The Angels' Last Gift

Chapter 1

The snow fell lightly, fluttering down without a care in the world, a blanket of pure white enveloped the countryside.

It was during the early stages of dawn as I took a walk through the woods, tracing the path I knew so well from childhood memories. I made no sound as I travelled and there was a sense of calm peace.

But peace never seemed to last long enough. A muffled crunch of footsteps on the fresh snow caught my attention, however I knew to proceed with caution as it could be just a wild animal roaming in its territory. As I came nearer I realised that it was not a wild animal, but a young boy trying to find his way back home, he couldn't have been older than 5 or 6 years, then I noticed something else, moving among the trees, getting ever closer to the young child.

A wolf.

And it wasn't alone, there was around 7 of them, with a sudden amount of horror, I realised what they were doing...

Hunting.

Prowling cautiously closer waiting for an opportunity to strike. In that moment all feelings of caution left and I found myself racing to defend someone who I didn't even know I stood directly in front of the young boy and studied the movement of the wolves in the background, they were snarling, frustrated by my intervention.

The young child looked up to my eyes, his own a light brown and full of youthful innocence, unaware of what dangers lurked in the shadows. I felt myself looking back at him, and feeling suddenly at ease with everything that was going on around us, it was almost like he'd somehow managed to remove my own fears of what was out in the woods.

Was that even possible?

I honestly wasn't sure, if it was why was it that a young boy was capable of doing it, if it wasn't then why did I feel like this?

What was happening to me?

Again a question with no answer. However I felt like I did not really need one. It was now that I took notice of what condition the child was in, he wore a tattered jacket with the clear signs of patches being stitched on to fix it and provide a little more warmth for its wearer, he quite clearly came from a working class family as he had very little weight to him and was very slightly skeletal in his appearance with scruffy but clean black hair.

A rustle snapped my focus back to the wolves, they were still getting closer, unafraid of me and wanting a successful hunt.

I watched them padding slowly and deliberately forwards, but I grinned calmly and gave the closest one a look that said,

"You haven't seen anything yet."

Before closing my eyes and unfurling a pair of large, silver grey, feathered wings. When I opened my eyes again both the pack of wolves and the little boy had the biggest looks of shock that I had ever seen.