Birth of the Huntress

Waking from another good nights sleep I walk out from under the thick branches of the cedar tree I have built my rough shelter under, hidden from view from even the sharpest eyes. Many years ago I gave society in general the middle finger as I pulled my truck off to the side of an old logging road, unloading my provisions and my trusty kbar knife that has been my trusted friend for as long as I can remember, I push the truck down into a heavily over grown ravine watching the blackberry bushes swallow it up with its a strong razor sharp tentacles. Never to be seen again.
Not looking back I then walk straight into the woods, stripping down into a pair of moccasins and a breach cloth, a feeling of peace and comfort washes over me. A feeling that I have returned home, to be embraced by my Earth Mother once more.
Years have gone by, all blurred into one. I have no need for clocks or calendars. Only the need to survive drives me on.
One day while foraging for food I came across a dead wolf. Shot by some hunter. A wasted life and a reminder of why I stand in these woods today.
My ears pick up the weak cries of a pup. I look into the brush near the mother’s body and find a small pup. Old enough to eat meat but not able to hunt for itself. I place the pup on the ground and drag its mother into a hole at the base of a large fir tree and cover it with rocks. I look down and make a silent promise to care for her little one. I walk over lift him up from the ground wiggling and crying. I look into his brown eyes and name him in my native tongue. Nikan, meaning friend.
This one morning after emerging into the warmth of the morning sun. The misty fog through the trees creating magical beams of light, I begin to walk through the heavy under growth with Nikan bounding through the ferns and Oregon grape like a dolphin out in the ocean. Running tree to tree, trying to find the scent that will bring us food for the day.
We walk quietly along the Pacific crest trail towards a small stream to find some fresh trout. Careful to be on the alert for other humans,
That may be traveling this trail that runs along the top of the cascade mountain range from Washington State to California.

She has had enough. Years of abuse at the hands of her husband. Years of abuse from her previous boyfriends and years of abuse from her father.
After this hiking and camping trip she and her lawyer plan to serve him with the papers putting an end to this nightmare. Her lips form into a thin smile picturing the scene in her head after her well laid plans to get away from his abuse begin to play out.
Not knowing that he has known all along the fact that he has suddenly taking up hiking and camping again doesn’t cause her any alarm. All she can think of is soon this will all be over.
After close to a days walk from the trail head the husband begins to think. “She thinks she can do this to me?â€￾ He asks himself. Thinking something was up; a wad of bills into some poor receptionists pocket got him the details of his wife’s meeting with this lawyer.
Deciding to put an end to these plans and give him the upper hand, he lures her out here.
With rope, a large hunting knife and a small trenching shovel in his pack he begins to work the plan out in his head. Simple tie her up and kill her. Bury her body in the deep woods and by the time the bones are found years later he will have already cashed out the life insurance and disappeared.
He laughs inside as he thinks how easy this will be as they reach a small wide spot in the trail where he plans to spring his trap.

She looks ahead and sees her husband standing in a small clearing and sighs a sigh of relief as she hopes to be able to sit down and rest. Her feet blistered in her boots and her pack digging into her shoulders. She is too tired to notice that his hand is hidden behind his back or why he has this odd smile on his face.
As she walks within arms reach, the husband smiles and pushes her backwards. The heavy pack making her fall flat on her back unable to get back up. Trapped like a turtle rolled over on its back.
He walks over and pins her to the ground with his boot on her chest. He waves the knife around flashing like a mirror in the bright afternoon sunlight.
From within her she hears a scream come out of her mouth as she looks up at him in shock and horror. Frozen like a mouse about to be eaten by a snake.

