Sorry I didn't post last week! I had a Zoom retreat over the weekend. Hope you enjoy!

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We packed up camp and left quickly, eating a breakfast of dried fruit and nuts as we walked. Reese hadn’t said another word to me since our conversation, and the others were quiet as well. They probably overheard what he said to me.

About an hour before noon, we heard howls coming from behind us, southeast, and we quickened our pace. They sounded distant but not too far off. A bit after noon, we had lunch without stopping, but as the afternoon wore on, we were all tired. Fortunately, it wasn’t too hot because the trees offered shade, but we were thirsty and worn out. So we took a break, sat down, and had some water to refresh ourselves.

Brennan’s head swiveled up. “What was that?”

We all sat still, listening. The sound of cracking twigs reached our ears from the direction we had come from. Brennan and Reese stood slowly.

A wolf burst into the clearing, then another, snarling and ripping into the ground with their claws, speeding towards us.

All of the bucks stood and drew their weapons, and the ringing of swords being drawn filled the air. “Get the missy into a tree!” Reese yelled above the sound of the wolves.

Can’t wolves climb trees? The thought came quietly into the back of my head, but I had no time to ponder it. Kynan grabbed my arm and pulled me towards a tree, giving me a boost up. “Please hurry,” he said, glancing nervously over his shoulder. When I had a grip on the limbs, he rushed to join the others.

As I climbed past the lowest branch, the wolves met the defenders. I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t tear my eyes from my friends. I felt helpless in that tree, and I wanted to do something, anything, to even the odds and give us a chance.

My bow.

I had forgotten it, strapped to my back along with my quiver full of arrows. Almost without thinking, I unfastened it as well as my quiver and drew out a long, straight arrow, fitting it to the string, and aimed. Then I froze. I had never shot a moving target before, ever, and I was afraid of hitting one of the bucks on accident.

The fight wasn’t going well. Willem was on the ground, unmoving, and Steef and Brennan were nearby, desperately trying to hold off one attacker. Kynan was side by side with Reese, clashing with the second wolf, and a third appeared at the far side of the small clearing. They didn’t see it, and they wouldn’t see it in time. It would overwhelm them.

It was now or never.

I took a deep breath and pulled the string back to my cheek, trying to keep my other arm straight. The hand on the string was shaking. Stop, Cassie. This is not the time to lose it. I took aim at the wolf’s heart, planned for where it would be by the time my arrow reached it, and let go of the string.

The arrow just barely grazed the wolf’s cheek, enough to make it hiss in pain, but it didn’t do any serious damage. The wolf kept coming, now looking around for the source of the arrow, and it

saw me.

I held my breath as the beast changed course and headed straight for me. My head was spinning, and I couldn’t focus. Do it. Now, a voice in my head told me. I obeyed, reaching for another arrow and nocked it. I aimed for the wolf, now only a few yards away, passing the others. I released the arrow.

This time, it hit the wolf in the side of its chest, and it roared in anger. I suddenly realized that it would reach me before I could shoot again, and I scrambled to get higher. In my panic, I couldn’t seem to grip the branches, and I found myself slipping again and again. It was right there, so close as it leapt for the first branch, and then something hit it from behind.

I took a deep breath as Brennon and Reese attacked the wolf furiously, and I reached for one last arrow, hoping to help in the fight.

Reese saw me and cried out, “No! Don’t let her shoot!”

Kynan saw me and bolted over and into the tree, putting a hand out to stop me. “Miss Cassie, stop. Please don’t shoot!”

By that time it was over. The first two wolves were dead, and Brennan and Reese quickly dispatched of the last. Steef was bent over his brother, tending his wounds, and Kynan helped me down from the tree.

I glared at Reese. “Why didn’t you let me shoot?”

He glared back, more cross than before. “You’re not an archer.”

I grasped for words, surprise overtaking me along with anger. “What do you mean I’m not an archer? I can shoot, can’t I?”

“Not that well.” He turned away, wiping his blade on a fern as Brennan had already done.

“I hit the wolf.” I put my fists on my hips, determined not to give up the argument.

“After one try, and it wasn’t a fatal hit.” He started to walk away.

Stop, Cassie, the voice told me, but I didn’t listen. “I could have hit it! You should have let me.” I wasn’t quite sure why I was so determined to argue with this older buck, but I couldn’t seem to let it go.

He turned back, several feet away from me. “Just because you have a bow, and some fancy quiver with homemade arrows, doesn’t mean you’re an archer. You’re just a doe who likes to play archery, who’s never shot a wolf or bird before in her life, and you’re not an archer.”

For the second time that day, I stood still, hands clenched after an argument with Reese, and watched him walk away as if I was nothing. And I really wasn’t anything. He was right; I wasn’t an archer, or any kind of a soldier. There was nothing that I, as a doe, could do to avenge my family, and nowhere I could go to escape this feeling of helplessness.

My last thought as we walked out of the clearing, keeping up our watch for more wolves, was a question to which I had no answer. Is there any hope in this wretched world anymore?