Dark Aura (under editing)

Part 3 Invoked Nightmare: To break free

Soon as I was far away from him, a breath of relief washed over me? My chest didn't feel tightened? And I didn't feel suffocated anymore? I brought back the firewood. Xavier had the skinless deer hung on two sets of branches, each supporting a hoove.

He took out a piece of flint with a small and curved metal piece?
He sat on his knees. "Come here." He said sternly. I reluctantly followed. "Look, you hold the piece of flint with your good hand." He looked back at me to make sure I was paying attention. "You hold the steel in your other hand, they should be slightly apart just enough where they can scrape one another."

Such an odd gesture? A bit patronizing as well, although I don't sense any disdain in his voice?
"Make sure the flint is sharpened, you want to scrape your steel on the sharpened edge of the flint. Now watch." He took the curved metal and lazily scraped it against the flint, creating a spark. Even so, what does he gain?
"When you scrape, you do it with less pressure as possible." He said while scraping them again a second time, creating a brighter spark.
"The trick to this is you need to have a loose wrist. The more relaxed and flexible your wrist is, the better the spark. Then you place the steel underneath the fire, not on top. "

"Why not on top?"

He sat on the ground and sighed. "Because the fire won't last as long."

"Tsk, you know I could've easily made a fire with magic, right?"

"Yes, that's why I made one without, the dirt will reveal a burnt mark and give us away." He said bitterly.

"Why would the dirt give us away?"

"Because dirt can't be burned by a natural fire, it would be absorbed." He grits. He got up and started cutting the deer using his knife from the satchel. He cut off strips of meat and served it to me in a bowl.

It's not like I grew up very privileged, but we didn't hunt for our own food. I slowly held the strip up to my mouth and took a bite of it. It tasted a bit bitter and gamey; I would kill for some seasonings. Xavier took out a piece of long cloth and wrapped the extra bits of meat in it. He tied the cloth, then moved the carcass of the deer off the fire.

He shifted into wolf form and bit into the carcass. Bit by bit he ravaged the remains of deer, It took everything in me not to vomit. I turned the other direction to eat the gamey meat, but I could still him tearing into the carcass.

I finished the strips of meat he gave me and gave him back the bowl. He took it and put it back in the satchel. I stretched my hands out to the warmth of the fire. He shook his head. 'It's only slightly cold out, and you're already rubbing your hands by the fire."

"Us mages don't have anything to help us with the cold nor adjust." I shot back.

"Well, you better adjust quickly. It's only going to get colder the longer we stay out here. You do realize that you're on wolf territory, which is commonly on mountains." Mountains!

"You're saying as of right now?-"

"Yes, we're on a mountain. In order for us to escape, we have to go down to the third layer."

"Layer! How many layers are there?"

"Only two, but they are vastly large. We're going to need a lot of stamina to get down, let alone one mountain."

"And time! You said they're tracking us!"

"As long as we keep moving, we have a chance." He said sternly. Just as he said that,

"AWOOOOO!" My body jolted and shook. My heart pounded against my chest with so much force at a rapid pace. I stood up quickly and looked around for any mutts lurking nearby. Every rustle or crunch made my heart beat more erratic.