Our walk home was nice. With everyone at the festival, the village this far out was quiet. We didn’t speak much during out walk, since I was tired and I was pretty sure that Cass was too, now that the adrenaline from performing had run its course. It was a comfortable silence, though. It always was, between us.

  As we approached the village border, a hulking figure strode towards us from the nearby guardhouse. There weren’t all that many guardsmen in Vernal, maybe ten in total. Of all of them, there was only one that was the size of the figure making his way towards us. My suspicion was confirmed by the figure’s greeting.

  “Little Wolf! There you are!” Called Laon, the Guard Captain in Vernal. Laon was an elf who had left their ancestral lands due to his low magical aptitude. He was barely capable of a cantrip, but that was still more than the average human villager, so he stood out here for the opposite reason. I had no idea how old he was, but he had been the Guard Captain for longer than I had been alive and still looked like he was in his thirties.

  Laon was also one of the few elves that managed to overcome their natural penchant for being short and thin. Laon was the complete opposite of that, taller than I was and built more like a bear than a man. Combined with his complete baldness and ears that ended just above the top of his head, he looked more like a nature spirit than a man. He had dubbed me ‘Little Wolf’ when I had kept bugging him for sword-fighting lessons after a month of rejections years ago. We still met occasionally, but we were both a bit busy. The name had stuck, though.

  “I have been searching for you, Little Wolf. We must talk.” Laon announced once he finally reached us, before seeming to realise I wasn’t alone. “Greetings to you as well, young Cassandra.”

  “What’s up, Laon?” I had my suspicions, but it was better to let him talk.

  “There has been talk of predators in the area, Little Wolf. We need the aid of you and Eric to clear them.” Laon said, confirming my theory.

  I had to hold back a scoff when he mentioned Eric. Eric was the son of the late huntsman Gabriel, and seemed to think that fact made him a better hunter than I was. What was frustrating was that he was better, at least with large game and predators, since that’s what he spent his time on. That fact made him insufferable, though, so I tended to avoid him.

  “How much talk?” I asked. It wasn’t exactly unheard of for people to get spooked in the night and report all sorts of things, so I wanted to be sure we wouldn’t be wasting our time.

  “We have had three official reports of wolves in the last week, as well as a moderate amount of general chatter,” Laon said mechanically. I clearly wasn’t the first person to ask that question.

  “Well, I can’t do tonight, but I should be pretty much free tomorrow,” I turned to Cassie, who shrugged. “Yeah, so I’ll go out tomorrow.”

  Laon smiled wide. “Thank you, Little Wolf. Do not worry, I will coordinate with Eric. I am sure he will also be willing to help.”

  I couldn’t help but groan, but I nodded my assent anyway. It would be helpful to have him along, no matter the cost to my mental wellbeing.

  “Bet you’re looking forward to tomorrow now, aren’t you?” Cassie said once Laon had moved on, giving me a playful nudge on the shoulder. I just groaned again and started walking, leaving her laughing in my wake.

  It didn’t take long from then to make it to my house, although the rest of the journey saw us both more talkative. I used our special knock, bursting through the door before Mum could answer. She was sat in the communal room knitting something, and didn’t look at all shocked to see me stumble into the room and collapse straight onto my bed.

  “Hi, honey,” she said simply. “How was the show?”

  Cassie answered for me, the angel. “It was great, Jenna! Everyone seemed to love it, and your daughter was really put-together the whole time.”

  Mum raised an eyebrow. “Was she, now? Well, isn’t that nice. How about an early dinner, as a treat?”

  That got me to sit up. It was really only mid-afternoon, but I realised with a start that I was starving. I nodded my head with newfound vigour, to the amusement of the other women in the room.

  “Before that, do you mind if we have a talk, Jenna? Just the two of us?” Cassie asked. I had been expecting this, since it was the main reason she was here, but my mother clearly hadn’t been.

