The Second Hunt
Chapter 112:
“Lucien,” she called softly.
He didn’t look at her. “Hm?”
“I know you didn’t mean to kill that hunter.”
His shoulders tensed. “Doesn’t change the fact that I did.”
“He would’ve killed you first.”
Lucien gave a low, humorless sound, not quite a laugh. “Maybe. But I’m tired of reacting. Of losing ground. Every fight we win feels smaller than the ones waiting for us.”
She hesitated, then reached across the fire, her fingers brushing his wrist. “You’re not losing me.”
He looked up then, his eyes meeting hers. For a moment, neither moved. The firelight flickered between them, soft and fragile.
Finally, he said, voice quiet and raw, “Then stop trying to walk away.” He looked away, dragging a hand through his hair. “Get some rest. We move at dawn.”
Aria watched him for a long time, wanting to say more but knowing he wouldn’t let her. Instead, she lay down near Kael, the cold stone hard beneath her, the heat of the fire warming one side of her face.
Outside, thunder rolled one last time across the mountains. Somewhere beyond it, dogs howled, not close, not yet, but near enough to make her heart stutter.
The sound carried through the night, long and low.
Lucien rose to his feet, the full weight of his presence filling the small space. “Lucien,” Aria said sharply, standing too. “Charging into whatever that is blind won’t help anyone.”
He turned to her, gold flickering faintly in his eyes. “I’m not sitting here waiting for them to strike first.”
She stepped closer, lowering her voice. “You don’t even know who they are. You can’t protect anyone if you get yourself killed.”
The tension between them cracked like lightning. For a moment, the cave seemed smaller, the air thicker. Kael looked between them, silent, his gaze unreadable.
Lucien finally exhaled, his fists unclenching. “I’ll scout the ridge. Stay with him.”
Before she could argue, he stepped out into the rain, vanishing into the dark.
Aria stood there for a long moment, staring at the cave’s mouth until the shadows swallowed him completely. Her hands trembled before she forced them still.
The rain was suddenly coming down harder, like it knew blood was about to shed. It was just a matter of who it would be.
Sheets of it, blurring the forest into a smear of gray and shadow. Thunder rolled across the valley again, closer this time, but beneath it came another sound. The thud of boots. Too many.
Lucien froze at the ridge, every muscle going rigid. The faint scent of oil and silver threaded through the damp air. Hunters.
He ducked low behind a fallen tree, eyes scanning the trees below. Lanterns moved through the storm in neat formation, a dozen at least, maybe more. Their light flashed against blades and crossbows. The same broken crescent sigil marked their armor.
He cursed under his breath. “They found us.”
Without waiting, he turned and sprinted back toward the cave.
The wind howled through the trees, carrying the scent of smoke and steel before him. His wolf surged, senses stretching thin. Every instinct screamed to shift, to fight, but he forced it down. He needed control more than he needed to prove a point.
By the time he reached the cave, Aria was already on her feet, her cloak soaked through, she stepped closer to him. The air was cold enough to sting her skin. “We should move soon…”
Lucien’s eyes flicked toward the valley below. “They’re coming.” He cut in.
She froze. “Hunters?”
He nodded once. “Thirty, or more at least. Moving through the trees. They’re marching here with crossbows and silver.
Her pulse spiked. “They were able to track us so quickly?”
“They’re trained for it.” He growled out, “They wouldn’t have lost our trail that easily last night.”
Kael stirred against the wall, trying to push himself upright. “Then we fight.”
“You can barely stand,” Lucien snapped. “You’re not fighting.”
Kael gave him a faint, defiant grin. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”
Aria moved to his side. “You’ll just slow us down.”
“Maybe,” Kael rasped, “but I’ll still shoot straighter than you.”
Lucien ignored them both, scanning the mouth of the cave. “We can’t hold this spot. It’s too open. We move toward the ravine.”
Aria hesitated. “And if they’re waiting there?”
“Then we take them through it.”
They left the cave at a slow pace, boots thudding over wet earth. The mist pressed thick around them, the forest quiet in that unsettling way that always came before violence. Aria glanced back once, the cave was already swallowed by the rain. Her stomach twisted.
Lucien’s eyes flashed gold. “Move.”
He slung Kael’s arm over his shoulder, dragging him upright as Aria covered the rear. The three of them slipped through the narrow side path that led deeper into the ridge, water rushing underfoot
They made it maybe fifty yards when the first arrow hit. It whistled past Lucien’s shoulder, burying deep into a tree trunk with a dull thud.
“Down!” Lucien barked.
Aria dropped, dragging Kael with her as another bolt whizzed overhead, close enough to graze her hood. The smell of burning silver filled the air.
“They’re flanking,” Kael hissed.
“Not for long,” Lucien replied, his voice steady. “Move!” He hissed.
They broke into a run, darting between trees, branches whipping at their faces. The forest exploded with sound: the thrum of bowstrings, the crack of boots on wet leaves, the shouts of men closing in from both sides.
Aria’s heart thundered. The Rune under her skin flared hot, wild and restless, begging to be unleashed. But she bit it back. She couldn’t lose control again. Not now. When she could hurt the people closest to her.
Lucien led them uphill, toward the ridge’s higher ground, moving with the precision of a wolf who’d spent his life surviving hunts like this.
But sadly, even he couldn’t outrun numbers.
“They’re driving us east!” Kael shouted, panting. “Cutting us off!”
Lucien skidded to a halt. “Then we stop running.”