Chapter 26

She was panicking. She tried hard to remain calm, but how could she when she got lost in the snowstorm?

What should she do?

She had no idea what she should do, but she also knew that panicking was not the answer.

Ayla inhaled deeply until she felt she was in control of her emotions.

Star kept walking, and Ayla had no idea where in which direction they were going. Should she stop the mare and wait for the others to find her? Or should she keep going on and find shelter?

If she stopped, she risked being buried under the snow and freezing before the others found her. So she kept advancing and shouting from time to time. But no matter how much she shouted, no reply came.

It was during the night when the blizzard stopped, and Ayla finally could see where she was. Trees surrounded her and Star. Ayla's heart almost stopped when she realized that not only she was lost, but she was lost in the forest during the night. And she had no weapons. Not that she would know how to use one if she did have one.

Ayla remembered that some trees had runes and symbols. She could try to find trees with runes and then – then nothing since she had no idea how to read them.

The forest was so still that no sound could be heard except that of a lost rider and her mare. A full moon rose about the forest, and the snow sparkled.

When Ayla felt too exhausted and was falling asleep, she dismounted and started walking next to Star. Ayla was cold but tried to distract herself from it by whispering nonsense to Star. After almost a week of traveling together, Ayla started to care for the mare.

"Come on, girl. We need to find a shelter," Ayla said to Star, and they walked further.

When a growl sounded from behind some winter-bushes to her right, Ayla had to bite her tongue from stopping herself from screaming. Star neighed, and Ayla patted her. When no animal attacked them, Ayla breathed in relief.

"It's going to be alright, Star. We will find shelter and then eat something warm," Ayla said more for herself than for Star. She guided the mare to the left.

As Star and Ayla kept moving, she could swear she felt watched. Ayla scanned the area around her as best as she could, but there was not enough light to see well. Anything could be lurking in the shadows of the forest.

Another growl came, this time from her left. Ayla almost screamed in fear. Now she did not doubt that something was stalking Star and her. And from the sound of it was more than one creature.

Ayla put her gloved hand above her cloak, where her amulet was and sent a quick prayer to Adanoss.

Star neighed even harder, and Ayla tried to calm her down.

"Easy, girl. It's alright."

Ayla guided Star to the right. They walked in silence for a few more minutes, time in which Ayla listened for any sound. Everything was so still. Too still. What was out there?

Another growl came from the right, and Ayla gripped the reins with all her strength while she guided Star to the left.

A growl coming from behind her made Ayla spin around, but there was nothing there. Star neighed even harder, lifting herself on her back legs. Ayla lost the reins, and then Star was running into the dense forest.

A creature burst out from behind a winter-bush so fast that it did not give Ayla time to see what it was.

"Star! Come back!" Ayla shouted, but the mare had already disappeared behind the trees.

Another growl came from her left, and Ayla started running. She had no idea in which direction but far from the growling. And then she heard how something was running after her.

Ayla tried to run fast, but her left leg sank into the fresh snow and fell. She knew she was going to die, and she prayed it would be a quick death.

She turned to look at the creature that was about to kill her. When Ayla saw the creature, she finally screamed. It was one of the deadliest creatures from the continent – a shadowbeast.

A creature with a body like a feline, but the mouth of a wolf, a horn on his head, elongated canines, and deadly claws. A creature that would blend so well in the shadow until it became invisible.

The creature jumped, and Ayla said her last prayer. But the shadowbeast never reached Ayla, as another animal, what appeared to be a snowcat, collided with it in the air, and the shadowbeast landed in the trunk of a tree. As the two animals started a life-or-death fight, Ayla ran, putting as much distance as possible between her and the creatures.

Ayla ran and fell and got up to run again until she was too tired to get up. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, and when she opened them, she looked at the trees. One of them had a hollow big enough to be used as a shelter at its roots. Ayla crawled to the hollow and tried peeking into it to see if some animal was in there. She thought it was empty but threw some snow in just to be sure. When nothing came out trying to eat her, she got inside the hollow. It wasn't very big, but big enough to fit all her body inside. Ayla pulled the cloak tight around her, closed her eyes, and let tears fall down her face. Her thought turned to Star.

'Star. I hope you made it,' Ayla thought.

She slept poorly; nightmares of shadowbeasts killing Star and her haunted Ayla's sleep.

When morning came, Ayla crawled out of the hollow. She was thirsty, hungry, lost, and afraid.

Ayla looked around her and decided to go left. So she walked for a while, eating snow from time to time to keep her hydrated.

When a howl sounded close to her, Ayla was already running. An ice wolf picked up her scent and was tracking her.

As Ayla ran next to a group of trees, something grabbed her, pulling her into the shadows.