Chapter 46
Fen. Zelle’s dire wolf.
It’s been many moons since the old commander met his fate at the hands of Benny’s rebels, and from what Ryne said in Galreck, I assumed Fen would have already passed on.
The bond between a dire wolf and its knight is absolute. When one dies, the other follows. Not instantly, but in a slow fading as their soul, now split and unable to recover, loses its grip on mortality until Mortidem claims them.
I don’t hesitate, the weakness of a moment ago forgotten as I bound onto the nearest horse and race after Elska and Kyor.
At first, I can’t make sense of what I’m seeing. There’s stirring in the mud, but it’s only when I’m close enough that I know they’re right. A dire wolf. Mud-coated and trapped in the centre of the river.
His reddish fur is almost entirely brown, and his shoulders move back and forth as if he might somehow be able to claw himself out of the thick mud, but if anything, it’s only making him sink deeper.
‘Elska, get away from the river, now!’ Kyor yells as Elska edges down the silt-covered riverbank. ‘Get away from there! You’ll get trapped too!’ His panicked shout sends birds flying from nearby trees, and I struggle to hold my horse still as she dances in place, nerves firing.
‘The dire wolf cannot be saved,’ Thessa says sadly from behind me, the others having galloped to my side. ‘The Taron River does not give up its victims once captured. I told you.Onlystep on the rocks. The black mire is certain death. When the tide comes in …’
I cannot listen to her explanation anymore. I don’t need to.
His fear, his panic, it wasmine.For one raw heartbeat, it wasmefacing death, and I would no more let him die than I would willingly stop breathing.
My skittering horse is not helping, so I slide off her back.
‘Here.’ Ruben takes the reins from me without hesitation. ‘I’ve got her. You go.’
I don’t need him to tell me twice.
Elska is padding closer and closer to the bank, whining softly as she tries to figure out a route into the river to Fen. But there is none. Not for a wolf of her size. Not without her ending up just like Fen.
‘Hold her!’ I snap at Kyor. ‘Hold her in place with your magic.’
He grinds his teeth. ‘She won’t forgive me. I’ve never used my magic on her –againsther.’
‘Better angry than dead,’ I point out sharply.
I’ve seen Kyor in impossible situations before. Defeating a giant on his own. Bringing an entire battle yard of Rettlings to their knees. But I’ve never seen him like this – frozen by fear.
‘Do it!’ I bite out, and he does.
Elska lets out a snarl of pure fury as his magic clicks into place around her, holding her. Pain contorts Kyor’s face, but Elska is safe, even if she doesn’t want to be. That’s one less thing to worry about.
With her secure, I turn back to the others.
‘I won’t let Zelle’s wolf die like this,’ I tell them stubbornly. ‘Without Zelle’s training, I’d have died in the Retterheld. I owe him.’ I look at Benny. ‘You and your rebels are the reason he’s out here. Will you help me?’
‘Of course,’ Benny says instantly, as if there was never any doubt.
‘There is no getting him, The Rose,’ Stide says stubbornly. ‘He is in the quagmire. Mortidem stalks him.’
‘Fuck Mortidem!’ I snap. ‘Fen isnotdying today.’
The tide is coming in, and the water is rising. Fen is tiring and weak,his head dangerously close to dipping below the waterline. Gods know how long he’s been struggling already.
But he’s not alone. Not anymore.
‘I’ll wade into the water and hold his head up,’ I begin, the plan already forming in my mind. ‘Once I’m?—’
‘But—’
