Chapter 2

I woke up the next morning, thankful not to have been plagued by another dream like the one I had had the night before. The idea of reliving Brant’s memories through my dreams was troublesome and left a bad taste in my mouth. While it could answer questions I had, I had felt tainted right down to my soul after that first dream. Though when I recalled it, there was one aspect missing - me. The memory was not one that resulted in his death, and I wondered if it could have been from before I had returned.

I stretched, collected the remaining cooked meat from my kill, and began to break camp. I wrapped the bedroll up and tied it to the top of my pack; the meat I wrapped in what had once held the cured meats Trina gave me. I wrapped up the hide and tied it to the bottom of my pack before throwing my pack over my shoulder. I was surprised to find no notable difference to the weight.

I left the remains of the carcass, as well as a piece of meat, in case the she-wolf decided to return for another meal. I had woken up some time between dawn and midday, a little past when I had hoped to awaken, and I would have to pick up the pace if I wanted to get to my destination before sundown tomorrow. I was not worried about getting there after sunset, but it was impossible to find it in the dark due to how the entrance was concealed. The last time I was there, I had been out hunting too long and could not find the entrance. I had had no choice but to sleep outside that night, and it ended up raining all night, it was horrible.

I broke into a quick jog that I maintained for an hour and realized that it was almost too easy; I wondered how fast I could go. I decided to test my speed, but I did not push myself too hard, as I did not want to trip on something and get injured. I was covering ground quite quickly, and still I was not breaking a sweat. Confident that I would not hurt myself, I decided to take the risk, and pushed myself into running as fast as I could. The speed at which everything passed me was astounding and at this rate, I would get there just after midday today. I was able to keep the pace quite easily, though I did start feeling the signs of fatigue that a sprint used to give me. I began to worry that I was running too fast to see anything coming up before it was too late. I decided to slow down to a more manageable speed, allowing me to react in time and I would still arrive at my destination before sunset.

As I made my way through the forest, I continued to admire the beauty that was quickly passing me by. A few times, I swear I thought I saw the she-wolf running to keep up with me, but as quickly as I saw her, she was gone. I thought for a second that I was hoping that she was with me, the thought knowing I was not fully alone gave me some comfort. I also found myself surprised at my ability to accept her presence, but given the past few months, I found that I was reevaluating my feelings on multiple matters. This time away would help me work through everything, come to grips with my changes, and help me to be prepared for what was to come.

I stopped for an hour, just after midday, to have a meal, stretch my limbs, and rest a bit. I got a fire going, and left camp to collect some berries and fruits to go with the elk meat. When I returned, I saw a visitor digging into my satchel. I picked up a rock and tossed it nearby, startling the she-wolf. I could not help but laugh, the wolf jumped and dashed into the bushes. She had followed me here, and now it looked like she had also made off with a piece of elk meat. I approached the fire, while I sorted through the fruits and berries I had collected, I took a bite of some of the cooked meat that was left. It looked like she had eaten two pieces and would have eaten the last piece had I not caught her. Thankfully, none of the berries I collected were spoiled, inhabited, or poisonous. I took out my cups, and poured myself some Ice Berry wine, to enjoy with this fine meal.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the she-wolf leave the bushes and slowly approach me. She seemed to be watching me closely as she approached, watching for any sign that I would attack. When she got less than a meter or so from me, she surprised me further, by lying down on her belly. She continued to watch me with curiosity, her head cocked to one side; she seemed curious what I would do. I took my knife, which caused her to tense, before I cut and tossed her a piece of meat. The she-wolf snatched it out of the air, quickly consumed the meat, and just watched me complete my meal. When I was finished, I took care to clear my campsite, before making the final leg of my journey.

I bade farewell to my dining companion and made off towards my destination. I started at a slow jog, and slowly increased my speed to prevent accidentally causing myself an injury. Once I was at a sprint, I once again pushed myself as fast as I could go. The trees and other flora became a blur of colors. As I dashed past them I could feel the burn in my muscles from the exertion I was putting on them, and yet it did not deter me. I kept this pace up for the remainder of the afternoon and, after a few hours of breaking camp, I saw in the distance the rock formations I had been looking for.

