Finally, the uneasy feeling lifted as I fell into a small clearing – or, what I thought to be a clearing – a circular area free of brambles and, well, anything. Eleven or twelve trees ran the perimeter of the circle and their branches had woven together over the years to form a roof. The ground beneath my feet heaved and knotted with so many roots and vines that the soil was entirely non-existent. A fine mist danced across the floor and for a moment it felt like time stood still, petrified of what lurked in the shadows.
Something rustled to my right and I dropped to the floor, unsheathing my dagger. A moment of silence passed before a large stag strode into the open. The mist rippled around his feet and his breath turned foggy as he tasted the cool air. All I could think about were the two sharp antlers that sat gallantly upon his head and how terrible it would be to spend my final minutes impaled atop them. Come on, Ava, I thought, one step after the other. My knife clanged against a stone as I began my retreat and he snapped toward me, startled. He moved to face me head on, flashing his beautiful, deadly antlers in warning. That was it. That was how it was going to end for me.
A breeze tickled my cheek and the stag caught my scent. Strangely, he stopped his display and stood tall, tasting again and again. He stared for a moment longer, all the while listening out for oncoming danger, and in that moment we shared I could see he was unlike any other deer. His pelt was a pristine shade of white and as he approached me I could see that his eyes were not black as I’d originally thought but blue, like the first ice of winter. He was so close to me that I could feel the warmth of his breath on my skin, and only then did I fully note the size of him. Compared to the bucks I’d taken down in the past, he must have been twice the size, and more. Noticing that, my dagger felt quite insignificant.
One antler alone was the length of my body and the prongs curled and twisted, forming a crown above him. He was a king in the forest and had probably lived many more years than I had. Slowly, I sheathed my dagger and bowed my head to avert my gaze, but he did nothing but stand in front of me. Something broke outside in the surrounding thicket and I reached out to him, startled, placing my hand on his soft fur. The stag tensed beneath my fingers but my eyes were on the forest around us. I was afraid, but why? I’d spent the majority of my younger years in the forest, tracking rabbits, chasing off the occasional lone wolf, and getting stuck up trees. That day, however, there was something ominous that clung to it like a disease.
The stag’s head shot up, his ears rigid and focussed in one direction. He looked over his shoulder and I followed his line of sight, still clinging to him as a man ran out into the circle, mumbling to himself. It took a moment for him to notice us and the stag brushed me aside, standing strong, though I recognised who he shielded me from.
“What?” Ethan started, “How did you-?” The questions came in fragmented bursts but his voice softened quickly as the stag became more aggravated upon his advance. “Don’t worry, Ethelred. I won’t hurt her.”
The stag, Ethelred, relaxed a little as if he’d understood but I didn’t have time to dwell. Ethelred veered his head violently to the left and grunted and whined. Now, he was afraid. Hurriedly, he nudged me in Ethan’s direction and snorted.
“Run!” Ethan shouted. I heard the noises then: deep hums and growls. It couldn’t have been wolves—
My foot caught and I fell to my knees, cursing the uneven ground. Ethelred had fled and before I had time to right myself, Ethan had grasped the top of my arm and started dragging me away. His face was awash with irritation, but if he’d given me a few seconds to compose myself and find my own two feet we could have travelled faster. I snarled, losing my patience.
“Would you just give me a damned second-?” My sentence was cut short as I fell again. A short pain shot up my leg and Ethan stopped, searching the forest. Neither of us breathed for that moment. No broken branches. No growling. Nothing. But rather than feeling relieved at the silence, I felt sick. A moment longer and Ethan’s eyes widened.
He pulled me into his arms despite my protests. “Hey, wait-” No one had held me in such a way, not since Father held me as a child. I tried to wriggle out of his grip but to no avail as he started to run. It wasn’t long until I heard the sounds that had startled him and stopped struggling; instead I held on tighter.
The rustling behind us became more desperate as whatever chased us ran faster and faster in the gloom, gaining on us inch-by-inch. Hot, heavy breathing sent chills through me but out of the darkness, a thin trail of light blinked through a slip in the dense foliage. Ethan grunted as he drove his feet into the ground and ran as fast as his body would let him until, at last, we burst through the prison of trees.
Ethan continued to hold me close as he slowed his pace and tried to stay his breathing. Whatever chased us hadn’t broken through but my chest turned to stone as I caught sight of something – a flash of red in the green.
BY THE TIME we’d reached the farm’s perimeter fence the sun had receded below the tree line. Ethan lifted me over and placed me down a little harsher than I’d expected him to. I didn’t know what to say so I nodded to him and thanked him before turning to leave, still processing what had happened.
He threw his hand out and grasped my arm. “Don’t try and go back there.” His face was suddenly white with anger. “Next time I’m not going to help you.”
“I didn’t ask for your help this time.” I stared him down. “If it bothered you so much you shouldn’t have aided me. I would have been fine.”
“What were you doing there in the first place?” It seemed as though he was trying to keep the fury in his voice at a minimum. “Did you follow me there?”
“Considering I was there before you were, I’d be more entitled to believe you had followed me, Mister Tiviton.” When he failed to answer I rolled my eyes and continued. “I went for a walk. I’d intended to hunt rabbits but decided to explore deeper terrain for better game,” I half-lied.
“The forest is dangerous, especially at this time. There are all sorts of creatures waiting for thick-skulled people like you to come along believing you’re invincible.”
I pulled my arm out of his fingers, “Yes, the deer looked absolutely savage.”
“That’s not what I was referring to.”
“Well, enlighten me then. What was chasing us that you were so afraid of?”
“What made you think we were being chased?”
I answered his question with another question. “Why would you run if nothing was chasing after you?”
“The wilds are full of beasts, things a toothpick will do nothing against,” he said, motioning to my dagger.
“Yes the wolves, the bears, the feral mutts and blood-lusting insects – Father has already taught me about being vigilant and prepared.”
“Were you?” Ethan asked. “Were you vigilant or prepared? Because from where I was standing you were about as prepared to fight as a lamb is against a mountain lion.”
“I don’t like to kill the beasts unless I have to. I could have climbed a tree if it was out of my skill to handle.”
“And then what?” he scoffed.
“-Waited until it had lost interest.” I felt stupid and frustrated by his sea of endless questions. “You still haven’t answered me.”
“About what?”