Alexa Rivera shifted her position on the forest path, angling her bow toward the direction of the Ravnec. She had never seen one so big. A normal Ravnec was the size of a pig. However, their strength was that of a grown man. The fur of a Ravnec was worth a fair penny, even if the meat was too tough to eat. The monster hit its hoof on the gravelly ground and bent its hairy head down to graze on a patch of ferns. Seeing her chance Alexa, pulled back the bowstring and aimed for its neck.

*SNAP*

The sound of a twig snapping surprised Alexa and her arrow was set loose, hitting the Ravnec in the leg. A pained cry came from the creature as it reared on its hind legs, blood dripping from the open wound. Panicked she looked up to see a girl standing before the creature. The girl stared at the monster, a different range of emotions playing across her face. Finally, she looked up at Alexa, and as their eyes met the Ravnec stopped its screeching and retreated into the woods.

Stunned, Alexa stared at the spot where the Ravnec had been. When a Ravnec felt threatened, it would fight until its enemy was dead. It wasn't at all probable that an injured one would just run away, especially one of that size. Shaking her head she looked back at the stranger that had started the sequence of events.

As she approached the girl, Alexa raised her hands, to show she meant no harm. She looked about 15, only a little younger than Alexa. She had long black hair that fell in waves down her back, and dark brown eyes. She was very pretty, in a sort of ethereal way. Alexa had never seen this girl before. Which meant she was a stranger, and strangers meant trouble.

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Evdokia stared at the human girl in front of her. The one who had shot, the rabid one. She recognized the animal as an offshoot of the Austrian boar. However, something was wrong with it. When first coming into contact with it, she had been meeting with resistance, however weak it was. She'd felt angry at its disobedience and then pity as an arrow pierced its leg. With a thought, she'd sent the hurt thing away to hide and nurse its wound. It was only a child after all.

The human was watching her. Evdokia stiffened, she was supposed to act as a mortal. How did mortals act? She remembered them groveling for mercy at her feet. Did that mean the Goddess should fall to the ground and beg for her life? That didn't seem reasonable. She also remembered proud strong mortals, some were humble, others were arrogant and crude, and killed everything that got in their way. She felt that acting in such a manner wouldn't be well received.

Evdokia remembered the priests that had once paid worship to the Gods. Many, were soft-spoken and sweet. They were diligent and hardworking and always paid due respect to the Gods. She pondered this but ultimately decided that not even she was that good of an actor. Her thoughts were interrupted by the human.

"Who are you and Why have you come here?" The mortal questioned. Evdokia dipped her head in a formal greeting but said nothing.

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Alexa looked over at her captive. The girl had not protested as Alexa tied her hands behind her back and lead her through the woods. She felt sort of bad. But she couldn't allow a stranger into town without precautions and she couldn't leave the girl to fend for herself either. She was just about to say something when a hoarse voice broke in,

" What..iss...nome."

Each word was pronounced with a heavy accent and sounded as though she was pulling the pronunciation from another language. Surprised once again, Alexa answered,

"My name is Alexa, what's yours?"

" Im......"