The Fire Within.....

Damn it the red haired huntress thought bitterly, resting against a thick trunk of a tree. The branches loomed overhead a few hundred feet, it wasn’t one to easily climb up. Her horse and wagon were resting at a nearby farm house. The owners were paid for taking care of her horse and keeping an eye on her wagon. Gideon and his accomplices had found her once again. They’d fired the arrows and made sure to hit their target….her. It had gotten worse, soon she wouldn’t be able to spend time in the forest anymore unless they were taken care of. Isabel's clothes were filthy several bloodstains covered her, with patches of torn fabric to accommodate them. She could use the wand to mend her wounds, but somehow she was never able to use it at the right moments, her state of mind right now was just near panic.

An arrow marked its target earlier she’d pulled it out of her bicep. While she was pausing for breath, it seeped blood, she did her best to tie a cloth around the area tightly, until she could calm down enough. Holding her bow and quiver, shakily. Her pack against her back, light and supplies near gone from running. Isabel’s brow was covered in sweat, red hair drenched from it. The sunshine didn't help but clouds were thickening above. Unstrapping the canteen and taking another drink, she’d need more water too. Picking some branches out of her red hair. Lifting her head to try to listen and to quiet her breathing. The rustling of many footsteps passing through the underbrush of the forest floor, quietly barking orders.

Backing away from the tree, scooting around the trunk to the other side. Smacking her forehead with her hand in frustration. The nearest road was close by. Hearing another order, she tensed in fear, backing up, after she lowered her hand. no no no no no! I can’t be captured. Isabel thought to herself. The hunter wasn’t doing a very good job this season, he’d been riled up by certain events between them. Now she was the target, Gideon blamed her for his misfortunes, in which had happened. Which were true in a way, an arrow fired behind her, landing beside the half-elf. The road was north, a few hundred feet. Isabel thought she could make it in time, before she was too tired and gave up. Glancing around from the tree, another arrow fired past her, and a shout after it. Taken aback she pushed herself forward, with what energy she had left and made a run towards the road.

Dodging several arrows, bushes and other small obstacles. Another arrow pierced her thigh suddenly, leaning her off to the side, it also slowed her down a great deal. The force behind the shock of the impact, made her trip over a log, sending her rolling down a short steep hill. Yelling in surprise, as she impacted the ground scraping her knee, and elbow. This made for an awkward situation, not unlike being a deer herself. Scratches just covered her, she sat there winded, the road was right there, just on the other side of the bushes. However they were just scratches, those weren't as bad as the arrow wound. She almost made it, getting on her belly she crawled the rest of the way as quickly as she could even if her wounds slowed her down. Without the bow and quiver getting in the way. Panting, and wincing at her new leg wound, the huntress reached a hand towards the flattened surface of the dusty road. Bushes surrounded her, and all she could do was get at least half of her body out of the brush. Lying there with her head down, and an arm extended. Her wounded arm was close to her.

Red hair braided but just in a mess, sweaty with small branches, and leaves in her hair. Lifting her head and looking behind The Huntress could hear them searching for her. Laying on the ground, her bow and quiver off to the side of her, she'd set it down so her body could rest. The half-elf had run several miles in flight, with short stops in between, they had kept up with her easily, as if she were the prey. Isabel might as well have been dead……but she wasn't, putting her head back down to rest, she breathed shakily, with an outreached hand towards the road. It was a wonder if anyone would find her….The Huntress had become hunted.....

His eyes glanced lazily over the forest below, searching for food but hardly needing to fill his growing belly. His wings were overlarge and lanky compared to his smaller torso, his legs dangling awkwardly beneath him. The warm sun heated his black scales, the dark brown of his belly appearing darker in the shadow his body formed. Pink streaks started at his nose and ran down his face and neck, highlighting his eyes and trailing down his body, fanning out at the end of his tail. He was perfectly described by two words. Magnificently awkward.

Swooping down to get closer to the cool trees, the young adolescent's pink tipped tendrils fluttered slightly as he searched for any sign of venison. His mother's week-long absence had granted him an extreme freedom which he was happily pushing to the max. His main diet generally consisted of fish but he'd grown weary of it and longed for the nice, tender, juicy..

His wings flailed awkwardly as a new scent entered his nostrils. Human blood.

He swooped down closer, his eyes adjusting to the lower light and peering into the foliage below. His ears picked up the racket of male voices off into the distance and for a moment he hovered, waiting until he was certain they had gone on their way to a great enough distance. Glancing around, he noticed a clearing not far from where he had first scented the blood and with a bit of teetering and tottering he landed with only a small bit of a tumble.

