Into The Mountains(COMPLETED)

Chapter one

I was crouching over the fire again when a howl split the night, shattering the noises of the woods and driving even the persistent early-season insects into complete silence. I'd heard wolves before, howling in their cages at the traveling shows that sometimes visited, and while this was similar, it was decidedly more beastian and horrifying. The way the sound bounced off the hills around me it was impossible to tell just how close it had been, but it seemed close. Terrifyingly close.  Brentha, the pony, shook herself and stomped the ground after a moment of stillness. I knew her well enough that I got up and went to her. It was good to be close to something large and friendly anyway. I shivered, and realized how big a difference the fire was making. Wolves wouldn't come close to the fire anyway right? Well, not a big one maybe. I looked at my poor excuse for an attempt. It had actually gotten a little bigger when I'd stopped attending it, that was how good I was at building a fire.

It had to have been a wolf, didn't it? I thought again of the monsters, they said those came in the form of wolf-like creature sometimes.  When the howl didn't come again immediately, and the other sounds of the small valley started up again for the time being, I relaxed a little. I allowed myself a little laugh at myself for being so worried. I put a larger stick on the fire, since it seemed to be doing a bit better. "It probably just sounded a little off because it'd been bouncing around the mountain for a while." I told Brentha, smiling at her. "We'll be alright, just you see." I said to her, quickly pushing off the fears I'd felt onto the pony.  A loud crack sounded from the wood like a branch being snapped in half, followed by more rustling and then the world got quiet around me again. An owl nearby had been calling into the night every few seconds, but he went silent. Brentha began to snort and paw at the ground, her eyes rolling as she pulled against the binding of her reigns.  I tried to hold her, but she was normally such a calm thing when close to people I wasn't expecting it. I also wasn't used to any kind of struggle, let alone keeping a powerful pony at my side.

She tugged and shook, then bolted with the intent of dragging me through the woods if I wouldn't let go. I let her go quickly, but still had to run several feet back to the fire. I was frightened, dragged into the dark like that temporarily. I had to collect my blanket on the way, and then I wrapped myself in it tightly, as if I might hide in it. Of course, it was far too small for that. I kept thinking maybe I heard a noise in that direction, or another, but there wasn't anything when I looked and I stopped daring to look, hiding my face in the blanket.  A roar tore through the night again, this time so loud that it felt like it shook the air around me. I couldn't help but pull down the blanket long enough to peek out in the direction the sound had come. I didn't see anything. I looked as hard as I could, trying to penetrate the blackness with my eyes, but it was impossible, and then something caught my attention.

The glint of two reflecting eyes out in the dark just beyond the range where the fire reached. As I watched they blinked and then refocused on me. They were too high off the ground to be a wolf, and too reflective to be a man's eyes.  I sucked in a sharp breath and fell backward onto one hand, boots kicking at the ground as I struggled to get to my feet. I kept my eyes on the creature's, until I realized it might not have come alone. I tore my gaze to be in front of me, toward where I was going to run. I couldn't see anything but blackness, looking over the glow of the fire meant my eyes weren't adjusted. I let out a strange, but really pitifully quiet yell as I started to run anyway.

I quickly tripped over a root and whole heartedly believed I'd been grabbed by something. I regained my feet only to trip again almost immediately, my hands catching me roughly on a tree, the bark scraping my hands as I slid, still falling to one knee despite it's support.  Something insanely powerful grabbed me from behind. My dress shredded as claws tore through the fabric and lifted me entirely off the ground and then turned me until I was face to face with the massive monster, it looked very feminine almost like a female but male. It looked like a wolf. It had a long jaw bristling with teeth, and massive yellow eyes that seemed to burn as they peered through me. Its claws had torn lines in my back, and I could feel warmth trickling down my back that I was positive was blood.