Emily's Saga

by Travis Bughi

  “They’re escaping!” he yelled. “To me! To me!”

  “Damn it,” Adelpha said in a hushed breath. “He’s still alive.”

  The remaining centaurs, the smartest ones, formed up on their master. Emily wanted to try and count how many were left, but she dared not look away from the forest in front of her. Although she saw nothing, she knew there was a werewolf right in front of her, somewhere, just waiting for her to look away.

  The amazons made it past the rock’s edge. They were headed south now, out of the trap that had been set for them. Emily saw out of the corner of her eye that the centaurs, miraculously, were following them.

  “Lok’har’s on our trail,” Emily called out.

  “What?” Adelpha replied but dared not turn to look. “Are you sure?”

  “Him and his centaurs,” Iezabel confirmed from the rear of the group. “They’re moving together, like us.”

  “Damn that crazy centaur,” Adelpha yelled. “Does his insanity have no limits?”

  A werewolf leapt from the shadows at Hanna, but her bow was held at the ready, and the creature took an arrow in the throat. It crashed to the ground at her feet, kicking and gurgling in pain, and the other amazons near her loosed their own shafts into the beast. It shuddered and died, and the amazons quickly reloaded.

  “They’re getting eager,” Hanna called out.

  “They won’t stay cautious for,” Leda started, and then realized Kirke wasn’t there to finish for her, “much longer.”

  Leda and Hanna stifled a tear. Emily, too, felt a sharp pain in her heart.

  “Damn,” Adelpha muttered. “We’ve got to get out of here.”

  As she finished that sentence, another werewolf sprung out of the shadows with jaws open at Adelpha. She was ready, though, and released her string, stunning the creature with an arrow to the chest. It whined in pain, but then snarled and leapt forward again. Emily, along with several others, loosed her own arrow and put it down for good.

  As Emily reached a hand back to grab another arrow, she felt a strong grip close around her ankle. Sharp claws pierced her skin and pulled. In the split second it took for Emily to hit the ground, she realized that a werewolf had grabbed her, and it was already too late.

  The werewolf took off running, and Emily was dragged into the night.

  Chapter 16

  “NO!” Chara yelled. “Emily!”

  The sound of her own name faded away quickly and was muffled by the sound of dirt, leaves, and sticks being crunched under her body as she was dragged across the ground.

  Emily let loose a terrified scream. The werewolf had come out of the shadows with lightning quickness and was pulling her with daunting strength and speed. She’d dropped her bow when she hit the ground and, at first, didn’t know what to do. Where was it taking her? She wasted two precious seconds in a petrified state before defiance took over.

  I’m not dying here, she thought.

  Emily grabbed her hunting knife from her waist and yanked it free. In a painful motion, she pulled herself up, causing the werewolf’s claws to dig deeper into her skin. Her bottom dragged across the forest floor, and Emily grunted in pain. The moment she was up, though, Emily plunged the knife down into the paw that held her.

  She felt the knife sink in, though not nearly as deep as she wanted, but it did the trick, and the werewolf yelped and let her ankle go. Emily came to a sudden stop as the werewolf leapt to the side, reared up on two legs and howled into the moonlight. It snarled and shook its bleeding paw, snapping its head from side to side as it did so.

  Emily tried to stand up quickly, but her injured leg hampered her. She grunted as she tried to put weight on it, and instead limped on her good one. The werewolf, towering over her, saw Emily do this and forgot its wound. It reached out with its claws to take hold of her, but Emily swept the knife back and forth defensively. The creature retracted its claws quickly to avoid the blade.

  It then took a moment, a surprisingly human moment, to circle and assess the amazon. It snarled and snapped at her, drool dripping from its snout and lolling tongue. Emily, shocked at the caution the werewolf was taking, kept her knife held up as she limped around to keep the werewolf in front of her.

