Cress was aware of the fact that her legs were shaking with every step she took but even then she didn't stop. Her breathing was unsteady and each exhale sounded like a whimper and every time she blinked, her mind would flood with horrific images.

Her legs trembled and buckled making her almost fall but she readied herself before she can by placing a hand on the bark of an old tree.

For the first time in many hours, Cress looked up and gazed at the view in front of her. Dark trees against darker background didn't intrigue her, she swerves her gaze around to be greeted by the same silent view occasionally broken by the chirping of cricket or the hooting of an owl.

The Dark Woods.

Cress had heard of them but never really visited them. They lay between the kingdom of Celeste and Vilehelm, legend had it that they served as a divider between the two kingdoms but over time, to ensure trade, roads had been created after clearing out certain parts of the forest.

Cress cast a doubtful gaze over the thick forest. It was hard to imagine something as mighty and large being cleared out by mere humans.

She slid down against the tree until she was sitting propped up against it. Her legs relaxed while her throat seemed to realise it was dry and begs her for water. She ignored its plea and closed her eyes.

The image of seeing Jarnek lying on the floor with blood around him appears before her and before she could stop it, others followed. The sight of dead men in identical uniforms guarding the gates flashed before her and a choked gasp escaped her throat.

Cress opened her eyes and stared at the darkness that lay around her. She knew that she was lost, she didn't know how to navigate her way back but the panic was yet to set in.

Her thoughts travelled back to the incident she was trying to bury in her box of memories that shouldn't be opened again making her sigh.

The man's words rang in her mind. Fulfil your destiny.

If fulfilling her destiny meant pain then she was glad to run away from it. You wrote your own life, didn't you? She could do the same. She could escape, leave and never come back. She could run away, it wasn't as if someone was waiting for her.

Her father was dead and her mother had lost herself when he had died. The twins were content in having each other's company. Taemia had left her and Florencia had run away.

For a moment, Cress felt like yelling at the world. She had no one. Nobody was coming to look for her, no one cared enough. She knew if she were to die, her family (or the pieces left of it) would be sad but they would get over it. She had seen them get over it once, they could get over it again.

The darkness swirled over her curled form until she was nothing more than just a part of it. The silence was the only sound in her ears and Cress wished that it would disappear. Her thoughts rumbled across her mind, throwing accusations and calling her weak and pathetic, telling her that it was not a wonder that her own sister wanted her dead.

That she didn't deserve to live.

Cress couldn't help but feel broken, broken into so many parts that no one could glue her back together. She had felt a part of her break when Zagan had tried to kill her and made her think that her father was responsible, she had placed it back together but she knew that it was never quite the same. She had become this twisted version of herself one that had no qualms about killing others.

She had killed people. She knew that the people she had killed were not innocent but even then her heart clenched painfully at the thought. She never allowed herself to think about it. When she would shoot them, she would hide before they would fall. She would leave before they took their last breath, turn away so she wouldn't have to.

It was easier to believe that she had just knocked them out, that they would just wake up and go home.

Did they have families?

The thought was sudden and made guilt rush through her. The guilt wasn't like the one you felt when you would steal a cookie, it was sharp and so painful that it almost felt physical.

The guilt froze her, making her muscles tighten and turn to ice. It made her feel cold enough to shiver and then it began to burn. Adrenaline pumped into her veins as each of her 'mistakes' of the past flashed before her eyes. Her eyes watered and she squeezed them shut trying to get rid of the memories, pushing them to the back of her mind and locking them up. She flattened her palms against her ears and curled into herself, hiding.

The guilt would have continued to eat herself if she wouldn't have heard a low growl.

Cress opened her eyes to be greeted by an animal with dark silky fur and large monstrous claws. Cress believed it to be a stray dog until she realised the fact that it was much larger than any dog she had seen. It opened its jaw to growl and let Cress get a perfect sight of large sharp canines made to kill.

For a moment, Cress thought that it was the souls of the dead that sent him to kill her but then she realised how absurd the thought sounded and stared back at the beast.

