* **
The night has settled in and just as I was predicting, the snowfall comes. The travel was alright for a while but of course, once the night falls everything bad usually comes with it because of winter. It's a near travel so the soldiers didn't bother to camp out for the night. But riding on a fucking donkey could only take you so far into travelling before it demands rest.
I sighed.
"Move", I kicked the donkey but it didn't budge for the ninth time. It only scoffed at me as if it was complaining and all I could do was roll my eyes at it.
It's good enough to carry my weight but it demands a lot of compensation, food. Had I known this prick was lazy, I would've burned him instead. I had already given it much grass and carrots but it seems to not stop begging for it until there is none left. I got down to pick up another batch of grass from the sled but when I did, I heard a distant howling that gave me chills.
Instinctively, I turned to the direction it was coming from.
From that side at 3:00 o'clock, 1, no… 3,4..5, shit there's more of them and they're all over my right side. I could see their glowing eyes from the distance slowly approaching. Shit, they've wind of caught our scent. I checked the road and back. Sensing the danger, the donkey scoffed the cold from its nose, alarmed at the chilling presence of these predators. Food is scarce during the winter so even the most introverted animals would scout out of their territories to hunt for food. And in today's menu we happen to be at its course. I didn't think they would reach this close to the town.
"Fucking wolves"
I can't even blame my god for this inconvenience because it's just nature.
I did not turn my back on them while slowly taking steps back to the donkey as best as I could.
5...6..no 9 .
There were nine wolves in total. It's a whole pack. They had never stopped growling at us and even more aggressively as they got nearer. My only escape is if I'd call out for the help of the soldiers near by but before they could reach me, I would've already been teared to shreds. I could climb up a tree but the nearest one is on their side while the other side of the road is a dead end of a sharp rocky hill covered in slippery snow that can cause an avalanche. I'd get buried and suffocate if I try to climb it.
These wolves are hungry and desperate but so be it, we're both desperate here.
When I checked, the road looked downward from the distance so it must be a downhill from here. It's a dangerous gamble but its all I've got. As quick as a split second I grabbed my thin blanket from the sled and throw it to their direction as I slapped the donkey hard, alarming it and making it run for its life. The snow still isn't as thick here so it can still make a quick run.
The more it ran, the more momentum for speed the sled gathered but the wolves were quick not to lose a moment and are right up our tail running towards us faster than the donkey could. They were already by our speed so I grabbed the donkey by its tail and roughly pulled it into the sled with me so we could slide. As the road got more and more downward the wolves were gnawing at us and jumping to our direction, I quickly hurled up under the donkey for it to protect me against the wolves. It was basically on top of me and I'm hugging it.
As I was getting sweaty, the more our speed hastened and was sliding down faster. It made it a hassle for the wolves to run but it also made it easier for them to jump. One ran right at us so I took a big potato from my bag and threw it at its direction hitting it to its stomach preventing it from reaching its landing and crashing instead. The others followed in but I threw every potato I could, some were hit some weren't. One landed on our sled and wrestled with the donkey as I hid further under it.
But as I checked the direction we were going to, my eyes widened. "Shit, a cliff!"
I could see the trees beneath from a small distance so it's not a far fall. I dragged and grabbed some snow in my hand as we were approaching the cliff and threw it to the wolves direction. When we were near the edge I quickly rolled over to the side with the donkey so we both fell and jump from the cliff while the sled continued sliding down the road. A great distraction because the rest didn't see us from the snow I threw. Only one fell down with us.
I don't even know what hit my back and head or how hard my body fell, I tumbled and tumbled and bumped unto something as I'm rolling over down the cliff slope. My head dizzy and nauseous, we were rolling down for a whole minute before reaching solid ground and stopping when I hit my back unto a tree. The donkey fell near me and so did the wolf by a small distance.
Sick to my guts by I didn't break focus, I quickly got back up and grabbed a stick I found and threatened the wolf who was whining as it got back up, one of it's leg injured but it continued to growl at me. My breathing was fast and so was my heartbeat, I don't know if I'm excited or nervous.
"Get away!", I yelled and waved the stick when it tried to move towards me. It looked to be a recently grown pup as it didn't look as big or strong as the others, it wasn't a female.
"Get back, I say!", I screamed at it as best I could, staring it down to its soul with its magnificent haunting crystal eyes that shimmered under the moonlight. The look this wolf gave me sent chills down my spine. Even more so because it had blood around it's mouth from the bite it took from the donkey.
"Leave, damn it!", I harshly slammed the stick again. But it only growled and hissed back. It angered me so I kicked the snow to it and gestured to hit it as I lunged.
"Be it life or death, chose!", before I could hit it, it flinched.
"Fucking leave already!", I yelled and screamed more as I moved aggressively, luckily, I intimidated it enough for it to run away.
I took the biggest sigh of relief afterwards, only when I made sure that it really left had all the pain started sinking in to my body. I hadn't even realized I had been scratched on my stomach until I saw the small bit of blood soaking through my clothes.
The donkey was also injured. They were after him but it compromised my safety. It had multiple scratches here and there, it was tired and weeping. And so am I exhausted. I'm not safe yet but I am tired. I lost my lamp so I can't see shit from here and who knows what else could be lurking in the distance if I ever tried to travel again. So I started looking for a place to hide in. I found a space in between bushes so I dug there. Just enough for me and the donkey to fit it when we lay and the snow is cold but we can warm each other up. I dragged the donkey into the hole and made it rest there as I got leaves and mushed it to cover up its wound. It'd be bad if the wolves can track us but we're this close to town already so I hope it doesn't.
When I looked around for some herbs, I managed to find my sling bag and my books scattered around the place. It also fell from the sled when we jumped so I took them back with me and hid them in the hole as well. And for a final measure for safety, I tied together some twigs and covered the hole with it when I got inside. This night is rough but, I'm alive aren't I?
I rolled my eyes at the sky thinking about such inconvenience and how my god was probably enjoying himself this pathetic scene, before closing the up twig covering above us and curled up next to the donkey with my books and bag. Hugging it to warm myself from the cold of winter as we both dozed off into sleep from this tiresome night. I have covered the snow on our backs with as much leaves as I could but fuck, it's still cold.