Chapter 2 - Secrets of the Forest

Tamrii discovers the source of the mysterious voice, and becomes hunted by a dangerous beast.

Tamrii released the arrow in shock. It cut through the air and missed the elk, embedding itself in a nearby tree trunk. She glanced warily around for the source of the voice. Had the human boy followed her? But no..the voice had been softer, more musical, unlike the rough growls of the human.

The elk continued to graze on the island, apparently undisturbed by the voice or the whistling arrow that had nearly pierced it's hide; the water twinkled silently and lay flat and still but for the insects that crawled across it's glassy surface and the fish that darted up to eat them; the trees swayed in time with the wind and rustled their branches.
There appeared to be no one there except for the elk and herself.
The sudden silence pressed upon her like a heavy blanket.

"Where are you?" she breathed, breaking the heavy silence. There was no answer. The elk flicked it's ear as it moved on to another clump of grass. Then, the voice spoke again.
"I am standing right before you," answered the same musical voice, sounding slightly amused. She realised she was not hearing the voice with her ears, but in her mind. Was she going mad? She stared out across the lake and watched the elk graze.
The elk raised its head and surveyed her.
"I don't see you," she said out loud, her eyes still lingering on the elk.
"Strange, considering you are staring straight at me," said the voice again.
Tamrii blinked. The elk was chewing grass and still gazing at her.
"This must be a dream," she muttered after a pause. It was impossible to think that an elk was speaking to her.
"You are not dreaming, young hunter," said the elk. "I am Tokur, the Forest Guardian."
Tamrii gaped and her eyes widened. A forest guardian? Here? And speaking to her!? She recovered quickly from her shock and dipped her head to the elk.
"I am honoured that you have chosen to speak to me," she said, her eyes still still wide. She remembered stories her mother had told her of the guardians; how they protected the dragon wraiths' homes from outsiders, that they rarely spoke to any creatures apart from the wraith's themselves, and they were known to be very wise from those few occasions when they did choose to speak.

Tokur acknowledged her words with a flick of his ears, then resumed grazing, one eye glancing up at the sky, where streaks of orange, pink and blue spread across the sky, indicating that the suns had almost completely set. A bright, full moon was appearing high above the horizon.
"You should leave, psikani, while you can," echoed Tokur's voice within her mind. Tamrii blinked and nodded. Her family would be wondering where she was.
She started toward her arrow, embedded in a tree trunk across the lake, but then stopped and turned, thinking the better of it. The lake was so large it would take hours to circumvent.
"Farewell then, Tokur of the forest," she said, and strode off back the way she came.
When she passed the tree where the human had spoken to her, she wrinkled her nose in disgust at the strong, bitter smell still lingering around. She then noticed in alarm that it was quite fresh. At first she though it was the human, but the smell wasn't the same as his. She also noticed a large footprint in the dust. She crouched down to examine it. As far as she could tell, it was something like a wolf's paw only a lot larger. In fact, it looked like her own footprints, only she wasn't walking barefoot today, so it couldn't be her. Before she could think more about it, a loud howl distracted her.
Tamrii pricked her large, tufted ears and swiveled them around to pinpoint which direction the sound had come from. It sounded far away. She stood up again, then, with once last glance at the surroundings, headed on home.

She followed what she now recognised as Tokur's tracks to find her way back to the edge of the forest. She paused at the edge of a small clearing where a large, fat rabbit sat, chewing on a strand of grass. It didn't even notice her. She raised her wooden bow and released an arrow, then went to retrieve her catch.
The arrow was protruding from its shoulder. She removed it then picked up the animal and continued following Tokur's tracks.
Not enough for dinner for me, Ani and Mother but it's better than nothing, she thought with a sigh.

Tamrii was halfway home when she heard it again. It was a lot closer this time, she realised. She came to a halt, listening intently.
Everything seemed silent now, as if the full round moon shining down on them was creating a cloak of silence that nothing could break around her. It was a few moments before she became aware of a ragged breathing coming from behind her, along with the scent of stale sweat, dirt and mostly blood in a sickly combination. She almost gagged; the smell was horrid. She wondered how she hadn't noticed it before.

She turned around slowly, her eyes darting from tree to tree. A pair of burning yellow eyes were watching her from the shadows. Their eyes met, and Tamrii had but a split second warning before out of the cover of trees and bushes emerged a massive brown and grey wolf with large, yellowing fangs and bloodlust filling its eyes. She dropped the rabbit.
Her first reaction was to pull her bow out and nock a couple of arrows. She wasn't afraid of wolves, but this one didn't look like the ordinary wolves she often met bounding through the forest. Those wolves never looked at her like she was a meal, and they were a lot smaller. Compared to this monster, they were mice and this wolf was a bear.
It grinned savagely and took a run at her, jaws snapping. She released an arrow and rapidly climbed up the nearest tree, knowing that wolves couldn't climb. She would wait until it gave up and left. But this wolf didn't seem follow the same physical abilities that ordinary wolves it. It launched itself up after her, claws sinking into the tree trunk and its slavering jaws snapping shut an inch from her leg. She scrambled up higher. The tree groaned and bent under the weight as the huge wolf followed her, seemingly having as much ease climbing trees as she did.
This was definitely no ordinary wolf, and it definitely wanted her blood.

Tamrii looked for another place to climb, but all the other branches around and above her were too thin to support her. She tried to nock another arrow but the wolf lunged forward and she dropped the weapon. She watched it fall and shatter against the ground as it fell from their height. She had only two options now. Stay where she was and be killed by the wolf, or jump.
She tensed her muscles and prepared to dive just as the wolf lunged again, but then a sharp CRACK stopped her and the wolf alike.
Her eyes widened, she was falling without ever having jumped. The tree had finally given up and was toppling toward the ground, taking Tamrii and the wolf with it.
She took her chance at the wolf's distraction and dived over it, running toward the base of the tree, which was rapidly changing from vertical to horizontal. She landed neatly on the mossy earth while the tree and the wolf crashed down. She bent down to pick up her broken bow.
An annoyed growl escaped her. She had had this bow for years, ever since her father and Ryle had first taken her hunting with them.

