From The Ashes.

Chapter 3

"Too late now." The crunch of snow beneath my heavy boots made me smile. I'd been awake when the snow had begun falling last night and it was still one of my favourite things about living in Quelia, even though the town I'd come from was only a couple of hours away, it was too far down the mountain to get any substantial amount of snow. The cold wind blew through the trees as they grew thicker and I shivered slightly, eyeing the spot where I remembered seeing the woman with white hair last night.

"It was a dream. Had to be a dream. There's no such thing as people turning into wolves, woman." I chastised myself, shaking my head as I turned to find the place I'd walked off the path last night. I was surprised I remembered it as I walked over to where the plants had been unceremoniously trampled. I looked into the forest, searching for the place I had seen the wolves last night, biting back the urge to go looking for those spots of blood in the snow. It wasn't likely I'd find them again especially since it had snowed last night, but the urge was still there. Shaking my head, I turned away, anxiety eating at my stomach. There was nothing there. No matter how real that dream had been, there was no way it was reality. People turning into wolves? Please. I crossed my arms in front of my chest, walking away from that place, when a crack above my head made me pause. Looking up into the trees, for a moment I didn't see anything. I was about to walk away when a blast of wind rustled through the leaves and the sleeve of a thick jumper caught my eye. I leaned back on my tiptoes, trying to see through the thick canopy, when a pair of emerald green eyes looked back at me. There was a boy in the tree, his coal black hair fell in front of his eyes, he seemed to be trying to hide behind the tree trunk but what I could see of him seemed a bit too skinny for what was normal.

"There's a child in a tree." I blinked. "Why is there a child in a tree?" The boy stared at me, seemingly frozen as he clung to the trunk of the tree like a koala.

"Hey monkey, what you doing up there?" The boy didn't respond, just looked hurriedly around him like he was terrified of something.

"Hey, hang on, I'm not going to hurt you. Are you with anyone? Where are your parents?" He didn't say anything, his eyes were wide with fear as he stared at me, clinging so tightly to the tree I could see his knuckles were white, even from my vantage point. I raised my hands, opening my mouth to tell him he was alright, when his head shot up and he pulled himself against the trunk of the tree, staring at something right over my head. I blinked, turned around to see what he was looking at and almost jumped out of my skin. A few paces behind me stood a kid, probably a few years younger then me. He didn't seem all the intimidating, in fact he was a few inches shorter than me and wearing glasses, but something about the way he held himself made me automatically slip into a fighting pose. I turned and looked up at the boy, who was now staring at me with his eyes as wide as saucers. Discreetly, I indicated for him to climb higher, and the boy deftly pulled himself into the canopy of the tree.

"You okay? You're talking to a tree." The boy said, running his hand through his light brown hair. I frowned, my muscles tensing as he took a step closer to me.

"Yeah, there was a cat that looked like it was stuck. You must have scared him 'cause he jumped off." I said, attempting to look casual as my heart threatened to jump out of my chest.

"Really? Damn, I like cats. Would've liked to chase it off myself." I blinked, my handing tightening into fists in my jumper pockets, swallowing as I instinctively backed off from the boy.

"I'm sorry, are you looking for something? The towns in the opposite direction, there's nothing but houses past this way." The boy shrugged, smiling as he walked around me. Too late, I realised he'd managed to place himself so that I had to walk past him, no matter which direction I was going on the path.

"Yeah, I am looking for something, but it's alright I think I found it. Tell me, do you remember anything about what happened last night, Tera?" I froze, staring at the boy like he had three heads, my brain scrambling to figure out how I knew him. Was he a customer? I couldn't remember ever seeing his face before, and yet, something was niggling at my memory. There was something familiar about the way he turned his head, the way he held his shoulders, but yet not in the exact way he was doing it now. For a moment, I thought I was nuts before an image flashed through mind. Now, I knew I was nuts.