A brief lull of panic chilled my blood, my breath rising up a notch, stifling the unwanted emotion, i strained to listen, and soon figured the direction of the voices, it was coming from a while ahead, the trees were bouncing the voices erratically, and I could not tell the precise direction where it originated.

I stilled as I considered my option, it was already a forgone conclusion that I would not be making contact with whomever was ahead, I had too few information on where I was, and the threat the voices represented.

But the voices sounded like laughter, yes it was laughter. Unbridled and joyful, it rang through the forest, they were two pairs it seemed, one deeper, clearly a male, and the higher pitched one of a female.

Whatever activities were happening, I needed to keep their attention away from me, which would be difficult seeing as I stood out like a wolf in a flock of geese. My hair was long and white, and I was at least seven foot tall.

Luckily for me, I was in a forest with lots of natural cover, and if I was careful enough, I could stay hidden, the only problem I could see were the drag marks on the ground when I crawled over for support, fingers crossed they won’t pass over that location, and if they did, assign the blame to an unknown party.

I just had to find a bigger tree, and accurately judge their lines of sight. I focused my attention on these tasks, my continual survival depended on it.

Soon sounds of words drifted along to me, and I was surprised I could understand them, it were words spoken in a sing song manner that had a slight sound of a lisp during pronunciation, I knew I should not know their meaning, but I did.

“ Cheri, please slow down. The baskets are heavy and I am carrying the bigger share.”

That should be the sound of the male, deeper, and even with the playful tone of voice, it still carried an unmistakable authority.

“Catch me if you can Olaf, unless I was wrong about the ‘pride of the tribe"'. The female replied. Her voice holding sheer excitement and hint of naughtiness.

I pushed myself away from the clump of branches, and edged slowly to a particular thick trunk, keeping my eyes in the direction of the voices, I succeeded in reaching it, with harsh breath I peered over the side, pushing myself to keep my panting in check, i could not risk them hearing me, even though the trio were loud, sound seemed to carry well in this forest.

In a short while, I saw hints of movements ahead, two figures came into sight, running along the trees, I had judged them accurately. They were a girl and a boy, the girl lead the race, slender legs pumping. She was clad in materials that looked like leaves, brightly coloured with varying shades and hues, it was sewn closely together without any gaps, it fitted just above her chest, with her midriff bare, and a skirt that stopped just above her knees.

The boy was also decked in similar material, but his were just green and was more like a short robe that had one arm entirely free. He was holding a sack strapped on his back, it was sizable but he easily kept pace with the girl, a wide grin splitting his mouth open.

Suddenly he whooped and increased his pace, and caught up with the girl and playfully tackled her to the floor, both of them rolled on the floor, with her ending up on top of him, their playful laughter and conversation followed, I frowned in irritation, they were not far from my position.

“quit it Olaf, we would be late for the gathering, your queen mother won’t be pleased.”

The boy pushed his body forward, and rolled ending on top her, “not when I finally caught up to you, admit I won this round and we can continue forward.”

She sniffed in mock annoyance “you big meanie... what’s the point of stating the obvious”

The boy grinned “if you don’t say it, then I did not win... I know you Cheri, and I wont fall for your tricks.”

She frowned “ get off of me, big meanie, your weight is crushing me.”

“oh, I am very sorry" he hurriedly stood up and scratched his head “I didn’t realise that!”

Standing up with the assistance of the boy, she looked at him with a sly smile, then forcefully pushed him to the ground “Olaf, you are a fool”.

She sped away laughing, the boy picked himself up, cursed and hurried after her fading figure “get back here, I won this round and you know it"

Their voices faded away, and I sighed in relief, suffice to say I didn’t want to stand in the way of young love, their presence and conversation gave me several specific clues about where I was, not enough however but I could infer some certain information from it.

For one, the direction of their domicile, I did not want to stumble into a village or city when I was this disoriented and weak, that was a sure recipe for being taken advantage of.

For another, now I knew I was in a place populated by humans or humanoid creatures....the lines between normal humans and whatnot was almost non existent for me at this point, for all I knew I was a dragon. A hatchling perhaps but still a dragon, with six pierced heart... a burst of pain reminded me of that.

The plan was clear at least to me, I was to follow the opposite direction of where the trio was heading to, it was clear that that direction was their home, and I had to be quick, I was positioned in a spot that seemed to be traversed often.

