1 Chapter 1, The Choice

It was cold as it always was in the forest. The early morning mist hung low over the ground, flowing between the black trees like a river above land and making it difficult to spot loose branches and twigs. That slowed me down and forced me to take great care in choosing my steps or risk making sound. The deer in the woods were a skittish lot and had hearing as good as my own making the hunt even more difficult, a challenge I reveled in. There was scarcely a more satisfying feeling than the rush of energy and the thumping of my heart as I stalked prey.

Unfortunately, there was no to rush to be had this morning as for all my stalking through the night I couldn't find a single prey worth killing. I had silently hoped that as the morning drew closer more of the animals would see fit to move about in a final effort to feed before settling down but it was as if they'd all vanished instead. I felt alone in the forest and while I would usually find this calming, tonight it was simply unsettling.

I slowed my breath, calming my heart and clearing my ears hoping to hear something, anything that would point me towards a reward for all my hard work. Seconds turned to minutes, and minutes turned to eternity as I waited, losing my patience with every further breath.

Snap!

The sound echoed through the trees, barely audible but loud as an avalanche against the calm silence of the early morning. My attention darted to the right towards the source, eyes widening, searching, hoping. Nothing moved amidst the gloom and so I waited more and was soon rewarded. Something hit the ground hard, tumbling through the leaves. It sounded like a rock but… hollow? With a dull ring? It didn't matter, movement meant prey and I was hungry.

I crept through the underbrush, mindful of my steps and moving in complete silence. As I neared the source of the sound a plethora of harsh scents washed through my nose. It made me want to wretch but I dared not make a sound or risk spooking my p… No… Not prey… something else. The hair on the back of my neck prickled as my instincts kicked in, all but confirming what my other senses were already telling me. Whatever made that sound wasn't prey, it was likely people. Not my people.

I slowed to a crawl, coming to a stop at the base of a large tree and raised my ears to the brush before me, listening once more. More sounds came to me this time, none of them natural. Gruff voices flowed through the brush, metal hitting wood, stomping, the crackling of a fire, more things being thrown, crying? That last sound stood out amidst the rest, a color that didn't fit with the image my mind had created. My gut fluttered with the all too familiar sense of fear upon finding people. People were bad, they lead to death and hardship, usually at the tip of a blade. I needed to leave, to tell the others so we could prepare to move again, but I found myself frozen, fixated. Crying… That's not a sound you heard with people, not normally. My instincts screamed at me to retreat but my curiosity protested. I needed to know.

Against all better judgement I crept forward, low and slow, avoiding every branch and twig I could. "Several people" my ears told me while sifting through the sounds, certain death if caught. It was foolish beyond words but my curiosity ached and I needed to know. The final layer of brush laid before me, a large blueberry bush. My mouth moistened as the thought of the sweet taste of the rare treat flashed through my mind, but I had to focus. I settled low in the bush, peeking through to my prize of curiosity beyond.

Men. A group of men sat around a fire, drinking from clear containers and laughing loudly. It was as if they didn't care at all of the forest's myriad dangers and with their size, I couldn't blame them. I wasn't the top predator in these woods but I was close to be sure, but these men towered over me. They were nearly twice as tall as I and well more than that in weight. Worse still, there were at least a half-score of them. This was bad and I needed to leave before they became aware of me. My eyes searched the camp for the source of my temptation. Boxes... containers... tents… cages. But it wasn't the cages that caused my eyes to widen in shock, it was the contents. Women… more than one kind, weeping quietly and huddled together like animals in a trap. What kind of people caged their own women? It was disgusting!

"Horrid, terrible people." I thought to myself as I began to back away only for a flash of amber ears to freeze me in my tracks. Breath hitched in my throat. Had I really seen that? I focused back to the farthest cage, waiting to see if my eyes had mislead me. Heartbeats passed building higher on my already large pile of doubt. Amber ears… I only knew one person with amber colored fur, Laurel, my old hunting partner. She and I were once the closest of friends, and though we didn't part on good terms, I still found myself thinking of her from time to time. Surely she wasn't here of all places, she'd be with her tribe. Right? "Just a moment longer and then I'll go." I found myself repeating internally, trying to convince my feet to move. Just as my mantra had finally taken root and my body began to listen, a taller woman moved aside and I finally saw her. Laurel. "Shit."

My pulse quickened as my upper lip involuntarily peeled back to show my fangs. I actually had to resist the urge to hiss lest I reveal myself. I could practically feel my blood boil at the thought, let alone the sight of my past friend and interest trapped in a cage to be taken to goddess only knows where by these swine. I wouldn't have it. Any semblance of hesitation my body had prior vanished in that instant, replaced by a burning need to sink my claws and fangs into the men responsible.

I backed out of the bush as quietly as I could manage with my body frantic for blood and tracked back into the woods. I needed a better position and I needed to open that cage. My trek to the far side of the camp took a bit longer to accomplish than I'd hoped but it was worth the trade in stealth. Even with the men being careless, if they spotted me I was dead and I knew it. As I neared the treeline by the cages fear began to take hold, displacing some of the anger and tempering my caution. I was close now, one more bush and I'd be close enough to release my friend unseen. I could smell them now, blood, waste, fear, all scents that washed into my nostrils, burning them with the foulness of it all. My heart ached for them, all of them. My people or no, nobody deserved this.

