Wolf Den - Lìfa-Saga Book 2

II.

Two yellow eyes glowed in the heavy darkness of the cave, moving closer to Lìfa. With her heart racing and grip tightening around her knife, she instinctively backed away, keeping her distance. Her eyes grew wide open and brows ran high as she saw a wolf emerging from the shadows. It walked slowly, its head held high with the pride of a fearless warrior, even though it was defeated. Its shiny, silver fur was stained with blood where an arrow pierced through its rear leg. Using the last bits of its strength, the animal took a few more weak steps towards Lìfa then collapsed to the ground with a pained groan.

Lìfa felt excitement growing inside her as blood rushed through her veins. She found her prey after all. It was time to finish the hide and seek. With careful steps, Lìfa approached the wolf, keeping her distance from its sharp teeth. She slowly lifted her hand, the blade shining bright in the fire's light. She was just about to strike down, burying her knife into the wounded animal's heart when a voice in her head stopped her.

"When winter comes and cold wind howls
Your future depends on the Runes
Spare a life and tame the wolves,
Break his chains and let Him rule!"

The sound of the blade falling to the ground broke the tense silence weaving around. Afraid of the loud noise, the wolf reared its ears back and moved away from the girl. Lìfa's now empty hand froze in the air as she stood there completely numb, staring down at the wolf in realisation. Maybe, this was what Silvana had talked about. Maybe, this was the missing part of the prophecy she couldn't find.

Looking down, she saw nothing, but a young, wounded and frightened animal. All pride faded away from its eyes, leaving only fear and pain dwelling in those yellow orbs. After staring into each other's eyes for a while, Lìfa knew what she had to do. She grabbed one of the sticks with the freshly roasted hare and slowly placed it in front of the wolf, not breaking eye contact for even a second. As she reached her hand out with the food, she let it cautiously sniff her.

Then it examined and licked the tasty meat, its curious and worried gaze still fixed on Lìfa. Finally, when the wolf accepted the delicious food, Lìfa crept to its rear leg, taking a look at its injury. The head of the arrow went all the way through its flesh, peaking out on the other side. While the animal was still munching on the meat, she broke the metal tip down, careful not to move the stick itself. When it was done, she quickly pulled her hands back, shooting a worried look towards the head of the wolf. It lifted its gaze from the food to Lìfa, tilting its head to the side with curious shine in those burning yellow eyes.

Lìfa took a shaking breath to calm her nerves and tried to gulp the ball in her throat down. The hardest part was about to come. She threw the wolf another piece of bait, and while it was busy with filling its probably empty stomach, with a sturdy move she pulled the arrow out. A pained howl echoed in the cave as the wolf darted its head to the wound with its sharp teeth displayed. Scared from its reaction, Lìfa stumbled back, searching for her knife.

As Lìfa gained her balance back and knelt on the cold stone, her knife in her trembling hand again, she locked eyes with the wolf. It stared back with a threatening snarl, letting out a deep growl. As their eyes met, a strange feeling ran down Lìfa's spine, making her shiver. It reminded her of the thick air of Silvana's cottage, filled with seidr and magic. The same kind of power radiated from those wild yellow eyes. For a few seconds which felt like hours, none of them moved, waiting for the other's reaction. Finally, the wolf turned its head away, licking its wound and the bloody fur around it.

Letting out a long breath she didn't know she was holding, Lìfa let her weapon down. She felt like a huge weight just rolled off her, letting her breath again. She was about to stand up and walk back to the fire to have some rest, but her eyes got caught upon the blood soaking the animal's silver fur. Without the arrow blocking its way, the wound was bleeding again. The wolf looked up at her with its eyes asking for help then let its head down to the ground.