To Capture A Witch

Her heart was pounding in her chest and she was gasping for breath as she ran through the forest, the shrubs and bushes whipping her face and body. The pain barely registered nor did she notice the blood oozing from the cuts on her hands and face. She could hear the sounds of her pursuers getting closer, the heavy breathing and growling steadily increasing as they closed the distance between her and them. Her mouth was open and along with her throat were dry and burning as she tried to stifle the screams that threatened to escape. She knew that she couldn't outrun them, it was impossible, but she had to keep going, had to find a way to escape, she couldn't allow herself to be caught. 

Suddenly the ground gave way beneath her and she tumbled head first down an embankment before hitting the water with a loud splash. The icy, cold water knocked the breath clean out of her and it was all she could do to prevent herself from screaming out loud. Her feet scrambled for purchase under the water as she tried to keep her head above water but then she heard the growls getting closer just before she saw the wolves crest the embankment.  Without thinking, she took a deep breath and submerged herself completely under the water, letting her body sink to the bottom of the river. Keeping completely still, she waited for what seemed like hours but was infact, only a few minutes before she rose cautiously to the surface, her lungs bursting for air. 

With only her eyes and nose visible above the water, she listened intently as her eyes scanned her surroundings, checking to see if she'd lost them. Some distance away she heard the sounds of the wolves pushing through the undergrowth as they tried to pick up her scent again, the sounds fading as they moved further away. She continued to wait a bit longer until not hearing anything, she was about to turn to swim to the other side of the river when the low growl from behind her caused her to freeze in her tracks. Slowly she turned, her body shivering, both from fear and the cold as her green eyes met with a pair of yellow ones, cold and calculating, the eyes of a predator. 

The wolf was massive, much bigger than any of the others she'd seen and his pelt was thick and silver gray in color, easily identifying him as the alpha. His vicious fangs were bared and saliva dripped from the points as he emitted a low growl from deep within his throat, she knew instinctively that this was a warning and she reluctantly held up her hands in surrender. From behind her, she heard the rest of his pack return to the embankment and make their way down to the river's edge, their growls harsh and threatening in the quiet of the forest. She was shaking all over now and her teeth had started to chatter but still she didn't move a muscle, her fear and dread keeping her anchored in place. 

In front of her, the silver wolf shifted into a man with piercing gray eyes and hair as dark as a starless night, he was larger than average in height and build and naked as the day he was born. He towered over her, standing on the river bank, his lower torso completely filling her line of sight as she tried to look up at him, anywhere but at his exposed manhood which seemed to be also much larger than anything she could have imagined. Suddenly a large hand with long, slender fingers reached down to her and a gruff voice spoke to her, "Get up. Now!"

With only a brief moment of hesitation, she grabbed his hand and he unceremoniously hauled her out of the water and onto the riverbank where she landed on all fours, just barely stopping herself from collapsing to the ground. By now, the other wolves had crossed the river and stood around her, forming a barrier that prevented her from escaping as the alpha came to stand behind her. She was crouched on the ground, her clothes soaking wet and sticking to her body as the cold air combined with the icy water permeated every part of her. The alpha roughly pulled her to her feet and shoved her forward, forcing her to walk in front of him while his pack followed. She wanted to speak, to say something but the shaking had worsened and she couldn't trust herself to say anything that might give them cause to harm her although something told her that they needed her alive. 

They walked through the forest in silence for some time, passing familiar landmarks until they reached a part of the forest that she had never been, the territory of the werewolves, the very place that she dreaded to come. Here the dense foliage prevented most of the sunlight from penetrating which left a permanent layer of mist and shadows on the ground accompanied by a chill that seemed to penetrate her very bones. She was shivering uncontrollably now and the sound of her chattering teeth was deafening in the eerie silence while her head pounded with each step. Her vision blurred and she fought to focus on the ground in front of her only vaguely aware of the presence of the alpha behind her and the wolves surrounding her. Just then a wolf howled from somewhere ahead and the alpha and his pack responded in kind, sparking a volley of howls that echoed throughout the forest. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and her breath caught in her throat as she concentrated on moving her feet forward one step at a time. She was shivering with cold on the outside but inside she felt a fire burning, eating her alive from the inside out. Sweat trickled down her back and face, mixing with the water from the river that hadn't yet dried, she tried swallowing but her mouth was dry and her throat was sore. Her body ached all over and her legs felt like lead as she forced herself to keep walking, dragging each foot forward, one in front of the other. She kept her eyes lowered and as she took each step, the ground seemed to gradually rise up until it smacked her right in her face and then everything turned black. 

Brief images and voices flashed through her mind, bright lights and being touched by unseen hands but mostly just darkness and a constant feeling of not being alone. At times, she tried opening her eyes but it just hurt too much so she closed them again and continued drifting along aimlessly in the darkness that somehow seemed strangely comforting. The conscious part of her mind hoped that being captured by werewolves had been just a dream even though those steely gray eyes haunted her in the darkness. She didn't know how much time had passed before she heard a voice calling her name, "Merlin.......Merlin....", over and over again. She felt herself being dragged from her comforting darkness and she opened her mouth to protest but could only manage to groan weakly.  She wanted to remain there in her safe cocoon but eventually her mind betrayed her and brought her back to reality but what that reality was, she had no idea. 

Her eyelids fluttered open and she blinked and grimaced at the light before blinking some more to adjust her vision which seemed to be out of focus and blurry. Gradually, she fully opened her eyes and everything swam into focus as her mind tried to comprehend what her eyes were showing her. Finally she registered a ceiling above her, painted a delicate, pastel green with walls of the same color. There were beautiful, lifelike paintings on the walls depicting some sort of battle between werewolves and humans from some long ago era and while she wanted to admire the artist's talent, her eyes hurt with the effort. The pain from her aching body brought her back to the reality of her current situation and the luxuriously soft bed she was laying in. The blankets were so warm and soft that she couldn't help snuggling further down under the covers as she closed her eyes and breathed in the clean, fresh scent. 

"You're finally awake", the deep, gruff voice of the Alpha instantly snapped her out of her comfortable cocoon as she turned her head to find his cold, gray eyes staring at her with undisguised hostility.