Ander - Part 1: Subchapter 11
11
No... this is impossible! she thought, watching it approach. It was similar to a Fox in some ways, but much bigger, and with mangy grey and black fur. It had several scars zigzagging their way across its chest, possibly made by a bear. There was only one thing it could possibly be, but her mind stubbornly refused to believe it. It would be like turning one of Herden's horror stories into reality.
It bent down and looked her right in the eye, its head slightly tilted in curiosity. She could smell its foul breath, like rotted meat, blasting her in the face with every exhale.
Every instinct in her body was screaming at her to run away from this monster, but she was too scared to move, and even if she wasn't, there was nothing she could do about the trap.
It smiled at her, revealing rows of teeth even scarier than the ones around her ankle, and now there was no denying it. She was staring into the eyes of a Wolf. A living, breathing Wolf.
"Well, well... What do we have here?" it said, taking her by surprise. She didn't know Wolves could talk, but then again, she supposed she didn't really know anything about them apart from what she had heard in the stories. Stories about blood and death and little Foxes lost in the woods... far too close for comfort. What should she do? Should she try to talk to it? If so, what should she say?
The Wolf narrowed its eyes and tilted its head the other way. "It appears I've caught myself a little Foxy. How nice."
_Caught? Then, that must mean... _
"I haven't seen one of your kind this side of the Cora for years, little Fox. Makes me wonder what you could be doing all the way out here, so very far from home?"
"I... I..." Kiana didn't know what to do. It seemed friendly enough, but it was just so big! It could probably bite her head off in one chomp if it chose to do so. "I was -"
It suddenly pushed its face forward and sniffed at her hair; long snuffles that nearly knocked her over in their urgency.
Kiana gasped and tried to scoot away, certain that it really did intend to bite her head off, but the tearing pain in her ankle soon put a stop to that. She screamed and clutched at her wound. It had been quiet for the past few minutes, but now it was back and worse than ever. And the Wolf didn't seem to care about her pain at all. It was still sniffing at her, moving its muzzle up and down her body... searching...
"You've got something that smells real nice, little Foxy..." it said, pausing at her pack. The wolf plucked it from her belt and tore it open, spilling what little food she had left all over the ground.
"H- Hey! I need that!"
"No, what you need is to keep your pretty little mouth shut, Miss Fox, before I shut it for you."
Taken aback by this sudden threat, Kiana did as she was told, and stayed quiet as the Wolf pawed through her things. What else could she do?
It swept the apples and bread away with disdain, but eagerly devoured the strips of salted meat, barely stopping to chew. When it was done, it turned its attention back to her, a thoughtful look on its face. "Now, what shall I do with you?"
The sight of it tearing into that meat still fresh in her mind, Kiana said, "Y-You could let me go. Please?"
"Ha. And why would I release a rare catch such as yourself, hmm?"
"Because... because..." Sudden inspiration! "Because my father is a ruthless warlord with hundreds of soldiers at his command! And if he finds out something happened to me, he will burn down these woods looking for you! And he will find you! And he will tear you apart! That's why!"
The Wolf only chuckled at this. "There are no Fox warlords, child. And even if there were, it's obvious you're not from a warrior family, or even one of hunters. Judging by your garb, I'd say you're nothing but a lowly farmer's daughter. Am I right?"
Blacksmith's daughter, actually, but Kiana didn't say anything. This creature was more intelligent than she expected, and she didn't want to risk revealing anything that might prove detrimental later on. Instead, she tried to come up with a plan, anything that might convince this brute to let her go.
"I suppose I should take you back to the tribe," it said, "but then I'd have to share you with the others..."
Share? That single word filled Kiana with more terror than she has ever felt before in her entire life. Such an innocent word, one she has used so many times herself. It evoked memories of happiness and joy, of playing with her sister in the fields, but this? Coming form the mouth of this loathsome creature it was twisted into something filthy, something terrifying.
The Wolf leaned closer and ran one sickeningly hot finger across her cheek. "No, there's no reason the two of us can't have some fun by ourselves... Some good... hard... fun..."
It leaned in even closer. Kiana could see the lust in its dark eyes, could feel the heat from its breath on her face. It placed one dirty paw on her thigh and smiled, revealing those wicked teeth. "Fun..."
