Ariel had been walking for hours, driving deeper into the forest. She didn't know where she was trying to go, she just wanted to put as much distance between herself and her parents as she possibly could. The night was growing, bringing with it darkness and cold. Eventually Ariel stopped, finding a small hollow at the base of a tree. Ariel lay her sleeping bag on the ground, slipping inside. Despite wearing all her clothes, a coat, and being inside a sleeping bag, Ariel could still feel the chill of the night air seeping into her bones. Ariel spent a mostly sleepless night floating between the brink of sleep, and then jolting awake, startled by one of the forest's sounds. At some point in the night she heard a howl of in the distance. Ariel's heart dropped, but she eventually managed to convince herself it was much too far off to be of any threat to her. When dawn finally broke, Ariel gathered her supplies and slowly set off again. She groaned as she made her way up the first hill, her sore feet making a bed of nails seem more attractive than the ground. Despite Ariel's many pains, she pushed on, forcing herself to keep moving. After a night to rest and think, Ariel had begun to second guess herself. However, she kept telling herself that she was committed now, that there was no going back now. Ariel kept hoping to come to a stream, or a lake, somewhere to cool her feet, but after several hours of searching she gave up. Ariel stopped a couple times to eat and rest, and it was during one of these rest stops that she heard it. A single, drawn out howl, cutting through every other sound in the forest. It chilled Ariel right down the marrow in her bones. She kept trying to convince herself that it was some strange bird call, or something like that, but there was no denying the truth; A wolf call, in broad daylight. Ariel gathered her things and kept going, wanting to put more distance between herself and the wolf. Less than half an our later, another howl split the air. Only this time, it was closer. Ariel quickened her pace to jog, trying to get away, but theres no outrunning a wolf. The howling grew quicker, one after another. One wolf would cry out, and another would answer. More than once, Ariel slipped on the wet pine needles, covered in water from the melting frost. Ariel would tumble down a hill, and then pick herself up, continuing on at a near sprint. Driving by adrenaline, Ariel ran faster than she ever had before, but it just wasn't fast enough. Behind her she could hear the wolves closing in, just barely out of sight. As she ran, thoughts coursed through her head as she tried to figure out what the wolves wanted with her. She couldn't imagine it was worth tracking her for a full day just to kill her and eat her. The only reason she could think of was that they were doing it for sport. As Ariel continued to uselessly try and escape the the wolves, she heard a growing rumble, coming from her side. Ariel looked behind her, but all she could see was the forest, with the wolves weaving between the trees. Wait, Wolves?! Ariel almost died of a heart attack right then and there, as she realized just how close the wolves had gotten. Ariel saw now that the wolves weren't really even putting any effort into catching her. They were effortlessly loping along, and still catching up with her. Ariel turned around, and put the last of her energy into a headlong sprint. The rumble was now a loud roar, but getting even more high pitched every second. Ariel Glanced over her shoulder before stopping, looking around on the forest floor, she found and grabbed a hefty stick. The only thought running through Ariel's head was; I'm going to die, so why the heck not give one of those filthy mongrels a head ache. Ariel turned ready to defend herself, lifting the club above her head. The wolves were closing in, racing of towards her, cresting a rise only two or three hundred meters back. The roaring sound was almost loud enough to block out all the other sounds, but it was a synthetic sound, not like anything else she had heard for the past couple days. It was a rumble, and a whine, and it kept going up and down in pitch, wavering over the course of several seconds. Even with it falling back, the sound was steadily getting higher. Just as Ariel was ready to dismiss it, it rose on last time. As it did so, over the top of a hill to her left came soaring a boy on a dirk bike, racing the wolves towards her. The boy was coming towards at a diagonal, easily over taking the wolves. Seeing the boy, the wolves immediately took off towards Ariel at full speed, now in earnest trying to get to Ariel. The boy on the bike was now only a about fifty meters from Ariel, and he was screaming something at her. Just as she thought he was going to hit her, he braked hard, pulling up along side her. The boy yelled at her
"Get on!" Before reaching into his pocket to pull something out.
"Who are you?" she yelled back
"Does it really matter who I am? Either you get on or I'll leave you to be torn to shreds by those wolves" he replied. It took Ariel exactly zero seconds to decide, and she hoped on the bike. The boy dropped whatever it was that he had been holding in his hands on the ground, throttled up, and took off with Ariel clinging to him.
"Don't look back until after you hear the bang" he yelled over the roar of the bike. A couple seconds later a loud bang echoed through the forest. Ariel looked back to see the ground spewing red smoke into the air. A couple seconds later there was another even louder BOOM and in the center of the smoke a blinding light began to emerge. Several wolves stumbled out of the smoke, yipping and pawing at their eyes. Ariel turned back around and yelled to the boy,
"What was that?"
"A popper" he replied "the smoke disables their ability to smell, the bangs make their ears ring, and the light blinds them. It's only temporary, but it pretty much incapacitates them for a few minutes" Ariel considered what he had said. What a coincidence he found me just as the wolves were almost upon me, she thought. No, it couldn't be a coincidence, he had come to find her. But how? She hadn't told anyone that she was leaving, let alone where she was going. Heck, even she didn't even she was going. After ridding on the bike for ten or twenty minutes they came to a farm, and the boy stopped the bike. Ariel got off and turned around, taking a look at the farm.
"Is this where you live?" She asked "And are we safe here?"
"Yes" he replied "to both your questions" Ariel considered the boy. He was wearing a pair of dirty, torn jeans, a leather jacket, and a brown T-shirt. He had short hair, mostly brown but with an ever so slight hint of red. He looked like he was maybe a year or two older than her.
"Are you done staring yet" He asked, breaking Ariel's train of thought. Ariel looked away, embarrassed.
"Look," he started "since we didn't get to properly meet back the-"
"I'm Ariel" Ariel interrupted
"Ok then, Ariel" He gave a half laugh with slight smile, "Nice to meet you"
"Well, who are you?!" Ariel rushed,
"Whoa there, hold your horses" he said, holding up his hands "My names Aaron"
YOU ARE READING
Frostbite (Bk 1 of the Elementals)
FantasyAriel has been having strange dreams, and can't seem to figure out what they mean. After Ariel's parents file for divorce, she runs away, unable to handle her old life. She flees into the forest, meeting many people on her way, but will her life out...
