Chapter 7

Samuel's Pov:

It's early in the morning and I'm heading to the hunters guild. Anthony is probably there by now. I have all my stuff ready to leave town once I get the information. I open the door to the guild and a bell chimes. Anthony is sitting at the desk almost asleep.

"Good morning Anthony," I say as I approach the desk. His tired eyes look up at me. "Hey, Sam. I know you were thinking about Zenian, and I got a case near his most recent sighting. I can give you both." He reaches for the binder. "Yeah, that's perfect. What's the other case?" Anthony slides me two pieces of paper. "5 wolves attacked a secluded family."

"Are they alright?" Anthony nods his head yes and says, "The wolves barely attacked. They stole a lot and attacked the father."

"Thanks, see ya later, Anthony." I give him a wave as I leave the guild. I look at the papers that Anthony gave me. There's not a town but coordinates. Damn. I haven't done coordinates in a long time. This looks pretty far away. I pull off my backpack and begin to dig through it for my map. I grab my map and open it. Where is it? Oh, there it is. It looks to be a 2-day journey. Not bad.

I begin to travel Northeast. Small snow flurries begin to silently fall from the dark grey sky. It's calming. I take a deep breath. When I release white air leaves my mouth. I smile to myself. This is nice. I grab my mask from my bag and put it over my mouth so my nose doesn't freeze.

I trudge through forests and massages before the sun begins to dip under the horizon. I need to set up a warm camp before it gets dark. I get to a clearing in a packed forest. I swipe away some snow and lay out a sleeping bag. I look around for some sticks to build a fire with. I gather all kinds of sticks and lay them in a pile close to my sleeping bag.

I get my lighter from my jacket pocket and light the fire just as the sun disappears behind the horizon. I get into my sleeping bag only partly. I grab my backpack and look for the sandwich mother insisted on me taking. I remember her saying "You have to take a sandwich what if you don't have time to catch anything?" It brings a smile to my face to remember my mother's kind words. I eat the sandwich and lie down to go to bed.

I awake to the sound of birds calling to one another. I should be at the coordinates tomorrow. I get up and roll the sleeping bag and stuff it into my backpack. Off I go once again. The snow here is much thicker here than back home. It goes up to almost my knees. I need to get out of this it's slowing me down.

Another day walking under my belt. I finally arrive at the coordinates. I begin to look for a house. The people supposedly moved out after the attack. It's starting to get dark once again. I need to find this house or the wolves would have an advantage. I walk around for about 10 minutes until I see a small wooden house.

I enter the house and it's only one room but it has a floor and a door. It's going to work for now. I set up my sleeping bag and sit down to relax. I sigh to myself. I look out the window and the sun is leaving me once again. I sigh. I guess it's time to hunt.

I go outside with the little sunlight out. I look around and listen for an animal that I can kill. I need it so I can lure the wolves to me. I hear a squirrel. I look around and I see a little fuzzy creature. I take out an arrow. I pull back my bow and boom. Got 'em. I jog to grab my kill. I bring it back to the house. I stand outside and I slit its gut open. I walk around the house and let the blood drip into the snow.

I use the snow to clean the blood off of my hands. I go back inside and sit with my gun in my hands waiting. I watch through the window as the sun sets. I sit. I listen. For hours upon hours. Until I hear footsteps. I put my finger on the trigger and listen for where the footsteps are coming from.

The east. Okay. Not much time later I hear them outside. I stand and wait for them to try and enter. I hear the door handle twist. I point my gun. The door opens. Bang! Perfect headshot. I hear them shouting. 1 down. 4 to go. I peek my head out of the door. I don't see anyone. I step out of the door.

"ARGH!" One of the creatures attacks me from behind. It bites a chunk of my flesh from my arm. I point my gun behind me and shoot 3 times till the wolf falls off of me. I grab my profusely bleeding arm. I feel dizzy. I'm losing blood at an alarming rate. My breathing becomes uneven.

Suddenly, an arm wraps gently around my waist. And a hand carefully covers my eyes. I can't see but I hear 3 things hit the crunchy snow. I feel like im going to pass out. A divine voice says to me, "It's ok dear human. I'll take care of you for now."