Chapter 6 - The Girl and The Corpse

Fire.

What Alice smelled was fire.

They must be close, the invaders.

And if they were, maybe the ashes falling over her like snow were...

From the village.

She quickly picked up around sixteen sticks, small and strong, enough to turn them into arrows.

She took a stone to sharpen them and as she did, a sharp edge of the stone cut her hand, it wasnt too bad, but it stung.

Once she finished, she started running, running as fast as she could, towards the smell of destruction coming from the fire.

She passed by thousands of trees, a river blocked her way and, making sure to not drop her crossbow again, she had to cross it.

And then, already exhausted, she ran up a small hill.

When she got to the top, she saw it; towers of smoke and ashes showed the position of an enormous town, burning down to ashes.

It looked like hell.

And Maud was there.

***

Her house was surrounded by fire once again.

«Is this my destiny? Will i have to live in the forest my whole life?»

«is it me who they followed to get here?»

The ceiling started to collapse and pieces of it started falling to the ground, one fell right over a man, burning him alive.

Maud had to look away, trying to ignore the screams of desperation that poor soul emanated.

She started running, running as fast as she could, dodging swords and some arrows in any way she could.

After passing half of the village, she ran into an alley to catch her breath.

When she heard a sound behind her, she turned around quickly, prepared to keep running but all she saw was Alice, looking at her with wide eyes.

«gosh, she looks awful»

— Maud! — the huntress said, running towards her and hugging her tightly.

Maud returned the hug, slightly confused.

— ... But... How? I thought that werewolf had...

— she-wolf — corrected Alice, smiling, she stepped away just enough to be face to face.

— ... She... She-wolf?

— yes, her name is Aloide — she took her hand and started running — i will explain later, we have to go.

Using the few handmade arrows she had made, they made their way through the village, shooting any invader who came across their path.

A man with a sword ran towards them with the weapon raised, she aimed and shot towards him and the arrow landed right on his shoulder, making the man yell in pain and drop the weapon.

While reloading the crossbow, a pair of rough hands took her by the arm and turned her around, it was a bearded man holding a big hunting knife on his left hand.

The moment he raised his weapon, Alice, in panic, raised her own weapon and took her shot.

The sharp stick went through the man's skull with brutal force, through the eye socket, which was now emanating a torrent of dark blood that stained her clothes, the brown and green darkening like the moon in the eclipse.

Everything around her went silent for a moment, as she stared at the expression in the attacker's face, until his body went limp and fell towards her.

Maud took her and moved her away before it fell right over her, shaking her from the shoulders to snap her out of the shock.

— Alice, Alice! we need to keep moving.

The huntress looked at her for a moment before gripping her crossbow tighter and starting to run once again, finally getting away from the chaos.

They ran and ran, ran as fast as they could, through the snow and trees until the village was out of sight.

They sat in the snow, against a tree, exhausted.

After a few minutes of heavy breathing Alice spoke up.

— that... Was so close... — she said, breathing with difficulty.

Maud just nodded, and after a fee seconds, she too spoke up.

— ... I think... I saw my father... — she looked down, bringing her knees up and hugging them — i think i saw him die...

A mortal silence invaded the scene.

Minutes passed, many minutes, almost an hour of silence between the girls, until the huntress scooted closer and grabbed her hand.

— you're gonna be okay, Maud, i promise.

she said softly, before hugging her tightly.

She felt her friend's tears run down her shoulder the moment she returned the hug.

And like that, they stayed until the sun began to take the day with him, and the moon bring the night.

Suddenly, a small, aching sob emanated from just a few meters away, it sounded like an animal, a bear... Or a werewolf.

Alice thought of the worst possible situations, what if they found Aloide? She was pretty close after all.

They stood up, making sure to make as less noise as possible, and walked up to the source of the sobbing.

What they saw was a werewolf, like Alice anticipated, not Aloide, but surely very old.

It was bleeding, its dark blood stained the snow around its body.

Around its neck, a grotesque amount of infected injuries formed a collar like ring.

It seemed severely malnourished.

— dear gods... — said Maud, slowly walking up to the wolf, who was still weakly breathing in and out. — i readed about this... I think it was called Wolf Collar — she turned around towards Alice. — it spreads through common wolves, but only affects lycanthropes.

The huntress nodded slowly as she listened, stepping closer towards the poor creature.

She sat infront of its face and said;

— hello... Can you hear me?

The wolf nodded, in an almost unnoticeable movement.

— ... Im... So sorry.

The beast slowly opened its eyes, surprised by the unexpected kindness.

— we... We can... End this.

The wolf nodded once more, with more energy this time, and was able to speak a few weak words.

— ... Please... Do...

Its voice reminded her of Aloide, which brought a bunch of horrible images to her mind.

But it also made her realize this wolf was probably a she-wolf too.

— do it Maud. — she said giving the crossbow to her friend — i... I cant.

Maud nodded and grabbed the weapon.

When Alice turned around, she couldnt help but imagine Aloide's face when she heard the click of the crossbow as it shot through the creature's face.

***

«its nighttime already... She should have came back already...»

She had spent the last few hours preocupied for the kid, where was she? Had she gotten to the town safely?

What if she was hurt?

Before another terrible posibility crossed Aloide's mind, Alice and Maud appeared a few feet away, walking up the hill towards the cave.

— Alice! — said the wolf while she strolled towards the girls — you found the village? — she looked towards the huntress' arm and saw no signs of bandages.

— no... — started the young girl — the town was being attacked when i got there... Like mine.

The wolf lady widened her eyes like plates.

— really...? Then... This is much bigger than i expected...

— when we were heading towards h- here we saw one of their campsites... — Maud said, joiningnthe conversation while being terrified because of the presence of the wolf, even if Alice told her she was harmless.

— okay, then... — started Aloide, stepping closer to both of them. — we are going to need a plan.