As Nikan and I travel along I see his ears suddenly stand up as he stops in the center of the trail. Looking up to me as if to question my next move. I stop and listen hard soon I hear the sound of people and smell the perfume and perspiration of a woman ahead.
I look to Nikan and glance to the heavy undergrowth at the base of the slope beside us.
We travel down to avoid the humans ahead of us and travel along quietly. Until it hits me. The smell of fear fills my nose and I stop puzzled for a second until I hear the scream.
My lip curls back as a growl rumbles in my throat.Nikan and I rush up the slope. My hands grasping at the thick brush pulling me up as my feet dig in and push me up, leaping like Nikan until I reach the top.
Seeing the man standing over the crying lady holding a knife Nikan and I pounce on him knocking him to the ground. I straddle his chest my fists flying into his face as Nikan shreds his hands and legs as they flail around with his sharp fangs.
My fists beat his face into a bloody pulp until I feel him stop moving beneath me. I stand looking down at the battered unconscious thing and tie him up and lash him to an alder tree on the side of the trail with the rope I see spilling out of his pack.
I turn to the lady her face looking up at me filled with horror and shock. I begin to feel her pain as I reach down I gently grab her wrist and help her to her feet. She shrieks and pulls away as she sees her husband tied to the tree next to us.
I look deep into her eyes and soon she sees that she is no longer the victim and that I mean her no harm. I draw my knife from its scabbard on my ankle and place it into her hands. I stand behind her, my hands wrapped around hers holding the knife. Her hands, the only other hands to have held this knife in many years.
I raise our arms until the blade is pointing at her husband. I feel her press into me as she sees him awake now looking at her. I press a little firmer with my hands. The handle of the knife pressing into her hands. Soon I feel her tense. She begins to stand up straight and I back away and look into her eyes. I see them begin to shine as the fire within her begins to ignite. Her face becomes twisted into a mask of rage as the flames within push the hurt little girl in her mind into a safe room. Soon to be replaced by the new her being born within the roaring flames in her mind. I see her legs begin to crouch slightly as she begins to take on a cat like stance. She seems frozen like the forest around us. All is quiet as thousands of eyes watch and wait for the next move.
Without warning a loud primordial scream fills the air as she pounces onto him. The blade of the knife, driving deep within his chest. The once still air becomes dark as the birds in the trees around take to flight. The woods become alive as the animals run looking for the darkest hole to hide in to escape from the wrath of the new predator among them. With two hands she yanks the blade free, driving it back into him. He is pleading and professing his love as she drives again and again. Soon his face becomes a myriad of other faces. All the demons from her past that have hurt her. With each thrust she drives another demon from her mind. Then she cuts from him the tool that has oppressed her for so long. Raising it in her hand over her head the blood dripping and running down her face, neck and arm, she lets out another loud scream of rage and conquest.
The woods remain silent and tense. Then off in the distance a wolf begins to howl. Then another, the sound of the mountain lions joins in, the cries of the eagles and hawks over head join in. Then I tilt my head back and join in to accept and give homage to the new Huntress before us.
The woods become quiet once again. I pick up the husbands knife from the ground and cut the ropes binding him to the tree. I kick him over the side of the trail where a pack of wolves tear into his carcass and begin to devoir him.
I look over to her now the fires beginning to die down in her eyes. The previous events of the day overwhelm her mind as she sinks to the ground in a peaceful healing sleep.
I pick her up and carry her cradled in my arms to a small spring of glacier water trickling from a crack in the rocks. I place her on a soft bed of moss and I take a piece of cloth and wet it, before wiping the blood from her face and body. I take from her pack a change of clothing and remove her bloody ones and replace them on her with clean ones. Soon I see the sleeping face of an Angel Below me.
I sit crouched watching her sleep for a few minutes. Then I look up at the sun and know from previous experience, when it lines up with the peak above, the forest ranger will be at the trail head making his rounds.
I pick her back up and cradle her in my arms as I take her to where the ranger will find her. This is not her world I think to myself sadly.
Hours later we hit the trail head and minutes later, right on time I hear the rangers vehicle approaching. I lay her out on the picnic table and look down at her face one last time before retreating back into the woods to watch from afar.
I see her stir and sit up as the vehicle comes to a stop next to her. They stand talking, and then she senses me looking at her and turns, smiling in my direction.
I watch as she gets into the rangers truck and soon she is on her way to her own jungle of concrete and steel. I turn and walk back into my woods with a heavy heart as they disappear around the corner in a cloud of dust