Free Lovers of Legend by Mac Flynn Page A

into his eyes and his lips pursed together so hard the blood ceased to flow through them. "Alexa, I have been a patient man for many years. Is this the only answer you can give me?"
    "The only answer," I affirmed. I yanked hard on the reins and managed to free them. Then I kicked Beferon and galloped from the stall and out through the large stable doors.
    I didn't look back as I rode down the stable path and onto the wide graveled road that was the main thoroughfare to the estate. To my left and behind me lay the manor, a grand building of wood hewn from the logs of the ancient trees several thousand years ago. It was an impressive, three-floor building with many stained-glass windows that were as bars to me and many rooms that were merely cells. My freedom lay in the open forest, the home of my ancestors. We were once a forest folk, but civilization forced us to build homes and partake in the businesses of agriculture and mercantile profits. My family had grown rich in these ventures and that was how we became so powerful and ancient a lineage.
    For my part the call of the forest still ran through my veins, and I sought the solace of the trees whenever time would allow. I raced along the gravel road until I reached the entrance to the trees, and then I veered off onto a narrow riding path little used except by myself. The trees sped by as blurs of beautiful green colors. They waved to me with their branches and whispered to me as the wind through their leaves. Beferon's hooves pounded against the hard dirt path, and I raised myself in the saddle and breathed deep the scent of the woods. If only I could remain in the luscious green forever, I would die content.
    My quiet, serene mind didn't pay any heed to the distance we traveled. Beferon was slightly cantankerous by nature and he would eventually refuse to go farther than a few miles from the estate. Today was different. He galloped onward through the path until the way narrowed to a footpath and signs of activity were etched in the stumps of downed trees. I didn't notice any of the changes until a figure stepped onto the path ahead of us.
    Beferon skidded to a stop and reared up in fright. I, unprepared for his terror, was thrown from the saddle. I crashed into the brush on the side of the path, and Beferon turned and fled back from whence we came. It took me but a moment to free myself from the branches of the bushes, but that was a moment too long as I stumbled onto the path and looked for Beferon. The last I saw of his well-manicured tail was it disappearing around a bend in the trail. I was abandoned in a small clearing made so by the fallen trees.
    A sound of footsteps behind me caught my attention, and I turned to find the figure striding toward me. It was a man, a human man, and slung over his shoulder was a large ax. His face was half-covered by a bushy beard and his long hair was tied behind him in a tail. He wore a rough suit of animal skins and boots that thunked loudly against the ground.
    His voice was gruff, but not unpleasant. "Are you all right?" he asked me.
    I stumbled away from this wild man. I'd heard tales of elf maidens being taken by these sorts of men and ravished. "S-stay back!" I ordered him.
    He stopped and raised an eyebrow. "I only want to help you," he insisted.
    "I'm quite fine, thank you. I can find my way back," I assured him. It was a straight path to return to the estate.
    "If you're from the estate then it is a straight path, but there are wolves out these last few weeks," he warned me.
    I had no doubt I was face-to-face with one of those 'wolves.' "I'm sure I will be-" My words were cut off by the distinct howl of a wolf. The color drained from my face and I whipped my head to and fro in search of the source.
    "You were saying?" the man asked me.
    "I-I was saying I can find my way back," I stubbornly insisted.
    The man shook his head and chuckled. "You are a stubborn breed, you elves. Too proud to ask for help, or take it when you need