First chapter of Io Deceneus Journal of a Time Traveler – a science fiction and fantasy book about time travel. The Living Universe books series.
The white wolf turned his head with animal leisure, until I met his eyes – black pits of charcoal in all that snow – so close, that shades appeared in their darkness. Don’t panic. Don’t… I turned around … only me and the wolf, his tongue hanging out. Where is everybody? A crystal twig cracked under the snow, and three times the raven cawed in a human voice: “Wolf-man! Wolf-man! Wolf-man!” Unimpressed, the wolf howled in my face, and I howled back, to smother his howl, to smother my mind. A howl … another one… In-between, silence flows, and the mind sees all that you are not searching for.
“Duras, no! Stay here.” Whistling between the snowdrifts, the wind carried voices over the ridge.
A small voice, a girl… What is she doing here? I blinked: the lone wolf was backing off, his lips half writhed into a snarl. In the valley, a pack of gray wolves went out from the forest, and split in two wings – ready to hunt.
“Some scared wolves… We can’t go back, young girl; death is waiting there.”
A man’s voice … almost a man’s voice. “Listen to her,” I shouted, and frosted leaves whispered under his small, uneasy steps. “The gray wolves … they split.” … Nothing… They can’t hear me. (more…)