Chapter 5 Chapter Five
Isla sighed deeply as she came awake surrounded by warmth, comfort and a spicy citrus that reminded her of times she’d spent roaming the forest with her mother, who would always pack dried spiced fruit as a snack. She opened her eyes and stared in confusion at the faded orange, red linen of the walls that contrasted the normal pastel green of her bedroom. Had she fallen asleep in the library? She sat up and the weighted blanket fell from her shoulders. She placed her palm against the fabric and felt thick fur between her fingers.
The night before came back with a jarring smack. She shot to her feet and looked around. She was still in the Eredhal Prince’s tent but he was nowhere to be seen. The lantern on the makeshift table had been snuffed out but light sneaking in from the cracks of the fabric allowed in enough to tell her it was early morning, not quite dawn. Isla walked to the tent flap and hesitantly pulled back enough of the cloth to see outside.
The sky was grey with tendrils of orange and pink peeking out from the horizon. Had she been asleep for a few hours or a few days? She couldn’t be sure. The fires around the camp had recently been extinguished as smoke furled up from the ashes that once housed flame. Only a handful of men staggered around the camp looking half asleep: night guards fresh off a shift change, if she were to take a guess. Either way, the camp was still and she knew to linger even a second longer may cause her to miss an opportunity.
Isla took a step outside the tent. When nothing dropped down on her head, she picked up her pace. She knew better than to think Noah was still waiting for her. If she were to make a wager, she’d say Noah had long since returned to Seavale and alerted her mother and the guards of her ridiculous plan to stop the Mate Killer. So instead of returning to the place she’d entered, she went north. She could take to the woods, make a large circle, hit the coast and swim back to Seavale, if she were not lucky enough to find a fisherman willing to ferry her there.
She could see the ward ahead of her. A large flapping sound made the skin along her spine itch as she closed in on the barrier. She could sense the magic, the energy, already pushing against her, warning her to not test its power a second time. She ignored that warning. As she crossed the barrier, the noise above her head grew to the point she could no longer pretend it was merely the wind. While the magic coursed through her body, zapping along her nerve endings and causing her jaw to lock against the shock, she glanced up to see the black dragon from the night before. Only this time, he had a rider on its back.
Isla stumbled forward and collapsed onto the soft earth. A horn sounded in the distance and cries of alert reverberated through the air. Though she could no longer see the encampment due to the ward’s camouflage effect, she knew the alarm was for her and the wary men were in pursuit. She scrambled to get her feet under her and launched herself down the hill. She didn’t care when her foot caught on a root, propelling her into a full roll. The spinning and tossing down the hill accelerated her escape until she was stopped by a downed tree. Her head cracked against the bark and she gasped when she noticed her torn dress and the blood soaking through her skirt.
At the top of the hill, she could hear howls indicating the men had shifted and were now hunting her. She needed to disguise her scent. She rushed forward, knowing she was close to the Yunktsy River. Above her head, ash started to rain down, telling her the dragon and its rider were circling overhead, trying to track her from the sky.
Though Isla had never gotten her wolf, it didn’t exclude her from survival or battle training. In fact, it forced her to be more creative, more knowledgeable in survival than those who could rely on their magic or shifting capabilities. The scent of fresh water hit her nostrils and she picked up her pace. She could see the cliffside up ahead and urged her aching feet faster. Once at the edge, she shoved off from the tree roots searching for soil and dove down, down, down to the Yunktsy’s salvation.
The cold water sent a shock through her body, paralyzing her momentarily as the swift current swept her downstream. She was tossed and thrown against hidden rocks while she sought the surface. Once she did, she inhaled deeply before the water could pull her under again. She knew where the river led. She knew what was coming, yet when the bottom of the river fell out and the water cascaded foot after foot, her stomach floated to her throat and she prayed to the Goddess that she landed in water and not rock.
