Chapter 4 : Cave of Statues

The market was in full swing. Humans and human forms mingled together as one mass searching for the best prices and items. Ash and Iris melted in with the crowd. They were not really looking for anything in particular, but they were sort of taking a look at the market. The whole village was there so it was easy to see if there was anybody interesting. In her heart Ash didn’t even want to look. She just wanted to run, and her wolf wanted to escape. Ash walked through the market and felt the small and narrow minds of those around her. She couldn’t help brush her mind against every single person she came in contact with. Soon she had too many. They were flooding her mind and Iris whimpered as she saw her face pale. Ash stumbled and bumped into a tall man. She looked up at him with fear in her eyes as she saw his mind. Something about the way she touched his mind he looked at her lustfully that it made her gasp and recoil. Ash backed up and her eyes were wide. He tilted his head and walked towards her. Ash shook her head and she could feel everything around her. Thoughts, feelings, memories, and words not of her own flooded her mind to the point that she could have screamed. She put her hands on her head and turned to the nearest exit of the busy market. Iris was close behind her. Ash broke free and ran as fast as she could away from the village. The man she ran into followed her to the edge of the market square and watched her run.
Ash ran blindly and through the forest. She ran into trees but she just twisted around them and continued. She stumbled and fell. Tears fell from her eyes as she crawled to her small cave. Iris came upon her just as Ash crawled into the lap of her stone gargoyle. Iris walked up to her mistress. Ash held her face and curled up in her stone friends lap and cried out in pain. Iris padded to her side and whimpered in an attempt to calm her, but she only screamed out in pain and gripped her head. Ash shivered and closed her eyes as she tried to shove out the voices out of her mind. Iris found an old worn blanket on the ground and laid it over Ash.

Howls and barks woke up the sleeping friends. Iris went to the door way and watched hidden as wolves began to search the woods. Ash rubbed her eyes and looked around. Unconsciencously she laid her head on the shoulder of her stone gargoyle and sighed as he felt the minds of the wolves brush past her own.
She winced as she felt that they were looking for her. Iris paced and whimpered to Ash. Shaking her head Ash still couldn’t think straight. She shivered and let her wolf come out while she sank into her mind. Her body glittered and shifted into ashen wolf. She shook her fur and came up beside Iris side and sniffed the air. She and Iris exchanged glances and both of them shot out of the cave and ran separate directions. Ash ran as fast as she could, bounding over fallen trees and missing the holes in the ground. The wolves howled as the moon shone in the sky and they sped after the two of them. Ash was breathing hard and running towards the dark part of the forest when she heard a yelp. They caught Iris, but they were not going to kill her. They barked and taunted Iris while still others ran after Ash. Iris howled for her to run on and yelped when she was knocked unconscious.

Ash’s eyes were wide with fear as she jumped headlong in to the dark part of the forest. The wolves behind her scattered as they neared the edge of the forest. She was so fearful that every twig snap she made she thought was a wolf coming up beside her. She was blind with fear that she ran straight into a cave and into a tall statue that blacked her out. Ash awoke moments later to find that she was in her human form and was lying upon a cold stone floor. She rubbed her head and looked around. She was surrounded by statues of gargoyles. Standing she wasn’t afraid of them and she looked straight onto the face of the one standing in front. She smiled and touched his arms and outstretched hands. Ash looked him over and saw upon his belt buckle was a crown with a pair of wings framing it. She smiled and hugged the statue as if he was real. Wrapping her arms around his neck she rested her chin on his shoulder.
“Finally someone that doesn’t talk or think. I want to stay here forever. I’m too scared to go back.” She whimpered and hoped onto his arms. Closing her eyes she grasped onto him and fell asleep.

Author's Note

People still ok?