Bound to the North {Complete!}

03| The Hunt

Finn POV

I dove behind a bush, my bow drawn. There was a Nemean Lion near; I could sense its loathsome presence. I'd forgotten how fun Beast hunting could be. Still, I would've rather been on the raid any day, especially because it was on Fairy territory. I was seventeen years old, and I'd never been there.

Dumb dad. Dumb Pelos. Amara had tried to go with me, but she'd been asked to go on the raid instead.

A sudden piercing scream cut through the night, followed by a horrible roar. The Nemean Lion! And it was going to kill someone. Forgetting everything I'd ever learned about stealth, I jumped into the open and sprinted toward the source of the scream.

I stumbled into a small clearing to see a girl facing the Beast with nothing but a tiny dagger in her  shaking hand. She had bright, luminous silver eyes that reflected the image of the growling lion.

"Get back!" I shouted. I dove between her and the lion, and planted an arrow through its left eye. "It's fur is like steel!" I yelled warningly at the girl. "Don't try to stab it!"

The Beast roared in pain. As soon as it opened its mouth, I drew my bow and fired an arrow down its throat. It collided with a sickening thud, and the lion dissolved into millions of tiny dust particles.

I turned around to face the girl. There was blood on her shoulder, turning the sleeve of her pure white dress red.

She pointed her dagger at me. "Don't come any closer!" she spat. I placed my bow on the ground and held my hands up in surrender. She stumbled, and blood started to drip down her arm.

My hands still in the air, I stepped toward her. "Let me help," I said. "You're going to die if we don't stop that bleeding."

She tightened her grip on her dagger. "Not another step, elf," she commanded. I knew I could take that girl down in a second, but I kept my distance so she didn't bleed any faster than she already was.

"Look," I said casually. "I'm an elf. I get that you don't trust me. But I'm a decent guy, really. And I really don't want to see you bleed to death. So put down the dagger and let me help...please."

After a moment of pondering, she sheathed her dagger. I leaped toward her and caught her as she started falling. She weighed almost nothing, so I picked her up with ease. Mentally cursing myself for not bringing any healing runes with me, I stumbled through the woods until I reached my horse.

We were on the outskirts of elf territory, with almost no life anywhere in sight. Her eyelids fluttered as I mounted my horse. We had to find a dwelling fast, or this girl was going to die. I pulled her arm out of her sleeve, and did a double take when I saw the mark that classified this girl as a fairy. Why didn't she just fly away...?

The wounds were deep. She maybe had ten minutes before she bled out. Her eyes were closed, her dark hair was matted, and her dress ripped. Her skin was as pale as snow and her lips red as a rose. Even in this dying state, she looked like a princess.

I pulled the horse to a stop as the first dwelling came into view. I jumped off, the girl still in my arms. I pounded on the door. A tired looking elf opened the door. When she locked eyes on the dying girl, she stood back and let me enter.

"Set her down on the couch!" the woman called as she ran into another room. I laid her down as the woman instructed, and ripped a piece of cloth off my uniform. I hastily pressed it against the wound that was bleeding faster than ever.

The woman emerged with a healing rune. She broke it over the girl, and murmured the incantation every elf knew. The wound disappeared completely, leaving only a tiny scar in its place. As a bonus, her matted hair became silky and smooth, and the holes in her dress filled. If possible, she was even more beautiful than before.

She groaned and stirred, and her eyes fluttered open.