  “Of course. Just let me clean up here and we can move into my room.” Cassie nodded, and I heard the shuffling that came from putting things away as I flopped back onto my bed. I ended up in a bit of a fugue state, just kind of drifting as I lay there. I idly wondered what Cassie wanted to talk to my mother about, but banished the thought as I forced myself up.

  I quickly dressed in some more comfortable clothing, since the hunting leathers were starting to chafe. Now dressed appropriately in my favourite cotton shirt and some trousers that I had lying around, I decided to find somewhere to put my spear. I was really happy about how it turned out, and thought it would look nice hung up somewhere. Of course, we didn’t exactly have a weapon stand here or anything, but I reckoned it wouldn’t be the hardest thing in the world to mount something on the wall that could support its weight.

  As I paced the room looking for a spot where the spear would fit, I ended up next to the wall that separated the communal room from Mum’s bedroom. I couldn’t help but overhear some snippets of their talk, or at least that’s what I told myself.

  “… know how I feel. She doesn’t, though, and I don’t know how she’ll take it.” Cassie’s voice was unmistakable, even muffled by the walls.

  “I think she’ll take it fine, so long as you give her some time to process it. You know how she gets,” I heard a chuckle from my mother. What was that supposed to mean? “And you’ll have to tell her how you feel eventually.”

  “I know. It’s just hard, you know?”

  “Of course it is. When did you plan on leaving? Because I have a suggestion...”

  My heart stopped in my chest. I stumbled away from the wall in a daze, not that I could hear the rest of their conversation over the blood rushing through my ears. In my sudden panic, one thought circled in my head over and over again.

  Cassie’s leaving? Why would she leave? Why wouldn’t she tell me?

  I felt lost, a sudden shift from the contentment I had felt moments before. I dropped the spear with a clatter, although I barely noticed the sound. I rushed to find some shoes and opened the door. I wasn’t sure where I was going to go, or even why. All I knew at that moment was that I needed to leave. The house that had always felt so comfortable suddenly seemed cramped and stifling. I heard a commotion behind me and turned, recognising Cassie even through my blurred vision. When had I started crying? It didn’t matter. She called out to me, but I was already out the door. It hurt to look at her right now. I had to go.

  I knew I was panicking, knew in my logical mind that I should just hear her out, but my logical mind was stuck in the backseat, and so I ran. Running was simple and easy, but thinking was hard. By the time I had stopped I was back in the forest, my breath coming in great heaving gasps as I doubled over. I stumbled over to a tree and slumped against it, the exhaustion of the day returning with a vengeance. As I hit the ground I began to sob, loud and raw, the pain in my heart feeling like shards of glass in the centre of my being.

  Eventually I gathered myself, at least physically. I couldn’t understand why Cassie would leave, or why she felt the need to tell my mother before me. I couldn’t settle on whether to feel betrayed, heartbroken or foolish.

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  Of course she wasn’t going to stay with you forever, whispered a nagging voice in my head. She was always more adventurous than you, and even you feel stifled in this little town.

  But why does she have to leave me?

  That’s the part I felt stuck on. Cassie had always been outgoing and adventurous, but she had always taken to convincing me to try new things with her. It didn’t surprise me that she wanted to leave, not after the initial shock had worn off. My mind kept returning to the fact that she had settled on leaving and hadn’t told me. That stung, like very little else. We had known each other for most of our lives, and for some reason she hadn’t even told me!

  She’s bored of you, whispered that little voice again. You aren’t enough for her.

  That thought, born of my own mind, magnified the ache in my heart that I felt when I thought of her leaving. I found myself imagining my life when she left. I would hunt, I would stay home with my mother, and I would cry. I would be alone. This scenario chased its own tail in my head as I realised that I had no image in my head for a future without Cassie, as if something deep within me simply couldn’t fathom such a future.

  Lost in my musings, I turned the situation around. Imagined my life if Cassie never left. That life was happier, significantly. We would keep doing the plays, and she would push me to go on little adventures. Maybe we would explore those ruins she kept bugging me to visit. Presumably one or both of us would settle down with someone eventually. My heart skipped a beat at that premise, but I pushed the thought aside.

