I take my opportunity but I don’t rush. Haste will make noise and there’s still Bardulf out there. With any luck, however, Evander will fall into a deep sleep and Bardulf will spend thenight chasing the growing moon in the opposite direction from me.
Folost and Mary are waiting where I left them and I quickly collect both.
“I need you to burn through a rope,” I whisper to Folost. It’d take me far too long to cut through it with my knife. But Folost can get through it in a few seconds if he’s determined enough.
A blink in the tiny flame.
“Thank you.” We’re off through the woods, moving in a wide arc around the clearing with Aurora. Every step is agonizingly slow. But I persist at my steady pace. When Folost makes a sudden deviation on his stone, I turn sharply and push past a low bush to find myself at the edge of the clearing behind Aurora.
Her back is now to me, so I can’t see if she’s awake or if she took Evander’s advice and tried to sleep. I guess it’s the former, just from her resistance to them so far. I grab the rope affixed to the tree and give a light tug.
Aurora’s head whips around. Her brow instantly relaxes upon seeing me at the edge of the trees. Her lips part slightly and then ease into a relieved smile.
I give her a nod and move the torch to the rope. Folost wastes no time, making a ring of fire around the thick cord. He burns white hot, but small. All the while I keep my eyes on Evander. It’s hard to make out his features between the night and the stark brightness of the flames. But if he had woken, I think he would’ve made a motion for me. There’s no way he wouldn’t be able to see me. Just once, I think I see him twist. But he shifts and settles again.
Just a little bit more… I will Folost to move faster. The rope is fraying; he’s down to its core. Then…
Snap. The rope sags. Aurora is free.
She spares one look at Evander before slinking back toward me. I move backward, giving her space. As she plunges into the shadows, she gives me a nod. One I return.
We don’t even waste time on the bindings around her wrists, we’re off.
I trust Folost to guide us back to the main path without need of instruction. He’s a clever little spirit and I’m sure he knows where we need to go. Once we get back to?—
The thought causes me to stumble, nearly toppling over. Aurora pushes her shoulder into me, steadying me. She glances my way. I shake my head and carry on.
The house is gone. Where will we go? Where is safe, if the lykin are willing to leave the woods?
We’ll go southwest. Far from the Lykin Woods. We’ll travel as far as we need to find a safe place to rest. Then we’ll keep moving until we can find a way to return Aurora’s power to her. After that, when the time is right, we’ll rebuild.
A house is just timber and clay, even one as magical as mine was… I have my life, and my spirits. So long as that is true, we’ll be all right.
The main path is nearly in view when a rustle of leaves at our left alerts me to the presence of another. I barely have time to look in that direction before a massive, copper wolf lunges at me through the darkness.
CHAPTER 5
A scream escapesme as claws sink into my shoulders and I am crushed into the ground. Folost flies away, knocked from my grip by force and surprise. I try to twist, landing as best I can so Mary isn’t crushed. The lykin lands atop me and I am gouged further by back paws on my thighs. Hot breath glazes over my cheeks with a snarl as a maw of sharp teeth shine in Folost’s tiny light.
“Get off of her!” Aurora shouts, kicking at the wolf’s side. It does little good.
The wolf swings his head, snapping at Aurora with his deadly maw. She snarls back, baring her teeth. I’m helpless to do anything other than be pinned under the wolf’s weight, feeling every claw sink deeper and deeper into my muscle. Waves of pain leave me gasping.
There’s another rustling of leaves. A second wolf emerges, but it takes me a second to see from where. This beast is as black as midnight and seems to absorb what little light there is.
The second beast shakes his coat, as if emerging from water. In the process, the fur ripples away like mist and shadow. Paw turns to boot in a single step. Black fur becomes black trousers,fitted to the waist. Evander straightens, as though he was just crawling on all fours. A man in place of where a wolf once was.
“We’re not here to hunt humans,” he cautions Bardulf. “She is not our concern.”
Another snap from the wolf atop me. Bardulf glares up at Evander and they lock eyes. Possibly speaking with senses alone.
“I said, get off!” Aurora kicks Bardulf again, this time in the side of his face, breaking the silent communication between the two wolf knights.
I need to get up. But all I can see is stars dotting the heavy canopy above, floating through my vision, my temples splitting. Hot blood seeps and pools around me, steaming against the cool night air. My body is going numb. Shock, likely. That’s probably what’s happening…I’m going into shock. If I understand what I’m feeling, then I can push through it.
“Enough of this!” Evander grabs Bardulf by the back of his neck, like a mother wolf grabbing her cub, and throws him away. Bardulf changes his shape midair, a string of curses erupting from him as he lands heavily.
“You think you can manhandle me, you packless orphan?” Bardulf recovers and thrusts his chest out, almost meeting Evander’s.
