4. Wolf

It was a bit far, but around 12 meters away there was a wolf. It had a light gray pelt and dark brown eyes. It wasn't moving, probably because I was staring in it's direction. However that would only buy me a bit of time to think.

'Should I run? No, I can't outrun a wolf. Even if I did, it would be easy for it to find me again. Does it have a pack nearby? No, wolves usually howl before hunting. Even then they wouldn't be alone. There doesn't seem to be any others around. I have my bone knives. But can I even win a close range fight? I'm only a child...'

As my thoughts ran through my head, the wolf seemed to noticed I knew it was there. It stopped hiding and started running towards me. I had little to no time to think now. A direct confrontation would be bad for me. So I ran behind a nearby tree. I dropped my bowl as I grabbed two of the four bone daggers I had.

I listened intently as the wolf neared. It slowed to a crawl, seemingly wary of me.

As the wolf's head was about to peaked around the corner I stabbed forward. My preventive strike was aimed towards it eye. As It peaked around my bone knife grazed one of it's eyes, and left a small cut on the side of the same eye.

It snarled and backed up. It looked at me intently with a low growl. One of it's eyes were closed.

'At least I still managed to get one eye blinded.'

The wolf started to circle around me. I made sure to continuously block it's view of me using the tree. As I was doing this I suddenly noticed it changed directions. Before I could cut off it's path, it leaped at me. I swung my bone knife but that did little to the wolf.

It tried to get ahold of my neck, but I used my arm as a sacrifice. As it bit down on my arm I couldn't help my scream in pain. I tried to stab it on the throat but it quickly backed off. Before I could do anything it grabbed my other arm and yanked me to the side. I ended up on my side and it pushed me down onto my stomach.

I knew I was in a bad situation. If it managed to get my neck I was dead. So, I willed the winter Sprites to form spikes of ice. The snow around me parted as clear spikes of ice surged from the ground. They pierced into the wolf from every direction. I heard it's high pitched yelp.

I felt it let go of my arm and I quickly used my elbows to drag myself away from it. Before I could get far I felt a surge of pain hit my mind. I groaned in pain as I started having trouble breathing. I could barely take note of the pain coming from my arms. I felt dizzy and my vision was blurry.

But I knew if I passed out I would be dead. The wolf couldn't kill me, but other animals certainly would. With that in mind I took a couple minutes to breathe. My head felt like it was pounding against my skull. I felt tears pool in my eyes. I felt weak and the fact that I felt so helpless made everything worse.

Even then, I slowly stood up. The wolf was dead.

Spikes of ice pierced it's stomach, throat, eye, and it looked similar to a pincushion.

'My arms aren't broken at least. This pain is certainly going to be hard to deal with though. My vision isn't as bad but still blurry. My body feels like a sandbag, and my legs barely feel like their there.'

It was hard to stand. The fight was rather brief, but despite that I nearly died. I knew if I had utalized my abilities from the start I could've avoided this. But there wasn't time for self reflection now.

I slowly walked over to the wolf. When I arrived in front of it I simply stared. I tried to lift my arms, but I was met with a burning pain. I bit my lip.

'Do I have to leave it here? I can't stay here long. My arms are too injuried to use. There's no way for me to bring this back. I can't take anything. If I don't take anything though, all my efforts will be in vain.'

After a bit of thinking my shoulders slumped. I turned away and started walking back. Staying would only put me in more danger.

'I need to go back and rest. It's possible for me to get an infection. Perhaps I can find some medical herbs or something tomorrow. But when I wake up I'll be hungry and exhausted. I can get more of the berries but I can't collect them. Wait I forgot my bowl... I can come back for it later. My knives and other things are gone too.

I'm not sure when I'll be able to use my arms again. I can probably use my powers when I wake up to encase them. I can use my hands still so that's something. This cold weather will slow my blood flow as well. That's a good and bad thing, but at least blood lost isn't to much of a problem.'

Eventually I made my way back to my little home. I looked behind me and saw my blood trail was cut off. It was possible for something to find me still though. I was to tired to think about that. I simply went down the hole feet first. After a little I managed to make my way inside.

I just laid on my back. I stared up at the hardened dirt above me.

"Who would've thought staring up at dirt would be so comforting."

My voice and was low. I closed my eyes, and within the minute I was sound asleep.