The Spirit of the Forest
I posted the prologue before under a different name, which I've been messing with until I could think of one that would suit it. Spirit of the Forest was the original name, which will probably be the name for now on. The novel is a story I've been working on since I was around nine and meddling with until I could get a decent plot, and hopefully it will get published in the near future. Just a few notes, I'm aware that a lot of the things in it are pretty cliche fantasy elements, but it's not going to be like a whole Lord of the Rings repeat, and the beginning seems really rushed, which is one of the things I really need help on, and last, I'm still working on the language the wolves use, so until I can make it more 'foreign-like', I'm going to be using english sentence structure.
Prologue: The Black Wolf
A cold wind blew as the boy ran through the forest, constantly looking over his shoulder in case of pursuers. The wind waved his auburn hair over his dark orange half-split fox-like ears. He soon approached a small spring surrounded by large rocks and shrubs. He sat down in front of the spring, putting his dagger in a tree stump beside him, and he cupped his hands for a drink.
As he finished a second swallow he turned to the stump and began to carve letters in. Then, a howl came from the distance.
"Wol ulea eu dhea!" it howled loudly.
There was another howl, this one louder than the last. The boy's heart pounded against his chest, harder then ever. He looked up. A pair of large yellow eyes was staring at him from the darkness.
The boy pulled his dagger from the stump and ran through the woods and towards the howls. Thorns from plants cut his skin and opened old wounds. With his dagger clutched at his chest, he stopped running as he entered a clearing.
Wolves surrounded it, watching two wolves duel in the center. One wolf had black, bristled fur and had a long mane that ran down its neck and a green crystal on its forehead. The other was large and brown with large, sharp fangs and blood red eyes that were glowing brightly in the darkness.
The large wolf began to circle around the other slowly saying, "Lirer narne du hoil werv, Comi! Wol ulea eu dhea!"
The black wolf growled and pounced, knocking the large wolf onto its back. Blood dripped down its fur as the black wolf's claws dug into its chest. "Eu rernel te tir runor oe te geln, Fenris," the black wolf said, "Te tir runor es li!"
The wolf opened its mouth, revealing its sharp teeth, and bit the other wolf in the throat. The brown wolf struggled to get free, but with each movement, more pain came into it. Soon the large brown wolf gave in, and its eyes went pale.
The black wolf had won the duel. It let go and raised its head at the silver moon above, and howled in
triumph.
The boy watched as the rest of the pack howled along with it, until something began to make a whining noise behind him. A red wolf was wagging its tail violently and began to bark, trying to get the boy's attention. His heart began to beat against his chest again as the pack of wolves stopped howling and faced him.
The black wolf slowly walked towards him and said in the boy's language, "Who are you?"
Chapter 1: Karena (a working title)
Fallen leaves flew across the ground. The air was chilly and the sky was gray. Zeal could tell a storm was approaching. Though he was a few months passed seventeen, he still had many features of a man. He was tall and had hair that ran down his neck and green eyes, which were common throughout the race.
He was a selian, an elf-like race that lived in the mountains of the North. They were known throughout the North for their hunting skills, as well as their folklore and music. After many attacks and raids, there are only two villages left, Karena and Temeran, a small village that is said to protect the spirit of the mountain's tree.
A small breeze blew. He shivered and tucked his hands into his worn-out cloak and quickly made his way to the small pub near the center of Karena called the Black Bear. The tavern was almost empty, except for two bearded men that were talking and laughing. Zeal sat at one of the oak tables in a corner farthest away from where the wind could reach him. He took a mug of beer from a serving girl as she passed by and handed her a small golden coin.
He took a long sip as a gust of wind blew into the tavern. He shivered again and put one of his hands into his cloak pocket, not releasing the hand holding the mug. He took another sip.
Lightning flashed, followed by lightning. One of the serving girls went to close the split door, before giving a scream and dropping her tray of mugs. Zeal dropped his mug as well and pulled out his dagger.
Aithne, the owner of the pub, came running out from her back quarters. "What happened?" she yelled to the serving girl.
The girl was breathing heavily and pointed outside. "I saw something," she said, shuddering. "A large, black wolf."
"There, there," the owner said helping the girl from the ale and glass coated floor. "You've been working too much. You are seeing things. You should go home and rest."
The serving girl shook her head. "There was something, I know it."
Zeal watched as the owner called another serving girl to clean the floor. He sheathed his dagger back in his belt and followed the girl out of the pub. Rain dripped down on them. "Mind if I walk with you?" he asked.
She looked at him, and then looked away. "I don't mind."
Zeal tried not to blush, but his heart began beating. She seemed a little younger than him. Long blond hair flowed down her back and hid her ears. She wore a short, green dress that went to her knees, as well as white leggings. His tongue felt stuck in his mouth.
"I am Sara," she said, breaking the awkward silence. "You?"
"Zeal," he stuttered. Another flash of lightning crashed in the sky and the rain poured down harder. As they walked, Zeal noticed a creature a couple of paces in front of them, crawling on the ground. "Is that the thing you saw earlier?"
Sara looked at it. "No. The thing I saw earlier was a black wolf. But that thing seems.... different."
Zeal slowly approached it, ignoring Sara when she called for him to stop. The creature stopped what it was doing and looked up at him. It gave a low snarl. "What are you?" Zeal murmured, unable to see any of the creature's features.
Lightning struck again. Zeal hopped back as the creature rose onto its hind legs and gave a shrieking roar. The Sara fell to her knees and covered her ears. Zeal pulled his dagger from his belt and took a step closer to see the creature's features more clearly.
It resembled a man with a bear-like snout and large claws at the end of its arms. Its head was naked of any hair except for a long strip that seemed to go from the top of its forehead down to the other side of its neck and its eyes seemed bloodshot. The creature gave another roar and pounced at Zeal knocking him to the ground. Its claws dug into his arms and cut deep into his left shoulder.
He yelled in pain. The cut burned, as if there was a small flame in it. With what strength he had, he pushed the creature of him and he thrust his dagger into the creature's chest. It gave a roar of pain as Zeal pulled that dagger out. It pushed him back, and, with one clawed hand on its wound, it ran off into the distance. Zeal to a deep breath before falling to the ground, unconscious.
Sara moved over to him. She looked at him body and noticed the deep cut on his shoulder, and she jumped as something gave a low growl from behind. She turned to face a large black wolf with a large green crystal on its for head. The crystal began to glow and the wolf muttered, "Selle, kelidr," and Sara fell on top of Zeal, asleep.