The hunter followed the same methods he was used to.  He looked for signs of animal movement and habitation.  Arn always wondered at their instincts to find the perfect place for them.  He envied their innate knowledge and insight for avoiding danger.

Danger…

The word hanged in his mind like a bad odor.  Heavy like some sort of fog that blurred his vision and made him be distracted about the task at hand.  He had been tracking for about an hour already.  As soon as he had left the cloister of the village and entered the cool dark woods a feeling had begun to creep in the back of his mind.

It was as if by leaving civilization and entering the domain of the wild, of the mysterious, he had entered the territory of danger.

But this time it was different from the ever present danger of predator and prey.  He knew that feeling well.  He had been one of the other depending on the time.  He understood the game of survival and was a peace with it.  But recently, there had been an external danger.  Not natural but just as primal.  He had felt like all the world was prey.  Animal or human, there was no circle of life or hierarchy.  There was only danger.

Danger…

The feeling moved its way to the fore front of his mind.  Slowly like a stalking predator but there was nothing he could do to shake the thought.  He was caught in the web like a helpless fly.  His mind came back to all the sights he had seen in the last couple of weeks or months.  Animals savagely mutilated and consumed.. Wounds that did not match any local predator.  Even humans, as vane and destructive as they were, often took fur or other valuables leaving the carcass for carrion birds.  But even these acts of savagery did not pose any real danger

DANGER….

The thought was becoming clearer and more insistent.  Suddenly, the feeling transcended to confines of his mind to the real world.   How long had it been since the silence fell?  The usual chirping of birds, or rummaging of animals or even insects were gone.  Despite this, Arn no longer felt alone in the woods.  Why what was the danger. 

DANGER!.....

The hunter trusted his instincts.  He did not know why but he headed in the direction of the clearing.  It was the obvious place.  Inviting, seemingly safe.  The flowers that grew there a pretty sight to the eyes distracting those inside the clearing from the dark place of the wood where predators could hide.

His feet pumped faster.  His strong legs propelling his body quickly through the woods but still the sense of urgency did not diminish.  His lungs pulled in huge amounts of musky air.  Despite his size, he weaved through the wood like a deer or rabbit.  Still branches snagged this arms and face as if accomplices of whatever had sparked his fight or flight response.  Roots tripped him up like malicious tricksters wanting him struggle.

He saw the clearing up ahead, a solace from the darkness of the forest.  The bright clearing nothing more than another trick to be played as it left the prey wide open.  Many a prey had meet their end on that clearing both by his arrows and by claws or jaws.  The beautiful yellow and white flowers stained red more than once.  Would he make it in time?  But in time for what? What was the danger?

He burst through the forest edge like a bear in full sprint.....