A gate. One of those damned magical gates. Rowan had never been very comfortable with magic and this was why! Terrible, horrible, awful things happened went magic went haywire. Her foot scuffed the ground, kicking up dust and dislodging a small shard of rock. An unsettling wind came from behind her, picking up the disturbed particles and dancing away with them off into the night.
Dark of both skin and hair, even a woman of her height and sturdy build was hard pressed to be seen in the stifling darkness of deep night. Where she was, she had no idea. Certainly not where she had intended to end up! It was midday in Stormhaven and on one of their rare sunny days…all she did was follow Aeiren through one of those tall glowing circles like they’d done countless times before. But he wasn’t here with her. Something had gone wrong – terribly, horribly, awfully wrong and now she was stranded in the dark, in the middle of only the gods knew where, alone!
“Damn et! By the Saints… –There’s no’ even ah bloody gate teh walk back into! Bugger et all!” She vented vehemently to the general area as she stomped back to where she thought the gate should have been. Letting out a growl of frustration, she turned sharply on her heel straight into a vicious set of gleaming teeth and golden eyes. The snarling mass drove directly into her chest, knocking her back. Just as her head cracked against the ground, a searing pain tore through her left side. Rowan struggled wildly and tried to focus. Now there where two, no, three of these things attacking her! She swung out with everything she could muster. She kicked and twisted and was rewarded with a solid thump against something furry and a grunt. Then, clawing at the ground, she managed to scramble forward a pace before the most nightmarish howl filled the air around her and fire shot down her left shoulder, connecting with the gaping wound on her ribs. She finally let out an anguished scream as a weight descended over her back. Hot washes of foul smelling breath engulfed her neck and face.. The world pitched forward.
The weight was gone. Everything was spinning. She was being pulled in every direction yet compressed into the tiniest ball at the same time. The pain was there and then gone, pulsing maddeningly, teasing with relief then consuming her entire being. Was this death? Oh, she hoped not… her stomach churned with dread. All at once everything stopped and she lay still face down, though on something cool.. and she could smell.. the sea? She groaned and clutched her side, the white hot agony now constant and very much there.
Something was on the ground in front of her.. a growl sounded as it stirred. She struggled to get her head to move when suddenly, “WITCH!”, practically a bark though very much a word of the common tongue. Her chin snapped up to find a very large, furious looking wolf with gleaming teeth and golden eyes glaring at her accusingly.
