Chapter 16 - Wolf

Looking at my wound, although it was not particularly large, it did not seem safe to leave alone. My hand brought the fire spell close to snow and use that water to clean my wounds.

It was a bad idea, not only was the water not clean, but it was too cold. My mind reluctantly cast the water spell to try and clean the wound.

I couldn't lie, feeling the water run down made me want to just cast as many water spells as I could to clean myself.

But that was probably a terrible idea, so the only thing left was to bear with the dirt on me and my clothes.

My eyes surveyed the area, unable to find much. The only thing it could make out was that there were some trees, trees, and more trees.

Water wasn't a big issue, even if there wasn't snow all around nothing was stopping me from casting the water spell.

The only issue was food, and securing the food. Disregarding the difficulty in killing some to eat, even if that was a success, other predators would be attracted. The time to prepare and eat the food was minimal, so each kill was at most one meal.

The other issue was some sort of weapon. Relying on the animals to just hit a tree and die every time was not the smartest.

The spells in my arsenal were useful, but there were no spells that provided offensive value. Unfortunately, it's not like someone would forge a sword for me in the middle of the forest.

I probably should have got one before leaving. I guess it's too late now.

My hands pulled out a relatively straight branch that wasn't too large. After stripping the smaller branches attached, my hand scraped it on the side of the tree. My actions were clumsy, breaking the branch multiple times and leaving me very little of it left. Despite the failed attempts, my hand continued to sharpen the branch, even though it was only about the size of a knife. By the time it was done, a smirk appeared on my face.

There was a decent amount of time spent on creating this stake. So long that my wound no longer hurt that bad. Once the fire disappeared my mind could easily feel the emptiness. So, when the fire ran out not long after, my mind prepared Alyx's spell. Upon finishing my mind quickly cast the fire spell and while it was burning the Tunnel spell was also prepared.

It seemed the time to fight had come. My hands and feet slowly scaled down the tree, making sure my foot was firmly on a branch each step of the way. My landing was soft and after my eyes surveyed the area, an arbitrary direction was picked for my new direction.

My trek through the snow was long and laborious. After an uneventful journey, my back leaned against a tree so I could catch my breath. My mind recast the fire spell and my hand brought it close to my stomach, where the wound was. It really just felt too cold, so my hand kept it near there for a while.

The only thing living my eyes could catch was a white rabbit that quickly ran away when it was over ten meters away. If my vision did not cover that direction my eyes would not have been able to even catch it.

There was a gleam in the corner of my eye.

My head whipped around to see a giant wolf was looking at me. It was slowly walking in a circle around me, about eight meters away, keeping its eyes on me. It slowed to a stop once my eyes were on it. It was unsettling that the wolf was perfectly quiet.

Was it stalking me the whole time? I guess it was waiting for me to tire myself out before finishing me off.

My hand tightly clutched my stake.

One of us would die and the other would have a new meal. The wolf showed no signs of backing off and started to approach. My mind got ready to release Alyx's spell at any moment.

My feet did not budge as the wolf approached.

When it was five meters away it pounced.

My mind released Alyx's spell and my body threw itself to the right. The wolf shrunk considerably and had a dazed look in its eyes.

However, it blinked, slowly recovering itself, making me anxious.

After rushing over, my hand desperately stabbed the wood stake into the wolf's head over and over. Unfortunately, it started to wake up quicker. The wolf suddenly came to consciousness and used its snout to shove me off.

Although it was smaller, it still packed quite the punch. Thankfully, it did not hit the spot where my wound was. However, with the good news, there was also some bad news.

The wind was knocked out of me as my body fell to the ground. In this situation, the tunnel spell was bad, since the only thing it would do was trap me under the dirt as an easy target. The wolf obviously didn't care about that and pounced on me.

Seeing the wolf pounce, while I wasn't prepared to surrender, dread snaked its way into my mind. My hand propped the stake up and it punctured the wolf's neck before it landed on me.

The wolf's jaws were terrifyingly close, the terrible breath was quite disgusting. My other hand quickly pushed against the stake at the base as hard as it could. At the same time, the wolf was trying to lunge its head at me, trying to bite. The teeth were uncomfortably close.

I have died before and I've got dangerously close to dying.

But this was the first time I gave death a long stare right in the face.

It was terrifying. There was no longer the choice of escape, if I didn't kill it here I would die myself.

