Aedre had been terrified of the beast’s snarl, her own little scream following soon after. She was not the hardened type that would face danger without a pause, not yet anyway. At the age of seven, it was a wonder that she had seen any battle at all. Her brothers had always protected their baby sister, but that did not mean she had never seen the horror of killing before. In order to protect her, they could not coddle her, especially in the Wilds.
So, unlike many other children that might have covered their eyes, Aedre kept hers wide open. She would be much more useful, and far more aware in the case of the wolf striking her. Her training in magic would not fail her in the calmest of situations, but in the current, she was unable to keep her heart from its palpitation. The act of flight was her first response, though it would be foolish to think she could outrun a giant wolf. With the examples she had seen coming back to the village, she would have no hope of defending herself.
As the beast approached her, Aedre screamed once more, and turned to put her legs in motion. In the heat of the moment, she sprinted toward a tree and hid behind it. As if it were to help, she hugged it and shut her eyes tightly, letting herself be overcome by emotion. She was under the impression that it was a defence against the great wolf, though in reality would not be much help.
After a moment, the child noticed her pursuer had not followed. In fact, if she remembered correctly, she had distinctly heard the wolf yelp in pain. It was dying, she could tell from the terror in its bark. As she peeked around the tree again, her eyes became wide and unbelieving. In her fear, she had entirely missed the elves’ entrance. Her mind had been set on only one thing: survival. It was all she had thought of, and then there were these elves. They were her saviours, and though perhaps they had not intended to be titled so this day, she regarded them with awe anyhow. Perhaps it was simply convenient that they had had bait and a distraction, but she did not even happen upon such a conclusion. She was ultimately thankful for their interruption.
As Valan yelled for his partner to shoot the creature, Aedre was immediately running forward. She knew from its deathly call that it did not have much longer, and once the battle had ended, she did not want to be found hiding and useless. Unlike most little girls, Aedre was to become a shaman. In that she was proud. Perhaps too proud, but what did seven-year-olds know? She stopped at the edge of the treeline, lifted an arm to focus her energy, and concentrated. She watched as the wolf began taking on a light-blue shade, frost accumulating across its fur, freezing it from the bottom up. The wolf covered in frost, slowing it down, though would not affect it greatly. She was still a child, after all, though her attempt was quite commendable.