Anthera Chapter 2 "Bitten and Beauty"
Chapter 2
"Bitten and Beauty"
The forest was dark and wet, mostly from the rain through out the week. The sounds of owls hooting filled the night sky as Gerald walked through the dense forest. His ears were on constant alert, if anything big made a noise behind him he would turn around throw his dagger. Through his childhood he was taught never to fear the unknown and he still carried that today. His lantern lit up what was coming from the front and back, but he saw that the flare was starting to dim. He knew he had forgotten something. To conserve what light he had left he dimmed it down and continued on. He didn't see any people from the town, they were most likely heading north west of the town while he was headed north east. He breathed in to calm himself, that's when he heard something land behind him. He quickly turned around and threw his dagger.
He lifted his lantern up to find out he had hit a tree. He let out a groan as he walked over and took the big knife back, that's when he looked to his left and saw a pair of red eyes glaring at him, and they were only a few feet away. Before he could react it pounced, shoving him against the tree behind him, his knife and lantern know ten feet from him. He looked down and saw that the beast had it's mouth against his arm, he could feel it's fangs digging in. Wait.... A beast? He groaned as he shook his arm, it raised it's head and saw that it wasn't a wolf, it was a girl, but wait she had the tail and ears of a wolf, red eyes, fangs, and from what he could see, claws. He could make out that her hair was blonde but that was about it. He saw her eyes trailing up to his as he shook harder.
His heart was beating fast, she put something in his body. Was she going to eat him? Was she going to kill him and bring him back to feed to her kids? Did he have a fucked up mind? He started to sweat as he saw her eyes widen a bit. He looked down as he saw her releasing his arm. She licked some of the blood away then sprung up and ran off into the night. He panted as he sat up straight, he tore off a piece of his leather shirt and tied it around the bite marks that still leaked blood. What kind of creature was that? That was the question he asked himself, she looked almost completely human, but she had wolf features. He heard howling and figured it was time to leave. He breathed in to slow his heartbeat before he got up, picking up both his dagger and his broken lantern.
He didn't have a pleasant night's sleep that night. The sight of the glowing red eyes and the fangs digging into his flesh. He looked down and saw that his arms were covered in fur, his ears were pointed and he had a muzzle. He let out a yell before he hit his head on the shelf above his head. He breathed heavily as he looked around seeing he was in his own bedroom. Last night was a night he would never forget and for some reason he wanted to see the girl again.
As the clothe dropped from his arm he saw that the bite marks were still there, but no blood was flowing out. That was good. She had spared him last night, but for what reason? He didn't have time to dabble in unanswered questions, he needed to go out and find out. True last night did scare him, but he felt confident that if he found her again she wouldn't attack. He took his sketch book from the side of his bed and a pencil before he walked out of the shop.
"Gerald my boy, where are you going?"
He saw Bres walking up behind him, he pulled the sleeves of his jacket down to hide the bite marks before he turned around.
"Just going out to sketch some plants and wildlife."
Bres raised a brow as he looked Gerald in the eyes.
"Really? What about last night? Did you run into anything last night?"
He shook his head at his question.
"Just the regular deer and rabbits."
Something aroused suspicion in Bres as he looked in his friends eyes.
"Very well, go about with your sketching and what not." he said as Gerald waved bye to him.
At night no one could appreciate the beauty of the forest, but during the day all the flowers and plant life all became visible. He left his ears wide open as he listened for anything moving. He saw deer, rabbits, and raccoons, but no wolf girl. He then got an idea. If she was still in the forest she must be hungry. There was a river close by that had berry bushed and a pond with a waterfall heading into it. As he approached the pond he could see what looked like a woman bathing under the waterfall. His face lit up as he hid behind a bolder a couple feet from the pond. He observed her as he started sketching, He tried his best to get her form just right and her face and womanly assets. After the quick sketch he looked around the blonder and watched her bathe. Last night she had looked terrifying with his blood over her mouth and her red eyes, but in the sunlight she looked kind of cute. He watched her tail wag back and forth and her ears fold back as the water ran down onto her. He felt like such a pervert . The picture was all he needed. As he got back up he head something land behind him.