Hunted By Shadows

The woman clad in darkness leads the way. They lope along, soft paws making almost no sounds as the women make their way toward where the deer are. As they move, Fern keeps testing the air, looking for the smell of the prey they want on the breeze. The obsidian wolf finds the scent first and the course is altered, Fern slowing when the other wolf’s pace does the same. They move through the greenly, as silent as death’s shadow. The gray girl stays slightly behind her hunting companion only coming up beside the woman when she is motioned to do so.

Ears turn forward, capturing the whispered words the dark wolf says, nodding in agreement to the plan and the taking of only one deer. Before the wolf can move away, Fern’s soft voice says, “Be careful.” It has become almost a superstition of the gray girl’s, the need to remind others to remain cautious helping to relieve some of Fern’s own anxiety. A nod is given and the wolf made of darkness and gilded stripes moves away, her passage not even rustling the foliage. The gray wolf hunkers down and peers to the area that had been pointed out, waiting in tense silence for the citrine and pumpkin gaze of her companion to appear.

Soon enough, she is there and ocean eyes meet the woman’s fiery gaze both sharing a nod. They move in sync, bursting onto the scene to startle the three deer. Fern works to get one separated and keep their target from retreating the wrong way while allowing her companion to get the course of the deer set.


"Fern Lark"