  I realised that a future where Cassie never left still felt wrong. She was too curious, too daring to ever fit in such a small town. She could be content here, maybe. But never happy, and certainly never fulfilled. I couldn’t do that to her, not for my own sake. My thoughts of this future turned sour, bitterness leaking through as Cassie grew old and never lived her dreams. She aged well, but she grew more and more sad, and I along with her. It wouldn’t be right for my Cassie to be so stifled. She loved magic and adventure, not small-town management or farming.

  I turned my thoughts around again. I returned to the scenario where Cassie left, but this time I went with her. It didn’t matter what it took, I could make it work. I had known her for years, I knew exactly which buttons to press. I would beg, plead and plot and eventually she would lead me by the hand into whatever world of wonder she was leaving for. I didn’t know where she was going, of course. Perhaps she was heading to a big city, or another country, or just wandering for the sake of exploration. That didn’t matter, she did.

  That thought crystallised in my mind, and in my heart. I may not have any ideas for a future without Cassie, but I had several for one with her. The force behind that thought struck me, and again I pushed it away. Now was not the time to wonder about the origins of that certainty.

  I realised that I had been foolish. If Cassie had approached me in the moment and told me to my face that she was leaving, I probably would have gone with her anyway. I could have waited, should have waited for her to tell me, instead of worrying her and my mother needlessly.

  I hurried to my feet. I didn’t know how long I had been crying in the forest, but it was dark now. The moon hung in the sky, a blessedly bright light in a forest that seemed to drown in shadow. My throat felt raw, and my eyes burned, but I still knew this forest like I had planted it myself. After a minute more to gather myself and find my bearings, I took off towards home.

  I shivered. I was feeling more and more foolish for more than my dramatic exit. I had run off into the forest with no gear, no plan. Just a small knife on my hip and the shirt on my back. I sped up, but didn’t run. I was tired, not just physically, but emotionally. I felt like I had stumbled onto something significant tonight, and I desperately needed to speak to Cassie.

  Not ten minutes after I began my journey back, I saw a shadow move against the greys of the moonlit forest. Fortunately, the canopy wasn’t too thick here, else I wouldn’t have spotted a thing. As I saw it I paused, my conversation with Laon flashing through my mind at the speed of thought. If it was wolves, then I wasn’t outrunning them, not in my state. I couldn’t exactly fight of a pack of wolves right now either, armed with a small dagger I kept for self-defence and nothing else.

  I started moving again, praying that these wolves were local enough to be afraid of humans. They shouldn’t be desperately hungry, so if I was lucky they would pass me by for less cautious prey, recognising the long-term danger the death of a human could bring. I wasn’t lucky.

  I barely noticed the first wolf practically leap at me. Of all things, all that time spent rehearsing saved my life. My body moved on instinct, slipping into a little side step when the beast flew at me. The wolf overshot as I moved, and I took off at a sprint. I didn’t think I could outpace them in the long run, but I wasn’t too far from the treeline now. I heard heavy panting behind me and pushed harder.

  I flew through the forest, but I wasn’t born for it like the wolves were. They were catching up to me, and there was nothing I could do about it. Somehow I felt approximately where they were, like feeling the heat of someone standing close. There were only three, which I supposed I should be glad about. Wolf packs could get much larger than three. It only took one to kill me though, so I wasn’t too grateful. Besides, I could now tell that they were close.

  Eventually, I my made inevitable mistake. I missed a root, disguised under enough leaves and undergrowth that it would have been almost invisible in the daylight, never mind at night. I tripped, tried to catch myself and stumbled. I managed to keep my footing, but I already knew it was too late. I turned just in time to face a slavering maw of fangs and fur.

