Myka and The Guardians: Chapter 1 :)

CHAPTER 1

Eleven years later…

Myka crouched lower in the thorn bush only a few yards from her prey, a small herd of wild deer. For several days she had been tracking the small herd of eleven or twelve, waiting for the right time to strike.

The sound of hooves walking on the dirt, calmed Myka as she nocked an arrow into her bowstring. Her target was a medium sized buck with a slight limp in his back leg. Taking a deep breath she lined the tip of her arrow to the buck’s lower shoulder. Without the meat the deer would provide she and her uncle would be hungry throughout the winter.

Pulling the string back she counted, one two three, as he uncle had taught her before releasing.A few deer stopped eating grass and lifted their heads slightly as the arrow sailed silently through the afternoon’s sky. It landed in the buck’s right shoulder with a thump. Startled by the sound, the herd started running away from Myka, with the buck lagging behind the rest of them. Repeating what she had done before, she watched as the arrow landed with another thump this time landing an inch above the thigh causing the buck to fall.

Quickly she made her way to the deer and pulled her small but efficient hunting knife from her belt. As she knelt down a flicker of fear flashed through the buck’s strangely blue eyes. Myka bent over the deer and pressed the knife to the deer’s throat. As she did a bright green light flashed, blinding Myka temporarily.

Blinking her eyes a few seconds later she found the piercing light had subsided leaving a faint glow around her. Familiar with the after effects of using magic she knew what the greenish glow meant…shape shifting.Shape shifters often traveled in packs of the animal they change into to keep themselves hidden. It’s a risk they understand for human eyes cannot tell the difference between a shape shifter and a regular animal, but it’s a risk they take for it keeps them hidden from the world.

Myka quickly glanced down at the buck she was holding to the ground, but instead of coming face to face with a deer she came face to face with a man. His face was deathly pale, maybe because it was freezing outside and he was only wearing a light tunic and no shoes, or maybe because of the arrows sticking out of his shoulder and thigh.

Taken by surprise Myka jumped back a few inches. She had seen shape shifters before, they always came to talk with her uncle when they needed help with one thing or another, but she had never seen one actually change right in front of her.

The man groaned reminding Myka that he was injured. Feeling his forehead, she took a deep breath…he was burning hot. She needed to get him to her uncle fast but she knew he couldn’t travel that far with his injury. Nervously she began rethinking of all the small hunting posts she had passed along the way. Hunting posts were small little buildings where you could trade your things or get new supplies. There were usually spaced a two day’s riding apart, and the last one she had past was a day’s riding away.

“Damn it!” she cursed out loud, “You- you idiot! Why would you travel as a deer in hunting territory?” She yelled at him. Then she realized she probably shouldn’t yell at him because he was injured.

“Just- just pull them out…” the man said. It was the first time he had spoken.

Myka nodded, understanding what he was thinking. Shape shifters had super human healing, so all she needed to do was pull the arrows out and he could heal himself. Slinging her pack off her shoulder she grabbed the supply of rags she kept in her pack for emergencies and took a few out. Wrapping a couple strips around the arrow coming from his shoulder, she glided her shaky hand over the arrow coming from his shoulder.She gave it a hard tug sliding the arrow from his flesh, blood spurted over his tunic and her hand. He winced and grabbed the clump of grass he was holding tighter. Myka took a deep breath and gave another hard tug and the arrow came completely free of his body, leaving a bloody gouge in his shoulder.

“It’s just a bit of blood,” Myka calmed herself “Just a little bit of blood.”

Animal blood she was fine with but human’s blood was another story. A heavy dizziness washed over her like river by her cabin, in the spring, as she saw him press a couple of her rags to the blood pooling from his shoulder. A few seconds later blackness took over her world.

***

“Damn females!” a dark husky voice said harshly. Even though the shape shifter had barely spoken to her before she blacked out but Myka still could recognize his voice.

“Neil you really should stop using that language” a female voice said impatiently.

Who is that? Myka asked herself. Curious about whom that person was and what she was doing there, Myka kept her eyes closed and pretended to be still passed out.

