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"This can't be happening!" I whispered to myself, having gone into a panicked state of deial. "No, no...it was right there, it can't be gone!". Of course my new found sense of confidence and self-respect had abandoned me after my first step into the forest. The situation at this point was that I had successfully retrieved the amulet without any problems before turning to discover that The Beaten path was GONE! I had barely walked ten feet beyond Is boundary and it had cast me into the wilderness, needless to say I was more than slightly scared. But apart from my inane mumbing and nervous glancing, I did very little to show it...as was my way. I stood staring at the spot where the path was for what may have been moments or even hours before I managed to pull myself together. I looked down at the silver amulet in my hand. "This is your fault." I told it, When it didn't reply I sighed and put it round my neck. "I need to find high ground, maybe I'll be able to see something then." Having come this conclusion I began to march in the direction of the setting sun, no easy task in forest I know nothing about with the light fading. So I trudged through the leaf litter towards where I knew there was a hill, as it could be seen from Silverwood. as I walked through the woods I started to feel much better...happier even, perhaps it was the satisfaction of finally putting Eric in his place. As I neared my destination the feeling grew stronger and stronger until it matched that which convinced me to cross the boundary in the first place. But, as they say :All things that are good in life must inevitably come to an end. As gazed out apon the valley I knew so well I took in everything I saw ;The Silverwater river, the all reaching red and orange woodland and the beautiful sunset...that was it: no fields, no village and no Beaten path. Everything was gone.

As I wandered aimlessly through a forest I did not know, hopelessly seeking what I knew was no-longer there. I began to lose myself in the memories of what could never be again. My last words to Eric had been in anger, my last act to strip him of all I had ever given him...and now I could never change that, never apologise, neve...I was snapped back into conciousness by the distant howling of wolves. I suppose I was grateful, for as I turned In the direction of the howling I saw a clearing that I would never have seen otherwise. It was perfect, a clearing about ten metres wide and surrounded on all sides by fallen trees. In other words it was perfectly sheltered and well protected, well one can't take chances in the forest...particularly one unknown to you. anyway I had just finished assessing the clearing when It occured to me to search my satchel for anything useful and from that deduce my chances of survival.

"Tinder and flint...Good at least I won't freeze to death, hunting knife...at least I'm not completely defeneless, wire...I can make snares." Ilso found ; Two apples, a small stick of Biltong and the wolf I had started making earlier. Once I had lain out everything in my satchel my mind turned to what I didn't have,; mainly My bow and quiver and any lasting supply of food. "I can make a new bow, It'll take a while but I can find everything I need out here." I thought to myself "As for food, well I can still hunt and trap, and it's a good time of year for fruit and nuts.". As I stood up and set off to collect firewood, I said to myself "It could be worse, I could be Eric." this was true, Eric hated the forest he wouldn't last a day out here. I decided It was too dark to set snares, If I went too far I might not have found my way back. Anyway, I wasn't hungry and the apples and Biltong would keep me going tomorrow. So I just dug around in the piles of fallen leaves for dry wood, fortunately it had been a very dry summer so at least the wood would burn well. Once I decided I had enough to last the night I started back to camp, unfortunately I suffered a small accident on the way back involving a bramble bush which resulted in a deep gash across the palm of my left hand, I swiftly tore astrip of cloth from my shirt and wrapped it tightly deciding to fix it more thoroughly when I got back.

Once I was back at my clearing I set down the wood and quickly and efficiently built the fire as I had done for years. the way I built my fires ensured that every bit of wood was burned in such a way that the wood lasted as long as possible and gave off maximum heat but minimal smoke. Once the fire was burning I went to see if I had anything In my satchel that might work as a bandage, Thats when I noticed it...right there next to my satchel: a paw-print. It was huge, bigger than my head, maybe twice as big. I knelt down to it praying that it wasn't fresh, that it was already here when I made camp. But, no such luck, I could see that the grass that had been tread on was only just starting to rise again, which meant that had been here in the last two minutes, while I was collecting wood...or even while I was building the fire, not five metres away. Terror overcame me, I scrambled back from the print and pulled my knife from my belt and stayed by the fire in the hope that the flames would keep it away, whatever 'it' was. I stood like that for a full minute, nothing leapt out to attack me so I relaxed slightly...I cautiously walked over and retrieved my satchel before returning to the comforting warmth of the fire. as I lay down with my satchel beneath my head as a pillow a terrible thought occured to me "What if it's one of the wild people of the forest?" I couldn't believe I had forgotten them "If it is one then the fire won't do anything to keep it away. I just hope they're smart enough to realise that I mean them no harm."

As I lay there on my back wondering if I would survive the night, continuing to carve the wolf statue, I gazed into the heavens. the night sky where I was from was blurry at best, polluted by the light of lanterns and homes. Here...where the lanterns are gone and the air is so clear you could see a hundred miles in any direction, I could see everything, more stars than I thought could possibly exist, the moon was full and larger than I have ever seen it, It flooded the forest with silvery light...but the best by far were the lights, I had heard tales of them...they were so rare i thought i would never see them. They danced across the sky in a beautiful display of colour, shimmering curtains of light so perfect I felt I was not worthy to gaze apon them. I could've stayed there watching them all night were I not interupted.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" came the soft yet distinctly masculine voice, It carried over the clearing and echoed making it hard to pinpoint the origin. I dropped the wolf and immediately leapt to my feet, knife in hand, looking for the source of the voice among the trees. I didn't have to look long, peering at me from between the trees were two amber eyes, they were roughly at my eye level and I could see no-more of the creatures body...ony those eyes, those eyes...they were mesmerising.. I instinctively scrambled back from the creature, and then it did something that only increased my fear: It stood up! My visitor now towered over me completely, at eight feet or more, It also took a step closer and said softly but firmly ;"Don't run!". Of course, I did just that.

As I tore through the forest I remember thinking about how futile it was to run, I knew it was going to catch me, in fact it was no-more than few steps behind me, all it had to do was reach out and grab me but it didn't, it was probably revelling in the the thrill of the chase. Some where along the line I had lost the bandage on my hand and it had started bleeding again, Only now it had been joined by numerus cuts and scrapes obtained from ploughing through many thorn bushes in the hope that it might slow down my pursuer. As a result blood drenched my face, my cothes were ripped and torn, and I was no closer to loosing my pursuer. I didn't know how long I had been running when I suddenly heard him scream "STOP!" this the scream betrayed undeniably intense desperation and anguish. Before I could begin to fathom wat ths meant I felt the ground drop from beneoth feet and everything went black.