  I shoved my left arm into its jaws, desperate to stop it from reaching anything vital. The weight of the beast dragged me to the ground and pinned me, one of its paws scrabbling at me even as it shook its head, ripping agony through me. The arm with my knife was held still under its other paw, and I couldn’t feel anything from my left arm except burning pain. I shrieked, cried and whimpered, but I could do nothing.

  That heat I had been feeling earlier grew stronger, and I swear I felt it with all of my senses. I could taste it, smell it, see it. It was like a haze, a light that shed no light. It tasted rich, smelled like fresh meat. My mind was foggy, suffocating in an ocean of pain and fear. My addled mind reached out towards the heat, tried to draw it towards me. I knew, somewhere instinctual and primal, that everything would be alright if I had the heat.

  For a moment, I thought nothing would happen. The heat seemed settled where it was, and it didn’t want to leave. I offered it somewhere to nestle, though, a home where it would be put to use, and all at once, a phantom rip echoed throughout my body. The heat flooded through me like a river escaping from a dam, filled me and held me and nourished me. The fog over my mind receded as the agony from my arm retreated.

  The wolf froze on my arm, teeth now clenched around unbroken skin. It let out a whimper and released my limb, and I took my chance. I punched it the nose with my freshly healed arm, bringing my knife down on the dazed creature as it staggered away. I felt the knife sink into its flesh, not long enough or precise enough to hit anything vital, so I struck again. And again, and again, and again. I let out all of the pain, fear and frustration of the last few hours on the wolf. For a time, nothing existed but the feedback from my blade and the slowly diminishing remnants of the heat in this animal, dwindling with each moment.

  I stopped several minutes after the heat had left the wolf. My breathing was heavy, my arms were aching, and I was alone. My throat was sore, so I must have been screaming. Maybe crying, judging by the tears running down my face. In any case, I must have scared off the other wolves, since their heat signatures were gone, along with everything else around me.

  I caught my breath slowly, waiting for the ache in my arms to subside. It did, quicker than I expected. I realised that I felt strangely good for someone who had just gotten out of a life or death situation. Physically I was at the peak of my health, my arm healed over like nothing had happened. What few aches and bruises I had were no more, and although I still felt ragged, I wasn’t quite dead on my feet anymore.

  I could feel my own heat - my life - thrumming within me. I had definitely taken more from the wolf than I had thought, although I wasn’t sure exactly why I was so certain. I came to the conclusion that I must have continued drinking from its well of life as I had poured out my frustrations. I stole a glance at the carcass of the wolf and felt like retching. It was recognisable as a wolf only because its head had largely been spared ministrations, by luck more than intent. I understood why the others had fled now.

  Minutes passed, and as I recovered from my ordeal I remembered what had driven me out here in the first place with a start. I scrambled to my feet, suddenly desperate to be home and held in the warm embrace of the one who always knew how to comfort me. Of course, that would likely have to wait for tomorrow, since it was currently nighttime. I staggered home as fast as I could, echoes of the pain from minutes before flashing through my mind.

  Not for the first time, I was glad that we lived close to the edge of Vernal. I ran home, picking up speed as my gait recovered and I regained my balance. Everything would be alright, just as long as I could get home. As I came upon the door it didn’t even cross my mind to wait, to slow down and be quiet in case my mother was asleep. The hearth was lit at least, I could see that from under the door, and from what I could see of the window on the side of the house as I approached. I knocked, letting my mother know who at the door so late. I didn’t enter, though. It was symbolic, but I felt the need to be let in after I had fled so foolishly.

  Rather than my mother, Cassie opened the door. Her eyes widened on seeing me, first in relief and then shock.

  “Hey,” I croaked.

  “Lia, what happened to you?” She gasped.

  I looked down at myself for the first time and realised that I was completely covered in blood, both from the wolf and myself. In retrospect, that made a lot of sense. I looked back up at Cassie, failing to come up with an answer that could encompass what had happened. I couldn’t quite think straight, I was so tired. Still, I did my best to answer.

  “I don’t think we need to worry about wolves anymore.” I muttered as my feet fell from beneath me and I collapsed into the dark.