Edging carefully into the forest, he stopped as a branch snapped below his weight, glancing around before tucking his wings in carefully close to his body and nosing his way deeper into the forest.

His journey took him deeper and a few times the scent eluded him, but soon it carried with it more information than he had originally derived. Blood, female, human and.. and something else. Mud, dirt, sweat. He sniffed deeper, accidentaly breathing in a small poof of pollen released as his wing brushed a nearby bush. With a sneeze his tendrils tangled around his nose and he shook them free again. His small, rounded ears perked for sounds of life but found none. Curious he moved forward once more, his eyes nearly missing the girl in the bushes on the other side of the worn, dusty road.

Emerging from the bushes opposite her, he peered curiously down one direction of the path, and then down the other. The forest quietly twittered and chattered around him, his ear perking at an angry chipmunk before shaking his head and sneaking further out onto the path. Sinking down to look at her, he nearly laid on his belly as his nose outstretched to smell her, his tendrils gently feeling her face and his ears perked forward as the girl became increasingly blurry the closer he looked at her. "Hey..are you okay?" he asked, his emerald eyes curious and concerned.

The half-elf had gone in and out of consciousness, by the time she felt hot air on her face. She hadn't recalled feeling the vibrations of something big near her. When a voice reached her, moaning slightly. Her throat was dry, the position she was in she'd moved her hand down a little. Coughing because of dust, peeking an eye open at the voice. Isabel said hoarsely in a snide remark “Oh great, are you going to finish me off too? Did they send you after me?” coughing afterwards, speaking just made it worse. Dragons were an abnormity in her life, not that she hadn’t seen them before, and they were just avoided. The sun at least felt good in the warm breeze.

Nothing made sense why was this dragon here alone? “Why are you here alone?” wincing as she tried to move, sit up or do something. Unable to find the strength to do so, she’d spent all her energy in trying to get away. Usually she’d be more defensive than this, however lacking the right mindset in being scared at the same time she was asking these questions. Glancing into those emerald eyes. The irony that she was hunted like a deer, only made it worse. What was Isabel going to do, not possibly being able to move, let alone walk and get up like normal.

Remaining quiet and listening for voices, she found them. Lifting her head and looking around. Blue eyes scanned what she could. Shrinking in fear, they sounded close, once again. Clenching her fist, making they couldn’t just stay here. Glancing back at the dragon, realizing he was smaller than she thought the first time. Regretting the small chit-chat that she’d created between the two. Her curiosity must have been greater than thought, watching the dragon. Isabel could smell the iron scent of her own blood, she was bound to leave a trail of it. “Help me get out of here….please….” she begged, not caring where or what place. Her world consisted of the forest and she only knew the forest. If the woman was taken out of the forest she wouldn’t know what to do.

He peered at her curiously as she spoke and tried to move. She was seriously injured, of that he was certain. He simply shook his head slightly as she asked if he'd come to finish her and his tendrils fluttered slightly in embarrassment when she asked why he was alone. His head popped up as he heard the voices growing nearer once more and he began to second guess himself. Perhaps he should have let her be, maybe his presence was drawing attention to her.
He looked back at her. She was too injured to run, or even walk and too heavy for him to carry. He glanced back at the path, listening for the approaching voices.
Then he became a flurry of motion, his teeth daintily grabbing the nape of her shirt and tugging her into the path, gathering his feet below him and tugging back with each step until she was on the path. Nosing under her arm, her began to prop her up when he heard voices coming around the bend!
His wings, though not large enough to engulf her completely, wrapped around her instinctively and he felt a piercing arrow hit near the edge. Crying out in pain he looked around frantically for an escape, yet finding none.
Then in a desperate flash they were gone from the path and the young dragon looked down surprised as he found they were now listing in a large pond. "Oops...uh.."
Closing his eyes he focused on the caverns once more and in a flash they were back on the path surrounded by a ring of angry hunters! "Dang blam it" the dragon cursed under his breath before with another flash they found themselves in a dragon sized room like cavern. He shuddered quietly and gently released the young woman, laying her back into the deep, soft straw. "Rest" he uttered before waddling off, tripping over a ledge and hitting the arrow in his wing, he yowled and growled and was about to tear it out when a young, elegant scarlet accented dragon head popped into the doorway of sorts between the strings of beads that acted as barriers between quarters. "Caesar! Where have you been and oh my, your mother will not be happy!" Caesar paused, his teeth gripped around the arrow shaft, his tendrils twitching, "please don't tell mother..." He mumbled around the arrow shaft.

