The wolf and the Fae

Passage 1: Flesh and Desire

Flesh and desire is all that is. I desire flesh, and I feed my desires. The forest bends to my will, those who do not fear me become my sustenance. In this place, I am king. I own this forest, and it must obey me, lest I devour them all. The forest is here to feed me, the inner and external are harmonious. I desire flesh, and so I find it, and then I eat it. I have cultivated this forest so that the sweet flesh of a young animal is a plentiful snack, and the exhilarating chase of a hunt is a few steps away.

I smell flesh, and I am hungry, I follow the scent. It leads to a creek and stops at the edge. I look left, I look right, nothing -- I begin crossing the water. As I approach the other side, I get a whiff of the sweet red flesh of a young creature, and my desire makes the time between now and the creek’s edge meaningless. The scent overtakes me once again, my appetite is ravenous.

I get lost in the task of sniffing the ground, honing the direction, the scent gets gradually stronger as I run. I run, I leap, I scramble. Nothing can stop me from getting the meat I desire, nothing could ruin my appetite, this world is mine!

A clearing opens up in front of me, I sneak along the edges, hungry for the sight line that gives me power over the unsuspecting creature inside it’s borders. The brush obscuring me in the fog of the hunt. I close in on a shadowy edge of the clearing, the scent is intoxicating. I’m so close that I can practically taste that sweet sweet flesh. The snap of a twig, the heads of two deer arise, I lunge towards my meal. The deer scatter and I manage to scratch a hind leg. My heart is pumping, I feel my feet moving, but they carry me without effort. This is my purpose, I hunger, I chase, I devour. The doe takes a wrong turn down a gulch and her flesh is as good as mine. I enjoy the meat the most when it is warm, while the blood is still moving, with the nerves still twitching. I am the devourer, I devour or I die.

After feasting, The wolf cleans his mouth in some wet moss and begins the trot back to his cave in a drunken stupor. The sound of the birds chirping is shattered by a sound louder than anything he’s ever heard and he falls limp to ground.

Passage 2: First Sight

The wolf wakes up to the sound of rustling leaves and scraping dirt. He opens his eyes and finds that he is looking at the forest ceiling. The next thing he noticed is the pain. The wolf attempts to turn his head to see who’s dragging him and can’t quite manage it. But, he sees the tip of a gun pointing up towards that beautiful mural of leaves, branches and sky. I feel as though I am paralyzed. I am distraught, I wish to tear his guts out, I wish to devour his innards while he drifts away, I-

“Are you aware that I can hear you, wolfie?” The wolf, overcome by embarrassment, becomes paralyzed in more ways than one. The stranger fills the awkward silence; “I heard the gunshot and came running as fast as I could. I managed to steal his gun and stop him before he carted you off to become a pelt.” The rhythmic dragging stops, the sound of gulping water follows. The wolf thinks to himself: Who does she think she is? Dragging me like this? I need to find that hunter so I can eviscerate him, drag him by his inner-

”Would you like a sip? I bet you’re pretty thirsty after all that deer-chasing. I followed your tracks for quite a distance! You wolves are remarkable runners…” A face drifts into the wolf’s view, a fae. This leaves the wolf taken aback, and he is thirsty but he neglects to open his mouth to negotiate for it. “Suit yourself, boop!” The fae boops his snoot, pops the cap back on her bottle, and exits his view.

The dragging recommences and likewise the wolf recommences his ruminations: This is humiliating, this creature should fear me, not help me. The Wolf realized that she was right though, he was thirsty, and he was very vulnerable. He hated being vulnerable. I need to get away from this, I should make a run for i- The elephant leaf the wolf is being dragged on hits a rock and he lets out a loud whimper. "Oh, it’s more serious than I thought! Hold on, let me get out my medicine bag…” ”NO!” “Oh my, looks like we have a talker! So are you gonna tell me where it hurts?” ”DON’T TOUCH ME! I don’t want your fae magic!” Snarling and the gnashing of teeth ensues. “Oh, gimmie a break!” The fae shouts, “You think the guy that shot you would be helping you, right now?” “A death in combat is an honorable one. It sure beats getting dragged halfway across the forest, this is cruel!” In exasperation, the fae shrugs her shoulders and says “Fine! you want me to leave you here? So be it! I’ll just leave you right here, to bleed out on the ground and not heal you back to health, so you will never get revenge on the guy who sh-” OKAY FINE! I’ll let you help me, but only until I can walk. Then no more. The fae grins, making sure to do so with her face turned away. ”Does that mean you’ll let me treat your leg?” The wolf nods and the fae excitedly pulls out faer healing bag and applies a poultice made from moon water and herbs. She explains all of it to the wolf, who just heard 27 new words and it is unlikely he understood most of it . The wolf’s attention drifts back into faer monologue and manages to catch a bit of the end of it; “…and the yarrow is actually a disinfectant, and also it smells like mildew and honey, one of my favorite herbs…” The fae finishes wrapping up the wolf’s leg in a splint, which prompts him to realize that he surprisingly felt no pain the whole time. It was as if the only sensation he felt was the subtle gliding of silk across his fur. ”So, how does it feel?” The fae politely asks with a smile. ”It beats walking.” ”ooouuh a moody, lone wolf! How dark and mysterious and charming an-” ”OKAY, I get it! You’ve made your point, sorry… I’m just really angry about that hunter. Thank you for healing my leg.” "Thanks you for appreciating my healing. I’m sorry for teasing you. C’mon, we’ve only got a mile or so left!” The fae packs up her bag and once again starts the hauling process.

The wolf begins to doze off on whatever magical drugs she gave him. He then realizes that he doesn’t know faer name. ”What is your name? You fae do that, right?” ”I go by many names, master wolf, but for now, you can call me Raia.” ”Thank, you for healing my leg, Raia.” The wolf drifts away while listening to the slow and steady sounds of rustling leaves.

Chapter 3: Monster in the woods

Daisy zipped through the forest, she’s on a mission from the healing mother. ”Oh, what color was it?” She pulls out her communication pearl that Raia gave her and calls it in. ”Hey, what was the flower I’m looking for again?” Raia’s voice echos through the tiny ball; “Hello Daisy, Yarrow’s got little white flowers bunched together onto long stalks with feathery, dark green leaves. The more mature plants often stand tall and strong in meadows for most of the season.” Daisy tears past a meadow at full speed and makes a wide turn and slows down when she enters the clearing. She can smell dried blood in the grass, she happens upon a buck and a baby deer nesting.

“Oh, how sad, a baby deer without a mother… My heart aches… did you get that Raia?” ”Yes I did, I’ll come by in a bit, I’m dealing with a hulking angry furball at the moment.” A pause ”Why don’t you collect the yarrow and stay with the fawn for me?” Daisy, who was quite excited to zip back so she could get back to her sewing, lets out a groan. Raia consoles her; ”I won’t be long, I’m just dropping him off now.” The glowing of the orb didn’t cease and Daisy rolled her eyes and said: “What else?” The pearl flickers and emanates Raia’s voice once more: “I know I’m asking a lot of you, but would you please try to remember next time? The communication pearls are not easy to source and have limited uses, you know. I’ll cyah in a few.”

Daisy let out another sigh when the pearl went dark and she slowly lowered the rpm of her wings til she softly landed on a pillow of high-up yarrow flower. She watched the baby deer, without a doe to care for her, she might starve out here; what kind of monster would do something so cruel? Daisy sat there feeling pain for the orphaned fawn and fell asleep in the sweet smell of her yarrow flower bed.