Ander - Part 2: Subchapter 20
20
Even after walking for hours, Sarah didn't feel tired at all. Quite the opposite, in fact. Moving through the gaps in the trees, with the mountain reaching for the sun on both sides, she felt like a leaf being carried on the breeze. Her curiosity was so great she had to restrain herself from breaking into a full run to see what lay beyond every twist and turn. If it wasn't for the drop-off, forcing her to stop and think, she might have happily skipped on till nightfall.
"Whoa..." she said, peering over the edge. There were jagged boulders and sharp outcroppings sticking out all over, forming a very steep slope against the cliff face, probably fallen from the very crack she was standing inside of. The distance to the ground wasn't so bad, but if somebody were to fall down here, they'd better be right with the gods.
Sarah looked up at the sky, shielding her eyes against the bright glare of the sun. She needed to get back before dark, but there was still a good seven hours left before that. Surely it wouldn't hurt to explore just a little bit further? She thought she could hear a river somewhere in the distance, and she was getting really thirsty...
*
Clambering down that rocky slope turned out to be quite a hassle, but this merry stream was well worth it. She dunked her hands into the freezing water, shivering as it flowed over the tiny cuts and scratches, stinging her palms in a curiously delightful way. She brought her hands up to her mouth, cupping as much water between them as she could, and drank deeply. Even though the weather was warm, drinking from this stream was like drinking from winter itself. She could actually feel a wave of cold pass down her throat and settle in her belly, and she could feel the drops that landed in her lap like the points of icicles.
She sighed, leaned back, and looked up at the dancing canopy, wondering if any Foxes have been here before, wondering if any foxes have drank from this stream before.
Don't be silly. Urgh, that annoying little voice was back again. She could escape her parents without too much trouble, even if only temporarily, but this snooty bitch would be with her for the rest of her life, it seems. This stream probably turns into the Farmer's River back home at some point. Big deal.
"Oh, shut up," Sarah said, lying back on the soft carpet of leaves, her hands behind her head. She wondered if her parents were worried about her yet, or if they just assumed she would be back any minute. Gods know this isn't the first time she's disappeared for hours on end. Still, it would probably be wise to get back soon. Wouldn't want to dare that pass after dark.
She started to get back up, fully intending to do just that, but the ache in her calves and thighs soon put a stop to that. She sat back down, massaging her sore muscles. She hasn't walked this far since sowing season, when she had to walk up and down endless rows, tossing seeds into the ploughed earth with about as much enthusiasm as the seeds themselves. Get buried, grow up, get plucked. That's about everything she could expect from life.
Urgh, how depressing.
Yeah, couldn't argue with that.
She lay back down and looked up at the bright, morphing shapes of the sun shining through the leaves and listened to the birds singing throughout the forest and the stream happily babbling near her feet. She would rest here for a bit before going back. Just long enough for the ache in her muscles to subside. Half an hour, at most...
If Sarah hadn't fallen asleep at that exact moment, her life and the lives of countless others would have turned out very differently. Some for the better, some for the worse, but to speculate on such matters would be pointless, because what's done is done and can't be undone, as her mother would say.
Sarah was asleep before she even realized she had closed her eyes.
*
She thought it was a fly at first. Or a beetle. Or a cricket. Some kind of bug, anyway, scratching at her nose, tickling her nostrils. Maybe it was a bee.
Her eyes flew open, but what she saw was not a bee. If only.
There was a massive black claw tapping her on the nose, attached to a hand so vast it completely took up her entire field of vision.
"Oh by the holy oh my by the Living Soul!" she prattled nonsensically, squirming out from underneath that giant hand with some kind of spinning manoeuvre she never would have been able to replicate outside of her panic.
She backed away, stumbled, got back up again, transfixed by what she saw.
Before her stood a Wolf. Dark grey, almost black, looking at her with childlike curiosity, one eyebrow cocked.
This is what you get for wandering out in the woods all by yourself, you stupid, stupid girl!
Sarah tried her best to ignore that loathsome voice and think of something to do. If she tried to wade through the river, that would just slow her down. She wouldn't even make it halfway before that thing grabbed her!
This is it! You're gonna get eaten by a fairytale monster! I just know it!
Shut up!
If she could get past it and scramble back up that slope and into the pass -
Get past it? Get past it!? Look at thing! Just look at it!
If... If she ran off into the woods... m- maybe she could...?
Run? You honestly think you can outrun it? You're dead, Sarah! Dead, dead, dead! What's done is done and can't be undone and you're dead!
The Wolf approached her, impossibly tall, and Sarah found herself rooted to the spot, unable to move. She's never been this scared in her entire life, not even when that tree-snake fell into her lap that one time.
It bent down, scrutinizing her with its dark eyes, so close their muzzles were almost touching.
This is it, Sarah. Pray to all the gods it kills you before it starts eating you!
It sniffed her, its nostrils flaring with each inhale, and said, "By the Cora, what are you?"
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