The Land Of Casus

Chapter 2

Thea did a slow circle, taking in this strange, new place before her. She stared up at the canopy. The sky was a bright blue, not a cloud to be seen. The air was slightly humid and she heard insects buzzing about. In the distance, two birds were chirping a melody. Tall trees spread over the landscape and smaller brushes coated the ground. Thea was entranced by the vibrancy of the various hues of green. Living in a city meant that this type of vegetation is sometimes only imagined in calendar pictures and desktop backgrounds. 

Where am I, she thought. This must be a dream. She started to run forward, "Hello?" she shouted. "Hellooo, is anyone there? Where am I?". She was answered by the gentle rustling of leaves as a breeze disturbed the peacefulness of the giant trees. Thea became more frantic, she started dashing in multiple directions, shouting, calling, anything to try to draw attention to herself in the hopes of someone finding her. All was in vain. The forest offered no help, she was alone. Utterly alone in a strange place. Thea started to hyperventilate, she felt trapped. She suddenly felt hot and sweaty. She had difficulty breathing and her heart was pounding. A panic attack, she said to herself. You need to calm yourself down. Thea sat down on the forest floor and leaned her back against a tree. She brought her knees up close to her chest and concentrated on slowing down her breathing. She leaned her head against the trunk of the tree and took a couple of deep breaths. She was not a stranger to panic attacks. She had them various times as a kid and still as an adult, only less frequently. Once her body had relaxed, she just stayed in that position with her eyes closed. What was she going to do? How will she get back home? Will she be stuck in this forest forever? A void had opened up in Thea's chest and it started to fill fear and despair for her situation. 

Suddenly, something was warm against her forearm. Thea opened her eyes and looked at her right forearm. It was the tattoo. It was radiating a slight warm tinge. She rotated her arm to get a better look at the tattoo. It had the face of a wolf and strange patterns and swirls which became a part of the head and neck. The wolf head began below her wrist and the patterns extended all the way close to her elbow. Reaching with her left hand, she touched the tattoo with a finger. In the corner of her eye appeared a warm, green glow. She turned her head towards the glow and in the distance stood a wolf. Or what she would describe as the spirit of a wolf. It had no distinct shape but rather the outlines of a wolf. It was green and glowing with swirls of green coming off its body towards the sky. It looked at her and she felt a calmness wash over her. Then, it looked in the direction behind it and started to walk in that direction. She watched it disappear among the trees. Thea quickly got up and started to run in the direction of the wolf. "Hey, wait!" Who are you? Can you please help, I don't think I am supposed to be here"? Jumping over roots and pushing leaves out of the way, she continued forward. 

It felt as if Thea had been walking for ages. She did not see the wolf again but walking in this direction felt like the right thing to do. The sun was high in the sky now and the humidity had worsened ten-fold. Her skin was wet and clammy from the sweat that was sticking to her body. Her shirt was slightly damp and sticking to her back. Her thick jeans did not help either. Just as Thea was about to give up, the trees started to thin out and she saw a long, thin line of smoking reaching towards the sky. As she got closer, she could make out multiple of these smoke streams. People must be living here, she thought. Where there are people, there might be someone who can help me. And food, she thought as her stomach rumbled. Thea began to walk down the slope towards this new civilization of hope.  

Reaching the town, it was not as vibrant as Thea expected. People, dressed in old-fashioned clothes, walked around in the streets with glum expressions and most kept their eyes on the floor. The street was made of stone as well as some of the houses while others were made of wood. A few horses were tied up in front of shops.

Have I been transported back in time? Thea wondered in confusion.

She approached a couple walking down the street. "Sorry, could you help-"

The couple took one look at her and the man ushered his wife quickly away with frightened looks on their faces. 

How was she going to find help if no one would even talk to her? 

Ahead she saw a tavern. Hunger drove her through the door. The inside had a soft glow due to the multiple candles illuminating the small room. There were a bunch of small tables and chairs scattered around. A middle-aged woman was at the bar pouring beers and nearby, a young man passed out in the corner. On the far side sat an old man with a dark cape and on the other was a rowdy group of five guards. The table was filled with finished mugs of beer and half-eaten food. Other than that, the room was empty.  Thea made for the darkest corner she could find which was ironically close to the door. 

She did not think this through, she had no money on her. Her purse was still sitting on her desk in her office. Would regular money even work here?

The old man got up from his table and started to walk towards her. Thea tried to make herself as small as possible by slumping against the chair, in the hopes that the man was just going to walk past her. She moved her hair in front of her face and looked away from the man, towards the wall. The cloaked figure simply walked straight up to her table and took a seat opposite her. 

"You are not from around here, are you?", he asked with an investigative tone. The man had a husky voice as if he had been smoking way too much for most of his life. 

Slightly panicking, Thea just stared at him, not being able to think of a lie fast enough. She put her arms on the table and straightened her back in hopes that her body language would not give away how scared she was. 

The man looked her up and down, trying to figure out where she must have come from. His eyes landed on her arms and then shifted to the tattoo. His eyes widened in recognition before quickly returning to her face. "Who are you?", his tone one of wonder and disbelief. 

"I, I don't know what you mean. I'm not supposed to be here. I don't know where I am", Thea managed to stutter. 

"Well, that is abundantly clear. Those clothes are a dead giveaway", The man said. "Let me go find you some clothes that would allow you to blend in better. I know the lady who owns this tavern and I am sure she might have some spare clothes". "We better be quick about it. As drunk as those guards are, they are not stupid and they might catch on that you don't belong here". 

He got up and went to the lady who had moved on from pouring beers and was cleaning mugs. Their conversation was quick and hushed, with the lady glancing at Thea during the exchange before the man disappeared upstairs. 

Thea took a glance at the guards. They were giving her occasional glances and speaking amongst each other. Thea put her head now and her hair fell in front of her face. 

She heard footsteps approaching. Two guards had come up to her. They wore silver armor with a symbol of a black bear on the chest and swords at their hips.  "You are a strange looking girl", the one said. "I haven't seen you around here before", the other said suspiciously. 

"I don't know what you are talking about", Thea said as she slowly tried to back into the corner.

"We asked you a question", the taller guard said irritably. He reach forward and grabbed her arm, pulling her up from the table. With her arm in his hand, he looked down at the tattoo. His lips curled into a satisfied grin, "Well, it seems today is the day I finally get a promotion. The king is going to be very interested to hear where you got that tattoo".