Distant Lands

He says something else, but all I can think about is running as far away as I can from those monsters.

Branches break behind me as I run, and arms wrap around me, stopping me.

“Stop! Calm down,” Ivan lets go of me, and I turn to face him. He has an irritated expression.

“I’m sorry, I freaked out,” I catch my breath.

“We need to be careful. It’s easy to get lost in this forest,” he says, looking at his watch. Ivan grabs and holds onto my hand as if I’m a child who just ran away from their parents. He leads me back into the forest. I pull my hand away to get out of his grasp, and he looks back at me, and let’s go.

“I’ll be okay,” I say.

“Just don’t run off again, please.”

I silently nod, and we continue walking. The sun now shines through the trees. Thankfully, the spiders are no longer visible. They either camouflage with the trees or they hide somewhere. I begin to relax and enjoy the sounds that surround me.

There’s a symphony in the forest. Branches on the ground crack under our feet as we walk, birds and insects chirp loudly, and the trees chime in by moving the branches and leaves in the wind. Ivan’s path seems farther than the path Damon had sent me.

“Are you sure we’re going the right way?” I ask.

Ivan laughs, runs his fingers through his long, wavy brown hair, and turns to look at me, “Of Course we are. I know where I’m going.” He takes another look at his watch. He says it like I asked a stupid question. I walk, looking down to the ground, and suddenly I crash into Ivan’s back.

“Oh! I’m sorry.”

“Shh,” he whispers.

I stay quiet, and I notice that it’s dead silent—the birds and insects from earlier not chirping anymore.

Suddenly, I feel a fast object fly inches away from my face and hear a fast hiss sound zip by my ear. I look at the tree near me, and I see a long arrow stuck to the tree. I gasp.

Ivan grabs my hand and yanks me, and starts running fast. I feel like my feet are barely touching the ground. Ivan is as fast as Damon, and I can’t keep up. He stops and picks me up over his shoulder. I look up and see tribe men chasing us. One of them stops and aims his arrow at us. I scream.

“He’s going to shoot us!”

Ivan makes a sharp left turn, almost falling, and arrows buzz near me. I cover my head with my arms. Ivan runs and jumps through tall grass. The ground slopes down, and Ivan loses his balance; we both fall to the ground and roll down the hill.

Ivan gets up immediately and catches me, and stands behind me. I sit up dizzy, leaning against Ivan’s legs. I see Ivan behind me, raising his arms in surrender. The tribe men are coming down the hill with their weapons aimed towards us, and they stop.

They stand there, not saying a word, aiming at us. I think this is it; this is how we die. Behind the men, a shirtless, very strong-looking man with long black hair comes out. He is wearing black fur over his broad shoulders, his tan skin tattooed. He looks like the leader or a young tribe Chief. He looks down at us.

“Who do we have here? A city dweller and a little girl? Why have you trespassed into our land?” he asks. I begin to think of what to say, but Ivan speaks first.

“I’m sorry. We were just passing by. We lost our way,” Ivan says, looking at the man. I look up at Ivan. Did he say lost? I thought he knew where he was going?

“What are your names,” The chief asks.

“My name is Ivan. This is Elizabeth,” Ivan says, helping me up. The man comes closer to us. He looks at Ivan, then looks down at me. He looks at me directly in my face. I try to avoid eye contact.

“What’s wrong with this female? Why does she look so weak?” he asks Ivan.

How dare he! I look up at him, angry. I want to tell him off. But I know better, so I stay quiet.

“She was born a little different. But she is stronger than she looks,” Ivan says.

“Is that so?” he asks, taking a step back and crossing his arms, studying me.

“Ivan, and. . . weak-looking woman, you have trespassed into our land. Should I let you go? Or should I kill you?” he asks. Ivan and I stand still, not saying anything. He turns and looks at his men.

“Maybe I should kill the man and keep the weak woman. Make her stronger, make her one of my wives,” he says, laughing. The other men laugh with him.

Be one of his wives? This fool, I would rather die. “No thanks, you can go ahead and kill me too,” I say. Ivan squeezes my shoulder, signaling me to be quiet. I know I should keep my mouth shut, but I can’t help it. The man turns around with an amused look on his face. He walks toward me and stares inches away from my face.

“You would rather die than be one of my wives?” he asks. He smells of the forest—a very manly smell. I listen to Ivan, and I stay quiet. He takes a step back and turns to his men.

“Detain the man,” the chief orders.

“No.” I look as two men come down and hold on to Ivan’s arms. Ivan doesn’t fight or say anything. I begin to breathe hard, and my heart beats fast.

“Please just let us go. We mean no harm,” I plead with the Chief. The chief grabs my wrist and pulls me up the hill. I drag my feet, and he yanks me forward. We reach the forest. What do I do? I can’t be part of a group marriage! I have to do something.

I let out an ear-piercing scream. I yell Orion’s name. “Help me! Orion!” The Chief tightens his grip on my wrist, “You’re hurting me! Let go!” I pull myself away. He turns to look at me angrily.

I fear Orion can’t hear me or is afraid of these big men. Suddenly, the chief lets go of me and quickly backs up. I fall to the ground. Orion snarls at the men, bearing his teeth. His fur is standing up on his back.

The men back away in fear and Ivan quickly comes to my side. The Chief and some men freeze in place, and some run away. Orion comes to me and licks my face. I pet him, thanking him for protecting me. The Chief cautiously comes closer. Orion turns back to face the chief, giving him a low deep growl. The chief looks at Orion, then at me.

“A black wolf?” The chief asks in amazement. “I now see what you mean: the woman is stronger than she looks. The sacred black wolf is protecting her. This woman must be important for our future.” He bows his head. The rest of the men do the same. I get up from the ground, dusting myself off. They think Orion is sacred?

“Will you join me for a drink at our village?” he suddenly asks me. I look at Ivan.

“I’m afraid we will have to decline your offer,” Ivan says to him.

The chief looks at Ivan, “I was not speaking to you city dweller. I was speaking to the wolf priestess,” he says, looking at me.

Wolf priestess? I guess I’ll take advantage of this opportunity, “I’m afraid I have to agree with my city dweller friend. We are on our way to an important meeting. We need to go now,” I say, looking down at Orion.

The chief looks up. He nods in understanding and removes a necklace from his neck. He extends his arm out to hand it to me.

“Please wear this when you visit our forest. You are always welcome here,” he says. I’m surprised at the sudden change in his behavior.

“Thank you. I hope to be able to come back soon,” I say and extend my arm out to grab the necklace. The Chief holds my hand before I can pull away.

“I will be waiting for that day when our priestess returns,” he bows his head again, letting go of my hand.

He turns to look at Ivan, “City dweller; I expect you to do a better job at protecting our priestess,” he says. He turns and heads back into the forest with his men.

As they disappear into the forest, I feel like I can breathe again. Ivan looks exhausted, that’s how I feel after the whirlwind of emotions we just went through. I look down at the necklace—a shiny black rock in shape of a wolf. The string of the necklace is a thin leather strap.

“What just happened?” I look at Ivan.

Ivan shrugs a shoulder, “Let’s go before they change their mind.”

I kneel and hug Orion. He saved us. If it weren’t for him, the Chief would have killed Ivan, and I would have to marry the Chief. Well, more likely, I would have also been killed because there’s no way in hell I would become one of his probably many wives.

I pet Orion again. I’m so thankful that Orion is so loyal. He didn’t abandon me, even after I had left him.