I opened my eyes. The sun was blinding, it hurt my retina. I groaned and closed it again. I felt drained. My throat burned even worse than the day before. I tentatively raised my eyelids again. The air escaped from my lungs with a loud hiss and I shielded my face with my hands.
Why did it hurt so much? I couldn't remember ever being so sensitive to light.
Squinted my eyes in narrow slits, I got to my feet. It took me a moment to remember why I was lying on the wet forest floor. The numbness from last night had completely disappeared and the pain hit me with its full severity. I slumped back down and let the tears flow. So I sat there for a while and wept silently to myself.
"Where is the brat now?"
I jerked my head up and was fully back. Loud shouts reached me from afar. Obviously I hadn't run as far as I thought yesterday after all.
I jumped up and looked around searching. A few meters to my right I saw a large hole under the mighty roots of an old tree. It was almost completely overgrown and it was only thanks to my excellent eyes that I had discovered it at all. I ran up quickly and looked inside. It was just big enough for me. I collected some more leaves and a few twigs, crawled into the cavity and covered the opening with the collected branches. I could still see a small part of the forest through a gap between the undergrowth.
Two men appeared in my field of vision. They looked around searching. I shifted my weight a little and one of the branches below me broke in two with a loud crack. One of the men jerked in my direction and came dangerously close to my hiding place. I carefully pushed myself deeper into the dark opening.
"What is?"
The other looked questioningly at his companion.
“I thought I heard something.” Shrugging, he turned back around. "Was probably just an animal."
They disappeared again into the thick forest. I stayed in my hiding place for a moment before carefully crawling out again.
That was close!
I had to get out of here as quickly as possible. I ran quickly into the forest.

I heard a thud. And indeed! As I stepped out of the undergrowth I saw a small furry animal. His large, protruding ears twitched. With the small black eyes it searched the surroundings in panic while it tried to free itself from the trap. I ran over, picked up the makeshift cage, and quickly grabbed my prey by the neck. I killed it with a wave of the hand.
Even now, after having had to look after myself for three whole months, my soul still hurt a little. I remembered well the times when I just watched the cute little forest dwellers and now I had to hunt them down.But I was also aware that there was no other way to survive. Since the incident with Elena, I have barely been able to keep a meal. I didn't know what was wrong with me, but it scared the hell out of me. The food was getting heavier and heavier from day to day and the terrible burning sensation in my throat hadn't gone away since then. It just got worse and worse! Something about me was changing.
I tied my prey to my belt and went back to the little hut that I had discovered in the forest after the people of the city had stopped hunting me. It was already pretty shabby and was a good day's walk from my former home. I had snuck back to Elena's house and got some things. I also buried my foster mother's body. The others just left Elena. They were probably afraid of touching a demon's victim.
Again a wave of pain hit me. I quickly shook off the thought of my foster mother. I didn't want to sink into my depression again. I walked quickly towards the stairs that led to the wooden door. There I sat down and started processing my booty into my dinner. I put the knife on and made the first cut. As soon as some of the red blood ran down the blade, I paused for a moment.
As if spellbound, I followed the liquid as it ran down my wrist and finally dripped onto the stony ground. The burning in my throat grew stronger. I couldn't take my eyes off it.
Suddenly I heard a strange noise from the forest. I reluctantly tore myself away from the sight and noticed casually that the sting was subsiding a little. I heard it again. It sounded like the whimper of an injured animal. I put my prey on the wooden stairs and got up.
The sound came from close by. I ran a few meters into the forest and was fighting my way through a bush when I discovered a huge gray-brown mountain of fur. I now stepped completely out of the bushes and inspected this 'something' more closely.
It was a wolf! A giant wolf, to be more precise!
I held my breath and stood frozen. The animal didn't move. I crept very carefully all the way around the wolf and saw several arrows sticking out of its chest. He was dead. It couldn't have been that long since the hunters caught him.
The whimpering again.
Confused, I looked around more closely and discovered a smaller pile of fur huddled behind the large paw of the dead wolf. I went closer and saw a silver-gray puppy looking at me with big, frightened eyes. Standing upright, he would have to be about under my knee, but you could tell from his proportions that he was maybe just ten to twelve weeks old.I had already picked up an injured puppy in the forest and pepped it up again, so I was able to roughly estimate. Unfortunately we didn't have enough food for ourselves and that is why Elena had to find a new owner for the dog when he was healthy again. The little wolf unnaturally spread one of its hind legs away from itself. He must have broken his leg.
I knelt and carefully held out my hand. Frightened, the puppy flinched and then stared at me with wide eyes.
"Hey, I'm not hurting you. I look like the ones who killed your mother, but I have nothing in common with them," I said gently to him.
I knew he didn't understand, but maybe the sound of my voice calmed him down. The little one perked up his ears and listened intently. Then he stretched his muzzle towards me very slowly and carefully sniffed my fingers.
I could hardly believe that such an innocent-looking baby animal should one day become a man-eating beast. Once more I looked at the dead she-wolf lying there in the mud.
I had heard of some teenagers taking a test of courage to hunt these animals. Those idiots, when I came to my mind, were responsible for a considerable proportion of the victims. I could well imagine how the she-wolf must have tried desperately to protect her cub. Compassion rose in me. It just occurred to me for the first time that the people might have conjured up the attacks. The wolves may have perceived the armed hunters who roamed the forest almost every day in search of game as a threat and attacked because of it. One thing led to another and it became an eternal back and forth.
I slowly raised my hand and lightly scratched the ear of the puppy, who had calmed down in the meantime. He winced briefly, but then relaxed again when he noticed how pleasant the puckering was. I moved a little closer, grabbed the ball of fur, and picked it up.
Oh man, that was difficult. The little one began to tremble slightly again and fidgeted a little. Then there was a short yowl as he carelessly moved his injured leg, but at least now he kept still. I took him to the hut and dropped him off there. I ran in briefly and got herbs and bandages.
When I had straightened my leg and put on a splint, I made a broth of pain relieving herbs, mixed with some chopped meat, and gave it to him. At first he was a little suspicious, but after discovering the first lump of meat, he devoured the whole thing greedily. In the meantime I had prepared a halfway delicious dinner from the remaining meat, a few mushrooms and a few berries.
As soon as the herbs began to work, the puppy tried to get up, which was not easy for him to do because of the rail."What are you doing? Stay there!" I couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.
It just looked too funny how he tried to move with the thick splint on his leg.
"Wait another three or four weeks and you can romp around again. But until then, please stay in bed!" I admonished him and gently pushed him back into a lying position.
That could still be something. How could you make a little puppy realize that he had to take it easy? He couldn't understand that although his pain was almost gone, he was still hurt.
Sighing, I got up and went into the hut. There I gathered up some blankets and brought them to my sleeping place. Not far from there I prepared a comfortable bed for the wolf and then went back outside.
The kid looked at me when I came out and started wagging his tail. I had to laugh at the sight. Man, how long has it been since the last time I laughed like that? I didn't want to think about it. After I had carried the puppy in and put it in its bed, I also got ready to sleep.
Suddenly I felt sick and ran outside. Hunched over a small bush, I vomited dinner again. Tears welled up in my eyes as the stomach acid made the stinging in my throat even worse. After recovering a little, I turned back in the direction of the hut and quickly ran inside. I poured myself a mug of water and knocked it down in one gulp. The sting got a little better and I sat down at the table.
What was the matter with me?
A loud yowl and whine made me startle. I went back to my sleeping place and sat down next to the puppy. I stroked it for a while, lost in thought, and then lay down. But I was still a long way from falling asleep.