As the sun reached the tree line in its final travel through the sky I arrived at my destination, giving me a sense of peace. I stopped to survey the changes that had occurred in the area over the years I had been gone. Surprisingly there were practically none. For the next thirty kilometers, it was nothing but huge granite formations. Due to the distance from most towns, as well as the isolated region of the forest it occupied, there was no risk of it being mined any time soon. The centermost area was almost like a small grey mountain. It rose just a few meters over the tree line. My destination was along the southern ridge, so I adjusted my pack and slowly made my way to the first marker. I had found this halfway through my last hunting excursion, purely by accident, but it proved to be the thing that helped me cope.

I had been tracking a small herd of deer when I got turned around, as I had been foolish enough to try to hunt at night during a new moon. I had stumbled around in the dark until I tripped and fell, landing on a tall rock of some kind. When I had placed my hands in front of me to break my fall, my left arm hit rock, my right arm kept moving until my shoulder struck rock.

Now, as I arrived at the southern edge of the granite formation, I could see the first marker, a rock with a peculiar hole though the middle of it. After I reached the marker, I turned and began to head north into the rock formation itself. My thoughts returned to that night years ago. I had pulled my arm out and continued to stumble around in the dark. I had taken my bow, moved it from side to side in front of me to make sure I would not stumble on something in front of me I could not see. I had gone for a few meters when I had come across a fork. A gust of wind chose that time to pick up and blow my bow down the left fork. I went in the direction that it had been blown and carefully tried to find it using my feet. After about ten minutes of searching I found the bow. When I went to pick it up, I braced my hand against a rock beside me. As I slid down to grab it, my hand slipped, and I toppled into an opening within the rock. Thankfully, I was able to grab the bow before I slid in and tumbled down an uneven rock face before landing on very hard ground. I remembered, now, how I had been knocked out by the fall and I recalled I did not wake up until morning. That realization came from the fact I could see around, as light was coming into the cavern. The cavern looked rather large and I looked around to see where the entrance was.

I dropped my things and made my way up to the entrance. As I stepped out, I could see that the entrance was hidden. Unless you knew that the entrance was there, it looked like solid rock. In fact, it was two pieces of rock, with a small path between that turned left and went down into the cave. Due to the position facing south, as well as the rocks that surrounded it, there were never any shadows generated by the traveling of the sun which would dispel the optical illusion.

As I came out of my memories, I realized that I had been standing at the fork for the last twenty minutes. I laughed at myself and made my way up the left path to the entrance of my cave. As I reached the end of the path, I turned into the rock wall to my right, and followed the short, hidden path to the entrance. I went down the rough incline and found myself within the large cavern once again. It had been useful then and it would prove just as useful now; it would be my home for the near future. I walked in the barely illuminated cave, surprised at how well I could see its interior. I could see every inch of the primary cave as if I had a large bonfire going. I shook off the unease of the experience and placed my pack, bow, quiver, and satchel along the wall. Once I had placed my gear down, I went to the opposite wall and was happy to see that the wood I had left here had not rotted away. The lack of moisture in the cavern probably helped with that, but I would need to get some fresher wood.

I collected what I needed from the pile and made my way to the circle of stones that I had left when I last had been here. They were located about twenty feet from the pile of wood and about a foot from the northern wall. I had chosen this spot because there was a small opening in the ceiling that vented to the outside. It proved to be a good water source during storms, so I had to be sure that it would not douse the fire. It took some time, but I had a healthy fire going and, by the look of the entrance, the sun had just finished setting. I had enough berries and such, plus half a piece of meat left, so I would need to go hunting in the morning.

While I enjoyed the meat, I wished that I had thought to bring some seasonings. I had a few cups of the Ice Berry wine and laughed at the fact I wished my vulpine companion had been dining with me tonight.

My thoughts drifted to Violet, wondering how she was doing, how sad she was that I was not there with her. I thought of Liza and Trina, I knew Trent and the rest of the guys would take care of them, but it did not put me fully at ease.

I put away my cups and put fresh wood on the fire. As I lay down for my night’s rest, my thoughts drifted to what my purpose here was. Something was happening to me; I was not sure what it was, and I could not risk those I cared about. Here in this solitude, I would be able to test my limits in my search for answers. I closed my eyes, and drifted to sleep, as thoughts of what tomorrow would bring, filled my head.