Chapter 1: The Unknown Village

Hunnie Inzotta

"I...just.... need...to ...get...across!" I yelled against the heavy winds.

I’ve been walking with my eyes shut for a few miles now, taking peeks here and there.

Struggling to make it through the small desert, shielding my face from painful sand shards that was cutting my cheeks and eyelids abruptly.

A brightly lit forest with signs plastered on a short tree stump was just across the way. I spotted it a mile down and knew my destination was just up ahead.

I have to get over the border so I could leave this forsaken country! This little village is my last stop until the mountains to open the portal at the highest peek.

The other witches in the first village explained this to me. They also said beware, “The Demon King” had a kingdom nearby and he wasn’t to fond of witches….

I got stuck in an unknown country when my coven sent me on a mission, turning me to a wolf, but never telling me how to get back….

They didn't even come looking for me!

Well, I guess that because I never ascended into their coven. So, I wasn't really in their coven.

They used me, again.

"Hunnie we have a mission for you.

We need you to live amongst a hidden wolf pack deep in these jungles and find out how they have been thriving all these years without the councils help."

A council member named Agatha, had approached me while I was leaving my nursing job.

I was so excited to help out my state's coven, I said yes immediately. Not even asking any questions. I felt they really needed me this time around.

Little did I know....

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When I finally made it to the border of the forest that separated the sand from the woodsy dirt, I plopped to the ground.

Shaking the sand from my curly locks and dusting off my clothing.

I leaned over to cough up, while reaching inside of my dirty, torn shirt and grabbed the inside of my bra to wipe the sand off my eyes. It was maybe the cleanest part of my whole shabby wardrobe that I could trust to put to my face.

I blinked a few times, gazing at the grass underneath me. Looking around, I was really hoping to find a pond or river near by.

I desperately needed to get cleaned. I can still feel sand in my eyes when I blinked.

The signs plastered on the tree trunk read, "NO WITCHES!" My bladder squeezed, but I continued on.

I walked through the woods and followed my newly scented nose into the direction where smoke was coming from.

The sun was high and I was starting to sweat. I could finally see my skin color between the creases of my knuckles and inside my elbows.

Following a salty scent, I passed a small opening of an ocean shore and rinsed my hands, face and feet.

The water was so salty, it tasted great against my lips and hands, but I knew I couldn't drink it because it would only make me more dehydrated.

My body was exhausted and I was starving tremendously. The last village I left was so snobby, they wouldn't even share any food with the homeless.

Not like the first jungle I was stuck in for 5 months. After I left there, it's been hell trying to survive.

I dragged my restless feet through the leafy, brown dirt and started to see smoke lining the trees  up ahead.

My stomach growled and my mouth watered. The smell was enticing, it made me nauseous.

As I got closer, I could see a small village guarded by a stick wall and a few raggedy looking soldiers holding shotguns by the entrance.

They all looked very nervous and it made me extremely worried to enter in, but I found my face smiling and my legs pulling me towards the bald-headed guard.

"State your name and reason here. Are you a witch?”

He barked at me and aimed his shotgun my way.

My body trembled and I held my hands up high on impulse.

"H-Hunnie..In—In-Inzotta. N-No I’m n-not" I stammered out holding back tears.

I was petrified that he was going to shoot me. I knew I didn't look like everyone else and what happens if they detected me as a witch?

"I'm passing. I need a place to…to rest." I said with my lips quivering, letting the tears flow down.

The man lowered his weapon and nodded his head towards the entrance of the village. I wiped my tears and bowed my head at him.

Immediately another guard came over and stamped my palm with a red ink that held a weird symbol on it.

I passed through the entrance, examining the symbol and the many eyes that watched me entering.

Returning the stares, my eyes took in all the little shacks in the distance that were lined up on each side of a dirt road.

I smiled seeing shops, houses, bakery's, and even a school. They seemed to have people of all sorts of statuses roaming through the village here.

"This might be a good stay" I said to myself.

My nose brought me to an open fire that was roasting several pigs, with small children playing around and their mothers sitting on logs, eating.

Again, there was a few dusty signs plastered on some of the logs next to the children.

"No witches!" It read.

The smile on my face disappears again and I lower my head and walk over to the fire pit. I already had a cloaking spell to cloak the scent of my magic, but I was still feeling weary that they actually had to put warning signs up.

I sat next to one of the mothers with her kids and she nudged me to go fetch a plate of food. I was feeling so generous, more so, because she spoke English.

I was definitely an outcast here and tried my hardest to pick up whatever language it was that I came across, but it kept changing over the time of my travels.

I humbly took the wooden tray filled with pork meat and a scoop of white rice, from one of the men serving. He scanned over my facial features and body, before smiling widely at me and adding two more scoops of pork meat and rice to my tray.

I bowed two times to show my gratification and walked back in the direction of the woods, following others with food walking out the exit.

Everyone else walked the opposite way. Not even one person followed me this way towards the small ocean shore.

Hiking over there with my plate of food, I sat on a huge boulder and ate slowly. Slowly enough so I could hear anyone come up from behind me.

My senses were a tad bit enhanced, but not enough and I couldn't quite work my wolf nose just yet.

After eating, I stripped out of my clothes, seeing that the coast was clear and jumped into the ocean. It felt so cold and refreshing, making my anxious body numb.

I’ve been on edge since entering the village, but finally feel at peace.

Floating on my back, I let my skin embrace the warmth from the sunset. It was almost night time and I wanted to play around in my wolf form.

It seemed pretty safe over here, so I shifted right inside the ocean. It was still extremely painful for me, but the numbness made me endure the pain.

I hurriedly picked up my traveling bag and clothes with my mouth and buried it in a small hole near the boulder.

Running into the woods, I sniffed along the ground with every step I took. Exploring my senses and playing with the dung beetles that came my way.

I rolled around on every texture I could find so I could train my body to smell and react to the certain textures of nature.

One thing I found out, was that my nose didn't like the smell of rotting trees!

I loved being a wolf!

I would have never known this is how it would feel.

Free and mighty.

Well, not so mighty. I'm literally just a wolf. There isn't a wolf that talks back to me in my head, like any other natural werewolf. It's just me walking around on tiny shoes that can't fit!

I was born a witch.

For the past 23 years of my life I've always been a pretty efficient light witch, but for this mission my coven forced me to turn to a wolf.

Like I said before, I don't cry about the betrayal from the coven anymore, I'll only cry if another wolf finds out about me and harms me, especially since I don't know how to fight back, let alone howl….

Through my adventures here in the forest, I thought I smelt a sweet burning smell, but I shook it off and continued chasing after the giant moths in the air.

Amazing creatures these were!

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