Soon to be a Graphic Novel...

Echoing footsteps. The slapping of covered feet falling on the cold monotonous concrete of the city. It sickened her. Long gone were the days of forest trails and dirt roads. Those lay in the past. Inescapable and as old as time itself. She shook her head, trying in vain to dislodge memories that couldn't be hers. Impossibly old. Timeless, memories both familiar and not so. Memories of magic and creatures never before written into even a fantasy novel. She stumbled, having lost her concentration.

Again.

She pushed herself forwards, shoving any vestiges of strange memories to the deepest crevices of her mind. A place where they could be forgotten while she ran, the wind whipping her hair, causing it to slap against her skin, the pain biting deep and adding to her resolve. If she couldn't outrun her past then she could at least escape it for a time. She turned down a side alley, a path she had traversed many times and one in which she was so familiar it nearly brought a smile to her lips. Something about her destination called to her, pleaded with her to once more run the pathways of an ever-shrinking world. One day it would disappear, leaving her alone, broken and devoid. That day would see her to her grave, or someplace worse if it were not to be so. Thoughts chased themselves about her head, colliding with delicate barriers put in place to keep memories at bay. The line seemed to blur, for once combining a past not her own, with a life she could recognize, understand.

A laugh escaped her. Tonight she would taste freedom. Freedom that had long been denied her over the past years. At nineteen years old, she felt like an outcast whenever she found herself among others. Something about their presence didn't feel right, caused her to want to hide some secret that she herself didn't know.

She quickened her pace over the final stretch of concrete, seeing in the distance the first sign of trees. Stark, almost barren against the dark sky, the trees stood tall, foreboding to most people, but not to her. The dark confines of the forest felt more like home than any other place ever had. Something about the trees called out to her, comforted her like nothing else could.

The trees seemed to reach out. Their branches creaking and groaning in the wind as she neared them. Their shadows stretched towards her enveloping her in their dark embrace. She sighed. Her fears forgotten for the moment. Nothing but the trees. Only they were seen by her. Everything else faded to the edges of her consciousness. A deep peace surrounded her something only the trees could bring. She couldn't explain it, even had she wanted to. The trees just seemed to hold some kind of connection to her, one that she longed for throughout the day, and raced towards when the sun's last rays finally disappeared into the spreading shadow of night. The world enveloped by night's embrace. Silence and serenity enshrouding everything the darkness touched and calling many to the comforts of their beds.

Her footsteps slowly faded, whispering over the hard packed earth and wet leaves, unlike the loud echoing she made upon the concrete. A flash of lightning in the distance breaks serenity of the moment; thunder rumbling like a train wreck destroys the quiet of her favourite place. She stumbled, glancing behind herself. Her eyes hold a knowledge bellying her young appearance. In the depths of that knowledge lie the vestiges of fear. She is haunted. Haunted by a past not her own, or so she tells herself. Everything in her bearing, her demeanor holds the remembrances of a life before.

She once more resumes her running, trying in vain to outrun a past she can never forget. If not for the storm she would be blissfully unaware. Her eyes burn and she blinks rapidly trying to hold the tears at bay. She doesn't need this. She never needed this. Life was hard enough and unbearable without reminders of what awaited her when she finally left her quiet abode among the forests' branches. Even her past haunts her still. Stalks her.

Always there.

Always just beyond her line of sight.

A shadow passes behind her, unnoticed by her tortured mind. She stops, placing her ear buds in her ears and turning on her music. The heavy beat grounds her, calms her, provides her with the will to continue. To forget.

Green eyes watch from among the foliage. Their vibrancy blending perfectly with the bright autumn colours worn by the leaves surrounding him. His eyes hold a deep, resounding intelligence for one such as he. His eyes follow her down the trail. Understanding lighting a fire deep within them. His instincts cry out for him to hide from the storm, to weather its passing. He can't bring himself to do so. Crawling on his belly, using his fore and back legs to drag him silently along the path, he follows her. A twig snaps on the darkened path behind him.