With one final breath to steady my shaking hands, I pried the branches aside and poked my head out of cover. My eyes drifted left then right spotting little more than clearing and boxes, all was clear, not a man in sight. By the sounds of it, they were all happily oblivious, sitting around their fire and laughing. Perfect.

Ahead of me, about twenty paces away, sat my prize. Three cages of captive women barely clothed, filthy, and shivering with cold. I crept closer, moving as quickly as my feet would quietly allow and cleared the distance in only a breath or two. By now, some of the captives in the closest cage had seen me and were beginning to make hushed comments and wide eyes in my direction. I approached the bars of the cage just as Laurel made her way through the bodies.

"Evah?!" She whispered. A flash of mixed emotions glimmered in her eyes, most prominent of these being hope with no sign of the contempt I knew she held for me. "Goddess, am I glad to see you. Please… you've got to get us out of here!"

Seeing how she looked at me, even knowing she was still disgusted with me after years... I couldn't help but smile. "That's why I'm here. Just keep everyone quiet while I figure out how to open this thing."

Laurel just nodded in response and went about her task.

She was worse for wear and filthy, covered in bruises and scrapes but determined as ever. I admired her, even now and couldn't help but stare a moment, soaking in what could very well be the last time I'd see her if I was caught. I shake my head, desperately trying to clear it of any distracting thoughts and turn my attention to the cage door.

The cage was made of a wooden frame and metal bars, secure but not unbreakable with a tool. The door was more of the same, sealed with another bar and a block of metal with a loop on top and a hole in the center, locking it in place. I could feel the corners of my mouth pull downward. My knife could break wood but not metal. "Shit." I cursed again and turned my attention to the frame itself. The wood at the base of the cage was a bit more worn than the rest, as things left sitting on the ground tended to be. It was soft and full of water, a much easier target for my knife to chew through. There was hope yet.

Terrified faces watched me closely, waiting to see what I might do and whispered amongst themselves. I wasn't the most fluent in their tongue but I knew enough to hear the hope in their words as well as the distrust. My tribe and people don't often get along with most crossings ending in violence and blood. Honestly, I didn't understand why they hated us so but reason usually sat second to reflex once blades were drawn. Right now though, that normal level of distrust didn't matter. Nobody deserved what these women were suffering and past hatreds or not I was going to free them of it.

I drew my knife and began chipping at the wood beneath one of the bars, hoping to free it of the base. My blade sank into the soggy wood easily and I pulled up on the handle, taking a chunk of mulch with it's tip. A grin spread across my lips as I drove my knife in again, and again, and again, taking more and more wood with each subsequent stab. I nearly had the bar free when a voice from behind me sounded out and my heart sank.

"Oi! Who tha' bloody fuck are you?! BOYS! We got a live one pickin' at tha cages!"

I spun in place with wide eyes and a thumping heart. He was big, much bigger than me with a split shirt showing his grimy, hairy chest and loose fitting pants. My eyes however were drawn to the large blade on his hip that his hand was now flying towards. My time was up and I had to make a choice, run and live, or free the captives and probably die. I looked back at the cage full of women, huddled and scared, my stomach churned. I heard the man behind me draw his blade, and my pulse quickened. And then I saw Laurel, her large green eyes that I'd once fallen for, dreamed of, and now staring back at me full of fear and fading hope.

My hand clenched around my weapon's handle as I made my choice. I plunged my knife back into the wood and ripped out the final and biggest chunk yet, snapping the blade in the process. The man charged and I could hear, almost feel, his heavy boots crashing into the ground with every step. I knew I had seconds before his sword plunged into my back and my heart beat its last. I swallowed my fear and pushed the thought from my mind as my hands clenched tightly to the bar I'd worked so hard to free. Cold bit at my finger, numbing them and threatening to free my hands from my prize despite mustering every ounce of strength my body possessed. I lifted my legs, pressed my feet to the cage and pushed, and to my absolute horror, nothing moved. The bar remained locked in place, fused somehow to the wood I'd already destroyed.

Thump, thump, thump…

The man closed, right behind me. I drew what I knew would be my last breath and made ready to close my eyes, knowing that I'd failed and was about to die for it. Warm hands covered my own, pressing with me as green eyes met my own.

Snap!

Before I even realized what had happened, I was moving, falling and taking the bar with me. Or maybe it was the soil, rising to meet me, all I knew was that we met... hard. My head impacted against the ground with a sickening crack, splitting my world with sharp pain and setting a ringing in my ears. The grey sky lingered over me, looking down at me through spinning trees, taunting me to reach for it. I closed my eyes, fruitlessly willing the spinning to cease. Over the ringing of my own ears I came the faint sounds of feet hitting wet soil, screaming, yelling from both men and women, and my own name being called by a familiar voice. Something heavy hit me, smashing my face with an audible snap from my nose and flooding me in pain. Wet, metallic heat covered the back of my throat. I draw in a breath and wretch hard as the blood filled my airway, drowning me. Fog began to creep in around the edges of my mind, closing until I was surrounded by it and obscuring every semblance of conscious thought, save one. "I don't want to die." The fog overtook me, encompassing me in it's cold, black grip and the world ceased.