Keeper of the Wolves (28 page)

Without warning, its arms dropped and it
fell heavily to the ground. I held on for another second, worried
that it was playing possum and would attack as soon as I gave it
the chance to breath.

“
Victus, it’s
dead.”

I blinked and released my grip. I stumbled
backward to my knees and clutched my broken, bleeding wrist against
me. I stared up at Rasmus. The General’s eyes were wide and his
chest heaved. He stared at me and there was shock in his gaze.
Screams and the sounds of metal in flesh sounded around us, but for
the moment, the General and I were alone in the horror of our small
battle amidst the war of the Viel.

He held out a hand and I took it with my
good one. He helped me to my feet and glanced at my wrist, then at
the fallen Viel behind me. He said something quietly, but I didn’t
catch it. A scream sounded, not any louder than the rest of them,
but one that cut me to the core. Koya.

Ramus turned when I did. We both searched
the chaos for the source of the scream. Moonlight and flickering
flames from fallen torches lit patches of the valley in light and
shadow, making it difficult to find one person amid the carnage;
then golden hair caught my eyes. Koya stood on the far side of the
valley with two soldiers at her side and several fallen beneath
their feet. Four Viel closed in on them. One reached for her with
claws already stained dark red.

“
Koya!” Rasmus gasped. He
grabbed my shoulder. “I won’t make it through in time; you’ve got
to protect her!” I noticed then that he favored one leg. Blood
pooled around his foot.

Groups of soldiers battling Viel spread
along the killing field. It was a mass of swords and severed limbs,
fallen horses, abandoned carriages, and moaning victims of the
Viel’s assault. Koya let out another scream. The Viel had her in
its clutches.

A surge of rage tore through me and I
changed into wolf form so fast my clothing ripped and I leaped
free. I charged through the bedlam, leaping bodies and ducking
sweeping claws as I closed the distance between us. My paws drummed
against the ground and I remembered that I was a wolf, and wolves
don’t fight alone.

A howl lifted from my throat, haunting and
full, a battle cry to any wolf within earshot. I put my fear for my
loved ones into the sound along with the distress of fallen
warriors and the need to defend our territory against those who
invaded it. The sound echoed around the midnight valley and I could
only hope there were wolves within earshot who would answer.

I leaped on the back of a Viel who grappled
with a soldier. The creature reached for me, but I bit down hard at
the base of its neck and it collapsed to the ground. My paw ached
with every step, but I ignored the pain of running on a broken
limb. Adrenaline and battle fury pushed the agony to the back of my
mind. All I could see was Koya in the Viel’s clutches, its claws
biting into her skin. I crossed the remaining ground between us as
if the bodies I leaped over were logs and the reaching claws of
Viel merely branches to be dodged.

My muscles bunched when I drew near and I
jumped straight at the Viel, grabbing its shoulder in my jaws. The
weight of my body and the force of my run drove it to the ground
and it let go of Koya. She scrambled away on her hands and knees.
My soul bellowed at the fear and pain on her face. I bit down and
my teeth tore through the bone that made up the Viel’s shoulder. It
tried to tear me away with its claws, but I didn’t feel the pain
through my red-tinged fury. I worked my way along its shoulder to
its neck, then tore out the creature’s throat. It shuddered on the
ground.

Another Viel seized me by the back. I
grabbed its foot in my jaws and yanked up, throwing off its footing
so that it fell backwards. I landed on its stomach and ripped open
the tattered flesh to expose the organs beneath. A Viel grabbed my
neck before I could make sure the creature was dead. I turned and
it lost its grip; I pushed off the ground the instant my paws
touched and barreled into the Viel, knocking it backwards.

“
Victus!” Koya
screamed.

I looked up to see her fighting off two more
of the rancid creatures. Her swordsmanship was swift, no doubt from
hours of learning at Joven’s side, but the Viel were too strong and
their reach too far. They pressed her back. She stumbled on a root
and fell. A yelp of pain tore from me as the Viel beneath me
grabbed my broken paw in one clawed hand. It twisted and dark spots
danced in my vision. I rolled to the side, my paw held tight
against my chest, and the Viel jumped on top of me.

I looked over, sure I was going to see Koya
torn to shreds by the Viel; but to my surprise and relief, Shadow
Runner and Traveler drove the Viel backwards. Both wolves snarled
in rage with Koya at their backs, protected by the fury of the
pack. Other wolves darted through the fighting masses. Silver Leaf
and Cricket protected two soldiers while three wolves I didn’t know
took down the Viel who faced them. Dozens of lithe gray, brown, and
black bodies ran between Joven’s men and took down the Viel in
calculated attacks proven time and again against elk and mountain
lions.

I snarled at the Viel above me. It held me
down with one set of claws while its gapping maw reached for my
throat. I bit at its jaw. It jerked back in surprise, then slashed
at my face with its claws hard enough to send my senses spinning.
Blood leaked through the fur along my cheek and forehead. I blinked
against the liquid that dripped in my eyes and fought against the
creature’s hold, but it was too strong; its full weight rested on
the claws that sunk into my skin. The breath was forced from my
body. I struggled, but couldn’t draw in fresh air. The creature
watched as if it relished the agony of my nearing death.

Just as my eyes began to close, a sword
sliced through the creature’s arm. It fell on top of me, then
turned in time to have its head cut off by the same sword. I
squinted and saw Koya standing there with a wolf on each side. I
crawled out from under the Viel’s body with her help. Relief that
she was alive chased away any pain. She threw her arms around me.
“Oh, Victus,” she said. She buried her face in the fur of my neck.
I wanted to stay in her embrace, but there was no time.