Growling he turns and searches the dark with his nocturnal eyes. Nothing. Nothing behind him, nothing in front. He lets the sounds of the girls footsteps fade away as he investigates the path for any signs of other life. He finds the twig, broken cleanly in two. The culprit nowhere to be found. Hackles rise, flanks shiver. The temperature plummets in the immediate area around the twig. Frost quickly coats the leaves on the ground with ethereal patterns, forming stars and snowflakes. Shivering he backs away, sensing a great malice. The air seems tainted. He can taste it on his tongue, like rotten meat, it intrudes upon his senses, threatening to overwhelm. Snorting he takes off into the underbrush, instincts demanding he put distance between himself and the foul presence.

Behind a tree explodes, chilled too quickly by the ungodly frost. Splinters of wood fly through the air, embedding themselves in trees, undergrowth, and fur alike. Yelping he turns to peer behind himself, the frost appears to be rising from the ground like a great tidal wave of white death. Its fingers creeping towards him, chilling everything in his path, warping and twisting everything it touches. Facing forwards once more he breaks through the trees, searching for the fastest route to escape the encroaching mists.

She shivers, otherwise untouched by the cold. Her music pounding out a beat, one she maintains, running to the grounding tune. Her breathe goes in through her nose and out through her mouth. She starts, her breath at once fogging the air directly in front of herself.

"How strange," she mutters to herself. "It wasn't this cold a moment before..."

She shrugs it off as nerves. Nothing more than her desire to never return to the outside world. The one found beyond the trees. Her footsteps slow as she reaches a clearing, one in which a rock can be found at the centre, tall and magnificent in all its glory. The place she visits every night. The place where she stands upon her rock, or lies upon it, staring at the moon and stars. A sight denied her in the city, with its overpowering bright lights, and incessant traffic. Never ceasing in its noise. She longs for the embrace of the quiet that was before.

"Before what?" she asks herself.

Shaking her head, she climbs onto the rock staring at the cloudless night sky, the full moon suspended among the stars. A rustling in the leaves to her left, grabs her attention. She leans of her elbow trying to see into the black cover of the trees. Nothing. She sighs.

"I really need to loosen up a bit. Everything little noise is making me jump lately."

The rustling continues even as the wind ceases its dance among the branches and across the grass. Her hair falls still. Her heart beats faster; sweat beading on her brow as her gaze locks onto the ceaseless rustling of the branches.

A dark figure emerges, cloak seeming to be made of the very fog following in his wake. He comes towards her, eyes hidden in the confines of his cloak, hands lost within the folds.

"Who are you?" she demands, edging her way off the rock. "What are you doing? Stop!"

The figure ignores her, continuing his slow advance on her position.

For every step he takes towards her, she takes a step back. Her back connects with something unyielding. She risks a quick glance behind her and realizes her mistake. The other rock outcropping is at her back, preventing her from moving any farther in that direction. It occurs to her that this cloaked stranger may have intended this form the beginning. Her realization to late to help her, her only choice is to move towards the figure to get around the rock.

A shiver ripples down her back, unwelcome and involuntary. The gaping black of the hood is all that can be seen where the face should be. Hands reach towards, dead and grey, mottled with black, rotting pieces. The smell of rot and burning flesh assaults her nostrils as she tries to push herself further into the unyielding rock at her back. A whimper escapes her, one that at first she cannot place.

The figure descends upon her. Green, red, and yellow colour burst into the air, closely followed by a glint of silver and a nearly feral growl. Green eyes take in the scene unfolding in the clearing, eyes cold in their anger and hatred towards the cloaked figure, who ignores them. The shadowy figure dances around the new arrival and continues undaunted towards the terrified young woman.

His cloak snags, he gives a powerful tug. Shredding cloth accompanies his actions. He turns angry red eyes on his new foe. Let's out an ear-piercing screech, stunning the poor animal where it stands, flanks quivering. The wolf fights down his terror and leaps once more in front of the young girl, baring fangs at the cloaked figure. Taunting. Challenging.

"The little wolf seeks to protect you. How unfortunate," The cloaked figure rasps. "For the both of you, that is."

The cloaked man lunges, a flash of light ripples throughout the clearing. The man's blade sinking into the unprotected flesh of a forearm.