"Get away from me!" Kiana screamed and slapped the filthy beast with all the strength she could muster, right in the face.
The Wolf reeled back, one hand pressed against the point of impact. The dumbfounded look on the monster's face would have been quite comical under most circumstances, but being threatened with rape just isn't one of them.
"You... bitch!" The Wolf drew back its arm, and before Kiana could do anything to defend herself, it struck her with a vicious backhand blow.
The pain that coursed through Kiana's body was threefold. First there was the impact to the side of her head, a blinding flash of red behind her eyelids that consumed everything in an instant, then the all-too-familiar tearing pain in her ankle as the force of the blow twisted her whole body around. Finally, like a sad underscore, came the scraping of her chin as her face ploughed into the dirt.
Very carefully, she raised herself off the ground, her arms shaking, tiny white dots dancing in her vision. She could taste blood on her tongue.
"I tried to be nice!" the Wolf screamed. "And this is the thanks I get!?" It grabbed her by the clasp of her cloak and pulled her close, so that their faces were mere inches apart. "Just for that, I will take you back to the tribe..." It drew back its arm for a second time, but this time it curled its fingers into a fist.
"No... please don't..." It was all Kiana could say. She could feel the tears spilling from her eyes, hot and useless, running down to mix with the blood seeping from the corner of her mouth. "Please..."
"By the time we're done with you, you'll wish I had killed you right here and now, you mewling little bitch!"
She saw the fist rushing towards her face, felt the explosion of pain blossom inside her skull, and then there was nothing.
Nothing but the dark...
*
"...she was already unconscious by the time I found her, so I carried her back to the village and locked her up. Nothing more to say about that, really," Wardo said, concluding his story.
Ander couldn't help but wonder how much of it the trig old Wolf had left out. Surely wounds like that don't just come from wandering about, lost in the woods.
"Has she spoken at all since waking up?" Kadai asked, running his hand across the bars of the Fox's cage.
"No, Chieftain. Not a single word."
"Father," Banno said, stepping forward, "I believe I speak for everyone when I say I don't give a damn about who she is or where she came from." He shot a glance Ander's way. "Well, almost everyone. But what I do care about is what we are going to do with her. It's starting to come down hard, and I for one would like to taste her die before I'm soaked through."
There was a mixed reaction from the crowd at this. Some whooped and hollered their approval, while others frowned and shook their heads. "It would be a shame if we killed her right away," one Wolf whispered, "considering the long-term potential."
"I'm with Banno," yet another Wolf said. "Let's just kill the girl and get it over with."
"You only say that because Julla would never let you anywhere near her. Let us single Wolves have a go before you end it for everyone!"
"I don't like any of this. Strange creature from beyond the Cora, just showing up without warning? Look at that fur. It's a bad omen, I say. We should get rid of it as fast as possible."
"There's no reason we can't do both. Let's pass her around a bit, then kill her. Win-win."
"You can have her corpse once I'm done. Ha!"
Ander didn't like where this was going. If he didn't do something soon, they might tear her out of that cage and have their way before the next lightning strike, and from the look on her face, she knew it, too. She had it mostly hidden with her hood, but he could still see enough. Too much, really. It wasn't just fear, it was horror. And he couldn't blame her in the least, looking at the monstrous faces staring in at her, deciding her fate with such joviality. The rain dripped down from the bars of her cage in rows, the drops fusing together before falling onto her trembling body.
He had to do something. He just had to. Right now.
"We should let her go," Ander said, loudly enough for everyone to hear.
The reaction was exactly as he had expected: silence.
Now, I realize the subject matter of this particular scene may be a bit unsettling for some, but don't worry. This is not a rape story, and neither will it become one. Rest assured, Kiana was NOT raped while she was unconscious, but I'm marking this particular subchapter as "Adult" because she gets threatened with it more than once. Also, hitting a defenseless girl caught in a trap is just mean. :/ It'll actually be interesting to see if marking this part as Adult will raise the views above 20 for a change.
Edit: I've changed it back to "All Ages" because, quite frankly, compared to some of the other stuff on here this little story is pretty damn tame, and I'd hate for some of my younger readers to miss out.
This has been the eleventh subchapter in my serial novel, "Ander". If you enjoyed it, please help keep my face un-mauled by irritable ostriches by dropping me a donation. Thank you! ^_^
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