Page 1 of Hunted By Wolves and Shadow
Chapter 1
Emi
All my life, people had called Aglonbriar forest cursed. Silly rumors, stories to scare children, nothing more—yet today, I almost believed it.
The woods had never looked so menacing. Mist rolled in thick banks between black trunks that disappeared into the hovering shroud. Our amber sky often looked vaguely apocalyptic, but I’d never known the air to feel so thick and obtrusive. Tucking a loose strand of my long, red hair behind my ear, I peered into shadows that loomed deeper and darker than ever, the trees themselves seeming to thrum with danger. Maybe visiting Grandma Ruby could wait another day.
My trek from our bakery across the streets of Baines Upon Bracken Ridge had brought me to the edge of the dark and vast woods that divided Anterra into two halves. I’d walked this path to Grandma’s house plenty of times, but this time my feet rooted themselves to the ground and refused to carry me further. It was stupid. I hadn’t been scared of the forest in annums.
Unfortunately, I stalled too long. There was a good reason I’d hurried through the gloom with my head down, avoiding noticewith my basket tucked tight at my elbow. The heavy pall of the Mist made the meagre light even dimmer than usual, keeping people indoors, so I’d nearly escaped without encountering any of the townsfolk. But my luck had run out.
“What’s the matter, witch spawn? Afraid of the dark, dank places where you belong?” The voice scraped rusty nails down my already fraught nerves. It belonged to Nolan Blueheart, a lily-livered wart-head of the worst order with whom I’d had the great misfortune of sharing my schooling years. I preferred to think of him by his well-earned nickname of Nosy Blowhard.
I breathed deep through my nose. Being called witch or witch spawn was nothing new; it warranted no response. Baines Upon Bracken Ridge had a name longer than its main street, so everybody knew everyone else. Our population had declined even more after the Mist arrived when I was an infant, over a score ago now. The dim cast of it had only spread in the annums since. There wasn’t much left to sustain the stubborn residents of Baines save for gossip.
One thing upon which Baines was united was that I was nothing more than Jade’s tiresome younger sister, Emi Brightbane, the red-headed waste of space. I’d never figured out what I’d done to earn such disdain.
Jade was beloved. The same people who called me witch spawn would prostrate themselves for my sister. She was my opposite in every way. Blonde hair to my dark red. Curvy waisted to my tall frame. Confident to my awkward. People had always adored Jade, while turning their noses up at me.
Most ignored me, save to buy my baked goods at our market stall, but a few made an exception solely to call me horrible names. Nolan was one of those.
“Go on, filthy witch. Maybe one of the beasts will actually want you…”—Nolan paused for dramatic effect—"for dinner!”
His cronies laughed predictably.
I caught the eye of one of Nolan’s lackeys. It was no surprise when Tanner dropped his gaze to his cowardly toes. I’d made the mistake of thinking he liked me once upon a time, but ever since our one night together, he’d gone back to ignoring me, letting his pals taunt me even if he didn’t join in. I had long ago given up on finding companionship in Baines.
My clammy hands tightened their grip on the basket, and I uprooted my left foot. There was no point standing around listening to more of Nosy Blowhard’s poisonous word-vomit.
No matter how scary, the woods were better.
“There she goes, lads. Say goodbye to Phlegmy. I hope the monsters of Aglonbriar enjoy the taste of rotten witch!” he called, laughing his stupid barking laugh.
The juvenile play on my name grated as always, so I comforted myself with a lovely vision of one of the rumored beasts launching out of the woods and taking a chomp out of Blowhard’s head. It warmed me for a few heartbeats.
Before long, though, I ran out of idle daydreams.
The walk to Grandma Ruby's house was always eerie, but I usually felt safe enough on the path. This time my breath fisted tight in my chest.
I couldn’t put my finger on the feeling, just a crawling unease and something…different. It nearly made me turn and run back the way I’d come. If I hadn’t spent all morning baking these muffins and biscuits, and if I hadn’t been so eager to avoid Nolan, I might have done exactly that.
Instead, I took a cleansing breath and continued. There was nothing more welcoming for me back home anyway. Jade would be out, and as far as my father went, I wouldn’t find any fondness there either. He favored Jade like everyone else, and mostly forgot I existed. Always at the lumber mill where he kept the accounts or holed up in his home office, he barely noticed me. So I kept planting one foot in front of the other like I alwaysdid. At least Grandma Ruby might have a word of thanks when she saw the cornbread biscuits I baked special for her. That would be enough to chase this chill from my chest.
Thick foliage of broad, dark leaves competed for every bit of feeble light, casting deep shadows of their own. Aglonbriar forest was far from welcoming on its best day, but then, I was used to being unwelcome.
In the distance, a plaintive howl pierced the woods, lifting the hairs at the back of my neck. It sounded far off, but I squeezed my hand tight around the handle of my basket and walked faster. Not even a delicious waft of warm blueberry muffins could stop me from shivering when the forest bore this unnatural chill.
As if accepting an unspoken challenge to get even spookier, a shadow darkened the dim sky with awhomp whompof huge wings.Sunbeams, what bird had a wingspan like that?
I ducked my head in my green hood, camouflaging my face and red hair as the enormous bird passed. Why couldn’t Grandma’s cottage be closer to Baines? And why wasn’t the path clear as it usually was?
Thick white rolls of Mist encroached on my sense of safety. Wispy tendrils batted at my ankles like mischievous felines, and I fought an urge to dance away from their cool touch.
“Nothing to worry about,” I muttered. “Quit being silly.”
The whispered warnings of how the Mist claimed people had scared me when I was younger. But I had confessed my fears once to Grandma Ruby who had told me in her brusque tone,“You have nothing to worry about, Emi. Those people are fools, fearful of their own ignorance, but the Mist can’t hurt you. See?”Then she’d stalked to the edge of her clearing and let a thick tendril of it curl around her arm. She even stroked it fondly like a pet cat curled up in her embrace, making me giggle.
When I was older, she had given me my green cloak with a deep hood just like the bright red one she wore, assuring me itwould hide me from any lurking beasts. I had felt safe ever since. Now, I pulled the edges tight around my waist, clutching my basket to my stomach as I scanned the shadows.
