Iryana risked a look around her.
The leaner, faster dakii were gaining ground off to either side of her, the alpha falling back to let the others close in on her. She ran harder, her muscles burning. The dakya on the right got closer, so she veered left. She desperately tried to maintain enough distance from the gnashing teeth and then cursed as she realized they were herding her toward a less-dense part of the forest.
She should have realized where they were leading her. Her stomach dipped as she briefly wondered if they had done so intentionally. But no, she knew the forest and they didn’t. They’d have passed through it only once just to enter the valley.
The further she got, the better chance her family had. Based on the number chasing her, only a few could have stayed behind—and they could handle that many. Especially if the enforcer helped, though she scrunched her nose up at the thought. Her lungs were burning, her muscles on fire, but she hadn’t led the dakii far enough. That desperation alone kept her on her feet.
Iryana threw out her shield again and dove to the left. Something collided with her magic but she didn’t stop to see what. Iryana scrambled back to her feet and headed straight toward the side of the valley, where the edge was a cliff too steep for the great dakii to climb.
Sweat dripped down her back despite the freezing chill seeping through her snow-dampened clothes and mud-soaked legs. Her long, golden-brown braids flapped behind her as Iryana dodged each tall silver tree.
Her body begged her to stop, to give up, but Iryana needed to see that her family was safe. That the post was safe. But she knew if she kept running, the beasts would eventually catch her. She needed to get out of the valley, get to higher ground. Iryana turned toward the sides of the valley.
The dakii were right behind her, but then the cliff was rising above her through the canopy of dark, waxy needles. The ridge before her was a decent distance from their hanging valley, far enough away to lose the dakii.
Iryana leaped onto the wall and started to scramble up it, holding out her shield a foot or so beyond her body.
The dakii reached the cliff moments after she did, leaping up and crashing into her shield.
Iryana cried out, digging her cramping fingers harder into the wall. Don’t fall, she begged herself as bits of dirt and rock fell down in front of her face, forcing her to stall.
Her whole body jolted every time the dakii ricocheted off her shield. Her teeth clenched as she forced breath after breath through her nose. Slowly, she resumed her climb.
Iryana thought she was safe once she’d climbed higher than the dakii could jump, but then the cliff shook. Her fingers scrambled for better purchase as she clung, head bowed as loose clumps from the cliff-side tumbled down over her back.
Panic seized her as she looked down at the dakii, just to watch as another one backed up, took a running leap, and launched itself at the cliff. Everything shook, rattling from the impact, with more dirt and rocks falling. She watched as the beast fell back to the ground, struggling to stand after how hard it had thrown itself.
The dakii were unnaturally obsessed.
She gasped as one of her hands slipped; the dakii growling below her. With a grunt, Iryana swung herself back up and climbed as fast as she could with the dakii throwing themselves at the cliff.
The cliffside was steep, with patches of half-dead plants interspersed along the exposed rock. The small ledges were enough to pull her body up, but they were also slick, the shallow roots of the plants easily ripping out.
Partway up, Iryana paused on a particularly good ledge, and looked down as she caught her breath. Two of the dakii still paced at the bottom, no doubt hoping she’d fall, while the rest just watched. Iryana could feel their eyes on her, evenwhen she turned and began to climb again. Her palms were sweating as her fingers clung to the rock.
There was a reason no one was supposed to scale the valley cliffs. Every couple of years, one of the villagers would dare to try and be found in pieces at the bottom. It wasn’t a good way to go; the fall wasn’t enough to kill you instantly. Iryana had been climbing them for years due to equal parts desperation and stupidity.
When Iryana finally made it to the top of the cliff, where the slope higher up into the ridge wasn’t as steep, she looked down to see the dakii leaving. She crouched, hiding most of her body from view, and waited.
The dakii slipped into the trees and Iryana expected them to continue on, but they lingered. She could barely see glimpses of their blue-gray fur, but they were just… waiting. Iryana frowned, brow furrowing as she considered them. The way these dakii fought, the way they chased her—she couldn’t deny they were using new tactics. That realization seized her muscles like a fall into freezing water.
The dakii were still learning.
The adrenaline would only let her ignore her injuries for so long, but she couldn’t lead them back to the post. They seemed to have no intention of giving up the chase yet. Locked onto her like they were, could they smell her even so far away?
Iryana shuddered at the thought.
She turned in the opposite direction of home, heading along the top of the cliff just barely in view, leading them even further away. From her count, they were all still there. She would not turn back until they gave up.
Chapter Four
Everything about Iryana’s body hurt. One of her ankles was likely sprained, a few ribs bruised, and cuts and bruises covered her body. She wanted nothing more than to stoke the fire high and curl up above the great oven in her cottage.
There would be time for that later.
It had taken her most of the afternoon to lead the dakii away until they eventually gave up, thankfully heading out of the lower valley and not back into it. She’d been walking for so many hours that her legs were practically numb and everything ached. The cold had seeped so deep that she felt like she’d never be warm. It was already getting dark.
She didn’t know how her family and the other guards had fared from their battle. People could have died before she drew the dakii away. There was even a part of her that worried she had miscalculated the size of the pack and that those remaining could have overwhelmed the Dovaki post despite her help. That fear drove her back to the center of the village instead of her cottage.
