Songs of Fallen Stars

2

Elara.

My scream catches in my throat as I stare at him. He was a wolf not even thirty seconds ago, and now.. He’s a man. 

What the hell is going on here…?

I watch him carefully as he walks towards me. I reach around the tree with my hands, feeling for a broken branch I could possibly use to protect myself with. 

“Where were you running to?” He smirks at me, now only a few inches away from me. 

I don’t respond, I can feel his breath on my face, it’s hot and makes my stomach turn. It smells like rotting flesh. 

He leans in and sniffs me, slowly from my ear down to my chest. 

“You smell so… intoxicating” His eyes linger over me for too long. 

His finger hooks onto the strap of my night dress “And this attire is very enticing… I could just eat you up.” He leans in again, this time licking my neck and inhaling deeply. 

“Leave me alone!” I snap and hoist my knee up as hard as I can.

It hits him right in the family jewels, making him stagger backwards. I take the opportunity to make a run for it. My bare feet ache as the forest floor tears them up, I can feel the small twigs and sticks cutting into my skin. I only get a few yards before a searing pain hits me in the calf. I scream and turn to see the giant wolf has clamped down on my leg, and is now dragging me back, deeper into the forest. 

My screams come out shrill and my fingers dig into the forest floor. There’s no one around to hear my cries for help, my voice is hoarse and I feel the ground change under me. I’m being pulled down into a cave-like hole in the ground. A wolves den. 

I’m thrown against the cavern wall, knocked unconscious. 

I awake and I feel my legs and wrists bound together. My head is pounding, I can feel my pulse hammering through me.  There’s a pile of what looks like bones in the corner beside me. I can hardly see anything, it’s so dark. I feel around for something to cut the ropes binding me but I come up empty. 

A growl echoes through the cave and my eyes are met with what I can only assume is the same wolf from before. 

“W-what are you?” I manage to ask as I watch him become a man once more. 

“I’m Klay” He snaps, not answering my question. 

“What do you want from me?” I whisper. 

He steps forward,” Why is your blood so… appetizing?” He licks his lips and eyes me once more. 

“What do you want?” I repeat, ignoring the feeling of his eyes penetrating through me. 

“I want.. You all to myself” He slurs almost drunkenly. He reaches for me but stops short when a howl in the distance sounds into the cave. An annoyed groan escapes his lips and he turns, “Don’t go running off now, my little minx”. He turns to leave. 

“Where are you going?” I demand. He can’t just leave me here tied up like this. He’s already pulling a shade over the entrance of the cave, hiding it from the outside view. 

“The King calls” is all he says before leaving me alone in the dark. 

The King? What the hell does that mean?

Panic sets in, I scramble around in the dark, getting to my knees as I feel around again for something to help me. My hand wraps around a sharpened bone, making me gag as I hold it up and start sawing at the rope binding my legs. 

Five minutes later, I’m free and crawling to the entrance of the cave, pushing away the shade. The forest has darkened, telling me it’s nightfall. I’ve been lost in the woods for a full day already. I need to get home. 

I walk slowly, limping drastically with my wounded calf, each step hurts like hell. I can’t hear anything but a few owls, it’s too quiet. I feel myself sweating as I push on. I bet that man-wolf-thing can smell me from a mile away and I’m just leaving him a trail to my exact location. He will be able to find me within minutes if he wanted to. I don’t want to imagine what he will do to me when he sees I’m gone. 

A huge gust of wind nearly pushes me off my feet. I look up into the sky and see something massive flying overhead. I have no idea what it is. It’s wingspan must be at least seventy-five feet, if not more. I duck and fall onto my butt in the process, my leg not able to hold me up any longer. I can feel the tears sliding down my cheeks, I’m freezing cold and tired. I just want to go home. 

“There you are” A calm and somehow soothing voice emerges in front of me. 

I look up to see a massive man, nearly seven feet tall, muscles hard and flexed under layers of what looks like leather. He reaches for me, but I flinch away. He ignores my protests and picks me off the ground like I’m nothing but a leaf. He surveys me for a moment before he removes a long cloak from his shoulders and places it over me. It’s warmth immediately wrapping around me, making me shudder. He hoists me over his shoulder, despite my small effort to fight him off. We both know I have little energy and I quiet down after a few seconds. His hand rests on my lower back, so close to my ass, if he were to extend his fingers out he would be grabbing it. 

My whole body is crashing on me, I can’t even keep my head up. After about twenty minutes, he shifts me off his shoulder and cradles me in his arms. I fight to stay awake but my eyes are fluttering on me and I feel warm and a false sense of safety washes over me. 

“Sleep, you’re safe with me” He murmurs, as if he can read my mind. As much as I distrust every word from his mouth, my body is on a different level, I feel myself drift off.