Under the blanket of nightfall I had stolen away to the meadow in hopes of clearing my head and easing the weight that often burdened my thoughts. Life had become too complicated as of late and completely unpredictable. My desire to mingle and waste the day away with kindred spirits had ultimately dwindled and now I was feeling at odds with my own incentives. All around me Helovia was painted in deep shades of azure so deep that, at times, they appeared black and soulless. I was not unused to the quiet of midnight, but I was still uneasy for reasons still unknown to me. When I looked back to make sure that Romul had not strayed too far from my watchful eye, I was pleasantly surprised to find that he had stayed the course. The soft slope of his shoulders could be seen even now, as cloaked in darkness as we were. Of course, his pale, white coat was hard to miss as it contrasted so sharply from the surrounding shadows… He almost appeared to be an angel amidst the chaos blooming at my heart’s core.

As we trekked further into the wide berth that was the Thistle Meadow, I began to relax just enough to let my mind wander. I contemplated many things that ranged from the impending threat of the Basin right down to my first encounter with Romul. Yet, just when I thought myself safe from the struggle of finding my place in the whole of life, a quiet clicking resounded through the silent pasture. Before I could determine where the sound had come from, Romul’s panicked shrieking broke through all my defenses. Like a mother would her own child, I spun on my haunches in order to find what ailed the wolf only to find him hidden from view.


“Romul!-”, I screeched shakily. Fear began to flower form within and I knew that half of it was not my own. My legs were soft as I began to retrace the path which whence I’d come and as I swung my head from side to side, searching for my companion, I stumbled upon a pale mass of teeth and fur. “Trapped Ess!”, he urged from within. In an attempt to calm him long enough to inspect whatever confined him, I pushed my face into his neck while breathing deeply. The heavy musk of pine needles and rich soil greeted me and for a moment the wolf stopped in his writing and struggling. “Calm down, I’ll get you out,” I assured him worriedly. However, just when I was about to inspect the dark clasp fixed around his back, right hock, another set of clicks pierced through our anxious scuffle.


Like a cornered deer, I moaned and shook before turning to glance around to my own back feet. Unlike Romul, the clasps had somehow fastened around both back pasterns, effectively trapping us both. We were now sitting ducks, waiting for whatever terror might round the bend. Fear seemed to quell whatever anger that raged futilely from within and for a moment I was inclined to believe we’d been hunted. However, upon further reasoning, it appeared to me a more methodical approach to “trapping.” This was a planned attack and whoever came to retrieve us would face the not only one target upon their back, but two.

As the night proceeded to grow long, I began to grow more irritated and volatile. Romul persisted to growl and snarl for the next hour, which only added to my mounting annoyance, but I couldn’t find it within myself to stop him. I wanted our captor to discover what kind of creatures they’d managed to snare in their fancy, hands-off contraption. Surely only a coward would be most comfortable using newfangled machines to trick their prey… “They pay,” Romul insisted on a soft groan. He was compelled by adrenaline alone and at times I could decipher his ire just as strongly as I could conjure my own emotions. Yet, it certainly did little to free us from the snares…

After what felt an eternity, the softest of footfall seemed to approach from all sides. It was then that I was able to determine a dark figure approaching from the Northern tree line. Romul began snarling anew and the sound reverberated maliciously against the forest surrounding the clearing we’d been so foolishly lured. However, when the beast was finally near enough for me to fix him with a hateful glare, I was surprised to find him slightly more intimating than I’d previously conceived. I couldn’t determine much about him beneath the veil of night, but the one thing I could decipher was the horn perched just below his poll and the masculine scent that carried heavily upon the breeze. “Well, well, well… come to collect our prize have we?” I mocked from beyond.

Carefully, I situated myself just before Romul in case things got out of hand and in doing so I was able to catch the slightest glimpse of another creature trailing in our captor’s wake. It seemed, to me, to be an undistinguishable mass of black, but Romul was quick to confirm my fears. “Wolf Ess… careful.” Just when I’d thought myself equipped for such a situation, I’d been cruelly startled to find us evenly matched.

essetia
ONLY YOU CAN COOL MY DESIRE
I'M ON FIRE