The wind blew trying to push her off her tight rope. Granted this wasn’t a tight rope in front of an audience but plunged across a ravine. She had come across this ravine but to make traveling faster she knew she had to cross the ravine as quickly as possible. Her journey would take an additional two weeks if she didn’t take find a way across.
Remembering the concentration she had used to fire her bow with the rope on it in order to cross this thin line with the wind trying to push her off. As she had raised her bow she became one with it. She disappeared as one individual person and became a piece of everything around her. No longer had the wind touched her, the cold didn’t make her shiver, the wound in her shoulder didn’t hurt, she was just there aiming her bow across the ravine to the other side where she saw a crevice to shoot into.
She fired the bow and it was like magic the way the arrow crossed the ravine dragging the rope in a flowing way. The arrow struck just inside the crevice and the ropes loop she had tied at the end flowed onto the rock just below. Once the rope lassoed the rock she pulled gently to make sure it was firm. Tightening the rope and giving a sharp tug made the rope taught. She tied the end in her hands around a tree.
Hearing howls in the distance had gotten her to start faster. She knew what was looking for her and didn’t intend to be found crossing a rope. Hence the position she was in now. The wind howled almost deafening her ears. Now snow was starting to come down to make it colder then it would have been in the woods. Arms outright she inched another step forward. Slowly she was making her way across. Breathing was becoming difficult because she really didn’t like heights and this was a good 400 feet up in the air.
Feeling the rope swaying underfoot didn’t really help the situation. This was becoming more dangerous then she had first thought. Her stomach started cramping from holding herself still. She knew she had to make it. Another inch moved was another inch toward the freedom she dreamed of. The rope was started to become a little more lax. She had to hurry.
Another step further is another step closer. Almost to the other side she took a deep breath. Stepping quickly she leaped off the rope. Falling to her knees she realized she had been holding her breath and exhaled deeply. Taking in the cold air that almost froze her lungs was one of the best breaths of her life.
Howling in the distance brought her back to reality. No more kissing the ground. She turned and loosed another arrow which sliced the rope from the tree. She rolled up what she had left of her rope and started to jog into the trees. As she got a couple of meters in she ducked in behind a tree to hide. She decided to take a small peek around the tree to see the other side of the cliff. Awaiting the other side of the ravine was what she feared. A large dark wolf was padding back and forth looking into the ravine. Looking sideways at the arrow in the tree and the piece of rope that was still looped around the tree it growled deeply enough to be heard on the other side.
Narrowing its eyes it trotted back into the trees. It started to run and got to full speed in very short time. Right before it got to the edge of the cliff it launched itself from its hind legs. The muscles in its body could be seen rippling. Just a few feet from the other side of the cliff she stood up from behind the tree raising her bow.
“I do not want to go back,” she hissed as she release the arrow she had knocked. The dark wolf only looked at her as the arrow took it through the throat. It fell and without another glance back she walked away.
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