  The beast was lanky and tall. Its legs, arms, and body were stretched out and yet well-muscled. Through the thick fur, Emily could see the werewolf’s chest rise and fall rapidly, and she could feel its breath on her through its panting mouth. Its grey eyes shined in the moonbeams that pierced the trees, and Emily saw a look of hunger and . . . something else, something different than hunger—a look no animal should have. It was a look akin to sadness, maybe regret. It was so strange that it took Emily by surprise, and she almost failed to react soon enough to the werewolf’s next attack. It plunged, mouth open, down towards her head.

  Emily collapsed to avoid it, letting gravity do its job while she slashed at the werewolf with her knife. The blade bit into the beast’s chest and ripped open a shallow gash through the thick fur. It barked and yelped before leaping back a pace.

  The werewolf pressed a paw to the wound and looked at Emily with a twinge of curiosity. Then, it turned its back on her and disappeared into a nearby bush. The creature, so large and imposing, had now vanished into the night.

  At first, Emily thought her attack had caused it to flee, but then she heard a leaf crunch behind her.

  She whirled around, sitting on the ground now, and ignored the pain in her leg. She swept the knife up defensively, but nothing sprang out at her. She breathed hard a few times, then heard something scraping against the wood to her right. She turned to the noise again, knife held up and ready, but again nothing sprang out.

  She tried to stand slowly. Just as she did, there was a rustle to her left, and by the time she turned to face the threat, there was another rustle to her right. In the forest’s silence, she heard panting, but as soon as she focused on it, it faded out.

  The werewolf was circling her, toying with her, watching her. It was waiting for her guard to fall, and then it would strike the killing blow. Emily realized she was being stalked, and her heart began to race out of control.

  “Where are you?” Emily whispered, trying to calm her quivering body.

  Emily gave her head a quick shake, as if to fling the fear from her mind. Then she focused on the task at hand and listened carefully, turning each way she heard noise. Emily knew she could not win this way. I’m not fast enough, she thought.

  But, her mind replied, maybe I’m smart enough.

  Emily looked around her and adjusted the grip on her knife with a sweaty palm. She was in a small clearing, surrounded by a landscape she’d become far too familiar with—trees all around, bushes in between those—and she noticed a cave off in the moonlit distance at the base of a small mountain. The cave was too far away, though. She knew in an instant that she’d never make it there. No, she thought. She’d have to kill her opponent here and now. It took her another precious moment to think up an idea, two more to reject it as crazy, and one last one to realize she had no choice.

  She’d have to take a risk.

  Emily took a step back, closer to the dark forest where the moon’s light did not penetrate. She listened for the rustling, the panting, and the occasional heavy paw.

  “Come on,” Emily whispered, her back to the forest. “Come for your meal.”

  There, she heard a rustle to her left, closer than the last one. It was perfect, just close enough.

  Emily stumbled forward on her bleeding leg and then tripped as she put weight on it. The werewolf saw a little human girl, bleeding from the leg, fall down to the ground and took the chance. It lunged, eyes wide, mouth open, paws forward, from behind the nearest bush at Emily’s back. It was hungry, starving even, and it saw an easy meal.

  What the werewolf did not see was that Emily had fallen on purpose, the knife held steady, and how she turned as she fell.

  The werewolf landed on Emily’s outstretched knife before its jaws could reach he
r throat. The blade sank completely into the beast’s chest as it crashed on top of her, pinning her to the ground. It howled and thrashed for the briefest of moments until its bleeding, stabbed heart gave out.

  The creature, and all its weight, collapsed motionless. Emily watched its hungry, regretful eyes fade to a glossy emptiness. For a faint moment, she actually felt bad for it, but that feeling was over quickly, and she pushed the werewolf off of her. She was panting now, and her heart was beating so fast that she was sure that the whole of Angor could hear it. She put a hand to her chest to steady it but then gave up and instead tried to yank her knife from the werewolf’s chest. Her ankle, still injured, meant she could not use her legs for leverage and instead had to pull it out with her arms alone. She grunted and held the large beast down with a knee, but still it took her three tugs to rip it free.

  She was so focused on her efforts that she almost didn’t hear her own name being called.

