The fire crackled softly as the night deepened.
Aren sat beside the small flame , turning the strip of wolf meat over the sharpened stick he had carved earlier. The fat sizzled as it dropped into the fire , sending sparks dancing into the cold night air.
The smell was strong,wild,heavy and unfamiliar but his stomach didn't care.
He hadn't eaten properly since the day of his exile.
When the meat finally browned, Aren pulled it away from the fire and gently blew on it before taking a cautious bite.
It was tough and chewy, but warm.
And right now that was enough.
He leaned back against the rough bark of a tree, staring into the flames as he slowly ate. The forest around him was alive with quiet sounds. The rustling of leaves, the distant cry of some night creature and the low whisper of wind passing through branches.
Before, those sounds might have comforted him.
Now they only reminded him that he was alone.
Completely alone.
Aren't jaw tightened as his thoughts drifted back to the city.
The circle of people.
The cold faces.
"That boy is cursed!"
The man's voice echoed in the back of his mind.
Exile. Just like that.
And now...he was alone.
Aren clenched his fists unconsciously.
"What did I even do"...he muttered underneath his breath.
That was the worst part.
He couldn't remember.
Fragments of the past flickered in his mind like broken glass, faces he recognised but couldn't place, voices that sounded familiar but carried no meaning.
And whenever he tried to look deeper, a full pressure filled his head.
Like something had been stopping him.
Like something had been taken away.
Aren exhaled slowly and rubbed his temple.
"Forget it"
Thinking about it wouldn't change anything.
The fire shifted, along collapsing slightly as the flames burner lower.
For a moment, the forest seemed to grow quieter. Aren's eyes moved towards the large carcass lying several feet away.
The fire wolf.
Even now it looked massive.
It's grey fur was thick and matted with dark, dried blood where Aren had struck it earlier. The creatures fangs where still visible beneath its curled lip, long and sharp enough to crush bone with ease.
A normal wolf shouldnt have been that big.
Or that strong.
Aren stood slowly, brushing dirt from his clothes as he walked towards it.
The ground beneath his boots crunched with leaves and broken twigs.
He crouched beside the body and studied it closely.
"Definitely not normal" he murmured.
His hand hovered over the wolf's chest before pressing lightly against the fur.
Cold.
But something felt strange.
Aren frowned.
For a brief moment , he felt something beneath the ribcage.
Something hard.
Carefully he reached for his knife and made small incision.
After a few moments of searching, his blade finally struck something solid.
Clink.
Aren blinked.
He pushed aside the flesh and pulled the object free.
It was a small crystal. Roughly the size of a coin.
Dim light flickered faintly inside it, like a dying ember trapped in glass.
"What...?"
Aren turned it in his fingers.
The crystal was warm.
Warm...even though the wolf had been dead for hours.
The moment his skin fully touched it,a sudden pulse of energy surged through his hand.
Aren gasped.
For an instant —
Just an instant —
Images flashes across his mind.
A battlefield.
A sky burning with strange light.
A voice whispering something he couldn't understand nor comprehend.
Then...it was gone.
The crystal dimmed again as if nothing had happened.
Aren starred at it his heart beating faster.
"What was that?"
His head throbbed slightly, but the pain faded quickly.
Whatever the crystal was, it definately wasn't normal.
He slipped it into the small pouch beside his belt.
"I'll figure it out later.." he sighed.
The fire behind him had nearly burned down to glowing embers.
The night had grown colder.
Aren returned to the tree and sat down again, wrapping his cloak tighter around himself as he stared into the darkness beyond the firelight.
The forest stretched endlessly in every direction.
Somewhere beyond it there had to be a town.
A road. Something.
He couldn't survive out here forever.
Tomorrow he would start moving again.
North,maybe.
Or wherever the terrain allowed but not here.
The wind rustled through the wind above him.
Aren closed his eyes briefly, trying to rest.
But just as sleep began to creep over him —
The forest went silent.
Completely silent.
Aren's eyes snapped open.
No wind.
No insects.
No distant animals.
Nothing.
A slow chill crawled up his spine.
Someone...
Or something ...was nearby.
Watching.
Aren's hand slowly moved toward the sword at his side.
Beyond the weak glow of the dying fire, the darkness between the trees shifted slightly.
Then a pair of faint golden eyes appeared.
Unblinking.
Locked directly onto him.
They were not wolf eyes....