The Crimson Cape

Chapter Six

The next Moon's Day, Phoenix, Esmerelda, and Evander set out on their journey to Faraway Hollow to hunt and kill Aspen the albino wolf. Phoenix had packed a knapsack with a change of clothes, a blanket, along with the canteen and tent that Evan told her to pack. Tobias loaned Phoenix his crossbow and his arrows. Over the past couple of days, Phoenix had been practicing shooting, so that she could properly defend herself if a wolf attacked. Phoenix was not the best shot, but she could get an arrow close to the target. If she could not kill her attacker, she could at least scare the attacker off.

Phoenix strapped the quiver onto her waist, grabbed her father's crossbow, threw the knapsack over her shoulder and left her house. Tobias was chopping wood outside, and Phoenix ran up to him to bid him farewell.

"Be safe, please." Tobias said.

"I will, father." Phoenix said. "I'll be home soon, I promise."

"Before you go," Tobias said, reaching into his pocket "I have something for you."

Tobias took a necklace out of his pocket. The chain was made of a golden metal and had a sphere at the end. Tobias showed Phoenix that it was the eye that he had shot out of the wolf who attacked Phoenix a few days before. He had the eyeball preserved and then pierced so he could thread a chain through it.

"Is that?" Phoenix asked.

"Yes," Tobias replied "it is the eye of the very wolf that attacked you. I had it preserved so that you can keep it as a trophy."

Phoenix took it in her hands and stared down on it. There was something disturbingly familiar about the eye that she was gazing into. Her mind immediately went to Calvin, who had been missing for four days.

"I can't help but think of Calvin when I look at this." Phoenix said. "I fear that something terrible has happened to him. We found his nightgown soaked in blood outside of the tavern. Evan believes he got attacked by a wolf."

"Don't worry about him." Tobias says. "You'll find him safe and sound and he'll be back home in time to marry you. I'm sure he will."

Phoenix had not necessarily wanted to marry Calvin at first, but over time she started to fall in love with him. Now, she was content knowing that Calvin would be the one she would spend the rest of her life with. Both of their parents knew that Calvin loved Phoenix and Phoenix loved Calvin.

Phoenix put the necklace around her neck, kissed her father goodbye and started for the tavern. She saw Esmerelda and Evan waiting outside, both of them with similar gear as she had. Evan was armed with a crossbow that he had built himself and had customized over the years.

"Do you have everything?" Evan asked.

"I do." Phoenix responded, anxious to finish their journey.

They began to walk toward the east, where their journey would begin. Within half an hour, the familiar sights, sounds, and smells of the village were behind them and they were now deep into the forest. They soon spotted a set of tracks in the mud in front of them. Each print had the mark from a metacarpal pad, four digital pads, and indentions from claws. Evan believed them to be from a type of dog, but could not tell if they were from a wolf or just a hunting dog.

They soon came upon the roots that the previous hunting party had to climb over. This could pose an issue as Esmerelda may have problems getting over the roots. Phoenix and Evan had no problems climbing over the first few roots, but sure enough, Esmerelda could not climb over the first one as easily as they could.