Guardian of Elements

Chapter 1 - The hunt

That smell. An animal, blood, but also something... else. Something unknown.

A small cat was running in the moonlight. Although the forest floor was muddy and full of thorny bushes, her blue fur was clean and soft as silk. Her thin but agile legs were carrying her through the grass, sure in every step. She knew the forest very well. This night, however, she wasn't just exploring or playing. A strange scent attracted her attention, so she went out of her den to follow it.

She stopped by a stream for a moment to catch her breath. She looked down at her shimmering reflection, breathing heavily. While her chin and cheeks were white, fur on the rest of her head was in shades of blue, except for a white dot between her eyes. The same applied to her body, soft coat on her chest and belly was snowy white, but her legs and back of her sleak body were blue. But she had two things that distinguished her from other animals: She had white, star-shaped marking on both thighs and a blue gem, tied tightly to her neck by a collar.

The cat smiled at her own reflection. She put her paw into the slow current, and as the surface shimmered, her gem began to shine from within with azure light. Suddenly, the water began to run up her leg, her chest, until a thin layer of water was covering her entire body but her face, giving her cool relief. In the moonlight, she was shining like the blue gem on her chest for a moment, before the drops on her fur dissipated into the air. Replenished, she continued her hunt.

It was some time later, when she reached the edge of the woods. Her forest was surrounded by ocean from all sides, except here in the east. Behind the last trees was an endless meadow, vast plains of pale grass. There were no bushes and only several trees, scattered on the horizon. And whenever she came here, she never caught a glimpse of any animal.

She looked far to the distance, across the meadows. Something had always kept telling her that she didn't belong there, so she had never ventured that far. Once again, she felt the call to stay in her forest, so she gave the meadow one final look and then turned back, continuing north.

The scent kept getting stronger. Soon, she found her first real clue: The dense undergrowth was trampled, and branches above were broken. Also, the scent was now strong enough for her to tell that the animal was a deer and the blood probably belonged to it. However, the third scent was still foreign to her, which only made her more curious. She was excited but also a bit afraid. But despite that, she went on.

The last bushes. The last few steps. She finally reached her destination: a small clearing near the northeastern corner of the forest. And there, in the middle of it, a wounded deer was lying on the ground.

The cat stared at it for a moment, and then ran to it. It seemed weak, only a few moments from death.

"Shhh, it'll be fine..." she told it, but she wasn't so sure. The only wound she found was small, but there was something else that troubled her. There was a stone spike stuck deep inside the wound, and it was full of that mysterious scent.

She knew she had to act fast if she wanted to save the deer's life. First thing she had to do was to remove that spike. She carefully gripped it with her jaws and tore it out by one strong swing, which was followed by a painful scream of the deer.

"Sorry, I'm trying to help you, trust me." But the animal seemed to lose consciousness. She had to do something, and fast. Maybe if she had some water, she would be able to clean the wound. But there wasn't any pond or river near, she knew that. Maybe if she could... Maybe... She was getting desperate.

"Here you are!"

She turned around swiftly, but she knew to whom that voice belonged. A great stag walked out of the forest.

He was bigger than any normal stag. Although the fur on his sleek but strong body was dark brown, he had green patterns on his sides and back. His great antlers looked like a wide wooden crown, giving him a very majestic look. And there was a green gem on his chest, held by a dark green collar.

"You shouldn't run off like that. Do you know how hard it is for me to track you, Andúril? I... Oh..." His deep voice paused as gaze fell on the wounded deer.

"I had to!" the cat replied. "There was this strange scent in the air, so I followed it and I found this animal. Something has hurt it and I don't know what. Oh, and don't call me that, you know I hate it. I am Kate."