  “Emily!” Chara yelled. “Emily, where are you?”

  Emily’s heart, already beating fast from near death, threatened to burst out of her from a feeling of pure joy.

  “Mother!” Emily yelled back. “I’m over here!”

  Chara burst through the shadowed tree line to see her granddaughter sitting on the ground next to a dead werewolf. Her fear turned instantly to relief and pride.

  “Oh, Emily!” Chara yelled and collapsed down to hug her. “You’re alive!”

  “I know,” Emily replied back. “I can barely believe it, too.”

  Tears dripped from their eyes as they hugged.

  “You came for me,” Emily said.

  “The group stopped; I took a chance,” Chara replied, and then pulled Emily back to look at her leg. “Please tell me that isn’t a werewolf bite.”

  “It’s not. That’s from the claws.”

  Chara sighed in relief and then opened her mouth to say something else, but she was interrupted by a werewolf howl. It was off in the distance, but it was not far enough away. It made Emily’s blood run cold.

  Chara pulled away then and looked at Emily with serious eyes.

  “We have to leave quickly,” she said.

  Emily just nodded.

  Chara tugged on Emily’s arm to stand her up, and Emily did so. In an awkward twist of fate, Chara looped an arm around Emily and helped to carry her injured granddaughter through the forest.

  “If we move quickly,” Chara said. “We should be able to catch up with the others. They’re at a standoff with Lok’har’s centaurs.”

  The two women grunted a bit as they started their way back through the forest. Emily was surprised at how far the werewolf had dragged her in such a short period of time. She couldn’t even see or hear the other amazons anymore, and all around them was darkness. In all honesty, Emily wasn’t even sure they were headed in the right direction.

  Another werewolf howl split the silent night. This time it was closer, and it was immediately followed by another.

  “Did you bring my bow, Mother?” Emily whispered.

  “I did, but we can’t stop now,” Chara said.

  “I don’t think we’ll have a choice.”

  Chara and Emily stopped for a second, just long enough for Chara to unsling Emily’s bow from around her shoulder. They continued at a half run with Emily moving as fast as she could on her injured leg. Chara tried to help but was not the ideal candidate to assist others, panting and wheezing with the aid she was giving.

  “We’re almost there,” Chara said.

  As Emily limped along, she heard noise behind her. It was faint, but she knew by now what to listen for and risked a glance over her shoulder. Through the spears of moonlight, two werewolves appeared and disappeared as they sprinted towards the humans. They were still a distance off, but the beasts were in full charge. Their incredible stealth was forgotten with only hunger and the thrill of the hunt on their minds. Their eyes were huge, their teeth shined white, and they were moving on all four limbs. They saw weak, injured prey trying to escape and panted as the large gap closed. Nothing stopped them. The creatures dodged around trees and bounded over bushes as if they were mere pebbles. Their pace was terrifying.

  Emily looked forward and saw the amazons in a moonlit clearing just up ahead. The women were kneeling down, trying to take cover and shooting arrows in the opposite direction. None were looking toward Emily and Chara.

  “Mother!” Emily yelled.

  The werewolves’ panting grew louder, and Emily looked back again. The creatures had sprinted with such speed that they were only moments away.

  We’re not going to make it, Emily thought. The werewolves were going to kill them if they didn’t fight back.

  And Emily knew she’d only get one shot.

  She reached over her head and grabbed two arrows out of her quiver. Emily let go of Chara and balanced on one leg for the only moment she was going to have, drawing the arrows to her bow as she did so. Each heartbeat might as well have been a minute’s length as Emily turned in the air and saw the werewolves close the distance and leap forward.

  They looked horrifying as they soared into the night air, paws and jaws outstretched and eager for human blood. Emily’s beating heart blocked out all other sound in her mind as she aimed each arrow at its hungry, insatiable target. The werewolves’ lips snarled back, revealing jagged, white teeth covered in drool.

  Just before Emily released the arrows, she did one thing differently. She breathed out.