Tamrii glanced over at the heap of mottled brown and grey fur beside the fallen tree. It looked dead. She picked her way carefully over to it, stepping over twigs, branches and leaves. It's eyes were closed and it didn't seem to be breathing. The arrow she shot earlier was poking out from it's left leg; it had barely penetrated it's skin, there wasn't even any blood.
She used a long bit of the shattered bow and prodded it's flank. It's paw twitched but otherwise it didn't move.
"Hmm..thought a beast like this would be tougher than that," she thought aloud, and then regretted opening her mouth when it's putrid scent filled her mouth and nostrils. She turned and quickly walked away, the better to clear the horrible smell from her senses.
A sharp snap made her whirl around. The wolf had evidently awoken and was now pounding toward her at full speed.
Tamrii ran for it. She ran like she'd never run before in her life. The half-tonne wolf gained on her, quickly. It seemed abnormally fast for such an enormous beast. She dodged sharply around a thick pine tree; the wolf was still hot on her tail - literally. Its jaws snapped shut an inch from her thin grey tail; she sped up, straining her already overworking muscles to run faster.

A log appeared ahead, surrounded by broken twigs and overhanging branches. The wolf couldn't possibly fit between the narrow gaps in the jagged and broken branches, but she could. She sprinted for the fallen tree like her life depended on it, which it more than likely did, with the gargantuan wolf always a few paces behind.

The wolf lunged forward. Tamrii dived. Her lithe body passed through the small gap in the branches without a scratch from them, but the loud crash she expected to hear from the wolf colliding with the too-small branches did not come. This small distraction caused her to lose focus as her shoe caught on the tip of a jagged stick. She landed badly on her shoulder on the other side of the log. Her long silver hair obscured her vision as she tried to prop herself up on her elbow. She grimaced as pain shot up her arm. She then became aware of a now all-too familiar deep growling. Her head shot up, silver hair flying away from her face, to stare into the hungry jaws of the wolf. It's fangs gleamed, saliva dripping down the corners of its massive mouth, it's putrid breath almost incapacitating her. She shut her eyes. This was it; there was no way she would survive those jaws.

Just as she prepared herself for the cold, painful darkness that was sure to envelope her, the wolf emitted an unexpected sound; a whine, then a choking, coughing, desperate sort of sound. She opened one eye a fraction.

A red elk had its head lowered and their antlers pressed against the wolf’s throat, somehow holding it’s desperately snapping jaws away from Tamrii. Its hooves dug into the earth, straining to hold off the viciously struggling creature.
Tokur!
The magnificent stag leaned back slightly then rammed his antlers forward, sending the wolf crashing backward through the trees with shocking strength.
"Climb on my back," was his only reply. She quickly obeyed, holding her injured arm close to her body. "Hold on tight psikani, he'll be back in a moment."
As soon as his last echoing word faded from her mind the wolf was indeed back, looking more savage than before, and leapt at them again. Tokur dashed off, Tamrii gripping his antlers with her uninjured hand, darting expertly between trees and other obstacles.
Despite Tokur's agility the wolf caught up, gripping his hindleg and sinking his teeth into the elk's flesh. His eyes rolled as he bucked and tried to relinquish the wolf's grasp. Acting rather than thinking, Tamrii pulled out her silver dagger and sliced it at the creature's eye. It howled in rage as it was blinded by its own blood now spurting from across its eye, and in its pained confusion released Tokur. The elk resumed his run, despite the blood now steadily pouring from his leg.
Tamrii clung tightly to his speeding body supporting her, for she knew if she were to fall it meant certain and painful death for her, or at least as close to death as you could get in this world.

They ran for what seemed like hours to her, but in reality it was probably a lot shorter time. At last they could see the trees thinning out and the field past the forest was visible. Tokur's rhythmic gallop slowed and eventually he skidded to a halt just before the forest ended. They had lost the wolf a while back; it had finally given up the chase after Tamrii had blinded it.
She slowly slid off his back, glad to find her legs still supported her weight after that near-death experience.
She looked up at the elegant forest guardian.
"Thankyou Tokur, you saved my life and I am in your debt," she whispered gratefully. He snorted but nodded his large head briskly.
"I told you to leave before nightfall, you would be wise not to linger in this forest again," echoed his voice in her mind, sounding slightly irked. She nodded.
"I apologize, I should have listened, but I needed to hunt for my family," she replied, in her defense. It was not as if she had merely hung around to sightsee. She then remembered his injury and glanced at his leg to see crimson blood still leaking out of the wound.
"Come back with me, my sister Anikka is good at healing injuries," she added.
Tokur shook his mighty head.
"Time will heal this wound," he said and began to retreat deeper into the forest. She darted in front of him and blocked his way.
"Please, it was my fault you were injured. It is selfish of me if I don't offer you assistance," she insisted. He tossed his head.
"Very well, but you shall need to keep a hold of one of my antlers, otherwise I cannot step foot outside this forest," he said, lowering his head slightly. She cast him a confused look but obeyed, placing a hand on one of his velvety antlers and leading him forward. When they reached the exact border of the forest he paused mid-step, his hoof hovering in the air. Slowly, he placed it down on the grass of the field surrounding and then walked forward steadily. His torso seemed to shudder for a moment, but he recovered his composure before she could be sure of what she saw and together they made their way up the hill to Tamrii's cottage.