Prey (A short novel)

Part 2 of 5 (Eye for an Eye)

I studied the slender chestnut haired girl as she walked ahead of me through the woods. She was dressed in a light blue T-shirt, and baggy cargo pants. She hadn't said much to me the entire time except for the occasional "this way" or "through here".

"What's your name?" I asked her. It hadn't dawned on me that I knew nothing about her at all and we'd been walking together for at least an hour.

"It's Prey," She said, glancing back at me for a brief moment. "What's yours?"

"Prey?" I asked with a smirk. Such an odd name...

She stopped walking and turned to me with a frown. "What?"

"Nothing. It's just a bit strange, that's all," I said, hiding my smile behind my hand. "And a bit ironic since that's what you were when I first found you."

"Ha ha," She said sarcastically. "What's yours? I hope it's something I can laugh at."

I hesitated for a moment and then said, "Prayer."

She laughed and shook her head. "Idiot. What's your real name."

"Tristan." I said as I studied the area around us and we started walking again. "That guy back there. Was he your friend?"

Her smile faded. "Ben... No he was just a guard. He volunteered to come along with me and protect me while I did my research." She shifted the bow that was strapped onto her back. "This was his bow."

"Research?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yes. Me and some others from my home have been working on a way to make all of these animals their original size again. But first we have to figure out why they're growing so large. We had no luck with the animals around our place, so we decided to search a little further away. Still no luck."

"I'm sorry," I said. "About your research and your friend. Did you notice any growth in the trees too? I have."

She frowned and studied a tree as we passed it. Then shook her head. "Not exactly. Maybe you're just imagining it. Oh, and where do you live?"

"I live in a village towards the East." I told her as I glanced up at the sky. It was getting dark now. It would be night soon.

"Well, you have great fighting skills from what I've seen." She said. I looked at her and noticed she was blushing a little. "You guys must be pretty strong around there. Even better than some fighters I used to know."

"Thanks. I practice a lot." I said, thinking about how often I sparred with the people at my home. "You could be a great shot with that bow. But next time shoot an animal in its eye. It'll irritate them a lot more and there's a chance that you could kill it."

She pierced her lips together and nodded. Then she sped up her pace and kept her eyes straight ahead... Did I say something wrong?

"Hey, slow down." I said, trying to keep up with her.

"Well, it's getting dark." She said. "We're near my home and should be there by now."

"Okay." I continued walking quickly beside her and decided to stop talking. It would be better anyway since no animal would be able to hear our voices.

As night finally came, I saw a large building outside of the woods. It was across a thin river and partially hidden behind a couple trees.

"Is this it?" I asked.

"Yeah." She said. "That's the-"

"Whoa!" I gasped and shoved her behind a tree.

"Hey!" She cried. "What is wrong with you?"

I placed a finger over my lips, signaling for her to be quiet. Then we both peeked from behind the tree. There was a pack of wolves, at least seven of them, walking around near the river. And of course, they were huge. All of them were the size of full grown lions.

We hid back behind the tree.

"I don't think they saw us." I whispered, my heart beating quickly in my chest. "But they sure as hell will smell us. We have to take another way around to the building. You think we can do that?"

She shut her eyes tightly and nodded. "Yeah. I think there's another way we can go."

"Good. Let's go." I said and we eased away from the tree. The wolves didn't seem to see us. They were too busy sniffing around the water and one of them, a white one was lapping away at it. This wolf stood out from the rest of the pack, as if it could be the leader.

We started walking quickly, keeping behind the trees and using them to shield us. We'd traveled several yards, when the white wolf stopped drinking the water and turned to us.

Prey whimpered and took off through the woods.

"Prey!" I shouted and ran after her.

The wolf barked and came after me. I ran away as fast as I could, ducking under tree limbs and hopping over roots. But I could hear it's footsteps gaining on me.

I lost track of Prey and thought of that as both a good and bad thing. Now that she wasn't nearby, I wouldn't be leading the wolf to her. But now I would be left all alone for the wolf.

The wolf was just a few yards behind me now and would be on me any second. So I slowed down and pulled out my sword.

I ran forward and jumped against a tree. Once my feet landed against the trunk, I pushed off and sailed over the wolf. It skidded to a stop as I landed behind it.

Before it could turn around, I sliced off it's tail. It let out a howl that nearly shattered my eardrums and spun toward me. I slashed my sword across it's snout and drew blood, but the cut wasn't deep enough.

It leaped toward me and knocked me onto my back. My sword flew from my grasp as the wolf landed right on my stomach. Its weight crushed down on me and I groaned as the air rushed from my lungs. This was the second time today being trapped beneath another crazy animal.

The wolf swiped at my chest with one of its massive paws. Its claws dug into my thin chest armor and cut into my flesh.

I yelled and shielded my face with my hands. The wolf started to snap at me but suddenly it stopped. It shook its head wildly and backed off of me. I frowned and sat up. Why did it back away from me?

I gaped at it for a few seconds, watching it continuously shake its head. Then I shook my own head and grabbed my sword.

I looked up at the wolf as lots of drool spilled from its mouth and its eyes darkened. I didn't know what was going on but I didn't even bother to get up. I was too confused and a little bit fascinated.

An arrow sailed over my head and plunged into the wolf's left eye. It let out a loud howl of pain and stumbled back into a tree. Blood spurted from its eye and down its long, narrow snout.

The wolf shook its head again and then took off running away from me, howling as loud as it could.

I looked behind me and saw Prey standing a few feet back, the bow clutched in her hands.

She looked down at me, breathing heavily. "I guess shooting its eye really did irritate it. You alright?"

I nodded and climbed to my feet. There was more barking coming from behind her. The other wolves were probably looking for us too.

"Come on." I said. "Let's get away from here, before we're caught by the others."