The figure of a Great Wolf whose stature is larger than an average wolf dash past the trees; appearing out of the shadows with its grey fur seeming ominous in the moonlight and reaching the river partitioning the deeper part of the forest where the spirits dwell. Without stopping, the Great Wolf leaps to the other side of the river and touches onto the mundane world of Kana Forest.
Kana Forest is the dwelling of monsters and magical beasts such as the Great Wolf itself. Their habitats are closely monitored and protected by another residence of the forest - elves. The elves established a permanent residence between the entrance of Kana Forest and the river. In the darkness with only the moon illuminating the path, the Great Wolf focuses its attention on reaching its destination; the elves' village, with a sense of urgency while eluding encounters with nearby monsters. In terms of strength, the Great Wolf is stronger than the other monsters in the vicinity; those monsters who show obvious intent in fighting the Great Wolf are easily and quickly annihilated, with magic instead of a direct attack. The cause for the Great Wolf's action is to prevent the monsters from approaching the slumped figure of a girl the Great Wolf is carrying on its back. When no more monsters dare come to attack, it sniffs the air once then resume running until it finally sees the structure of the village's gate in the distance. The Great Wolf alters its pace to a quick walk.
Normally monsters cannot pass through the magical barrier set up around the village. It's to prevent monsters from intruding and trespassers cannot locate where the elves' village is without a proper tool due to illusion magic covering the entrance of the village's barrier, consequently redirecting anyone away from the village. However, the Great Wolf walks into the barrier with ease. A guard on night duty notices a large shadow looming closer.
"Halt!" He shouts.
The Great Wolf steps into the light and more guards draw their swords and archers at the top ready their bows. A female elf steps forward while observing the unexpected visitor until her eyes land on the bracelet on its right paw. The bracelet is enchanted with magic which allows the Great Wolf to view and walk toward the barrier without sounding the alarm.
"Stand down. It is one of ours," the female elf orders.
"Lorelai, that is one of the blessed protectors of the forest. Why is it here?"
Another guard appears behind her.
"Why indeed, Stefan?"
Lorelai ponders without looking away from the Great Wolf.
Right then, the Great Wolf bark once to get the elf's attention and glance at its back. Lorelai interprets it as an indication for her to come closer and when she does, the elf comes across an unexpected sight.
Lorelai first thought is, "Why is a Great Wolf carrying an unconscious human girl?"
Humans often get lost when they accidentally wander into the Kana Forest and it is their job as elves rangers to guide them back to the nearby human town. However, this particular Great Wolf resides in the deeper part of the forest where outsiders are not allowed to set foot into. It has been last seen by the elves five decades ago. Furthermore, there is no human village past this point. Lorelai quickly examines the girl for any injuries and when the moonlight shines upon the unconscious girl, Lorelai's whole body tenses. It only takes her a second to understand why the Great Wolf has come.
"Open the gate!"
Lorelai shouts her order to the guards standing at the entrance. When the gate opens, the Great Wolf follows Lorelai into the village and gives her orders to Stefan.
"Tighten the defences and make sure there are no nuisances following after them."
"Understood," Stefan obeys then raises a question after he glances at the unconscious girl with his keen elf sight. "What will you do about the girl?"
Lorelai doesn't respond right away, instead, she takes off her cloak and covers the girl with it.
"Our lord is not in the village at the moment and we cannot let anyone knows about her either until we learn more about the situation. Therefore, I'm taking them to the healer. If there's anything, report to me immediately."
Stefan walks away from Lorelai and quickly disappears into the forest with a couple more elves following him.
"Please follow me, Great Wolf. The healer will know how to take care of the girl," Lorelai speaks entirely in elvish to properly convey her intentions to the Great Wolf.
When I become aware of my surroundings, everything is dark except for the big willow tree standing majestically behind me; when I take a step forward, a rippling motion similar to an invisible wall is preventing me from going any further. Then the darkness is surrounded by a thick fog and when the fog disappears, what's revealed in front of me is a vast grassland. I barely got to admire the landscape for a minute before the grassland flickers into a misty dark forest. It almost feels like I'm watching the screen saver fading from picture to picture. The only constant thing is the willow tree. I touch the trunk and it radiates familiarity, like one of those instances when you return to the house where you grew up after being away for such a long time and you instantly feel comfortable and at ease.
Is this a dream or am I dead?
I can't believe this is happening to me twice in a row. Astonishingly, I'm not as bothered by it considering a goddess personally delivers news of my death.
My grandparents raised me as my legal guardian after they had seen how badly I was mistreated by my parents. Grandfather raises me to be strong and made sure I'm well-educated while grandmother was a former dancer and an excellent cook. I listen to all kinds of music and even learn some steps due to her influence. My fondest memory of them is every year on their anniversary, they would put on their best suit and dress and I would watch them slow-dancing to their song in the backyard garden while exchanging loving gazes with each other. Thinking about them in the home they raised me full of love, having dinner together and listening to grandfather complaining about being made to eat bitter vegetables by grandmother. I wonder how they reacted upon hearing about my death. I lower my eyes to the ground.
I whisper these words, hoping it would reach them.
"I'm sorry for leaving first."
And the tears just roll down my face when it finally sinks in that I can never see my loved ones again.
I wake up to an unfamiliar pristine white ceiling and that scares me a bit. I heave a sigh after covering my eyes with my hand.
"It's too white," I mutter.
When my breathing eventually calms down, I get up from the bed and look around the unfamiliar room.
"You're awake."
My head turns to the sound of the voice. A tall woman with long blonde hair standing by the door. Her pointy ears give away that she's an elf apart from the obvious delicately refined facial features.
"I'm a healer. My name is Maya. You were brought here last night, unconscious."
