The Heart of a Lion

The purple sky above the small village that would one day be called Godric's Hollow was slowly becoming darker as the sun lowered. A small boy with brown curled hair ran gleefully through the grass, a playful smile on his face as he chased the other children around the moor. Godric had spent most of his time playing in the moor during the summer, and now he and his friends were enjoying a nice game of tag as the sun began to set. Godric ran in his barefeet across the moor, determined to catch his best friend Jane before the night was up, and Jane was just as determined not to be caught. Jane sped up, using every ounce of strength she had to prolong herself from being tagged. Godric was a fast runner too, and soon he was not far behind.

Ahead of Jane was a forest that lay on the edge of the moor. The dark, swaying trees cast shadows across the swampy ground of the moor. There was no path, but she still ran into the forest without slowing, now there will be no way he'll find me, she thought, grinning. Godric didn't give up that easily however. He bolted into the forest after her, ignoring the thorns that scratched at his legs. Leaping over roots and ducking under protruding branches, Godric ran deeper into the woods. He could hear Jane right ahead of him, he was getting close now, he pushed himself ahead just a little farther.

WHAM. A branch clocked him in the head, and he toppled over backwards. He struggled to his feet, his head throbbing, and he listened for Jane. He could hear nothing. He tried to look for her through the thick vegetation, but he couldn't see more than a foot in front of him. He called out, but heard no response. He couldn't remember which way he had came from, the ground was dry and no footprints were visible. Godric was lost in the middle of a huge forest, alone and unprotected from the beasts that lied within the leafy bosk.

Godric walked blindly through the woods, brushing away leaves and calling out for help every few seconds. As he stopped to catch his breath, he looked around and saw a stump that he was certain he had seen earlier. I'm going in circles, he thought to himself. Discouraged by the fact that he had made no progress, he sat down and pondered his options. There wasn't much he could do, he had no sense of direction anymore, and he was starting to get hungry. Maybe I should look for food, he thought. He began his search for food, studying berries and trying to determine whether they were edible. He was interrupted from his search by a giggling noise coming from the treetops. He looked up, startled. A blue fairy with delicate wings beating and needle-like teeth smiling swooped elegantly towards Godric.

"You can't eat that" the fairy said laughing in a high voice. Godric looked down at the berry he had picked.

"Why not? It looks like a blueberry, I think I'll eat what I want to eat, thank you." Godric replied, as he turned to walk away. Like a dart the fairy swooped down towards Godric and snatched the berry from his hand.

"Watch" the fairy said. "Hey Gumbo, food!" Out of the leaves flew a plump fairy who was grinning stupidly.

"Yay, food!" he yelled, reaching greedily for the berry. He stuffed the whole berry in his mouth, which to a fairy was like sticking an entire cantaloupe in your mouth. He cheered, enthusiastically. Then he stopped. He turned to the fairy. "Are you a bumblebee?"

"See the berry makes you delusional. You're welcome" the fairy squeaked down to Godric. Godric watched, amazed as Gumbo the fairy began to talk to a tree. Godric thanked the fairy, then walked off, still hungry.

The air became colder as night fell, and Godric could see his breath in front of him. He had been unsuccessful in finding food, and was now looking for a place to take shelter for the night. He thought about climbing a tree to gain his bearings, but decided to wait until the next day to try this. Unable to find a good resting place, Godric lay down where he was and tried to fall asleep, ignoring the noises of crickets and birds that rung all around him. Godric stared at the sky and watched as a huge full moon rose into view. Suddenly Godric heard a loud howl that sounded as if it was nearby. He looked up at where he heard the noise come from. Perched in a tree with fangs gleaming in the moonlight was a werewolf, and it's black pupils were staring straight at Godric.

Godric lay frozen, not wanting to startle the beast. The werewolf slowly lowered itself down to the forest floor and began to creep towards Godric. Godric still didn't move. The werewolf stuck his huge snout towards Godric, who was still frozen stiff, and sniffed him. Godric held his breath as the huge beast licked his face. The werewolf reared his head back looking as if he was wondering where to bite him, when from the trees came another howl. The werewolf immediately turned towards the noise, and Godric seized the opportunity and sprung out from under the werewolf. He raced towards a nearby tree and climbed, his life depending on him making it to the top. A branch he grabbed on to snapped leaving him dangling above the werewolfs yellow fangs with one arm. Using all of his strength Godric stretched his right arm and snatched onto another branch, and pulled himself up, leaving the savage beast below him hungry.

After what seemed like forever, the werewolf gave up on reclaiming its lost meal and ran howling into the dark. Godric stopped and caught his breath. Had that really just happened? Had he just been attacked by a werewolf. He shuddered to think what would happen if he had been caught. He then wondered what had made the howling noise that distracted the werewolf. It didn't have the same echoing quality the werewolf's howl had, it seemed, almost human…

"Godric!" Startled, Godric turned towards the yell. Behind him, perched in another tree was Jane, dirt smeared across her face which gleamed in the silver moonlight.

"Jane!" Godric exclaimed in surprise at the sight of his missing friend.

"I've been trying to find you the whole time! When that werewolf attacked you I thought you were done for, but you seemed to have survived,"

"It was you who howled! That saved my life!"

"Yeah, I thought it might distract it, do you know how to get out of here?"

"No," said Godric, realizing the gravity of his situation. He was trapped in a forest filled with beasts that grown wizards could barely defend themselves against, and had no idea whether he would ever make it out. Well, at least I'm not alone he thought, looking at Jane. Maybe, just maybe, they could make it out. "Well, goodnight," he said to Jane, letting his exhaustion sink in as he slowly fell into a deep sleep.

To be continued...