Summer had not yet claimed the atmosphere with blazing sunshine and sultry warm nights, yet the tiny brown fae was half-submerged in the lake as though trying to escape an oppressive heat wave. She stood in cooling liquid right up to her elbows, her downy white chest damp but moving gently with each breath. Her injured paws were firmly squished in the silky silt of the lake floor, pleasantly numb. As late afternoon light sparkled off the water's calm surface and tempted golden highlights from her earth-colored pelt, her delicately sculpted face was the picture of bliss, amethyst eyes closed and features completely relaxed. This feels good, the girl's broken mind whispered dreamily. I don't hurt.

Losa had been traveling for weeks, though the lost princess was incapable of remembering just how much time had passed. All of her thoughts were jumbled, an impossible puzzle of shattered pieces tossed carelessly to the ground. Each time she attempted to pick them up--to form some sort of picture--she cut herself on the sharp edges. The young wolfess wanted to recall her past . . . yet recoiled as soon as she recognized something familiar: a dark face, bright eyes, a voice chanting her name. Pain. Blood. A sickening crunching sound, that Losa knew for some reason to be breaking bones. It was easier to focus on the physical agony plaguing her travel-worn paws than the ghosts in her head--at least Losa could fix that, even if it was only by wading into cold water for a little bit.

A soothing soundtrack of birdsong made the forest seem tranquilly alive. Losa kept track of it at the back of her mind, like listening to a steady heartbeat. That's why, when the music of chirps and warbles suddenly ceased as if crushed beneath a stone, the shy sylph opened her luminous violet lanterns and perked her huge ears toward the sky. Her pulse slammed into high gear. Her previously lax posture went rigid with alarm, slender legs tensed and prepared to run. Silence in the woods could only mean that a predator was on the move. There was no logical reason that Losa should think anyone was after her, but she was shaking uncontrollably. Run. I have to run!

A slight rustling from just beyond the bank drew Losa's gaze as if she'd been tugged by a leash. The pale blue ring around one iris nearly disappeared as her pupils dilated, fearful tears welling at the corners of her vision. A monster was coming.