The Rejected Elemental

[25]

"It's freezing," I whined.

"Quit whining," snapped Miles, his curls peeking out from underneath his woolly cap as he trudged in front of me.

I glared at his back. I could have been safely bundled up in the castle drinking hot cocoa with the girls, but no. Miles just had to lose his precious penknife in the woods surrounding the castle, and I obviously had to go with him for protection. I had a better chance of defending myself in a raid than any of the other wolves, honestly.

"Can you see it anywhere?" I called out to him, peering through the flakes of snow that I had blown away from my face.

"No," he called back anxiously, straightening up from his search on the ground. "Cole told me to keep it with me at all times, said it would protect me from much harm... It ought to be here somewhere-"

I turned towards him, just as his voice died away suddenly. "What-" I trailed off at a look of inhumane terror on his face as he lifted a trembling finger... and pointed at something behind me.

Quick as lightning, I whipped around, raised my bow and shot a deadly silver arrow into the heart of the darkness behind me. There was nothing but a slight wind, mocking at my sudden panic. I stood stock still, not daring to breathe.

Thwack!

A black blur sped past my left and buried itself into the tree behind. Turning, I let out an involuntary gasp.

A thick black arrow, heavy and lethal-looking, had lodged itself into the bark of the tree. Tied to it was a scroll of parchment.

I acted quickly. I pulled out the arrow from the tree bark and shoved into my quiver, along with the scroll. Clearly the arrow had meant to frighten, not to harm. But there was still danger lurking close, and I had to get Miles safely back to the castle before anything happened.

Making sure the arrow and the scroll were safely hidden in the quiver slung across my back, I rushed towards Miles, who was standing frozen nearby, a look of abject terror still on his face. Grabbing his hand, I whipped up a column of air, and carried us back to the castle. Once we were safely inside the castle corridors and speed-walking towards Cole's room, I asked him, "Miles, can you tell me what exactly you saw?"

He shook his head mutely, his eyes large and frightened. Internally sighing, I walked up to Alpha's room, and knocked loudly.

I had barely knocked twice when the heavy doors swung open - and revealed Cyril. He took one glance at Miles' horrified, frozen face, and instantly ushered us in.

Cole was standing by the window and gazing out, and turned to look at me with a look of mild surprise. Then his keen eye shifted to Miles, and his eyes darkened. "What happened?" he asked worriedly.

"I don't know," I said helplessly, gazing at Miles. "We were searching near the woods for Miles' lost penknife, but then an arrow shot into the tree beside me carrying a scroll of parchment. I didn't see anything, but Miles did, and he won't tell me."

There was a sharp intake of breath from Cole, and he knelt down beside Miles, still watching me. "An arrow? With a message?"

I nodded. I could sense strong emotion radiating off him: pain, anger, protectiveness... He must be really worried about Miles.

Cyril moved towards me, his yellow eyes probing. "You didn't see anyone?" he asked quietly.

I shook my head. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Cole kneeling next to Miles and taking his hand. Miles was whispering something in shaky, panicked breaths, and Cole was holding him gently, listening carefully to what he was saying.

"But Miles saw someone," I told Cyril. "That's what he's probably telling Alpha right now."

Cyril glanced at them uneasily. "An attacker in broad daylight-"

"It's snowing," I pointed out. "It may be daytime, but visibility is poor. It's hardly difficult to sneak in under the cover of the woods. Besides, they don't have to be inside pack territory in order to shoot an arrow through the woods, or they might have triggered the alarms. I personally think they took aim at me from beyond pack territory, and then shot."

"Alpha's not going to like this," Cyril looked grave. "An arrow shot at his brother, a vulnerable kid, and his soul mate?"

I flushed slightly. "Yeah..."

"You know what this means?" Cyril told me seriously. "Pack war."