Angel Eyes: the Eternal Circle
by Rydia
Chapter 3


Aelia had never been outside the caverns she had grown up in.  Never
had she imagined it could be so bright.  Her eyes took their time
adjusting to the brightness, so she spent a good part of the day
squinting and keeping the hood of her cloak up to provide shade.  The
land was forested, so she did not even feel the direct light of the
sun.

There were birds singing until just a few minutes ago, producing an odd
but beautiful song that was never heard underground.  Every child in
the Caverns was taught what lay on the surface, but it was another
thing entirely to experience them for herself.  She wondered what it
would be like to see the clans that lived on the surface all of the
time.

She jumped back in surprise as several man-sized monsters sprung from
the foliage around her.  They had thick, matted fur and oddly shaped
heads.  Some kind of goblin, most likely, but Aelia didn't take any
time to analyze it.

Her jumping back saved her from the first attack, but it was easy to
see that the odds were against her.  A small, mouse-like "eep!" escaped
her lips and the goblins laughed at their prey.

She avoided being hit for a few moments longer but wouldn't be able to
keep it up for long.  Her clan was not a violent one by nature and she
knew no methods of defending herself.  Was this what her destiny was to
be?  To be killed by monsters the first day of her journey?

With a growl, another creature lunged out, tackling one of the goblins.
It was some kind of large, gray dog.

Two of the goblins grabbed her by her cloak and kept her from running.
They pulled her between them and the wolf like a shield.  Between a
rock and a hard place, the saying came to mind.

The wolf wasn't attacking while she was in the way, she noticed.
Deciding that she was better off out of the middle, Aelia dropped.  The
cloak no longer constraining her movement, she spread her wings and
beat them hard until she could perch on a tree limb above.  She turned
to watch what was happening below.

The wolf lunched at the goblins in turn, going for the neck.  He made
short work of them.  Only one got away alive.  When they were all gone
in some way or another, the wolf walked over to the base of the tree
and looked up at her.

The goblins were dead and gone, but Aelia wondered if the wolf wasn't
just as bad.  Minus the cloak, she could probably fly until she was out
of the forest, probably.  While she wondered about that, her eyes met
those of the wolf.

Her breath caught in her throat.

The wolf - it was the same one from her vision in the Dark Caverns!  It
was a sign from the gods that this creature was trustworthy.  Aelia
made her decision instantly and glided down to the forest floor.

She knelt down by the wolf, which was probably bigger than her in mass,
though not in height, and held out her hand.  "Please don't bite me,"
she whispered.

The wolf sniffed her hand carefully before rubbing his head against
her.  Aelia smiled in surprise, "You like a great big dog, aren't you?"

She picked up her cloak and put it back on.  As she was about to
continue her journey, the wolf made a whimpering noise and pawed at a
belt pouch worn by one of the fallen goblins.  She walked back and
looked inside the pouch.  It was nearly filled with zenny!

"You're right," she said to the wolf as she retrieved the coins, "It
would be good to have some money once we get to a city."  In truth, it
was more than she had every seen before in one place.  Carrying that
money with her was a heady feeling.

She wasn't really surprised when the wolf started trotting along beside
her. Every now and then he would stop and make a noise, then show her a
different path to take.  She was pretty sure normal wolves weren't that
smart, but that wasn't to odd to her because he was a wolf sent to
guide her by the Gods.

"That's it," she said, "You're an angel sent to protect me by the gods,
I suppose.  An angel in the shape of a wolf but with the eyes of an
angel."  Aelia trailed off to a murmur, "Angel eyes."