Untamed Love

CHAPTER 2 - The Stranger

Sanem rapidly put on her clothes, grabbed her bag and quiver before climbing towards the top of the waterfall. Her heart was racing and her blood was deafening her ears. She soon reached the area where she had caught the sparkle minutes before. As she saw a few broken branches and traces of footprints, she realized that someone had been there. She gasped at it dawned on her. Not losing any more time, she inspected around the bush in search of her arrows or any sign of the person. She hoped that she had not hurt him or her. She had just wanted to scare them. As she circled the area, she caught sight of a trace that descended along a small hill. She followed it quickly and caught herself just in time before she fell in a huge pit that had been dug by hunters. She gasped.

"Ah Sanem, ah! What did you do again?" she started panicking as she saw the form of a man at the bottom of the pit. "What am I going to do now!"

Sanem tried to call the man several times but she gained no reaction from him. It only made her more anxious. She noticed that one of the sides was less abrupt and assumed that it was the way out when the hunters came to fetch their preys. She decided to go through it and check if he was still alive. Before diving into the pit, Sanem retrieved a cloth from her bag. It was a soft and colourful cloth that she had made one time as she had been awakened by yet another dream. It was pink and yellow with intricate patterns and blue accents. She needed it in case he woke up so as not to see her. Then, she retrieved another one that she needed in case he was bleeding somewhere.

Once she was ready, Sanem went down the hole. She got close to the man and took out his backpack before she could check if he was breathing or not. She kneeled on his side and bent her head towards his face. Just as she did, a powerful scent overtook her senses, clouding her mind. She felt the uncontrollable urge to bury her nose into his hair. But it seemed that she wasn't the only one affected as the man started to move beside her.

_ _ _

Can could hear somewhere far away a voice calling him. He wanted to respond but he felt weak. He couldn't move. It felt like a thousand rocks were on top of him, preventing him from getting up. His head was pounding and his eyelids were too heavy to open. He felt more than heard someone by his side. Soon, some of the weight he was carrying disappeared from above him and he could breathe better. The person knelt by his side and he could feel something tickling his face as it did.

That's when a powerful scent overtook him. It smelled like wild flowers. The purest and rarest kind. It was like nothing he had ever smelled before. It smelled like the mountains, the sea and earth. It smelled like the forest, the sand and the rain. It smelled like home.

He couldn't resist and tried to get closer to the scent but just as quickly as it had appeared, it disappeared, leaving him begging for just a few more seconds of this intoxicating aroma. His mind was alert now and he managed to open his eyes – only to be plunged into darkness again as someone blindfolded him. Can tried to resist but he felt weak and didn't have enough strength to break free.

"I'm sorry. I have to blindfold you." Can stopped fidgeting as he heard the most soothing voice he had ever heard in his life. She sounded like an angel. Even her voice sounded like home to him. He could picture her eyes in his head. Those big brown eyes that he had seen mere seconds before blacking out. Was she the woman he had seen?

"Now. Do you feel any pain?"

Can took a moment to analyse what he was feeling. He did start to feel some pain in his left shoulder and the pounding in his head was increasing. "My head...and my shoulder."

The woman didn't say anything but he felt her soft hands on his head, sending bolts of electricity within his body as she checked for injuries. Then, with his help, she managed to turn him on his back and checked his shoulder and arms for any sign of wounds. He heard her sigh when she was done.