She winced when he started pulling her by her collar, moaning slightly. Reaching one arm up to his dragon nose. The huntress felt him start to prop her up, it didn’t feel that way to her but she could see that’s what she was doing. The world went dark because of his wings, why was he protecting her? A piercing cry of pain came from him as she saw an arrow through her side of one of the wings. She’d winced again when he cried, licking her lips to try and moisten them.

Blinking as she found herself in a large pond panic struck her, but before she could react it was too late. They were surrounded by the group of hunters tracking her, “what are you---” before Isabel could finish she was in a strange cave. Shaking her head, now sopping wet, injured, tired, and in a strange place. Lying down, she was exhausted, not only that but now kidnapped by a dragon and there were more. Just what she needed, watching the two talk, weren’t there any people around?

Moving her injured leg, and arm, her arm which the bandage had soaked through again. She needed proper care, her energy was sapped. At least she was on some soft straw, but it wouldn't be enough she was feeling cold. Feeling tired she rested her eyes, only finding herself dreaming again. Isabel watched her dreams, a man appeared in and out, a black wolf howled in her dream. She wasn’t afraid of this wolf, having strong feelings for the creature, and it walked beside her. Her body was covered in sweat again, the dreams felt real, they weren’t but she was in the forest and that was her home. It made her have feelings of regret Tikana appeared and his family. Then she found herself drowning in deep water. Jerking awake, and yelling she still found herself in the cave.

The huntress blinked and heard the calm words but they weren’t registering, she saw the people around her. Trying to back away in a very unsuccessful way, and in a non-trusting glare at the man who spoke. She wasn’t used to such attention, the painful memories coming back. Isabel calmed down enough to let them continue working, why was she still in this cave? Where the hell was she anyway? Questions were starting to form in her mind, though all she wanted to do was go back to sleep. She still felt weary from her running, and near death experiences. She wasn’t able to speak yet, not sure what was going on, the people working on her she held several bandages already. Glancing at her arm, she held a new bandage, and they were working on her leg. One side of her leggings had been cut to get rid of the arrow, and to properly wrap the bandage around.

Leaning her head back against the straw, she laid there quietly until weariness took over once again. Closing her eyes she let them finish the work on her. There were many small cuts, she winced if one was deep and the solution stung. It was worse when she was awake. Her head spun she had a headache, and was a bit hungry but no appetite to eat. Laying there with her eyes closed her thoughts went back to the man she’d dreamed about, and the wolf. It didn’t make sense, why dream of that here? She’d never had any other dreams in the forest of a black wolf walking beside her. When the questions wouldn’t leave her alone, Isabel let herself sleep. Seeing what the dreams were this time.

It was the middle of the night once again, nothing was around her. She was happily resting in the arms of a man, he pounced on top of her smiling, only being replaced by the face of the wolf. Those same eyes lingering on her but unable to see his face. She cried, tears streaming down her face. Hearing a menacing laughter of a familiar voice, yet she herself didn’t know who it was.

Isabel stirred in her sleep once again, turning over, moaning a male name unknown to herself. Clenching her fists, the dreams turned violent, it always ended the same, and drowning in water…..Waking the half-elf didn’t scream but opened her eyes and sat up slightly rubbing her head. At least she could move again, looking around she could feel someone watching her. Then when her eyes adjusted to the new light, her vision caught that of what looked like guards. Tilting her head, the straw moved under her, though a blanket had been provided as she now noticed. Her clothes were different too, or at least dry. She couldn’t see outside, not knowing what type of day it was anymore, or how long she’d slept. The huntress preferred the quiet, why was she brought here? These dreams just started? Was it because of so much magic here? Dragon’s themselves were a mystery to her, and not one she really cared to know about. Though Isabel supposed she would have to thank the dragon that rescued her, hopefully they would be able to bring her back to the forest.

The huntress watched as a new face appeared, feeling nervousness she looked to the dragon, still not knowing his name. Having not paid attention to much since she got here. Dealing with the pain, moving back a little, wincing as she did so. Hearing a name, she realized this woman wasn't a threat at the moment. "Isabel." she said hoarsely, laying still again.

Nothing made sense at the moment, her trust in these people weren't going to be easy to earn. They may know her name, but she wasn't ready to let them into her life. Glancing over to the dragon, she wasn't sure exactly "Where am I?" she asked. Taking time to silently observed the woman, her dark skin, hair purple eyes. Isabel was almost intimidated by her, feeling something of authority with the woman, maybe it came from the dragon that had rescued her with the way he acted. The dragon almost acted differently when she was around. Isabel herself hadn't been raised by elves, she was raised by humans. However, they weren't worried about her right now, she hadn't lived with them for a few years.