hey, sorry for forgetting to do the disclaimer thing...
claimer: I own everything that isn't in eragon or eldest, is that good enough?
:D on with the story...Enjoy!!!!
8. –Village of flames
"You ran from a fire didn't you? That was how you got those burns." I accused him, looking down at his dark fur, trying to make out the injuries but they were well-covered.
He nodded, "My village suddenly burst into flames and I ran for my life, it was what anyone else would do." He added, probably in an attempt to not look like a coward.
"So now we're going to go back there?" I checked, just to make sure.
He sighed, "Yes." Was all he replied before turning into the forest and disappearing into the shadows.
I entered after him and found that he was no where to be seen.
Dorran? I thought, scared to speak aloud incase that gave away my position to some predator.
"Yes?" his voice crept out of the shadows, but when I turned he was no where in sight.
Don't do that, you're scaring me, normally I wouldn't admit to something like that, but being alone in dark woods at night wasn't exactly comforting.
Obviously sensing my distress, he suddenly appeared, as if out of nowhere, right next to me.
He smiled slightly, showing his glistening white canines.
I was gone for a few seconds and already you freaked out, he chuckled deeply, clearly amused that I needed him to make me feel safe.
I snorted and continued walking. It was strange on four legs, I couldn't get used to it and I kept stumbling with every other step.
And of course Dorran thought that that was extremely funny and couldn't stop grinning and he watched my feet closely, catching every trip my unsteady paws made.
I ignored him completely and moved behind him so that he couldn't watch my every paw-tread.
We continued forward through the shadows, my silver fur standing out against the dark back ground.
Dorran spoke about my fur often, saying that if he weren't there I would probably dead by now because apparently my fur gave off a light of its own, like a beacon or something.
He was seriously starting to annoy me.
As we got nearer Zithas, which Dorran said was the name of the village, the thick scent of smoke wafted up our sensitive nostrils, making our eyes water and our lungs burn.
I could feel the fumes clinging to my fur, making me feel heavy and uncomfortable.
With every step I became more and more anxious; afraid of what we might find when we arrived at the burnt village.
The images of disaster that were swarming my mind came to an irrupt halt as the moss-covered trees thinned out to reveal the outskirts of the now wrecked village.
I felt Dorran stiffen next to me, his muscles locked and a stony mask crept over his face, hiding his emotions.
I could tell the scene hurt him to look at, but he did not turn away once.
We padded carefully through the carnage, avoiding the worst of it so that we didn't damage our pads.
All that was left of the once-standing homes was the burnt foundations that could tumble to the ground any second.
Some of the wooden houses had survived, but they had still suffered some damage and most were missing a wall or roof.
This is……terrible, I thought to him. He may have hidden his facial emotions, but I could feel sadness and despair roll off of him in waves.
His unhappiness was so intense that it mingled with my emotions, making me miserable too.
There was an aching in my heart as I thought of all the people that had had their lives taken in this one tragedy, and I hadn't known a single soul in the entire village.
This was turning out to be a terrible day.
Our feet crunched through all the debris and ash as we made our way to the only remaining houses near the edge of the settlement, turning our gaze away from all of the bodies that lay charred and in pieces on the blood soaked soil.
Do you know how the fire started? I thought to him, trying to take his mind off his dead comrades.
He shook his glossy head and his night-black fur swished from side to side as he did so.
He didn't say anything, but he didn't need to, it was probably too painful for him to speak at all at the moment anyway.
As we reached the semi-burnt houses we peeked inside the doorways to check if it had been damaged too much to go inside.
Some of the houses were seriously unstable, so we didn't go anywhere near them, afraid that they would crush us if they fell.
One of the homes furthest from the center only suffered minor damage so we crept inside, knowing that there was probably no one in there, but keeping to the shadows none the less.
The wood smelt of smoke, as did everything else. Chairs lay crumpled on the rutted ground, legs broken beyond repair. Bowls were shattered, smashed into a million pieces. Cupboard doors had been yanked off their hinges, some thrown across the room into the wall opposite.
Claw marks obscured everything, deep welts in the wood, four scratches in a long line.
But what scared me the most out of the marks was the fact that they were too big and thick for even a bear to make.
Those ridges were not made by a normal forest creature. It was something much bigger. And the thought of that terrified me.
I looked over to Dorran and saw that he was examining one of the scores with a look of interest on his wolfish face.
I padded over to him and cast my eyes over the incision, noting that the two claws in the middle started higher than the two to the side of them.
Then something sparked in my mind and my head shot down to my paws.
I gasped as I took in the almost identical shape of the claws.
Those marks that covered the entire house and all its broken furniture had been carved by a wolf.
But not a regular one. A human-sized wolf, like us.
And by the looks of things, it was on the loose.
Sorry if this chapter isn't as good, I've been suffering from writers block the past few days, so sorry that this one took me ages to write, hopefully the next chapter will be better!!!
PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!
-Firesilk :D