"Unfortunate is it?" A deep masculine voice asks. "Are you so certain?"

The dead, milky eyes of their assailant regard the deep green of the man before him. A man whose hair is the purest of blacks, darker than the night sky itself, seeming almost blue in its nature, crimson streaks hide within his hair. Crimson that brings back a twinge of memory, one she had long ago locked away.

"Who are you?" she demands.

"Now is not the time," he whispers. "Perhaps it never will be."

She regards him with narrowed eyes, brow furrowed.

"You don't think I have the right to know? You were a wolf! By the Gods, I'm losing my mind!"

He tears his eyes a way from the enemy for a moment to regard her curiously.

"You invoke the Gods?"

She returns his gaze looking confused, "I- Yes I did..."

He offers her a smile, "Maybe you haven't forgotten everything."

"Forgotten-?" she screams as the cloaked figure attacks them again.

The two men fall to the ground, struggling with one another. The one with the green eyes comes out on top, panting heavily. Struck by the cloaked figure he sprawls away into the undergrowth. A black wolf with a white muzzle crawls out of the undergrowth on the other side of the clearing. His lips peeled back, teeth bared, a deep growl resonating from deep within his belly, hackles rising. Her eyes widen in fear as she sees death within the depths of his amber eyes.

The second wolf leaps. Claws ready to tear his adversary to shreds. The blade of a knife glints in the moonlight. Blade nears fur-covered flank. Blade connects. A flash of light and a man stands before them again, sword in hand. The sword plunged into the cloaked figures unprotected chest, easily slicing through sinew and bone. The cloaked figure bursts into flames, ashes falling to the ground.

Behind him the girl falls to her knees, eyes wide and uncomprehending.

The twenty-some year old man regards her slowly, the moonlight touching his skin as it peeks out from behind a cloud. Black dust rises from his skin, as he disintegrates before her eyes, a look of sweet bliss masking his handsome features.

She shivers where she fell. Her mind reeling in shock as memories from another land, another world, assail her. She feels something wet upon her cheek. Reaching up she realizes it's from her tears. She's crying, and she doesn't know why.

"Did I know him?"

"I should say," comes the reply, marked by a groan and the rustling of leaves.

The younger man-wolf, she isn't really sure anymore, stumbles out of the trees, offering her a hand.

She regards him, looks at his hand, and doesn't take it.

He sighs, "Come on Tali, it's time you stopped blocking out the memories."

"Who are you?"

He looks stung by her innocent question, "No one important, I suppose...at least, not anymore."

"No, really, who are you?"

He looks thoughtful for a moment before offering, "A friend?....Again?"

She looks even more confused by his answer, causing him to immediately regret it.

"You know what? Forget it. Don't worry about it. I'm no one, not to you. Not anymore...and by the looks of it never again."

She watches him as he retrieves a black cloak she hadn't noticed before, intricate silver and green symbols cover its exterior, seeming to disappear as he places it around his shoulders.

He offers his hand to her again, "Come on, I'll walk you home."

"Walk me home?" she echoes. "After all this?"

He looks away from her, she barely catching his next words, "Why not? You'll just block it out like everything else."

"I beg your pardon!?"

"Did I say that out loud?" he mocks. "Would you like to remember?"

He traces a glowing glyph in the air, sending it flying towards her. Her hair flies back as it connects with her flesh. Her eyes widen, their colour changing to a vibrant indigo, her plain hair changing to a brilliant crimson.

He cringes visibly, "Sorry...I didn't mean to rip your wards apart..."

Her eyes cloud over as images tear through her mind. Memories long forgotten falling into place. She beholds him in a new light.

"James?" she whispers.

He nearly trips over a root in his excitement.

"You remember me?"

"How could I not? I can't believe I ever forgot you..."

She finally takes his hand; a ripping sound accompanies her action.

"What do you say to going home?"

"Lead the way," she whispers.

They fade away through the portal, a ghostly figure appearing behind them.

His voice is deep and husky with emotion, "A beautiful reunion to be sure...I, the Saviour forgotten...by my own friend's daughter...Left to be Forgotten and Alone."