Pushing my self from the tree, I was about to move on, when I smelled something delightfully sweet, it was around were both youth wrestled before, I slowly walked towards it, and saw three blue mushrooms, it must have been dropped from the sack on the youth, and must have been forgotten when he pursued the girl.

I crouched down and picked it up, my stomach rumbled with hunger, I pushed that sensation aside, and continued walking down the side of the path used by the youth, I had missed it previously, but now I could see the meandering path snaking down the forest, I stuck closely to the path.

From where I drew the energy to walk I don’t know, my feet tracing the other, as my vision narrowed, I was dimly aware of the forest becoming darker before the sound of rushing water came to my ears.

I pecked up, orienting myself I stumbled towards the sound of water, and after clearing a thin stretch of trees, arrived at an open shore line, where a silvery river snaked down the forest, it wasn’t a wide river, but the dull rumble of the flowing water suggested deep depth.

I traced my eyes along the river bank where it curved around a group of hills that formed a minor mountain. I grimaced and trudged towards them, the nights had overtaken the day, and scattering of stars littered the sky. There was no moon, but the night was still bright to my eyes, at least I could see my surroundings clearly.

I reached the hills, and confirmed what I saw a while back, water also poured from the top of some of the hills creating a mini waterfall, there were series of gaps on the hills which was deep, and cavernous, I peered at the waterfall and saw an opening in one of them that sat just above the waterline, the flow of the water covered it, but I could see some ways into the cave.

I placed my hand on the rough surface of the hill, a peculiar habit, I had found myself repeating frequently, for all I knew I was not receiving any information apart from the sense of touch when I did that. But ma___ No, I was wrong, there was something different.. I felt a slight stirring in my head and different spot of lights appeared in my mind that corresponded to various places on the hills.

I pulled my hand away, and the sensation faded, my hearts quickened a little, I decided to also shelve this in the growing list of concerns, and find a way to get to shelter... this range of caves were a good idea, and the ones tucked behind the waterfall would serve me well.

Aligning my back to the rock, I carefully slid my way across, gingerly climbing over small stones, the forceful breeze and spray of water drenched me, thankfully I was immune to the chill of my environment, and even though I was very weak I was still excellently coordinated.

I reached the particular opening that caught my interest, it wasn’t big, a rough circular opening of about three feet, It opened into a much wider and deeper space, I should be able to squeeze my way through it.

I gripped the opening with one hand, and slowly pushed my way through, I grunted as my shoulder squeezed through the edge and finally I was inside the dark cave, which rapidly brightened before my eyes, by now I realised I could see farther and better in any lightening condition.

The gift that keeps on giving.

I could now properly view the cave I was in, it was damp, green and purplish algae growing on the walls, they were slightly luminescent, the ground hold spot of desiccated bones that looked chewed on, but it had been a while, and most were in advanced stages of decomposition, I hoped the predator that used this cave had left it or was dead.

A line of flowing water snaked into the cave and disappeared Into a hole at the far end of the floor. This cave was perfect, my need for water had been solved.

I settled on the floor with a gasp, my joint ached, only sheer force of will had been holding me together all these while, I bent my head down, my hair spilling to cover my face, and remained in that position for minutes on end.

Slowly I lifted my left hand to my face, it held the three blue mushrooms I picked from the floor, pushing the rumbling of my stomach aside, I carefully placed it on the floor after I shifted and cleaned the debris on that particular spot, until I was marginally satisfied with it. Beggars can’t be choosers.

I slowly crawled to the line of flowing water and pushed my face into it, over time the water had dug grooves into the floor, along a natural crack in the cave, but it was not very deep, only reaching the edge of my elbows.

I sucked in the water deeply, liquid ambrosia gushed into my body and I moaned in pleasure inside the water, bubbles escaping from my mouth, I pushed my face away from the water to catch my breath and plunged it back , I sucked in delightful mouthfuls and my stomach stretched comically.

I Sat back and absent minded__ pocked my swollen stomach, and watched in amusement as it slowly deflated, in a little while I could trace the deep grooves in my stomach, a small wave of relief and strength flowed through my veins and I pecked up a little.

I glanced at the mushrooms, well I could no longer push that aside, my movements were now easier as I picked them up, I had no way to discerning if they were poisonous or not, my stomach rumbled again.

Oh well, time to take the plunge.

I shoved one into my mouth.