The Wolf Witch

Chapter 3: Witches and Worse

My hair had barely dried when I splashed into yet another river, or maybe it was the same one. The water was freezing cold, but it kept me awake in the dark of the forest and masked my scent. There was no moonlight here, the trees were too thick for that, so I was blind. I stubbed my toes on the riverbed more times than I could count, but the water was too cold to feel pain, or anything for that matter. I used the black cloak for warmth at first, but it got too wet and cold the first time I fell, so I had to carry it, knowing I would need it later on.

The night seemed to darken as I pushed desperately on... or maybe it didn't. There was no telling in a place that was void of light. I looked around for something, anything, to distract me from my lover's fate, but it was too dark. Rael was dead. And it was my fault.

"Why couldn't I just be normal," I complained aloud. My voice sounded strange, though whether from my despair or the previous silence, I could not say. If I wasn't a witch, this would never have happened. If I wasn't a witch, I would be safely fast asleep right now, not running for my life, hoping that the river masked my scent. If I wasn't a witch, Rael wouldn't be... no...

Tears welled up in my eyes, blurring what remained of my vision. I stumbled in the river and fell onto my hands and knees as shallow water rushed around me. My tears mixed in with the current as I slowly pulled myself to my feet again and continued on. It was by some miracle that my legs still worked. My cloak was loose in my grip, so I reached to adjust it...

That was when I stumbled. The river suddenly deepened, and I fell forwards. My cloak, half of all I had left, came loose, and I was left feeling naked. The flow lessened in this deeper water, but the chill remained. I had little energy left to struggle, but no urge to use it came over me. Maybe my fate is to drown.

Rael's face flashed in my mind. I remembered the night before, when he betrayed me, and I had almost died alone in a cave. This was no different, only Rael's condition distinguished the two situations from each other. What will I live for? I had asked then. I had little wish to die like this, true, but it was for my lover that I chose to live. Rael, I knew, that is what I will live for.

With his face at the forefront of my mind, I broke the surface. He died so I could live, I will not let that be in vain. Shaking limbs paddled to the shore of what appeared to be a lake of sorts. My whole body trembled with the cold as I struggled onto the shore and out of the water. The water had forced my eyes shut, and I had not the energy to open them. "Just a quick rest," I promised myself. I shouldn't be making promises that I can't keep.

Even underneath the canopy of leaves, I felt the sunlight on my face when I awoke. It had to be halfway through the morning now, I'd slept too long. Jaaran should have found me by now; there was no way I'd masked my scent right, no way I'd run far or fast enough. There was always something I'd done wrong, always a way to find my trail, no matter how well I hid. Jaaran hadn't found me yet, but he would.

A spider larger than my hand was perched in a nearby tree, watching me, as I rose from my position on the small sandy beach. In the light, I could see that this was indeed a small lake, likely created by some forested creature's dam, long since destroyed. The shallow river I had trudged through the night before starkly contrasted the calm lake I'd almost drowned in. A bit farther downriver, I saw something I thought I'd lost.

Trapped in the rocks, I found my black cloak. It was wet, having been in the river all night, but otherwise it was in perfect condition, or as perfect as it could be. I picked it up, wrung it out, and threw one half of all I owned over my shoulder to wear some other time after it dried.

"Where do I go now?" I wondered aloud, feeling lost. I trudged through sand on naked and tender feet and back to where I'd woken. "Let's see where I am."