Then there’s a soft, scrabbling sound in the distance.
It stops. And once again, an unsettling quiet falls over the forest.
I want to believe that there’s some kind of beast out there, not Blacksmiths, because then I would be confident we could take it down. Maybe it’s another leopard, but I know that’s wishful thinking. If it were a creature of the forest, the wolves would have returned to us already. We may not control them,but they know how to alert us to the dangers within these mountains.
If it’s Blacksmiths, then they’re moving as quietly as we do on our hunts.
I reach for one of my knives, listening carefully, unable to shake the feeling that this time, we’re the prey.
That’s when a shriek crashes across the air, the desperate yelp of a wolf in pain.
With it comes theclangof metal, a melodic ringing sound that echoes as eerily as the wolves’ howls.
My father’s jaw clenches and his exhale is sharp.
“I know that sound,” he says. “It’s Blacksmiths.”
Chapter 11
Ijolt into action.
“I’ll lead them away.” I’m already dragging at the sled’s straps and preparing to run.
My father is impossibly calm despite the disturbing howls and ringing of metal now filling the forest. “You won’t be able to move fast enough.”
“I have to give you and Thoren the chance to run?—”
Father grabs my arm, his brow suddenly furrowed and his grip hard.
“Run?” His gaze is furious. “We will not die running. We will die in battle.”
His voice is a snarl and for the briefest moment, I see the man he must have been long ago. The savagery and bloodlust that must have been bred into him.
It’s a brutality I’ve glimpsed on every hunting trip, but it has never been aimed at me.
“That is our way, Son,” he says, his glare piercing.
Without another pause, he turns to my brother, who is wide-eyed beside us.
“The wolves!” Thoren whispers, his voice sounding strangled, as if his throat is too tight to speak. “We have to help them.”
“There’s nothing we can do for them.” The corners of my father’s mouth are turned down as he demands Thoren’s attention. “Pull the woman inside the cabin, then get back to the turret. You will defend our home from the roof. Do not let loose an arrow unless you know you have a killing shot. Do you hear me, Thoren? The moment you shoot, they’ll know you’re there and they’ll come for you.”
Thoren has now frozen opposite me. He’s never killed a person before. Neither have I. Only beasts.
Father takes hold of Thoren’s shoulders. “Erik and I will fight them here on the ground. You will stay back and shoot from a distance. Erik and I will do the cutting.”
It’s what he says to Thoren before every hunt.
“It’s just another hunt, Son. Go.Now.”
Thoren nods hurriedly. Without another moment’s hesitation, he darts past me, reaches for the sled’s straps, and takes the woman back inside, his teeth gritted and muscles bunching.
He disappears within seconds.
Father’s fierce eyes meet mine. “Whatever regrets you have, Erik, cast them out. If the Blacksmiths were this close all along, they would have caught you no matter what. And then they would have made their way back to slaughter Thoren and me. We’ll have a better chance of survival if we fight them together.”
His expression allows no argument, but it doesn’t stop my rising fear.
