I tried to force all of my senses to work together as I frantically searched for any sign of Ember or her attacker. I was never one for multitasking, and this situation was no different. The difficulty of visually trying to notice anything in the woods that may have been out of place. While at the same time listening for any movement and the possibility of Arvan sending out his signal. Using my sense of smell to keep Ember's scent under me along with the repulsing aroma of the wolf that I assumed had her. I tried not to let my thoughts consume me in my search, but that was proving more difficult as well. I couldn't understand what pulled me to this girl, it was like a string I could physically feel. Maybe that's what Ayah had been hiding, maybe she knows or suspects something and that's why she had told me to be careful. I kept running until I came to what seemed to be the tallest tree in the forest, snatching my wings out and beating them upward until I reached the peak of the old pine. Using my hands to get a grip on a branch that poked out above the canopy to stabilize myself, I scanned the vast woodland, choosing my next place to land carefully. So far, I had found nothing following off of just scent alone, and I wondered if Arvan was having any better luck with clues.
I found a small opening of overgrown switchgrass through the canopy of trees and decided that was as good of a place as any. In Ayah's mirror, Ember's attacker kept getting caught up around fallen trees and twigs, so it made sense to me that they would try to find an easier place to drag her through other than the thick brush of the forest. I swooped down, landing with ease, and walked through the tall grass, looking for anything that might aid me in my search. Divots in the grass, footprints, drag marks. I came upon a ditch that dropped below the small field and led to a brook with a steady stream of water, separating the opening and the woods slightly. I closed my eyes and focused on the sound of the water moving before hearing a slight rustling of movement to the north, towards where my stream led into the lake. Taking the opportunity, I bolted towards the sound, hoping it would lead me to something. I couldn't tell if it was only my imagination, but it seemed my hopefulness had been right when Ember's scent grew strongly in my nose. Jumping over the stream, I sent my signal out to Arvan, only to hear his strong clap echoing through the trees at the same time. I was confused on as to why he'd be sending his signal out as well, unless he had found something different, but I trusted my senses, and I wasn't about to waste time backtracking to him when I had a lead. I pushed myself to run faster towards the scent, ignoring the icy-hot feeling in my lungs as they gulped down the cold autumn air. My suspicions of being on the right track were all but sealed when I noticed the drag marks in the moist dirt under me and I started to follow them as well. I stopped dead in my tracks and turned slightly when I noticed something white sticking out of the base of a thorn bush out of the corner of my eye. I bent down to retrieve it, and my heart sank. It was Ember's shoe, the toe of the old converse torn slightly and covered in little red droplets.
Anger swarmed over me and tears stung my eyes at the realization that the sticky substance was blood. She was hurt. I shot myself up, buzzing through the brush like a jet as I twisted and turned to maneuver through the trees, following the compressed soil where she had been dragged. Finally, through the shrubbery and slivers of moonlight that peaked through the gaps in the trees, I saw him. A man stood in a small opening beside a few bushes, a lit cigarette in his mouth. He had a fresh wound on his cheek, and scratchy grey stubble across his mouth and chin. He looked tired and worn down and seemed to be in his late fifties. He was bone thin and looked so feeble I almost dropped the notion that he was who I was looking for. That was until I saw the matching converse sticking out of one of the bushes he was standing beside. I let my signal bounce through the woods again before letting a hiss escape my mouth and hurdling towards the unarmed man. I ran into him, hitting him like a ton of bricks, a satisfying smile crossing my lips when I heard the air leave his chest. "What the hell," he said as we rolled across the dirt and fallen leaves on the ground. "What have you done to her?" I yelled as I got on top of him before he could retaliate, pinning his arms above his head. He coughed, the remaining smoke from the cigarette he had dropped on our impact escaping his mouth and wafting up in my face with the cool air. He struggled for a moment before realizing that fighting was useless, and I had the upper hand. "Who?" He spit out with a thick southern accent. "The girl," I replied through gritted teeth, tightening my grip on his wrist.
"That thing?" He said back, signaling to the bushes with his eyes. My face contorted at his statement, here he was pinned and utterly vulnerable, yet he still had the balls to insult her to my face. I turned my head to look at her, still unmoving, her upper body hidden by the bushes. "She better still be breathing," I spit as I turned back. "What did you do to her?" I asked again. "Where are your little buddies? I know they're around here somewhere. You better start talking or I swear I'll break every bone in your body starting with your nose," I threatened, raising my fist ready to strike if he tried to call my bluff. "What fuckin' buddies? Lady, are you crazy? Get the hell off of me." He replied, thrashing slightly at the end of his sentence, to which I tightened my grip. I took a moment to clear my head and pay attention. The man under me was breathing heavily. His blood was warm under his veins, but not boiling hot in the way a wolves would be. His teeth didn't come to a sharp point, they were flat, the only abnormality being his slight overbite. He was human, but the mildewy scent of wolf was still in the air, and repulsively close. I turned my head towards the scent, my vision landing back towards the bushes and my heart sank as I noticed Ember's other foot. It was bloody, the toes seemed longer and there were sharp talons where her nails should've been. I noticed her leg with deep brown thick hair, and I grew nauseated. "Red!" I heard a voice call to me just in time to see Arvan appear out of a blur. A look of concern on his face. "I tried to call you, it's not him." I heard him say, and my blood ran cold.