  Each arrow jumped from the bow at point blank range, and each tip hit the center of its target’s chest as Emily’s breath was expelled into the forest air. The werewolves yelped and hit the ground on either side of Emily with wooden shafts shoved deep into their bodies. Arrows from Chara’s own bow flew into the neck of each werewolf: first the left, then the right. Two more arrows came from Chara, piercing the top of each beast’s skull for good measure.

  Neither creature moved again.

  Emily collapsed on her injured leg, and she didn’t try to get back up. Instead, she just lay there with mixed feelings of shock and relief.

  I did it! she thought and smiled into the darkness. I can’t believe I did it!

  “So, that’s what the elves taught you, huh?” Chara replied.

  Emily turned over and looked up at her grandmother. She was too embarrassed to answer the question so decided to nod slowly.

  “Well, your secret is safe with me,” Chara smiled. “Now get up and let’s get going before more come.”

  * * *

  When Chara and Emily reached the clearing where the amazons stood, one of the women turned a bow and arrow towards the sounds they made. Thankfully, Chara called out.

  “It’s us! Don’t shoot!”

  The amazon turned back around and fired the opposite way into the night.

  Chara and Emily burst into the moonlit area and into view of the others. Most were too busy shooting at an unseen target to notice their arrival, but those that did balked in surprise. Adelpha alone came forward and hugged them both.

  “You’re alive!” Adelpha said and then looked at Chara. “I had half a mind to go after you myself. What were you thinking?”

  “Don’t be jealous,” Chara replied. “I would have gone after you, too.”

  Adelpha tried to hide her embarrassment, and then a hail of arrows bombarded them from the darkness.

  “Get down!” Adelpha yelled.

  Those amazons not under cover dove for the nearest tree as wooden shafts pelted the ground, skewered bushes, and penetrated trees. As Emily lunged for cover, she felt an arrow slice through her hair, and it made her heart stop cold. She hit the ground and frantically reached a hand behind her head to check for blood.

  She was in luck. The arrow had missed her skin.

  Emily looked down at the enemy’s arrows around her and saw they all tilted in the same direction. That meant they all came from the same location, and Emily now knew where that location was. At least, judging by the angle, she had a general
idea. It came as a relief to Emily that Lok’har’s centaurs had not surrounded the amazons. Of course, if he had, that would have spelled suicide for the centaurs. The werewolves had found a killing ground thick with enemies, and anyone who strayed too far was unlikely to make it back.

  “Got any ideas?” Emily asked Adelpha.

  “Not yet,” Adelpha said, firing an arrow into the night and then reloading, “but I’m open to suggestions.”

  One howl pierced the night sky and was immediately followed by several others. The hollow voices of feral, bloodthirsty beasts came from every direction at once, and Emily noticed more than one amazon shiver in her own skin.

  It wasn’t even cold.

  “Whatever we do,” Iezabel said from a nearby tree, “we’d better do it fast. The werewolves are going to go into a frenzy soon. They pulled back, probably to regroup, and simple numbers dictate that we’ll be hit first. Lok’har has more armed bodies, which means we’re the easier target.”

  “Damn it!” Adelpha said angrily and shot an arrow off into the darkness. “I’m going to kill that centaur!”

  Then, Emily had a thought. It was so obvious that she wondered why she hadn’t thought of it before.

  “I have an idea,” Emily said. “Could we hide in a cave?”

  “What?” Belen shouted. “You want to stumble around the dark, werewolf-infested forest looking for a cave? I’m sick of this stupid girl! Someone please untie me so I can help!”

  “Silence, hag!” Adelpha yelled. “Yes, Emily, if there was a cave nearby, we could hide in it.”

  “Then we’re in luck,” Emily said. “I saw one where I killed the werewolf. It’s not too far from here.”

  The amazons looked to Emily in surprise. Whether it was that they couldn’t believe they might survive or that Emily had single-handedly killed a werewolf, Emily did not ask. If this was their ticket out, she wasn’t going to wait for their approval.