Chapter 30 The Hunt Begins
Morning came with bad news.
"Three more wolves are missing," Marcus reported. "They disappeared during the night. No tracks. No signs of struggle."
"Selene?" Mara asked.
"Probably. Or something else. These mountains are full of dangers." Marcus looked exhausted. He had dark circles under his eyes. "We need to leave. Go back to safer territory."
"We cannot leave without Zevran."
"We cannot help him if we are all dead." Marcus's voice was gentle. "Be reasonable, Mara."
"Reasonable? My husband is possessed by a ghost! Ronan is building an army! The Shadow King is coming! Nothing about this situation is reasonable!"
"Which is exactly why we need to retreat. Regroup. Come up with a proper plan."
"No." Mara stood up. "I am going after Ronan. Anyone who wants to come with me can. Anyone who wants to leave can do that too. I do not care anymore."
She transformed into her white and black wolf form and started walking east.
"Mara, wait!" Riven ran after her. "You cannot go alone!"
"Watch me."
"At least take some wolves with you!"
"Fine. Whoever wants to come, come. Everyone else, go home."
Mara expected most wolves to leave. She was surprised when over a hundred transformed and followed her.
Riven ran beside her. "Where are we going?"
"Wherever Ronan is. I can smell the Shadow's Blood in his veins. It leaves a trail."
"You can track him by smell? From miles away?"
"The shadow power gives me enhanced senses. I can smell things normal wolves cannot." Mara followed the faint scent through the forest. "He went this way. Toward the eastern peaks."
They traveled for hours. Through forests and over rivers. Up steep mountain paths.
The scent grew stronger. Fresher.
"He is close," Shade said. The Shadow Wolf had stayed with Mara, loyal to the end. "Maybe an hour ahead of us."
"Then we move faster."
They pushed harder. Some wolves fell behind, exhausted. But Mara did not slow down.
She had to find Ronan. Had to bring him to Selene. Had to free Zevran.
Nothing else mattered.
As the sun reached its peak, they crested a ridge. Below them lay a valley. And in that valley was a camp.
Hundreds of rogues. Maybe more. All gathered around a central figure.
Ronan.
He stood on a platform, speaking to his army. His voice carried up the mountain.
"They fear us! The pack wolves! They cast us out because we were different! Because we would not bow to their rules!"
The rogues howled in agreement.
"But we are stronger than them! We are free! And soon, we will show them what happens when they reject us! We will burn their packs to the ground! We will take everything they have! We will rule!"
More howls. The rogues were whipped into a frenzy.
"That is at least five hundred wolves," Luna said quietly. She had followed Mara despite her wounds. "We cannot fight that many."
"We do not need to fight them all. Just Ronan." Mara studied the camp below. "If we can capture him, the others will scatter."
"How do we capture him? He is surrounded by his army."
"We need a distraction. Something big enough to draw most of the rogues away."
"I have an idea," Corin said. The spirit fox had appeared out of nowhere, as usual. "But you will hate it."
"I already hate everything. What is your idea?"
"We start a forest fire. Upwind from the camp. The smoke and flames will drive the rogues away in a panic. Then you sneak in and grab Ronan."
"That is insane. We will burn half the mountain."
"Do you have a better plan?"
Mara did not. "Fine. But we control the burn. Make it big enough to scare them but not big enough to kill innocent creatures."
"I can help with that," Nyra said. She had followed them too, though Mara had not noticed. "Fire magic is my specialty."
"When did you get here?"
"I have been here the whole time. You were just too focused to notice." Nyra smiled. "Now, shall we burn some rogues?"
They split into groups. Nyra went upwind to start the fire. Mara and a small team waited at the edge of the camp.
Within minutes, smoke appeared on the horizon. Then flames.
The rogues in the camp started panicking.
"Fire! Fire on the mountain!"
"Run! Before we are trapped!"
"Forget the camp! Save yourselves!"