The fall forced her down and her weight carried her deep into the plunge pool beneath the waterfall. She let herself rise naturally and broke through the surface with a gasp. She could still hear the howls of her pursuers and the flap of wings returned. While the water did a good job of hiding her scent and washing it away for the wolves, she was in the open, easy to spot for a dragon and its rider. She clambered onto the bank of the now calm river and ducked into the cover of the woods. Just a few more miles and she’d reach the sea. She bent down and scooped up the soft mud at her feet. She wiped it across all of her skin, down the fabric of her dress, in her hair, all in the hopes of disguising her scent and camouflaging herself from the winged-creature circling above.
She sprinted forward, ensuring to leave tracks that were confusing, marking trees and then heading in the opposite direction. The further she got, she started to smile. Perhaps she would make it. Perhaps her learning and all she had done to make herself stronger despite her lack of wolf would make it so…
Something knocked her in the side. Isla tumbled over and over until she hit the solid trunk of a century-old tree. Dazed, she swayed back and forth. She put a hand to her head. Her vision was doubled, hazy, but she could still make out the wolf-like figure approaching her. Her vision slowly came together and the double-wolf morphed into one. It was a large grey wolf with blood-stained fur, a missing eye and a snarl that spoke of bloodshed. Isla pressed herself closer to the trunk as the wolf grew closer. When it was within a few feet, it shifted into a man with salt and pepper hair, a lean, cut body and the same snarl that his wolf had showcased.
“My, my, my, what a tasty little rabbit I’ve caught,” the man said.
Isla scrambled to her feet just before he got within arm’s reach of her. She tried to bolt but his hand caught her around the throat and slammed her back against the tree. She clawed at his arm. Her nails dug into his flesh as he picked her up, the bark scraping into her skin. She kicked her feet but he dodged them effortlessly.
“The girl who tried to kill our Prince,” he said, shaking his head and tsking his tongue. “I’ll get a pretty penny for turning over your corpse” His eyes skimmed down her body, which twitched and spasmed as she fought for air. “But before I do that, I’ve been away from home for a long time. Away from the comforts of a woman. Why should His Highness have all the fun, hm?”
The man threw her down and she sucked in air. Isla started to crawl away but before she could make it far, he grabbed her ankle and yanked her back. She started to scream and thrash. She swiped her hand and scratched his face, only angering him further.
“That’s good, Rabbit. Make it look like you put up a fight. It’ll make it look like our Prince wasn’t so soft after all,” he said as he raked her skirts up.
No, no, no! A flurry of black raced across her vision and suddenly the man on top of her was gone. She rolled to her side and watched as the man shifted back to a wolf. Though it didn’t do much good against his larger opponent. Teeth snapped and growls echoed across the forest floor as the two fought against each other: one with ease, fueled by anger, the other with restraint but a desire to stay alive. The black wolf sank his teeth into the grey wolf’s neck and she heard a sickening yelp followed by a snap. The grey wolf went limp but that didn’t stop the black wolf from finishing what he’d set out to do. It didn’t step away until the grey wolf’s head was completely disconnected from its neck.
Isla pulled herself forward on her arms, trying to reach the briar patch a few feet away while maintaining a visual of the black wolf who continued to stand over its victim. Its shoulders rose and fell harshly with its breathing. Its legs shook with exertion and fury. Then it turned its head to look at her. Eyes blacker than its coat bore into her, freezing her where she lay. Without breaking eye contact, it lowered its mouth and took the head of its victim between its teeth before stalking over to her. She pushed up into a sitting position. Her nails dug into the ground. If the grey wolf could overpower her so easily, one could only imagine what this black wolf could do.
The black wolf dropped the grey wolf’s head beside her and growled long and low, making her shut her eyes in an attempt to cage the fear that shook her entire body. Then she felt the warmth of its breath against her shoulder and the soft, sticky fur along its muzzle press against her neck and inhale slowly. A rumble, not quite a growl but not as soft as a purr, rumbled through its chest. Then it shivered and she opened her eyes to watch the wolf shift.