Cascade Wildheart's Arc

Chapter 2 of 7

Cascade half-carried the woman through the wet trees. The hunter's leg dragged, and her weight pulled hard on Cascade's shoulder. Every few steps the woman gasped and clutched at Cascade's aqua hair. Cascade needed shelter, and she needed it fast. But she did not know these deeper woods, and the light was fading. A shadow crossed the ground. Thalia dropped from the sky and landed ahead of them, golden feathers catching the last sun. The old griffon had followed from above, watching, the way she always did. Her deep blue eyes fixed on Cascade. "There is stone shelter close," Thalia said, her voice low and rough. "Follow my shadow." She lifted again and flew slow, just above the trees. Cascade trusted that shadow the way she had trusted the griffon's word about the hunter. She followed. Thalia led them to an old shed built of river stones. Its roof still held. Cascade pushed the door and dragged the woman inside. A broken chair leaned against a worn table. An old fireplace stood cold in the corner. Cascade eased the hunter onto the floor and pressed a hand to the wound. Deep, but clean. The woman would live. Then Cascade heard a soft paw at the door. The white fox stood in the doorway. His fur shimmered like wet cloud, and his blue eyes went straight to the human. Cascade's stomach dropped. This was the moment she had feared. Her friend, seeing her bent over a hunter, tending the very kind of hands that set traps for creatures like him. "Wait," Cascade said in soft clicks. "She is hurt. She will not harm you." The fox did not run. He crept forward, sniffed the woman's boot, then her bleeding leg. His ears flicked. He looked up at Cascade, and there was no anger in him. Only a question. Thalia's head filled the doorway behind him. "He smells fear on her, not cruelty," the griffon said. "Animals know. He will not judge you for kindness." Cascade let out the breath she had held. The fox settled beside the hunter and rested his chin on his paws, guarding, as he had guarded before. Cascade almost laughed. She had dreaded losing her friends over this woman. Instead the fox chose to stay. Cascade tore cloth from the woman's cloak and bound the wound tight. The hunter watched her with wide, tired eyes. "Why help me?" the woman whispered. "Because you needed it," Cascade said. She did not look away this time. The woman's eyes closed. Her breathing slowed into sleep. Cascade sat back against the cold stone. Her secret was out, her friend had not turned from her, and a human slept safe under her care for the first time in her life. But the wound would fester without clean water. Cascade knew of one stream, hidden and pure. And to reach it, she would have to leave the sleeping hunter alone.