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CHAPTER 1 Her eyes narrowed as she peered off into the tall trees of the forest surrounding her, the setting sun creating deep shadows below their leafy canopies, shrouding the thick carpet of ferns below them in darkness. She was deep in the wilds, the vast tracts of forest that separated two kingdoms of men from one another. Within lay a network of sparse villages and hamlets, havens of safety, most of them weeks of travel apart. A traveler could use them to journey through territory pristine, beautiful and pure, yet overtly dangerous. No laws of kings, north or south, reached into these untamed lands. No moral code of any of the gods, old or new. The only rule for any denizen who found themselves in these lands was simple. Survive. These ancient forests were her home, and to others like her. Danger lurked around every tree —but not for her. Her kind rose above all others. They were Wendigo, walkers of the forest, magical in nature and attuned to the lands they lived in. They were danger —even to their own kind, if it be said. She lived in solitude, as her kind always did. Simply living day by day, seeking only sustenance from the land when the opportunity arose —and today was a day of opportunity. Five men were visible to her keen eyes, heightened by her magic that had always been a part of her. Five men dressed in simple leather apparel carrying edged steel weapons. They had yet to spot her, but it was clear they were making an attempt to track her down. They held confidence in their movements and leisurely pace as they moved through the forest, following the evidence of her passage through the undergrowth, evidence that she had carefully placed herself. Foolish men, if only they realized what they followed, she thought to herself, her lips curling into an amused smirk. If they knew, they would flee in terror —or at least make haste in their footsteps. She snorted quietly. They travel like a crippled boar. Bah. Were I not so hungry, I would not waste my time leading them on. I would simply capture one who tarries in the rear and be done with this game. By the time they’d come to realize that their fellow was missing, I would be done with my meal. I need more than one, though. She shook her head slowly, her large bone antlers atop her head swaying with the motion. This seems like they may be a violent group. I can sense the rawness of their emotions coming from them and bleeding into the forest. I may have to waste much of my meal if they would rather fight then play. Would be a pity, but at this point, I care not. I need to feed, I need to be full. Hopefully, two can be spared at least. She ran a hand across the side of the bony deer skull that covered the top of her head, tracing her fingers down and then across the exposed flesh at the bottom of her face. Her fingers lingered across ruby red lips, to be met with a small pink tongue that traced across the tip of one of her fingers. Her chest rose with a heavy breath meant to calm her beating heart. Her hunger bled into excitement with her prey so close. The apprehension of a coming meal was sending tremors of pleasure from between her legs, pleasure she had always felt from the act of feeding. She slipped a hand within the simple robes that she wore, running fingers over a firm stomach and down the inside of her bare thigh. She quivered and gasped, biting upon the finger of her other hand that was still caressing her lips. Soon, soon, she would feed her appetite. It had been almost a fortnight since last she fed, and now she only had to lead them to a campsite in a small clearing nestled next to a waterfall of clear water. One that she had prepared well in advance. A trap to ensnare those that traveled within these forest, those who would be her prey. “I hope the youngest one that travels among them does not fight, at the very least. They taste so much better, and their meals are usually more filling. The older ones are always so bitter, and their quantity is small.” She sighed, her eyes glowing red due to the magic inherent in her kind, inside the dark hollows of the deer skull covering the top of her head. It was just for a moment, before they returned to a light amber as she turned and hurried through the forest. * * * “I smell a campfire,” the grizzled man in the lead said in a husky voice. A burly man, with a stout shape and a rough face, clothed in simple leathers. A large sword was already readied in his hand to match the intention in his mind. “Whoever we follow, they have a camp close. Tonight is a good night for us.” “I hope they already have dinner on,” said a second man, thinner, rougher, but similarly dressed. “I’m starving. It’s been a day since we had a proper meal. Make sure none of you mops knock into the campfire when we take ‘em down. I’ll cut ya if you ruin our dinner.” “Coin would be nice, too,” quipped another man, not much different from the others. “A nice fat bag of it, in the pack of a traveling merchant, would be great. A night in a tavern with a keg of ale would do me good, come the ‘morrow.” “Don’t forget a wench or two for that night,” laughed the fourth. “It’s been a bloody fortnight and a half since I felt a woman’s flesh upon my cock.” “You’re really going to just outright kill them?” the last one asked. He was the only man who had no grey mixed into dark, shoulder-length hair that lay upon athletic shoulders. Firm features graced