P
Phoenix's Wrath
Guest
Original poster
Night fell as a man in a black hood walked through the dense forest. His bow loaded with an arrow, he silently tracked the deer upon which he hunted. He'd tracked the deer for almost a half hour now, making good time. He knew of the threats of venturing in the woods, what lay wait for him. But the man pressed on with no fear within his deep blue determined eyes. He crept alongside the great oak, crouching. Suddenly, he stopped. A movement in the bushes from the side of him; that was not a noise any deer could make. He quickly snapped in the direction of the noise, coming face to face with a great wolf. "Eh, you guys usually hunt in pairs, so your mate has to be around here somewhere," he cooed as the bulky wolf snarled. A great wolf was much to be feared, for like and earth's hyena, it could tear through bones. This one was nearly twice the size of a normal great wolf, but didn't phase Darious. this big bulky maned dog would surly be on tonight's menu. A noise from in back told Darious that he had walked into an ambush. He released the arrow he had pointed at the wolf that stood in front of him and whirled around, loading his bow just in time. He released the arrow but it missed it's target. 'Oh man I'm in trouble!' Darious thought, rolling to one side and the furious great wolf dove in for the kill. It just got a mouthful of earth, which just made it's fury double. Darious pulled out a dagger just as the great wolf rounded on him, pushing it's weight against him. He could feel a rib break and he let out a shout of pain, then drove the dagger into the great beast's side. The wolf howled in agony as Darious twisted the blade, cutting it's sides open. The wolf fell over and Darious struggled to get up. But the arrow he had fired at this one's mate had just grazed it; and great wolves were known for avenging their fallen. It lunged at Darious, but by that time Darious had loaded his bow with another arrow and shot it through the great wolf's skull. He stood there for a few seconds, panted. He sat down next to his kill to catch his breath.
Darious sat there for quite sometime, just catching his breath. he looked at his two attackers then back down. 'I'm sorry brother great and sister great, I had no choice,' he said a small prayer of apology to the newly stolen spirits. It was one thing to kill to eat, another to kill because you had to. And a whole different story to kill just to kill. He was honoured to have fought such worthy opponents, but wished that it could have came to an agreement then to this. Great wolves, as well as all creatures, shared a bond with the rangers. 'These two must have had it rough to have attacked me,' he thought. He looked closer; both were starved. 'No wonder'. He closed his eyes for a second to gather up everything that had just happened. But he fell asleep, his breathing constricted thanks to his injury. Memories for some reason flooded through Darious's mind; of his childhood.
"Darious, you've got to run! Get out of here and get to safety!" a beautiful woman screamed at him. She had long wavy red hair and blue eyes to match it, her green dress framed her form. Desperation clung to her eyes, tears rolling down. Darious's father, Reggie, had already been killed. The nine year old cried. "I don't want to leave you mommy, how can I?" he cried. His mother hugged him close. "You won't be, you'll always be in my heart but right now you need to run!" without letting her son argue back, she threw him out the window and he landed into the haystack.
His mother's scream made Darious rouse. He was twenty four now, much too old to have nightmares.