The beast continued to growl but cocked its head to the side as if waiting for some command. Cress used the moment to slip her hand inside her kaftan and grip the hilt of her dagger.

The wolf stared at her with beady eyes and Cress suppressed the urge to breathe. Fear coiled in her stomach and the wolf nose flares.

An old memory of an even older woman, her grandmother, ran through her mind. Animals can smell fear, Ana. You must show that you are not afraid of them, that you like them.

Granted that her grandma had been talking about horses but it couldn't hurt to try now could it?

Cress forced herself to calm down, release her grip on her dagger and looked back into the dark eyes of the wolf. This time, she let the hardness of her glare dissolve into a soft, vulnerable look.

The wolf seemed to relax, it's tightly coiled muscles becoming less strained as it continued to stare at her.

Cress couldn't help but look at the wolf with appreciation. With the intensity of its glare decreased, it seemed almost docile. Before Cress could comprehend her actions, her fingers were reaching out to the beast.

The wolf growled and she froze, her fingers hanging somewhat awkwardly in the open air.

The wolf stared at her and she stared back. Something in her gaze seemed to convince it that she did not want to hurt him. The wolf relaxed and Cress, after a brief moment of hesitation let her fingers comb through its fur.

The fur was soft, silky and mostly untangled, a stark contrast to his sharp and frightening features. Cress ran her fingers through it and the wolf growled in what she hoped was appreciation.

"Kill her."

Even though the words were harsh and cold, the voice was smooth and calm. Cress's gaze darted around the forest and found only darkness. Her gaze went back to beast and she backed away in shock.

The slight softness and friendliness of the wolf had been replaced by a hostile look and another emotion which could only be described as an intent to kill.

Cress backed away as it growled and opened its jaw ready to attack. She backed away until her back hit against the bark of the tree and froze. The beast released another growl but didn't attack, something held it back.

Instinctively Cress's fingers dropped to her dagger but before Cress could use the brief moment of hesitation to her advantage, the voice came back.

"Kill her."

The calmness from the words had disappeared and held a tinge of annoyance. It wasn't the annoyance that made Cress flinch, it was the undertones of threat that made fear in her gut expand.

She couldn't help but let her eyes do a quick sweep of the forest finding only darkness before they drifted back to the beast. This time, his eyes held no hesitation.

The time didn't slow down but instead, her brain worked faster, trying to capture all the details at once. The wolf's eyes narrowed on her and it's lips curled back to snarl. A flash of pink emerged from its mouth as it licked its lips. The beast shifted backwards, a low cracking sound emerging from its joints as it crouched, ready to leap.

Run.

The thought was quick and seemed to ring through her but it was too late. The beast had already leapt.

Her eyes fell shut as she tightened her eyelids causing crinkles to appear at the corners of her eyes. A jolt of panic went through as her she waited for the beast to land on her, her fists curling and her legs frozen.

But the beast never came, instead, she heard the insistent sound of footfalls, too heavy to be considered human and a growl that caused her eyes to snap open.

Cress stared in shock as a beautiful snow-white animal growled at the black beast, her mouth pulled back into a snarl revealing white canines.

From the way the black beast stumbled, Cress knew that the white wolf had attacked it and in the process saved her. Cress knew that it would have been a good time to run but she stayed rooted to the spot as the beasts circled each other, growling.

While the black beast looked tensed, the white wolf looked merely... annoyed. Her face only showed slight interest as she gave her opponent a fleeting glance, sizing him up. As if she could feel her gaze, the white wolf gave Cress a passing look.

Cress couldn't help but feel her eyes widen as she stared at the white wolf. She wasn't just beautiful, she was majestic. The white wolf's movements were confident and graceful, her fur looked like it was glowing. Cress didn't need to touch it to know that it was soft and silky.

The wolf looked away as the black beast charged, sidestepping at the last moment and letting the beast fall. The black beast snarled as it got up and attacked again. Each time the beast moved, the wolf would simply move faster than it causing the black beast to miss it.

Cress watched mesmerised as the white wolf, tired of the games snarled and charged at the beast, grabbing its neck in her mouth and holding it hostage until the beast went limp.