his face, adorned with only stubble on his chin. His simple leathers bore few scuffs and marks, unlike the others —the clear badge of one who had recently taken up traveling. “We don’t even know who they are,” he continued. “They may even wish to share their meal with us, seeing as the nearest town is a three day’s walk. By the gods, at least talk to them first, is all I’m saying.” “We are deep in the wilds, boy. We take what we want, and damned be those that hold what we want,” the burly man stated. “You said you wanted to learn the ways of rangers.” “I wished to learn of rangers, not bandits,” the young man shot back. “You know, the ones who track and hunt game for dinner as they journey through the wilds? Living off the bounty of the land? Simple life with simple freedom?” “Watch your tongue, boy, lest I forget the promise I made to your father!” The burly man turned and stepped in front of the smaller, glaring with fire held in his eyes. “We have killed no prey and our coin purses are empty. This is the wilderness, and a ranger hunts whatever he needs, be it a beast… or a man, if need be. The only law out here is survive. You also promised to do as you’re told, Neil. A solemn vow to the gods it was, if I recall. Would hate to tell your father the next time we pass through that village that you had accidentally died in the wilderness. Horrible fate it ’twas, falling into that ravine. Had to leave him, we did.” Neil looked down from the harsh glare of the burly man who towered over him. “I did make that vow, and I will honor it, even if I regret it.” His eyes rose sullenly to meet the eyes of the bigger man. “And I’m not a boy, I’ve seen twenty-five summers.” Bandits. The one called Neil thought to himself. Gods be damned, the ones I chose to free myself from my former life, are bandits. Three days out from the nearest town, and they have missed every deer that has crossed our path. Now they plan to attack the first ones we come across in these wilds, just to get a meal. “You are not a man until you have drawn blood, boy, now shut yer trap —don’t want to let them know we are coming. Watch and learn. Remember who has saved you from that life of mud and slop. Yer going to be a ranger, lad, a man of freedom, just like us. Forget what the elders of the village have taught you —their ways will not let you survive out here. We will teach you, and you’ll be owing us, you will. You’ll see, right lads?” “Aye!” the others replied heartily. Nothing but bandits. Maybe I can stop them. Maybe talk some sense into them. Maybe… I’ll just slip away while they fight. Dammit, Neil thought. This was such a mistake. * * * She watched the drama play out, too far away for the men to detect her presence, but close enough that her magically enhanced vision could see the heat from their bodies in the growing darkness. She could see violent emotion bleeding from several of the men as they talked, their words too faint to hear, but their actions speaking all the same. There would be a fight —there was no doubt in her mind, but maybe, just maybe, one or two could be spared. She hoped so, anyway. Her hunger demanded the living more so than the dead, and one alone had never been able to supply the meal she needed. And I do wish you would, she thought. “C’mon out, lads. She knows we’re here.” “Ya think you're some kind of druid?” said a man as he stepped into the clearing from behind her. “What kind of headdress is that? Looks to be made from the skull of a deer, if I had to reckon.” “Nah, she’s some kinda cultist, I bet,” a second said as he stepped out from a bush to her side. “Gotta be the new gods of the south. Seen some of them in the village this past season, except they wore the heads of wolves, fur and all. Or, perhaps, now that I think about it,” he said with a sly tone. “She could be a witch.” “I don’t care what she is, get an eyeful of those tits!” The third man spoke as he entered the clearing from her other side. “I think we hit the mother lode, boys. Gonna be a good night, it is.” “Witches?” She spat the word of insult. “They are said to be old crones, and clearly, I am not. I am just a traveler, the same as you. My headdress is—“ “Yer a witch,” the burly man growled. “And witches be burned, where I come from.” “Really,” she quipped. “There are sooo many better things that we can do this night. If I were a witch, would I not have already placed a spell on you? Come, eat, and let us enjoy each other’s company.” The burly man nodded, his eyes quickly meeting the eyes of the two men flanking her. She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, already knowing what they were going to do. Humans were so predictable. Both of her arms were grabbed and twisted behind her, and the man to her rear grabbed a hold of her long black hair and pulled her head back savagely, then pushed her down to her knees with his other hand on her shoulder. She growled deep in her chest. I really hate humans. If I weren’t so hungry… She let a loud sigh escape her chest. “I have done nothing to harm you, this is uncalled-for. Please, eat—“ “Yer a witch!” the burly man snarled, stepping close and pointing his sword down at her. “I reckon turning your head in at the next village will bless us with some fat coin.” “A night with me is worth more than any coin you would get for my head. Come, I offer no resistance, only pleasure.” “Silence,” the burly man growled. “We’ll be taking both yer body and yer head.”
