A Little Detour

I made my way back through the forest, passing the magical well and the small drop off right before you get to Camelot. As I was passing the small drop off where I had thrown a stick while chasing Edgar, I heard a movement. Looking over I saw nothing but bushes and trees.

"Maybe it's just a squirrel." I said to myself, and turned to walk back towards Camelot. Yet, my curiosity pulled me towards that small drop off. I turned back and heard another sound that sounded like a twig snapping in half. I wondered if I should be frightened by this, but everything just seems so new and exciting that fear was no where in my mind.

Setting the basket down on the side of the path, I slid down the side of the road which was angled pretty steep, but not so steep that I had to worry about falling. Once back on my feet, I glimpsed around, still only seeing shrubbery. So, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, using all of my focus to listen to my surroundings. I heard sounds of bugs calling to each other, the wind blowing leaves, and what seemed to be some kind of stream far off, but nothing like what I had heard before. I tried to concentrate even harder, but no odd sounds struck my ear. Yet, I felt I should go towards the trees on my right. So, of course, I did.

The grass felt nice against my feet, since I woke up with tennis shoes I had to go barefoot. "Such shoes will not exist for hundreds of years!" Edgar had cried when I asked him about them. Walking past a pair of entangled trees, I heard another sound directly to my right. There was a pretty big bush of berries, so surely whatever I was hearing was hiding in there. I knelt down and pressed my hand into the bush, "Hello?" I saw a small brown bunny shaking like it had just ran miles. "You poor thing!" I said, and right as I said it I heard a noise directly behind me.

Moving slowly, I backed a little from the bush and turned to see a decently sized wolf, bearing its teeth and the hair on its back raised as it snarled in my direction. I may not have been scared before, but I sure was now. It began to move its weight to its back feet, a stance they take right before they leap and rip your throat out.

Suddenly, a voice called out from above me, "Watch out!" In a matter of what felt like minutes, but was less than a second, the wolf pounced, an arrow shot through the air, and a dead animal landed on top of me. I let out a scream and saw the small bunny race off to safety as I landed in the bush.

I pushed the animal off of me, its blood covering my hands as I did so. It looked wild, even in death. One of it's ears was missing a good size piece like it had been bitten off, blood was dripping out of its mouth, and its eyes were still open and deranged looking.

"Are you all right?" A soft voice next to me said. I turned and saw a young man jump out of a tree. His hair shined like gold in the sunlight and his eyes a blue like the sky looks right after it rains. He came over swiftly and gracefully, putting his bow up and stooping down to look at me."He didn't get you, did he?"

I shook my head, unable to speak to this strange hero.

"Oh good." He reached out a hand and helped me up, getting some of the wolf's blood on his own hand. "I don't think I've ever seen you before, are you new around here?"

I gave a nod, and took a deep breath. "Thank you for saving me, I'm sorry I got blood on you."

He just gave me a kind of half-smile, "It does look like i've caught you red handed!" he laughed at his own joke and I just stared at him, not quite sure of his humor, or what he meant by that remark. His eyebrows furrowed a little, "Well that's different, everyone loves my jokes." He shook his head, "Anyway, my name is Aurelius, what's yours?"

I stared at him, not saying a word. This was the king? I almost wanted to yell and run away screaming. What was I supposed to say? I'm Fia and I was only wanting to sneak into your castle to see my alien brother? I shook my heard. "Fia..." I said quietly. "My name is Fia."