Cress looked away as her heart thudded against her chest. A wave of sadness crashed over her as she stole a glance at the beast, watching it lie still.

It had never stood a chance.

Cress had expected the white wolf to leave or attack her but she didn't do any of those things and instead continued to stare at her. Cress couldn't help but stare back, it was hard not to.

It was then she saw the wolf's eyes. To say that they were enchanting would be an understatement, they would have been completely white if her pupil wouldn't have been black and the edges the lightest shade of blue. Cress had never seen eyes like those before.

The commoners, if they were to see her, would have called it an abomination but they would have been wrong. The beast in front of her was too glorious to be called an abomination.

As Cress watched, the wolf turned and begin to walk away from her. Cress stared at her as the wolf got farther and farther away.

Before it disappeared, the white wolf looked back at her as if to say 'You coming?'

Cress didn't think twice as she stood up and ran to follow her.

***

fighting scene better

***

"Where are you taking me?" Cress muttered as she followed the white wolf through the dense forest, sidestepping as a branch tried to wound her.

The wolf gave her a cool gaze before walking, her soft white paws not even pausing as she did so.

"You won't have me killed now would you?" Cress questioned and the wolf released a noise that sounded suspiciously like a snort.

For the umpteenth time, Cress felt as if the wolf could understand her but she shook off the ridiculous thought before she could ponder over it. Animals did not understand humans if they could the horse from her childhood wouldn't have thrown her off its back resulting in her breaking her arm.

The wolf gave her a look as if to say 'Are you serious?', Cress ignored it and instead focused on the rocky path in front of her.

The ground was a patchwork of small stones, dry fallen leaves and grass that might have been green once but now only looked a lifeless shade of grey. The soil from the ground was flung into the air as Cress moved, only to fall in her slippers carrying small stones with it that dug in her feet as she continued to walk ahead.

Cress couldn't help but wonder how the forest would look with the sunlight travelling through the leaves to fall on the ground. It would a beauty to behold, she decided as she glanced at the ancient trees with trunks so thick that she would not be able to hug them if she were to try. Her eyes cast a doubtful look at the intertwined leaves of adjacent trees, covering the sky leaving her to wonder if light had ever touched the ground.

She stared at the forest whose colours have been stripped off by the darkness leaving it in an odd mixture of black and white.

In such darkness, the beast in front of her seemed to light up with an ethereal glow as if she was a creation of light itself.

"You belong to someone?" Cress asked and felt foolish as she realised how absurd her question sounded.

This creature could not belong to someone, the beast spoke of freedom and beautiful creations that hearth had provided them with.

Ignoring the look of what seemed like incredulity in the wolf's eyes, she spoke.

"You need a name." Cress rested her finger on her chin, stepping around to pass the tree in front of her. Her forefinger curled around her chin as she thought. "What about... coco?"

The wolf gave her a look and Cress hastily changed her suggestion.

"Milky?" She questioned and received another look in reply.

"Silky?" Cress tried thinking of her soft fur but it only resulted in the beast's look changing to form a glare.

"Daisy?" The glare turned more hostile and Cress resisted the urge to run.

"Kitty?" This time the wolf gave a growl, it's eyes flashing in anger as she stared at Cress.

"Hey, calm down. Jeez." Cress muttered holding up her hands in surrender as her thoughts scrambled to form one name. "What about Luna?"

Luna was a word plucked off the language of Celysa which roughly translated to white light. As Cress looked into the wolf's approving eyes, she wondered why hadn't she thought of it sooner.

"Luna," Cress said tasting the word on her lips, admiring the way it rolled off her tongue. Her lips stretched into a grin as she turned to look at the beast behind her.

Her searching eyes found a bare patch of land covered with leaves and broken twigs holding no sign of life. She took in the sight with stunned silence, her mind refusing to believe that the wolf had simply vanished. The sight that lay before her had to be an illusion.

Or maybe, a voice in her mind whispered, it was the majestical white beast that was the illusion

***

vilehekm. back ceksa anaemia and florencua

smoky air

only entrance

servants corner

show how well she knows