Chapter 5 - An Act Of Kindness

Sitting there holding herself, her cries turned louder as she did not need to hide her pain. There was no one to judge her. She had run into the deep forest where no one could find her. She gasped for the air as she felt pain covering her body. Her chest was paining and her breathing was troubled due to the long run and crying painfully. Her cries and gasps filled the whole forest.

"If only I had been strong enough to protect myself. I would have run away from hell and taken revenge against them." she mumbled to herself as she wiped her own tears. But then she heard the loud growl and fear crept in.

Thinking she might have heard wrong, she resumed crying, but then she heard the growl again as if someone was wincing with pain. She stopped crying at the sound of screaming as it became clearer. It was coming from behind her.

She was scared, anxious yet curious of where the sound was coming from. Trying to find something for her protection. She held a broken branch in her hands that looked sharp enough to scare a small animal.

But when she turned there was nothing there. She slowly crawled away putting the pressure on her hands when she felt sticky and she was sure it was not mud. With dread, she moved her hands closer to her face only to see that it was covered in blood. Finally the thick metallic smell filled her nostrils and she felt goosebumps all over her body.

All the colors drained her face when she heard that wail again. She even forgot how hurt or heartbroken she was! All she remembered was fear that was slowly crawling in her heart.

"Who is there?" she shouted at the top of her lungs yet the sound was hardly audible in the dark forest.

Was she hallucinating or was this area haunted as the maids have told. She had often heard the maids talking that no one ever returned from the dark forest. Her breath hitched and her grip on the branch tightened.

She cursed at her foolishness to not even bring her horse. Even if she wanted to, she can not run away now.

'It's alright, it would be for the better of everyone. No one ever loved you anyway. Wont death give you the freedom you always craved for?' strange thoughts started to fill her mind but she shook her head again. No, she would not die, she could not die! She had to marry Richard. The man loves her!

This time she had taken the decision, she would fight till her last breath and find a way to save herself. She finally stood up with her stumbling legs and held the tree to get some support. Her knees were paining hard, but she was caring as she was worried for her life now.

That moment she heard rustling of leaves from behind and turned to see who it was but once again only an empty place mocked her. She tried to walk away, taking slow steps towards her back. She tried her best to be cautious so as not to alert the creature out there. When her feet hit something large and she stumbled and fell on the ground.

Her eyes met the warm eyes and her eyes widened as the misty golden eyes are not of a human but a wolf. The eyes were staring deep at her. She froze there, unable to move even an inch. The branch had fallen from her hands long ago. What was left were her fears.

The wolf howled again and tried to move. It was already injured and could not bear the weight of the girl. She finally came to her senses when she heard it growling. She wanted to stand and run away but there was pride in the face of the being, even after being injured there was no pain or tear in its eyes like other animals yet it was looking miserable. She looked at its body carefully only to find various arrows and daggers dug in its skin.

She was amazed at its will to survive.. Even after getting injured so much the creature was not only alive but laying there calmly. The pride and pain made her eyes soften. The condition of the wolf reminded her of herself.

She knew that she was making a huge mistake yet she decided to help the being. She moved closer but the animal growled. It was not ready to let her touch him. It showed its long canines to her, as if to remind her that it was still a beast even if it was injured.

"Hey, I am not going to hurt you. Alright. I am here to help, I promise." she moved her hands on its forehead and patted it as if it was a kitten. Even the eyes of the beast cracked at her action.

It looked at the girl curiously who was crying like the world had ended just a few minutes ago and now she was behaving like all high and mighty daredevils that were not even afraid of the beast that could shred her into pieces.

it felt amused that he forgot that she was still a human, a part of those who are responsible for its condition. With that thought he growled again to scare her and shook her but she just glared at it. The way she looked at it was so fierce that it felt dumbfounded.

"Even I relent when the person shows kindness. Do not be rude enough that you have to lose your life. Now stay put, let me take out those arrows first."

"........"