Even after the elf named Maya introduces herself, I remain silent. I must still be mentally exhausted since it's taking me more than a few seconds to process this new reality I am in.
"Do you remember anything?"
She observes my expression after asking me.
I knit my eyebrows together and remember a very tall dark figure looming over me. My mouth opens and thankfully my voice comes out.
"I remember I fainted."
"Where?" Maya inquires as she naturally walks into the room.
The distance between us is now halfway from the bed I'm in.
I shake my head and honestly tell her, "I don't know where that place is."
"It's alright. You don't have to force yourself to remember."
It may be the way she sounds when she says it, but it sounded comforting to me. That's when I look up and properly see her face smiling warmly at me. I can feel the tears welling up in my eyes so I try my best to hold them in.
"You still need to rest. I will bring food for you right away."
Maya walk out of the room and closes the door behind her. I find my phone placed on the table beside the bed along with a glass of water. I unlock the screen and the date confirms it. It's been two days since I woke up in that meadow. Time is moving.
I release a long sigh. There's no use in me worrying about what already happened. I grab the glass of water and gulp it down in one shot. For now, I need to gather information before making a decision. Maya is an elf which means I'm probably at an elf village or maybe this is a small village in the forest and she's the only elf living here. I also cannot assume that this place is safe for me to stay in, that reminds me, what happened after I fainted and who brought me here?
Not long later, Maya comes back with a tray of warm soup and places them on the bed.
"I will ready the bath while you eat."
I lightly nod with a spoon in my mouth.
Maya walks through another door in the room. I can hear the sound of running water.
When I finish eating, Maya places her hand on my palm and this wave of calmness spread within me. I watch her face and she shows me a reassuring smile. Then she helps me to the bathroom where rose petals are floating in the bathtub.
"Take as much time as you need. I also left clean clothes for you to wear."
Maya leaves the room, carrying the tray of empty food with her.
The colour of the bathroom is also pristine white. Apart from that, I'm very happy right now. The bath is warm and relaxing. I can't remember the last time I feel this relaxed. There is no need to worry about having to go on days without a proper shower. I almost thought I would have to find a lake somewhere.
My first course of action is to confirm my location and safety and second, gather information about this world and find out who the sages are. Afterwards, I will live as freely as I want to.
When I'm done washing myself up, I wear the new clothes that have been prepared since my clothes are dirtied - a sheer purple dress. Thankfully, it is about my size.
Oh, right. I just remembered.
Selene says she altered my appearance to look like everyone else's. She probably only changes the colour of my hair and eyes. There's a mirror in the room and when I look back at the reflection, I couldn't believe what I'm seeing. The person in the mirror looks like the eighteen-year-old me, except my black hair is changed to light brown colour with a rosy hue and my eyes are a deep purple. I pick a few strands of my hair. Isn't this technically a rose gold colour? My tired sunken eyes are gone, the complexion on my face is greatly improved and, I think I might be slightly taller or maybe that's just my imagination. I gawk at my reflection. Selene made me look like a model. Even I barely recognise myself anymore.
I hear a knock and open the door. It's Maya again.
Maya look at me and says with a smile. "I see you've done changing. Does the dress fits you?"
I reply while lifting the hems. "Yes, the size is about right."
The dress is still too long for me though.
"I'm sorry about the length. Please bear with it for a while. We don't have clothes fit for a human in the village."
"Village? Can you tell me where am I?" I carefully ask.
"This is Kirashira Village. You might know it as the elves' village."
"...elves village?"
Maya offers to comb my hair. I quietly let her while letting the reality sinks in. My second encounter in a fantasy-like world is waking up in a village full of elves. Is this a coincidence or did Selene set this up? She could've brought me somewhere near a human town or, maybe she doesn't think the location to be significant. As Maya combs and braids my hair into a half-up look, I also find out that this is her house and she's living by herself.
Maya suggests that we go out for fresh air and so, I follow her down the stairs, passing by the living room where a door connects to the outside garden. I marvel at the beautiful landscape, but it cuts short when a large wolf comes over to us and stops a few distances from where we are standing. I immediately hide behind the tall elf when I realise that's the same creature that scared me unconscious yesterday.
"Don't be frightened," Maya reassures me. "That is the Great Wolf who brought you here. He wouldn't leave your side and it's troubling the guards."
Peeking out from the elf's back, I notice its glistening grey-white fur and its sad eyes staring at me. My cat lover instinct kicks in. I want to feel its fur. My hand reaches out and with a single step forward, the big wolf lessens the gap within us. I hardly notice Maya's surprise and realise a bit late that it is still a wolf and it might attack me. Closing my eyes to prepare for the worst but there's only a soft touch on my slightly retracted hand. When I open my eyes again, the wolf's forehead is resting on my open palm. I know I've seen this scene somewhere before. I'm so happy I almost couldn't contain the squealing. The big grey wolf senses my mood and gesture for me to stroke its fur. I happily oblige.
"Thank you for saving me," I say then lower my voice to a whisper. "I'm sorry I fainted on you back there."
The Great Wolf let out a sound which I'm guessing is his way of telling me it's alright.
"What's its name?" I turn my head to ask Maya who's watching us with great interest.
"He doesn't have one. A Great Wolf is an intelligent magical beast. They are not tied with matters such as an attachment to names unless you possess the ability to form a bond with them. Those who have names are called familiar and even so, such occurrence is rare," Maya explains.
I continue stroking his fur until both my hands reach the side of his face and stare into his dark eyes and a sense of familiarity surges within me.
"Bane."
I blurt out the name quietly. A wave of wind swirls from the ground in a circle, gently enveloping both me and the Great Wolf.
Ping!
'Pair Link has been established with Great Wolf Bane', is what the screen says above me.