She belonged to the Wild Woods

She belonged to the Wild Woods; she was a creature of the shadows and the sheltering trees. She moved through the green like a summer breeze, hardly disturbing a leaf as she passed, her feet as light as those of a deer or other woodland creature. Though she was not the prey, she was the hunter.

She hunted for food and for the furs that kept her warm in winter. She also hunted the folk who stumbled into the woodland. People who stepped off the paths, off the roads, were - the people of the Wild Woods thought - legitimate targets, prey. Just as the folk of the Wild Woods kept out of the villages and never went near the towns or the cities, they thought those people should keep well clear of the deep woods.

There were stories, of course, told around the fires of inns and the great houses of what the Wild Wood folk actually were, most did not think them human, or at least not human enough for serious consideration. Some brave souls even styled themselves as hunters of the Wild Wood folk, although, not many of them ever returned from their forays into the woods.

The Kings, Lords, Barons and other powerful folk were content to leave the Wild Wood folk be. Fear always helps the rulers, and people were afraid of the dark Wild Woods. So was I, until that day I stumbled and fell, only to wake hours later at the bottom of a wooded hill to look up into the most beautiful green eyes I had ever seen.