“I’ll use any kind of language I want!” Neil said grumpily. There was the sound of wood being thrown on the fire and Myka, being close enough, could feel the heat. “You’re not my mother you can’t tell me what to do!” he added, his voice filled with amusement.

The woman laughed as if they were two old friends sharing a personal joke, “Oh Neil! Not even your mother could make you do something if you didn’t want to do it,” she laughed “You are as stubborn as a-“she stopped abruptly.

“What is it?” Neil asked.

“She is stirring…” the woman said “Goodbye, Neil.” Her voice was becoming more distant with every word.

“Please Senadra…stay, stay with me” Neil’s voice deepened with sorrow “Please” he begged with one last attempt to make her stay.

“Goodbye, my love. I will see you again soon….soon” her voice was a soft whisper, then in a few seconds it was gone completely. Myka could feel the tingling sensation of magic, and wondered. Why did the woman leave when she knew I was awake? How did that woman know I was awake? Who was she? Unanswered questions came flooding into her.

After the woman had left the silence started killing Myka, she could actually hear every single cricket that surrounded them! And rather loudly! As she was about to blow her cover and personally every cricket alive,

Neil interrupted her thoughts, “You can open your eyes now, I know you are awake” he said.

Myka opened her eyes a sliver and saw Neil on the other side of the small camp, and a fire blazed nearby. His wounds were healed, of course, from his super healing but when he shifted a little on the ground she could tell he was still stiff.

Guiltily she sat up and immediately started thinking of her apology. She was used to making good apologies; she had a lot of practice with her uncle. As a kid and even now, trouble always seemed to find her. There wasn’t a day gone by that she didn’t have to apologize for getting into trouble.

Myka shifted and then started with what she always started with, “I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to shoot you I thought…well you were outside the shape shifters safe zone so I…I “she stuttered “I didn’t even think you would be one…” she finished lamely.

The shape shifters zone was a piece of land that no one could hunt on, it was specifically for the shape shifters so that they had a way of passing from place to place without the risk of getting killed by hunters. Some hunters refused to obey the king’s command and still hunted in the zone, for they thought shape shifters should be killed. But those few hunters were given a fine or put in jail if they were caught.

“I am also sorry for eavesdropping” Myka added. She knew, he knew, that she had eavesdropped so there was no use in pretending.

Neil looked down at his feet, his cheeks showed a hint of red, “it wasn’t all your fault you shot me, as you said, I was out of the safe zone….but it still hurt” he laughed, shrugging off the eavesdropping part for which Myka was thankful for.

Myka now laughed also then she stood up, “ I must go” she said. She needed to get back to her uncle, with a deer, and it was at least half a day’s traveling time to get back. Hopefully she would get some kind of meat on her way home, this was her last chance to hunt for she knew in two or three days the snow would be here.

She had already killed a young deer and a buck that summer and that should last her and her uncle the winter. But she wanted to give some meat to her neighbors for their father had an accident that summer and he couldn’t hunt for them, and the children where all too young to handle the work load.

Myka wanted to be sure Neil was alright before she left because she knew he was in more pain that he was letting on, but she didn’t have much time and she didn’t think he would appreciate that.

“Yes, I must move on too” Neil spoke, startling Myka “I was on my way back to a small village near Rivermouth for a council meeting when you…uh…interrupted me” he said standing up.

Myka glanced at him, he was at least a good half a foot taller than herself, he had light brown hair and his light brown eyes faintly glowed green in the dark, like all shape shifters eyes did. Myka had always found that disturbing for some reason.

“Again I am sorry about that” she apologized shamefully. Crossing the encampment she picked up her bow and pack that was sitting by a log.

All of a sudden she felt the tingling sensation of magic, turning back to Neil she found in place of him a breathtaking silver timber wolf.

“I must be off” the wolf/Neil said in a voice that sounded like Neil’s only more quiet and raspier, like he was having trouble breathing.

Myka nodded, not trusting her voice to speak. She bit back a comment on how he was missing half of his left ear.In one swift moment the wolf turned and loped into the trees, the darkness slowly consuming him.

After putting out the fire, Myka slung her pack over her shoulder and started for home.