Now I don't know if I'm writing to de-stress or to procrastinate. As Tulio and Miguel say, "Both, both is good."

Blessed be the day when Fanfiction lets us upload gifs into our stories. Can you just imagine...


She was right.

She was alone and hiding up in a tree who knows where, but she still took pride in that fact.

She was being followed.

What she was followed by was another matter entirely. Mere feet from the base of her tree stood a wolf larger than any she had ever conceived of seeing. She supposed she was right on two counts then, she had heard a wolf earlier. This fact gave her less pride than the first.

The darkness concealed the animal to her, leaving only its outline visible as she peered through the leaves. She desperately wished the moon had been out in full, giving her a better lay of the situation. Instead, she was stuck, not able to even see what direction the wolf was looking.

She prayed it wasn't up.

Suddenly, she had a thought which made every muscle tense. Wolves could smell, and smell darned well. It would smell her in the air, and that would be it. She'd be done for.

Taking a calming breath, she eased the nearby currents into a light breeze, taking what she hoped was her scent in another direction.

The wolf did not move.

She continued the slow movement of air away from her tree. Please let this work, please let this work, she whispered in her mind.

"She went this way, your Majesty. I know it." The low grumble caught Mairin's ears. She lost connection with the current briefly as she fought to keep her balance on the branch.

Did that wolf just…speak?

Hell, if she could have some freakish power and be transported to some strange forest, why not have talking animals? And while the Universe is at it, why not make the sun pink and the sky purple?

"Peace, Malnik. I'm not doubting you. I only wonder what the cause of your confusion is." Came a soothing voice, the source of which was blocked from Mairin's view by a particularly large—and now particularly annoying—branch.

"A change, Majesty. Her scent was here, just here. And now…it's moved. I've never had this happen before." The wolf ended in a gravely mumble. He was frustrated. Good, Mairin grinned. He deserved to be frustrated for tracking her all this time.

"Perhaps that means she's moved?" The faceless voice held a trace of sarcasm. Could wolves use sarcasm? Frowning, Mairin wondered if this was even a wolf at all.

"No…no. Something feels off, it is difficult to explain." The first wolf's voice trailed off, and she could sense it sniffing the air as she pushed the current further into the reaches of the surrounding woods.

There was silence again as sweat began to bead on Mairin's forehead. What were they doing? She could see the outline of the first wolf, but what about the other voice?

Curiosity, as it often does, got the best of her at last. She quietly shifted her position on the branch to try and peer around the impeding leaves, straining her neck farther and farther to the side.

She felt disaster coming before it happened. Her weight shifted too far, and her tired muscles too slow to regain her balance.

"No, no, no, no!" She squeaked as she tumbled to the cold ground.

"Umpf," she expelled a pained breath, landing unceremoniously before the wolf and his companion, whose tall figure was yet hidden by the darkness. But it was, comfortingly, a human figure.

There was no time to try and stand, hardly any to position herself at all, before the wolf was upon her.

"The girl!" He snarled, its rank breath breathing into her face.

"The girl, indeed." The man's voice sounded amused, and a surge of annoyance rose within her.

"'The girl' or 'a girl'? There's a difference, and I'd like to know which, thank you very much." Mairin spat towards the man, pointedly ignoring the sharp teeth uncomfortably close to her vulnerable neck.

Her heart was beating painfully fast and her nerves were sky high. Why was she always so snarky when her life was threatened?

"Watch how you speak, girl, or I'll bite out your tongue." The wolf growled.

Mairin gulped at the threat, not doubting the truth in his words. She needed to get out of this situation, and fast.

The man-shadow stepped closer, and she could just perceive the deep red cloth of a tunic and wide, curious eyes examining her on the ground.

"We've been following you for a while. You gave some dryads quite a fright, we'd just like to ask you a few questions. That is all." He was calm and measured. It sounded trustworthy. He felt trustworthy.

Yet she was still on the ground with the jaws of a wolf at her throat, and his voice was masked in none too-welcoming darkness. The situation called for far less trust than his words.

Mairin eyed him suspiciously, quickly calculating the odds of her situation. Not too good, she thought, planning. But it could work. Not too good is better than no hope at all, after all. She was one to defy the odds anyway.

"I have some questions for you, as well, actually." She kept her voice as calm and steadied as his own had been, as difficult as it was. Her eyes never left his, floating as they seemed in the darkness.

She felt him nod into the night. "Malnik?" The wolf paused before responding to the command, and slowly backed away from Mairin, though not far enough that he couldn't leap at her throat, if need be.

She allowed her muscles to relax, if only for the brief moment. Let them think she was pliable. Let them think she'd let herself be held captive by these dark creatures. A talking wolf literally salivating to get its jaw wrapped around her neck and a man cloaked in darkness? She'd be more likely to trust a politician.

Calm, Mairin, just keep calm. This is your chance, just remain calm and relaxed.

She carefully knelt on the ground, making sure she was in one solid piece from her fall before starting to stand. She felt her two stalkers watching her every move—though she figured it was more the wolf watching her, she doubted the man could see any better than herself at the current time.

With their concentration centered on her standing motion, she centered her mind's eye on a pinecone note five feet away. With careful focus, she flicked two fingers up, curling them slightly and letting the air silently lift the small item. In a quick flick, she sent the pinecone hurling through the air—finding a solid target with a loud 'thump' against on a tree a short distance away.

The man and wolf tensed, heads automatically turning towards the intrusive noise.

Mairin needed no better invitation. Before the pair could even blink, she was darting through the underbrush, engulfed in dark oblivion of the forest.


The feel of creative writing is slowly coming back. Slowly, but surely. Thank goodness, I was reading through some of my old stuff and am in awe of the creativity. No room for such things in writing ethnographies and policy reports!

Hope you all enjoyed this latest installment!

Let me know what you think! Or don't, I'm going to keep writing either way.