CastAways - Legends of Alledia

Chapter 7 - Dead or Alive

Orange and yellow light flickered over my blurred vision, looking like rays of sunlight through sunrise clouds. I felt warmth on my face and I felt joy, until I remembered...

I'm dead....

Am I in heaven?...

I turned my head to look around and felt something hard roll against my head. The light shifted and darkened.

This isn't heaven...

Pain pulsed through me like my blood with every heartbeat... I could feel my aching joints from the cold and wet snow I'd been in...

Then I realized I wasn't in snow. My eyes blinked open and I found myself staring at a small fire... Burning in a pit with twigs and a couple logs...

Well that explained the orange light... I sighed in relief that I was alive.. I didn't die... But how?

Then I remembered the shadow...

Had it been real? Had Stranger found me?...

Anxiety fluttered in me like a caged bird. Did he plan to torture me? Did he change his mind? What happened?...

I felt a gaze on me... That tingling, uneasy feeling when you're alone. I looked around more, my vision starting to clear, and I pushed myself upright while laying down.... Everything still hurt.

I was in a carved out dirt den with some moss and and leaves on the ground... Only in some places.

The fire was surrounded by a protective wall of stones, keeping it from burning anything else in the den.

The den was small... big enough to stand with a foot of space above your head, and wide enough to walk easily around the fire with at least 6 feet of space on all sides, wider on some, like my end.

It must be far in the ground, because I didn't see any other light than the fire... except for a hole above it to let out smoke. There was a corner beside me. I assume there was a path leading outside from there.

Then I noticed the silhouette in front of the fire. I don't know how I didn't notice it before... Someone was here with me, watching the fire... Was it Stranger?..

I couldn't recognize the scent... My nose was still stuffy from the cold. I wanted to choose my words carefully...

I sneezed loudly without warning and went still. Damn it!

The large figure turned to face me. I shuddered as I saw familiar green eyes looking back at me. I wanted to scream, but I knew that wouldn't help me... The demon wolf who'd terrorized the villagers, sat before me...

"Oh good... You're alive. I thought you might've died from the cold."

He spoke in a sarcastic tone, as if he didn't really care...

Why was he here? Curiosity ate away at me with my fear.. If this wolf was so evil, why did he save me?...

"... Y-You... You're-..."

"The 'Monster..."

He spat back at me, turning to fully face me, standing up and I shrunk back nervously... He just laughed..

"Thought so."

I thought for a long moment... He just stood there, glaring at me, seeming to wait for me to speak.. I didn't know what to say.

What do you say to someone who hates you along with everyone else? At least, that's what I picked up from everything that's happened...

"You're the one they tried to trap and kill........ Why?"

"They know why."

"No, I mean.... Why did you save me?..."

I needed to know. Why would a supposed 'demon' save me... Unless he was like me... Just misunderstood. Even if he's killed.. They made him that way.

He turned away and walked back towards the fire with a cynical look on his face.

"I wanted to ask how stupid you were to save me."

I gasped a little, anger rising in my chest.

"Hey! I took an arrow for you!"

"And just why did you do that?... "

I fell silent. I didn't know how to answer... Why did I save him?

"... Because you're like me..."

He growled and turned his head the slightest. I felt my body convulse with a heavy shudder. It was creepy the way he did...

"You're nothing quite like me~..."

His eyes glowed and he glanced back at me as he revealed his tendrils. They came from his back, spreading out around the den.

My eyes widened as one came closer to me and I stood up even as my body protested, backing up against the wall. The tip of the tendril stopped within inches of my face before they pulled away, vanishing back into the dark wolfs body.

"M-Maybe not... But..."

I cut off and closed my eyes, calming my breaths and slowing my heartbeat. This man scared me, but I knew he wouldn't hurt me... I hoped... After all, he had saved my life. Why go through all that trouble to kill me now?..

I opened my eyes again, sitting down and looking down at my hands. I focused and let the power flow as I calmed, blue fire forming and flickering in my hands playing with the flame. My eyes glowing with the same soft blue.

"I'm... Nothing like 'them'..."

Loneliness tugged at my heart. I realized I'd never felt close to anyone... My parent rejected me when they saw what I was... Once the others in my home town found out, everyone was out to get me. No previous friendship or bonding meant anything after they saw me as a magic wielding freak... The truth was, I didn't even know what I had, I still don't... Imagine my confusion as an 8 year old, getting nasty glares. No one really bothered me as a younger child, I suppose they saw me as less a threat. Once I was 16 though... Even my parents turned on me.

My own parents, let the villagers try to burn me at the stake. I've been on the run ever since...