Golden

Chapter Ten: Wolf

The bandits all grinned at me evilly, though they tried to make themselves seem...friendly. I thought on how anyone else would respond in this situation and smiled softly, shaking my head at them. I need to buy time for the wolf to show up, I thought.

"No thank you, I can get there by myself,"I replied kindly. Where's the wolf? I sure hope he comes soon. I went to move past them but one of the guys grabbed my wrist.

"Oh, don't be like that sweetheart, we can take you there. We're just harmless travelers like you,"The guy laughed. I pulled my wrist from him. I glared, annoyed he'd grabbed me. Damn, there went my cover. "That's a nice look."

"I said no,"I growled at him lowly. "Don't you understand the word?" I went to move past again and was thrown up against the large wagon they'd been wheeling with them. My head throbbed slightly, having knocked against the wood. When my vision righted itself, my eyes flicked over to the bushes where I knew Castor and Saros were. Give it a minute, Castor, I'm fine. I thought at him. I could imagine him making a frustrated noise right now.

"Who are you to talk to me like that? Women should know their place,"The man growled down at me. I struggled, attempting to get away. "But I like my women feisty." His gross laugh filled my ears. He started towards me and I squeezed my eyes shut. Suddenly the weight was pulled off of me. "What the-?!" I slid down the side of the wagon, opening my eyes. In front of me stood a white wolf, its white fur bristling up in anger. It seemed to be in a protective stance. It glanced back at me and then back at the bandits in front of us. The wolf attacked all the men in a flashy blood bath. It clawed at men who tried to get away. I stayed pressed up against the bottom of the wagon in shock, staring at the scene before me. When it was all over, most of the men were either too injured to move or dead. One had fled the scene, running as fast as he could. The wolf turned and walked towards me looking me over. Its eyes connected with mine and seemed to widen, before it turned and bounded off into the woods.

The wolf was now gone, and I blinked in surprise. Castor and Saros ran over to me, crouching down. Castor touched my face and turned my head to each side. He let out a breath.

"You're okay..."He whispered, relieved. He pulled me towards him and rested his head on my shoulder, sighing. We stayed like that for a minute, neither of us moving, and Saros standing beside us, leaned up against the wagon. He pulled away. "It was a fail....let's go back to the inn." Castor pulled me up to standing and nearly dragged me away, holding my hand the entire way back to the town. A fail? I thought. I frowned. I don't think...it was a fail. We entered the room at the inn and he bolted the door.

That night we all got to sleep, and no one took watch. The bed was large enough for two people, but both boys had insisted on taking the floor. So now I stared up silently at the ceiling. Sadness crept over me. Never had I felt so....depressed. Geo was dead. The King was dead. I had no idea if Kai was alive....We'd all left our home. And now we were on some crazy mission to find warriors? It was sad. This was all my fault and I couldn't do a thing about it. I turned to the right side of the bed and found a hand reaching up from the floor. I stared at it and the owner sat up. Castor. He climbed into the bed with me and laid on his side, facing me. He opened his arms and I felt tears come on. I scooted into his arms and let him hold me, crying myself to sleep.

At some point, I woke up and silently pulled my snow boots back on. I grabbed my quiver and bow, and crept out of the inn and into the woods. There I practiced my archery, firing arrows at the trees, and making my mark each time. Images flashed before me, of my dead uncle and the King. Of Aerglo's evil expressions and his reign of terror. In one release of an arrow it flew and slammed into the tree, breaking through it and creating a large hole. I stared, blinking. Did I do that? I wondered. I sighed and walked back over to the tree, placing my hand on the huge hole of the tree. I began gathering my arrows. My hands ached through the gloves, the feeling of having pulled back and fired so many arrows mingling with the numb feeling of the cold seeping into my bones. I hastily made my way to the room at the Inn, and quietly crept back to bed again, laying down. As soon as I laid back on my pillow, Castor pulled me towards him, where my face was pressed up against his chest. I fell asleep again, warm with the feeling of his arms around me and the sound of him breathing in his sleep.