Beating (Book 1: Acts of the Hearth)

Chapter 22

The silver-backed beast passes by the trees that hide Vivian and Damen. The young woman continues her tracking of the Wargs as she stands atop the tree's branches.

     She looks further off into the distance and notices the movement of a few branches. Without hesitation, Vivian hops from tree branch to tree branch towards the direction of the moving ones.

     Out of the corner of her eyes, another of the Wargs jumps from a branch and tackles her mid-air. Vivian shields herself for impact as the two fall. The young woman rolls to the ground below. The Warg lands safely on its feet and retreats back into the trees.

     Above, Damen waits for the beast to make its escape. When the fanged beast reaches the height of the branches, Damen sets out a bit of dried meat that he remoistens with water from his flask.

     The young Seer hides himself opposite of the bait. The Warg sniffs around as it hops along the branches. It soon finds the bait and begins eating away.

     Damen flings himself around from the width of the tree's trunk and kicks it off of the branches to the ground below. The beast lets out a high pitched bark as it falls.

     Vivian wraps her arms around the belly of the beast and picks it up. The Warg flails its head around trying to escape. “I see now. This is all a game to you beasties, isn’t it?” Vivian states, refusing to let go of the beast.

     “Well? My arms are right here. Bite me and break free already.” the Warg stops flailing around and turns its head back at her. Their eyes meet for a long moment. While holding the creature in her arms, she gives it a belly rub as it starts to pant.

     “Who’s a good girl? Who’s a good girl?! You just wanted someone to play with you didn’t you?” Vivian speaks playfully. Damen climbs unskillfully down the tree. “What are you doing to that thing?! Hurry up and kill it!”

     Vivian ceases the belly rubs and glares at Damen. “Would you relax? Can’t you see that it’s harmless? It could bite down on me at any point. But, look at her!” the young woman says turning the beast to Damen and waving its front right paw with her own right hand.

     “Okay, so that one is harmless. What about the ones that dragged Travis away?” Damen ask while keeping a close eye on the Warg. “Hmm, I think I know what these guys were doing.” Vivian remarks and then drops the Warg to the ground. The beast lands on its feet and turns around. It walks up to Vivian and wags its tail; vibrating the lower half of its body with the wagging.

     “Okay girl, lead the way to our friend!” Vivian commands the Warg as she pats its head. The beast lets out a long howl while turning its head to the skies above.

     The branches of the trees rustle as the howl lingers in the air. The two are suddenly surrounded by a small pack of Wargs of varying sizes.

In the den of friendly beast…

 

     On the edges of the woods a group of Warg pups huddle around Travis who is resting in a large tree's nook atop mossy soil. The small Wargs are fluff covered with underdeveloped eye colors.

     One of the pups jump onto the young man’s stomach. He snores a bit and seem to not be bothered by the pup on top of him. It soon grows sleepy and makes its bed on top of Travis’s stomach. Travis raises his hand as the other pups grow weary and growl, keeping their distance.

     The young man lays his hand on the mid section of the tiny beast as he continues to sleep. The other pups immediately become interested in him. A larger Warg with a horizontal scars under its eyes enters the cave and walks pass the pups. The tiny beasts all walk along with the larger Warg.