THE WYLDFAE

Adelia Weber rubbed at her thin shoulders as she trudged along the dirt path. She shivered in the cool air, her sweater useless against the cold midnight air. She regretted storming out of the house without her coat or her phone now that her anger couldn’t keep her warm.

Another day, another argument with her father.

He wanted her to go to college in the city. It was only an hour commute from home, had a more practical workload for her studies and it would be more financially feasible. But Adelia wanted to go to a university in a different country. It was more prestigious, had better alumni, offered better networking opportunities, and gave her the chance to explore the world! She did honestly love her father but he became so overbearing ever since her mother died.

It was as if he didn’t trust her to be an adult by herself!

Adelia frowned at the leaves that crunched under her shoes, then sighed. She lifted her head to stare up at the night sky. Stars winked down at her, only a sliver of moonlight to guide Adelia’s sullen trek through the trees.

Her feet had taken her here automatically, familiar with the old beaten path. As a child, Adelia had played in these woods almost every single day. She was going to miss these woods if she went to study overseas. Her dream university was set in the middle of a concrete jungle. There would be no reds and yellows of autumn trees, only blocks of grey!

-ruff ruff arooooo!-

Adelia jerked her head around in alarm. She could hear the barking of dogs in the distance. They seemed quite far away but it sounded like there were a lot of them! She looked around nervously, eyeing the nearby trees. She had heard of wolves being sighted deeper in the forests but never wild dogs.

-clippity cloppity clippity cloppity-

Was that ... horse hooves??

Adelia backed away from the dirt path, eyes widening as the sound came closer.

-BWUH BWUUUUH—

The sound of a horn blasted through the forest, sending the roosting birds into the sky. It was a menacing sound that struck fear into Adelia’s heart, making her young breasts heave up and down as she began to breathe faster. Somehow, she knew deep down that whomever was leading the dogs and the horses was a force to be reckoned with!

-WOOF WOOF AROOOO-CLIPPITY CLOPPITY CLIPPITY CLOP-

Adelia gasped in fear as the howling dogs and thundering hooves approached at a rapid pace. Without thinking, she ran to the nearest tree and jumped for the lowest branch, quickly climbing up until she was higher than a person’s sightline. With any luck, they would pass her by and keep going!

With that thought in mind, Adelia huddled down in the crook of two branches and tried to hide.

Just as she ducked behind some leaves, she saw the silhouettes of a dozen hounds, all lean with gnashing teeth and jaws as they tore through the bushes and down the path. Their paws left motes of fire and light in the dirt as they ran, lighting up their zigzag paths while they chased some invisible thing.

Behind them came the riders.

There were about thirty men astride horses, each dressed in the clothing of a different era! Adelia spied one who wore a military uniform, one who looked like a peasant from her history books, another dressed in ruffles like an aristocrat! Each of them also carried weapons as if they were hunting something ... or ... Adelia realised with mounting fear ... someone!

At the very front, on the largest grey horse, was a hulking man who looked to be almost 7 feet tall. Even with his face cast in shadows, Adelia could see his bushy beard and thick leather outfit. Across his back was the glint of an axe and in his right hand he held a large curly sheep’s horn.

As Adelia watched, the man brought the horn to his lips and blew.

A ferocious blast echoed through the forest, shaking Adelia to her core. She hugged the tree branch tighter, trying to make herself smaller.

She had a sinking feeling that she knew who this was. Her father had told her tales of the Erlking when she was a child. According to some legends, the Erlking let loose his hunting party on Samhain, collecting restless souls as they rode.

Please move on, please move on! Adelia chanted in her mind.

Unfortunately, the hunting party thundered to a halt only twenty feet down the path.

One of the hounds, a scruffy looking one, had circled back. It was sniffing around the trees where Adelia had stood.

Before Adelia could even begin to pray for help, the hound lifted its head and howled loudly.

“AROOOOOOOOOOO!” as if to say “Look what I found!”

One of the riders yanked on his reins. His mount whinnied loudly but turned to trot over to Adelia’s tree.

Try as she might, there was nowhere else to hide. Adelia felt her heart stop when the rider lifted his head and stared straight at her!

“MY LIEGE, IT’S A LASS!” the man shouted back to the hunting party.

A few of the riders came trotting back, whooping and making all manner of lewd sounds as they started to take notice of Adelia.

The largest rider, the leader, pulled his horse up to the base of the tree and grinned up at Adelia. He was so tall that even on the high branch, Adelia had no doubt that all he had to do was to jump and he would catch her ankles.

“Come down, girl,” he growled.

The deep bass of his voice seemed to rumble through Adelia’s bones. She heard him clearly even though she was above him. The timbre of his command made it known to her that if she dared to disobey, then there would be hell to pay.