Curse of the mad-wolf: Side-story.

WINTER'S FALL

A strong and cold wind was ruffling the fallen autumn leaves under the light of the full moon. The howling of the wolves only made Aidan’s hand that was holding on to his wife’s waist tremble even harder.

“There’s nowhere for you to run to, mage.” an icy voice sounded through the naked trees, a voice just as cold as the weather outside.

Aidan closed his eyes tightly and ignored the blood that was dripping from his chest as he pressed on, not even sparing a single look at the back. He knew there was only death behind him.

“My child..” muttered the woman in his arms, her voice weak and hoarse.

“Shh. Don’t talk. We’ll make it. We have to make it.”, said Aidan, his voice trembling, trying to mask the uncertainty in his heart.

A whistling sound, much sharper than the late autumn winds, made Aidan grit his teeth as he threw himself to the ground, dragging his wife’s body with him and cushioning her fall using his own.

A wet feeling on his leg made him realize that things have gotten even worse.

“Not now. Goddamnit. Not now.” he yelled as he grabbed the arrow that landed near his head and broke it in two.

“You elves have gone too far.”, yelled Aidan towards the surrounding forests, but the only answer he got was another arrow heading for his wife, who was lying on top of him.

With a small grunt, he held her tightly as he rolled to the side, dodging the second arrow as well. Just as he was about to stand up, a third arrow came from the forest and pierced straight through his back.

Aidan ignored the pain and looked at his fainted wife’s face as tears started rolling down his cheeks.

“I’m sorry, love..”

The ringing in Aiden’s ears was so loud that he didn’t even hear the footsteps drawing closer to him. His mana was spent, and the last arrow only brought him closer to his end.

As he was apologizing to his wife, a powerful arm grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around, making the arrow in his back pierce his body completely and come out through the front.

A long-eared brawny man stared at Aidan’s lifeless eyes with an indifferent look before turning towards the fainted woman next to him.

“You two made me lose so many of my men. But don’t worry, I’ll have you two away together.”

After his words, the man readied an arrow on his bow and pulled the string while aiming at her head, only to stop as he noticed the bulge in her belly.

Releasing the bow without firing the arrow, he bent down and opened her heavy-looking coat.

“Haha, looks like even I get the honor of sending your child after you as well. Maybe I’ll get some extra money as well.” said the elf before hitting the woman’s belly with his bow.

The woman grunted and her eyes snapped open as she looked at the elf towering above her. Ignoring the blood flowing down the side of her mouth, she moved her tired hand to the place where the man hit her and parted her lips to speak.

“You will all pay for this.” She knew this was the end of the road for both her and her child, but there was no trace of pleading in her eyes, only pure hatred.

The man smiled and readied his bow again, looking straight into the woman’s eyes as he aimed the arrow at her belly.

“I wanted to send you away first, but you convinced me to start with your child. You can say hello to your entire family when you see them in the afterlife.”

Just as he was about to release the sting for the second time, all the leaves around started regaining their color while flying magically back onto the trees.

The cold autumn winds also stopped, replacing the usual whistling of the forest with a deadly silence.

“Mother...” muttered the elf as he lowered his bow for the second time and fell to his knees. His long ears trembled gently as he was listening to something.

It was as if time itself had slowed down as the woman’s hatred-filled eyes slowly turned gently and she nodded quietly.

After an entire minute of silence, the man’s expression turned into one of uncontained fury.

“Damn humans.”, he said with gritted teeth before drawing his bow for the third time and releasing an arrow straight through the smiling woman’s face.

Just as he spit on her belly in anger and turned around to leave, he realized he couldn’t lift his feet from the ground. A layer of ice was covering the ground underneath and even froze his legs into place.

Turning his head around, he saw an ethereal black-haired woman sitting behind him. Her cold eyes were fixed on him as the ice covering his feet slowly extended to his waist.

He tried to turn around and shoot an arrow at the woman, but this made the frozen half of his body shatter into pieces and he fell to the ground, dead.

The woman then turned her eyes back on the dead woman and caressed her bulging belly. Her skin froze and broke apart as two crying baby girls appeared underneath the crumbling ice.

“Thank you for agreeing to bring hope for the winter once again.”, she muttered in a gentle tone as her ethereal body broke into three shining orbs. One green, one black, and one white.

The green and black orbs entered the two baby girls while the white one drifted away into the forest.