No strategy, no thoughts, only a bloody rage.

From the depths of my heart, something awakened.

It was a pure sense of savagery.

It was hate for this world.

Hate for everything it made me go through.

Hate that I was forced to survive but not live.

...And hate that it made such nice people suffer.

At some point, I started screaming.

My hands forced the wolf back, while my face was leaning into it, right next to its jaws.

The wolf stopped moving and was forced onto its back. Both my hands were still gripping the stake, trembling.

The wind was cold, but the tears streaming down my face were warm.

I may have decisively thrown myself into the wild, but it was still hard.

I would not let myself back down no matter what.

Yet, that didn't change how hard it was. I missed everyone, especially Mildred.

I wondered if she felt like this. What was it like when she pushed through the forest? Did she cry like me? Did she miss anyone?

My mind shook away these thoughts. My stake was used to tear away the fur and get the meat. The fire spell was cooking it but even when it was a little undercooked my mouth could not help but eat. When my hunger was satiated, I immediately dashed in a random direction, not even bothering to keep my fire spell active.

The wind was very cold on my stomach wound and dried tears. After it seemed safe, my hands hastily climbed up a tree, while my face was cringing in pain from the cuts on my palms. My mind hurriedly cast the fire spell.

It was already evening. My eyes looked towards the bits of sun that shone through the leaves.

Smiling bitterly to myself, I realized that my hasty decision was going to send me down an arduous path.

Can't say I regret it.

The sun started to set as my body laid down in the branches. When my fire spell flickered out my hands gripped onto a branch while the rest of my body fell. My stake was used to carve into the tree and give myself a slight roof, then the tunnel spell was cast.

...

My eyelids flew open in the middle of the night. There was a wolf that was looking at me curiously. Its green eyes were particularly bright.

My body immediately burst out and my hands pulled the branches hard to scale up the tree. It was a bit strange that the wolf did not try to stop me.

My mind cast a fire spell and had a good look at the wolf, while it looked at me. The moonlight and flame only let me barely make out its features.

The wolf had snow white fur and was normal-sized. That made me curious if normal-sized wolves were an anomaly or if the giant wolves were.

It kept its eyes on me. My mind was able to slowly prepare Alyx's spell, despite being next to the flame.

I guess feeling so unsettled let me cast it.

Halfway through the spell, there was a voice.

"What brings a human all the way out here?"

My mind almost cancelled the spell but held on tightly. The wolf was speaking.

"What? Was that you?"

My finger pointed at the wolf, there was a white mist that coalesced around it.

Then a man appeared out of the mist, adorning a silver crown and silver armor. He has his arms behind his back.

"Haha, perhaps this is better for you?"

Not really, now I'm just more confused.

"Uh... yeah"

The man laughed.

"You are quite the adventurous one to be all the way out here, in the winter no less."

What did this guy want from me?

"Yeah... I guess."

The man stood there just staring for a few moments.

"Where are my manners? I should introduce myself. My name is Osric, the king of the wolves, some would say."

He had a smile that didn't feel too happy. I nodded.

"Ah, hello Osric, my name is Jay."

Osric looked at my stake.

"There is still some wolf blood on that stick you know?"

My heart clenched. Osric laughed.

"Haha, don't worry, I'm not that petty. He was the one who attacked you after all."

My body was squirming.

"What... what do you want?"

Osric's smile deepened.

"I am just curious why a human would be all the way out here during the plight between humans and demons. Are you a spy? Or are you an exile?"

My brows furrowed.

"Wait what? Did you say the plight between humans and demons?"

Osric lifted an eyebrow.

"Why yes, there is a war breaking out. You don't know?"

My head shook. Osric was still looking at me curiously.

"So you are an exile?"

My head shook again.

"I just decided to come out here."

Osric laughed like it was a funny joke.

"Simply because I like you, I will tell you right now, you must turn back. There are far greater dangers here than what you have seen."

A sigh escaped my lips.

"Thank you for the warning, but I've already decided I will stay here, I will only leave if nothing dares block my way."

Osric's smile deepened.

"Haha, well I was never one for pushing people. Just know, if you stay true to what you say, you will never leave."

There was a moment of silence.

"Then I guess I will be here for the rest of my life."

Osric smirked.

"Very well, goodbye Jay."

"Goodbye Osric."