Melusine was a little dizzy as she came to a stop in the Niahi Woods. Here seemed like as good a place as any to take a break. She sank to the ground, her feet throbbing as though they would never stop. She hurt so much that she was now sucking air in through her teeth.
Deep breath in, deep breath out, she thought. It was hard going anywhere now that Xelus was gone, but she had to, regardless. What if the same hunters that shot him found her? She knew she should find another deer, too, or at least a horse, but it would be difficult. She had raised the orphaned Xelus from a fawn and so by the time he was old enough to be ridden, he had trusted her implicitly.
And now he was gone, all because of some stupid hunters who weren't paying attention to the fact that she had been riding Xelus when they shot him. She didn't know what she was going to do. Eventually, she'd have to leave this cozy spot and go...somewhere. But where was she going to go? The humans had burned her village, so she couldn't go there. That was why she'd been fleeing when the hunters shot Xelus in the first place.
Crawling on her knees, Melusine went over to a nearby bush and picked some red berries from it. The juice stained her face, hands, and teeth as she ate, but she didn't care. She supposed there was very little she cared about anymore. Drinking some water from a skin she'd packed, she wiped her hands on her white tunic and brushed her curly red hair out of her face. She wanted to see where she'd stopped a little more clearly. She was totally unaware that someone else was watching her, too.
