CHAPTER SEVEN: FAUNA AND THE BEARS

The moment their bellies were full of meat and water, Saber insisted they resumed their voyage. It was dark and Zara was tired, but Saber was spooked.

It’s not that he was scared of the wolf, but there was just something about it that made his hairs stand on edge.

“We need to rest!” Zara argued as she licked her paw.

“We just fed. You’ll be fine,” Saber dismissed and bent so Fauna could climb atop him.

“That’s not fair! Fauna gets a free ride while I have to trudge on in the dark.”

Saber ignored her as they walked into the distance. Fauna however turned to Zara and stuck her tongue out at the tigress, causing her to shake her head.

“Why are we running though? Don’t tell me you’re afraid of a wolf,” she jeered in their heads and Fauna chuckled while Saber growled.

“I am not afraid of a wolf. There’s just something about the way he was staring at Fauna. I don’t like it one bit.”

“He said we had met previously. He didn’t get a chance to tell me how though. What do you think?”

”Werewolves are cunning. They are said to be the best lovers, but they are very sly. Also, they hunt in packs. If there was one, there may be more. We need to save our strengths for the bears,” Saber reminded them.

None of them could complain. He was in charge so if he said they continued moving, it was just what they were going to do. Zara let out a low growl of complaint, but she didn’t stop moving.

They walked in silence for a while. Fauna just stared at the crescent moon. There was just something about the moon that was so soothing to her, she could stare at it all day. She soon closed her eyes and inhaled the sweet scent of the forest. If only humans knew what they were missing, they wouldn’t be polluting their environment with their so-called technology.

She almost laughed at how backwards the humans were. They thought they were the superior specie, but what ability did they possess? They were destructive at best and even the easy task of healing came slow to them.

Jamie was nice though, she had to admit. And so was Max. Perhaps they weren’t all so bad. She wished she could see them again soon and perhaps attend one of their parties. Jamie sure seemed to want to show them what a party was like and if Zara liked it, then it means it wasn’t awful.

Perhaps one day, she and Alegra could wander into the human world together.

“I remembered something though. When he spoke into my head,” Fauna suddenly spoke, breaking the silence. “I was in a strange part of the forest. The sky was dark, illuminated solely by the full moon which shone over a large cabin. It was unlike I’d ever seen before.

“Hawks were flying around as though a tragedy was approaching and I could hear the loud wails of a woman. I think she was in labour. She sounded like it. The woman… I don’t know. I can’t see her, but there’s something about her. I think she’s an important person.”

“Perhaps you were seeing into his memories. You did it before, didn’t you?” Zara suggested and Fauna shrugged. “What else did you see?”

“Perhaps you’re right.” Fauna nodded. “I heard the sound of twigs snapping in the background… No! That’s not right. It was bones. There were the sounds of bones breaking in the background, followed by the howling of cubs… Cubs don’t howl! It’s probably pups.”

“Probably. I heard they howl at the moon like lunatics. Wolves are lunatics!” Zara found it amusing. Saber however said nothing. He didn’t think there was anything to be said.

He believed the thought was pushed into her head purposely by the wolf, and he didn’t trust why. Why did the wolf want Fauna to see that particular memory? Whatever the reason was, he wanted to put as much distance between them and the wolf as possible.

Fauna closed her eyes once more and continued to think about the memory. There was something about it that was so familiar and she couldn’t pinpoint why. Harou wanted her to see that. She was sure he did. Perhaps he had more to tell her.

She had to trust Saber though. The wolf probably didn’t have her best interest at heart. But she couldn’t deny that it took guts for him to try to reach out to her when he knew she was in the presence of a tiger. He must have thought his message was more important than the danger.

“This is boring. I know! How about a race?” Zara’s voice in her head suddenly snapped Fauna out of her daydream. She opened her eyes and turned around so she was lying belly-down on Saber.

“I’m faster than you, Zara. No need to embarrass yourself.”

Zara huffed in response and it made Fauna giggle. Saber was indeed faster than Zara, and stronger too, but the tigress would never accept defeat.

“That was the last time you checked. Who knows? Perhaps I have gotten faster since then. Or are you too scared to lose to me?” She challenged and Saber scoffed.

“You wish. Let’s do this!”

Fauna held on tighter as Saber picked up pace. She could hear Zara’s laughter in her head as the tigress easily kept up with the tiger. She was right. She had indeed gotten faster. So had Saber though.

He turned to his left to look at his competitor who was gaining on him and he ran faster still, easily staying paces ahead of her. Fauna could tell he was deliberately slowing down though. He wanted to be fast enough to remain ahead of her, but not too fast that he lost sight of her.

He didn’t want her to be left behind in case there was anything lurking in the shadows, waiting for them to separate so they could pounce.

“Is this all you got?” Zara sounded strained. She was tired. She needed rest, but she was stubborn. Both she and Saber had been in their animal form for far too long and that wasn’t healthy for either of them, but they needed the speed that came with the form.

“Says the slowpoke who is far behind me,” came Saber’s response.

