He’d dragged her all the way to the north, where he led her right to death’s doorstep.
I saved you, Prince,she thought.Consider my debts to you repaid.
Numbly, she turned and followed the corvid into the woods.
The trees blurred around her. There could be a monster behind any one of them, a shadow wolf hungry to devour her, and yet she kept walking.
She had to get away, to hide and find safety somewhere until she could come up with a clear plan.
Flakes danced in Ezer’s vision. Fog clouded the air before her as her lungs heaved. She paused to catch her breath, the sounds of the chaos fading.
For a moment, it was silent. Almost peaceful.
Perhaps the others were all dead.
Overhead, the raven blasted a warning call.
‘Ezer,’ said the wind again. ‘Run.’
Dread filled her bones, for she knew what was to come.
A stick cracked behind her, and she spun, holding Arawn’s dagger as two shadow wolves leaped from between the trees.
4
Death had found her.
The shadow wolves stood twenty paces apart. They’d decided to flank her, so she couldn’t pick a direction to run.
And now they moved forward, closing in on her as one.
Each step of their enormous paws left marks of crimson in the snow. The blood of the others from her group still steaming as white tumbled down around them, filling the spaces in between.
Shadows seemed to undulate across their fur, dripping and regathering with each breath as if they were specters given life.
Twin clouds of vapor snaked from their nostrils, which flared as she realized they were scenting her.
Smelling the terror in her blood.
She took a half step back, nearly dropping the dagger in her fear.
She wanted to scream, but she had no voice. It abandoned her as a low, terrible growl rumbled from each of the wolves’ throats.
Her eyes went right to their claws. Each one was jagged and cracked and as long as the dagger in her hand.
Those were the claws that had marred her, that had foreverchanged the curve of her jaw and her face. Those were the claws that had murdered her parents and countless others in her village.
These shadow wolves – these monsters – had stoleneverythingfrom her.
Please,she thought to the wind, to the five gods who had never listened.Please, send something to save me.
She held the pathetic blade before her as they closed in.
If there was ever a time I needed you to hear me … don’t let me die like this.
The wind howled in a sudden gale force.
And then the skyeruptedin sound.
