the caves beneath my fallen person. "Whatever is this...?" I gasped, unable to bring myself to move in the current situation lest I worsen it.