He was also tired. Fauna could feel it. His breathing was highly uneven and she wanted to beg with them to rest for the night, but she didn’t. She knew her family a little too well. Worst case scenario, they would both collapse, leaving her to keep watch through the night.

She half-hoped it would happen just so they could finally take a time-out.
She was so lost in her thought, her grip on Saber loosened and a tree’s branch slammed into her, throwing her completely off the back of her best friend.

She landed with a loud thud that was enough to wake the creatures that were resting in the dark. Saber immediately dug his paws into the dirt, causing dirt to fly around and breaking his speed. Zara used the opportunity to speed past them, but Saber didn’t care about the race anymore.

He circled back to Fauna who was already picking herself from the ground. She was well rested so whatever bruises she sustained were already healing nicely.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Saber circled her as he examined her for any injuries. This made her to giggle and shake her head at him.

“I’m fine! You worry a lot. Now, come on.” She quickly hopped on his back. “We need to catch up with Zara.”

He hesitated and she responded by digging her heels into his sides. “Zara will never let you live this down if she gets to the caves before you. Off you go!”

That was all the pep-talk he needed. Fauna was okay so he started to run again. They could both see the caves overhead, but they couldn’t catch the scent of any new werefolk. The only scent they could catch was that of the squirrels hiding in the trees and the worms burrowing holes beneath the earth.

Where were the bears?

Saber decided he would deal with that problem when they caught up to Zara. He could see her overhead. She could hear her smug laugh as she approached the caves, but he was wicked fast and he was gaining up to her.

Just as Saber was about to reach her, Zara let out a loud roar and she disappeared from sight. In confusion, both Saber and Fauna arrived at the site they both saw Zara just then. Fauna got off Saber’s back and looked around in wonder. It made no sense.

“She was just standing here!” She pondered aloud as she pointed to the bare ground. “She was literally just standing here, probably about to gloat that she arrived at the caves before us.”

Fauna climbed a small rock and peered at the other side. Her friend wasn’t there. She stared into the opening of the dark cave before them, then turned to Saber.

The tiger walked forward to lead them both into the cave, but the earth suddenly opened and swallowed them both.

Fauna screamed out in surprise and flared her arms around, looking for something to grip that would break her fall, but there was absolutely nothing. What was going on? How was this even possible?

Her mind didn’t have enough time to process things because her body slammed into the solid ground with great force, she heard a deafening crack. The earth shook slightly when Saber’s form landed on the ground beside her and he let out a soft roar as he struggled to rise to his feet.
She found it easier to heal. She was however well fed and well rested. Saber, not so much.

“What in the name of the dragons is happening?” Fauna spoke up as she looked around. “ZARA!”

Saber forced himself up and took a fighting stance, ready to attack anything. Fauna sniffed the air. All she could smell was rocks and grass. There was a lake somewhere, and Zara’s scent was close. It was dark in there as not even the moon could penetrate the earth, and it was very cold. Cold enough to make her shiver.

“I don’t like this one bit,” she muttered as she hugged her body in an attempt to keep warm.

She could feel her aura change. She wasn’t a tiger anymore. She felt stronger, but not strong enough to take on whatever was hiding in the shadows.

“I can’t see anything. Can you?” Saber sounded in her head.

“My furballs, if you value your lives, stay completely silent,” Zara’s voice sounded in their heads and Fauna let out a breath of relief. She was alive. She sounded scared, but at least, she was alive.

Something moved in the shadows. Something big and strong. Fauna inched closer to Saber in fright as she tried to see past the pitch blackness.

“It makes no sense! Whatever is there has no scent!” Saber sounded confused and concerned. Was it a bear? How come he couldn’t smell it? Werefolks were designed to find the scent of other species repulsive. He could smell Fauna. Her scent had slightly altered that it tingled his nose, but beyond her, he could smell absolutely nothing.

However, the low inhumane growls from the shadows told him there was indeed something in the dark.

Fauna suddenly felt a sharp pain in her head which made her double over and wince in pain as she clutched her head. Saber turned to her, then to the growls, then back to her.

“Don’t attack!” Fauna heard a voice in her head.

It was unfamiliar. At least, it should have been, but Fauna was sure she had heard it before. There was just something so familiar about the voice.

“They’re not going to attack,” she assured her friends.

“Stand down,” the strange voice sounded again. “don’t attack. Can’t you smell that? Can’t you sense it?”

There was silence for a while and Fauna stood straight as the ache dulled down. She was confident. She knew they wouldn’t attack, but she wasn’t sure why she was so certain about that. There was just something about the voice, about the darkness, about the aura that was so… familiar?

“My mermaids and divine dragons!” Another voice exclaimed in shock and slight happiness. “Everyone! It’s Snow! Snow is back!”
~~~

Hi. I'm so sorry for not updating. The truth is I've been thinking about taking down all my work from Wattpad.

This app used to fill me with hope, but now it's just a sad thing that sucks the joy out of a lot of amateur writers. It really sucks

I haven't decided what to do yet, but for now, have an update.