1 Chapter 1

Ari rose out of bed to the sound of her wolf pet scrapping at the foot of her bed. The wood slowly has worn away from years of the animal scratching at it.

She drew herself from the warmth of her bed. The outside was already cold and snowy despite the early time. She could see distant smoke from campfires in the distance.

"Mornin girl." Ari mumbled as she scratched behind the wolf's ears. Then, she got up and dressed in a warm outfit.

She left her small bedroom and into the warmer main room. Preparing breakfast for herself and her sweet pet.

The human and wolf ate in silence as they did every morning. It was a routine. Breakfast, boots, outside.

Ari tugged on her boots and heavy coat. She didnt understand the bad feeling that pooled in her stomach. She brushed it off to a particularly blizzardy morning.

She stepped out into the freezing morning, her wolf Nim following close behind.

The wind and snow nipped at her face. The cold feeling like it was dragging her down into the snow through the Earth with its icy grasp.

Ari began trudging along. Hoping to at least gather some ground. Her hunter's bow was across her back. She was trying to find any game that she could take home and dry. The cold weather was very helpful for the meat supply. As it kept it cold. And even on sunny days, it was able to dry and not go bad.

She spent what felt like hours out there. And, it was. And she still found nothing.

She was planning on heading home and calling it a day before she heard a shatter from bellow her.

Suddenly she was falling.

And then nothing.

She woke to Nim licking her hand. Poor thing must have climbed down there to get her.

Ari could feel hypothermia setting in.

This is it. She thought. This is where I die. Alone, having done nothing important. Stuck in a hole on a mountain.

She tried laughing to herself, but her voice came out hoarse. And it hurt to speak.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a figure.

And suddenly she wasn't cold anymore.

No, she was warm. So this is what death is. Warm and with hallucinations. She thought.

But then the figure stepped into the light. And she was the most beautiful woman that Ari had ever seen.

Taller than her and thicker. The stranger wore a loose-fitting blouse with a pair of men's pants. Lace-up boots too. Her skin was an amazing dark color, and her eyes were golden like morning sunrise. Her hair was tucked back into rows of secure braids.

And then there were the wings. The beautiful and glittering wings that stretched out from her back. Soft blue hues mixed with subtle pale purples and reds

At least if Ari was going to die, she would die thinking that she was seeing someone beautiful.

The person reached out. "Poor thing. Poor moral soul. Stay with me, dearest. The world needs you for much longer." The woman spoke as if honey just dripped from her voice easily. So comforting that Ari felt like she was being wrapped up in a nice blanket.

She wanted to do as the woman said. Stay. Be on Earth. Alive with Nim. Home, filling the furnace with firewood and relaxing on the couch.

But she could see black spots in her vision. The pull of sleep. The slow lull of tiredness. At this point, she felt like she accepted her fate.

She gave the woman a smile. "If I gotta go, at least I'm going looking at someone pretty." She joked, voice quiet and rough.

And then, darkness.