The White Wolf

Silvina found herself racing through the trees, looking back to see if anything had followed her. The trees were rustling behind her but she couldn’t actually see anything, it was way too dark. She was running out of breath but she had to keep going or she was going to end up like Havell. She felt so terrible leaving him. She should’ve stayed put like he asked her to. She couldn’t swallow the guilt stuck in her throat for possibly being the cause of her rescuer’s death. It was all she could think about as she ran. 

The leaves and branches cut her face, unable to properly push them out of her way as she just tried to keep up her sprint. It was so dark by this point though that she couldn’t see the bramble bushes ahead of her. She stumbled and fell amongst the thorny bushes, her dress and hair getting caught. In her struggle, she finally stopped to listen for anything that may have pursued her. 

The only thing that she could hear was her heavy breathing, which she tried to calm. Just when she started to feel safe, she could see an inky black figure strike out through the darkness right towards her. With a vicious hiss she felt the fangs a mere inch from her face. She turned away instinctively but the shadow never dealt the blow. 

Silvina then looked out through the darkness and she could just barely see a small furry creature past the sliver of moonlight cutting through the dense trees. It had it’s jaws around the thick neck of the snakelike creature and they were both violently writhing on the ground in a desperate struggle for victory. 

Silvina used this opportunity to untangle herself from the brambles and look for something that she could attack with but she couldn’t find anything remotely close. Her gaze turned back to the furry creature fighting but the snake lashed out and managed to toss the animal right towards her. When it stopped at her feet, she recognized it as the little white wolf she had freed from a trap before. 

The wolf looked up at her pointedly before turning and running onto a forest path, fully expecting Silvina to follow. 

She didn’t even give the snake time to reassess as it writhed madly from the wolf’s bite. She burst into a fresh sprint after her little rescuer. Silvina could see it’s fluffy tail swishing as it ran, the path it was leading her along lit by the strange glowing flora that the spirit had shown her. There was no time to stop and enjoy the scenery this time though. 

Up ahead Silvina saw the wolf stop and look back to make sure that she was there. They had reached what looked like a thick cluster of trees that couldn’t be slipped through and Silvina looked back to see if the shadow creature was still following. This was a dead end! She looked down at the wolf expectantly, having anticipated it knew some sort of escape. 

The wolf then approached the cluster of trees. They were so tight knit together that not even it’s small body could get through, but when it leaned in and touched it’s nose to one of the trunks, a ring of light spread outward through the trees. They began to shift and move, creaking and groaning as they did, until there was an opening just wide enough for them to get through. 

Silvina blinked a couple times but finally shook her head and decided it wasn’t the craziest thing she’d seen that night. 

The wolf hopped through the opening and she followed, causing the space in the trees to close behind them.

The wolf sat down now, looking up at her with big round yellow eyes. When it looked to be relaxed, Silvina decided to trust that they were out of danger now. She smiled down at it. “Hey buddy. Thanks for your help.” She remembered that the wolf had been previously injured so she searched for the wound but couldn’t find it. Had it’s leg been healed somehow?

Silvina crouched down and cautiously scratched his ear. “You were a life saver back there ya know? How can I thank you?” 

Of course she didn’t expect the wolf to answer but it seemed to enjoy the ear scratches she was giving. “You must have stumbled upon some powerful sorcerer or something like that. Your leg was in pretty bad shape.” She chuckled a little at the absurd thought but the wolf tipped it’s head as if knowingly. 

“Well…” Silvina stood up then and looked around for another safe path to take but there was none, not into the forest. In fact, she hadn’t even noticed that there was a stone wall directly ahead of them. It was covered in vines and greenery, nearly hidden by it all. She walked forward rather curiously and reached out to the vines. “What is this…?” She asks as she started to pull the vines free to reveal an entrance. It led directly into what looked like a temple, judging from the manner the stones were laid. Silvina stepped back, the entrance more inviting than the forest at this point. She looked back at the wolf to see if it would follow but it was just sitting down and studying her very curiously. 

“Well...is it safe to go in?” She asks and the wolf gets to it’s feet before approaching her. He looked up at her briefly before stepping past her and making his way down the steep stone steps. 

She sighed a little before looking back at the safe little clearing within the thick wall of trees. “Well...what have I got to lose…” She whispered.