Lina: Twisted Fairy Tales Book Two

6: Fox Hunt

The shout that went up behind me sent dread coursing through my blood. There was something not right with the sounds of those pursuing me now. I hunkered down under a tangle of vines, staring out through holes between the leaves, all my senses attuned to the threat chasing me. A disorienting mist had started to creep across the forest floor where I hid, and although it helped hide me, it also chilled me to the bone.

Placing my pawpads carefully, I tried to make as little noise as possible, as I slipped from my hiding place. Ears pricked, tail slowly waving, I listened for signs of my pursuer, swivelling my head left and right, but I didn’t hear anything. The mist seemed to stifle all sound. Even the other animals had gone eerily silent. I crept forward, like a cat, slowly at first, each paw placed precisely and silently. When no one gave chase, I ran to my next intended hiding spot, my tail nearly dragging the ground, ears down. The fallen tree wasn’t as hollow as I’d hoped, so I was barely able to tuck all of me in, turning around in a circle and curling my tail around my face and paws. I hunkered down again, waiting for a few more minutes to listen.

The silence of the forest was getting to me, spooking me. I wasn’t sure I wanted to be the only thing running out there. It felt too exposed. But I couldn’t just stay here, I hadn’t made it far enough away from the Fae. I stuck my head out of my hiding place and had a good sniff as I looked around. The mist seemed to invade my lungs, and my body tried to kick it out in a fit of sneezing. I froze once the fit was over, afraid once again I may have accidentally exposed myself. A strange blue light had started to creep into the mist from my right. I couldn’t wait any more. They’d found me!

Bolting from the fallen tree, I raced through the underbrush, no longer heeding the noise I was making. I just had to escape, and I couldn’t stop, couldn’t be caught. My little fox heart beat wildly, all the senses enhanced by my Shifted state screamed information at me. The blinding and choking mist, the silence, the strange blue glow, and then.. The dreaded sound.. The sound of pursuit.

They were coming for me. The ground under my feet trembled. Large animals were thundering across the ground. Horses? Wild howls, haunting cries, the pounding of feet. It was a fox hunt! They were going to kill me!

I ran even faster. Maybe I could change. What would be better? What shape could outrun a horse in a forest? Should I become a bird? Could I fly in this mist without being able to see?

My heart was going to explode.

A horn sounded and suddenly, a story my mother used to tell trickled through my mind. Why didn’t I pay more attention? Something about the Hunt.. That nobody escapes the Hunt?

The pounding of hooves got closer and I let out a frightened yip. If foxes could cry the same way people did, I would be completely blinded. I sent out a little prayer tot he Gods that my parents would know I loved them. That they’d know how much they’d meant to me and-

Wait. The Gods. The blood in my veins held some of that power, courtesy of my mother.. I spun to a halt, whipping around to face my pursuers head on. My teeth were bared in a snarl, a growl falling from my lips. It took very little time for them to ride into view, and the sight of them nearly made my heart stop.

Dead. They were all..dead.

The one in front laughed as he called the riders to a halt with a raised, closed fist. Spikes of bone grew straight from his head, creating a terrifying crown, while his skull-like face looked me over. The stag he rode turned to the side so he could see me better and he leaned an elbow on his knee to peer down at me.

“Such a terrifying visage, little Vixen.” That voice..It couldn’t be.. Even changed it sounded like..

“Oh, I am who you assume.” The horror that had once been the Fae King taunted.

This.. this thing was dead! And they wanted me to marry this dead thing?! Bear it children?! The skull-like face radiated distaste.

“Hardly. This is just one of my forms, like you, I have many.” The Fae King retorts. “Where do you think your people got their abilities to change shape?” The Fae King advances his stag towards me, and I back up, tail swishing, teeth bared.

“Oh come now. What do you intend to do with that pitiful display? Nibble me to death? In this form I am Death. I am the Erl King, and I lead the Wild Hunt!” And with that, he threw out his arms as if to show off his followers or prowess, but I simply sneezed and unimpressed fox-sneeze, and his attention jerked back to me. “Oh, not impressive? Again, I say, where do you think you got that power you are playing with like an untried child?” The ‘Erl King’ jerked a hand in my direction, closing skeletal fingers into a fist, and my body ripped itself apart at the seams, painfully, violently and terrifyingly because it was completely out of my control.

I think I screamed. I know I cried, before my body fully returned to its human shape. I crawled unsteadily back to my feet, completely nude of course. Glaring at the Erl King, the threat clear in my eyes, I tightened my hands into fists.

“So you think to challenge me now?” The Fae King demanded.

“Yes.” I spat, not bothering to try to hide my nakedness. Or my hatred of him.

“Fine then. We shall have a duel, you and I. On one condition. If you lose, you stop trying to escape and accept your fate.” The Fae King snarled back.

“And when I win?” I retorted. He laughed.

“You won’t. But what’s a Bargain without a little fun? If you were to somehow win.. I shall take you home.” The Fae King responded.

“I accept.” I snapped. He gave me a wicked corpse’s grin, and climbed down off his stag. Suddenly, I wondered what I’d missed, but it was too late now.

My parents had not been negligent. They had taught me to fight, in and out of my Shifter form. Despite my complaints that I could always use tooth or claw, my mother had always asked ‘What if you don’t have those powers Lina? What then?’

I had always scoffed, never imagining a time when I couldn’t access them. But as I tried to force my body out of its human shape, and it resisted, the Erl King’s wicked grin grew wider. I was never more grateful that my parents had taught me to defend myself, even in human form.

I widened my stance, letting my joints stay loose so I was ready to move. The Erl king came straight towards me.

“No weapons.” I snarled.

“But of course.” He grinned again, unbuckling his sword so that it fell, belt and all, to the ground. Still advancing, he tugged a knife from his tunic and let it fall to the ground as well. By the time he reached me, no less than six weapons lay on the ground in a trail behind him, and he wasted no time at all in beginning the fight. Swinging a fist wreathed in blue flame, the Fae King struck first, aiming directly for my face, not pulling his punches. I may not have been able to Shift, but my body still remembered its speed and strength, borrowed from other forms. I dodged, but just barely, with an angry snarl that sounded feral even to my own ears.

I knocked his arm outward away from me and barrelled towards his chest, reminding myself he had no power over my God-given gifts, and unlike my mother, I had learned about them. Maybe not everything, but enough. I slammed both palms to his chest with a yell, calling the lightning from the sky. All the hair on my body rose and a sharp smell invaded my nose seconds before my skin prickled and everything around us lit up brighter than daylight.