I backed up and she let me go. I wanted to
tell her to stay where she was safe. I couldn’t leave her and help
the others with the thought of her following me into danger. I put
my head against her and pushed her gently back. She ran her fingers
through my fur and nodded. “I’ll stay,” she said. “I shouldn’t have
come. I was so worried. . . .” Her voice tightened. She swallowed
and stepped back, then lifted her sword and gave me a grim, brave
smile. “I’ll be safe.”

I walked away. They were the hardest steps I
had ever taken, but I had no choice. Others needed the wolves and
the girl I loved was safe. Determination filled me. I let out a
howl as I paced through the carnage. I tried not to notice the
soldiers who lay still or the moans that escaped those with mortal
wounds. Wolves fell in silently on either side of me. Courage and
strength washed from them in waves.

As a group, we fell on the Viel who fed on
the fallen, fighting those that attacked Joven’s men, freeing
soldiers who fought for their lives. We became a pack of death.

We tore through the battlefield taking down
every Viel in our path. I ran intent on Joven’s cedar scent and
Rasmus’ wind and steel trail. The General’s steps were tinged with
blood. Each Viel we took down brought us closer. My heart sped with
every step.

I found Joven through the chaos. A mass of
Viel surrounded the young Lord. He fought bravely, fallen soldiers
on each side. Only three stood near him, their efforts tinged with
exhaustion. A Viel knocked one soldier down and advanced on Joven.
He backed up, but refused to go any further. Four other Viel stood
between Joven and my pack.

I gritted my teeth and leaped. My paws hit
the back of the first Viel and I pushed off, jumping over him and
grazing the shoulder of the next one to break my fall. I rolled
when I hit the ground, taking most of the force off my broken paw.
I darted between the reaching claws of another Viel and spun when I
reached Joven’s side. His hand brushed my shoulder as if reassuring
himself that I was real.

“
You chose a bad time to
come to my rescue,” he said, his words tight.

I gave a bark of command and the wolves
attacked, jumping at the Viel in a wave. I bit the claws of the
Viel closest to us and when it jerked back out of reach, I dove at
the creature’s chest, barreling it to the ground. Joven chopped off
its head with one swing of his sword. The other wolves had the rest
of the Viel down by the time we were done.

A look of relief swept across the Lord’s
face, followed swiftly by sorrow. “Rasmus,” he said in a broken
voice. He dropped to his knees and I realized that the body he had
refused to leave was the General’s. Blood colored the ground from a
wound in Rasmus’ side. The scent that came from it was thick with
the finality of fading life. Joven checked for a heartbeat, but the
effort was in vain. I blinked back tears and reminded myself that
wolves don’t cry. The General’s face had been turned toward his
men, his last view that of his soldiers and his Lord fighting
valiantly as he had trained them.

Joven closed the General’s eyes with a
gentle sweep of his hands. He rose and glared at the fallen Viel
around us. “Let’s save the rest of Rala from this plague,” he said.
Hatred and anger twisted his words, and the rage in his eyes burned
in my heart.

The few soldiers who remained fell in around
us. I led the wolves in front of Joven’s troop, determined to save
as many Ralans as we could. When we reached the mass of Viel held
off by weary soldiers around the circle of carriages, my pack hit
them with the force of an avalanche. The Viel fell back, surprised
by our fury and the battle rage that filled us. They attempted to
surround us, but Joven’s men picked off the few who tried to attack
our backs.

The battle was swift and furious. I took
down every Viel I could reach, then left them for the soldiers to
finish. The wolves moved in a wave of death, three or four
attacking at a time so that the Viel had no chance to defend
themselves. Shadow Runner ran at my side, a constant blur of
movement as we pulled down one creature after another.

There were moments that flowed into memories
of hunting stags and moose beside him. He taught me how to bring
them down, how to slice hamstrings and open bellies, then dance
away without a scrape. The tactics served us well as we dodged
claws and teeth to defend the citizens of Rala. The wolves around
us fought with a ferocity I had only seen when they defended their
territory. They apparently agreed that Viel moving into the valley
wasn’t a good thing.

It didn’t take long for the creatures to
realize they were outmatched. We pressed them back to the forest
and those who survived vanished beneath the trees. I heard the
cheers of the Ralans we had rescued, but refused to look back until
every trace of Viel was gone from the valley.

Shadow Runner led the wolves into the forest
after them. My pack and the dozens of wolves who came from the
surrounding mountains followed him soundlessly into the trees. I
knew they wouldn’t stop until the Viel were far from the furthest
reaches of their territories.

It felt strange to me that I had no urge to
follow them. Whispers of early morning hunts and dewy meadows
trailed in their wake, but even though I was in my wolf form, I was
able to turn away without regret. As I limped back toward Joven and
the soldiers, the truth of my feelings surfaced. As long as Koya
was in the valley, my place was at her side.

A nagging voice at the back of my mind asked
if she was safe. Viel could have reached her when I left to defend
Joven. I shouldn’t have left her alone. She might be hurt or worse.
I pushed myself into a run by the time I reached Joven’s group.
Soldiers turned at my approach. I ran through them without care,
following the one scent in the entire world that mattered.

Everything else fell away at the sight of
Koya kneeling next to Lord Brayton. She bound a gash down his arm
even as he protested the need. Joven directed soldiers a few paces
behind her, battle-weary but alive. Seeing them safe released the
tight grip around my heart. I breathed a sigh of relief and Koya
looked up. Her gaze met mine. A million emotions flooded her eyes.
I wanted to hold her and tell her everything was alright. I wanted
to chase the fear from her eyes and tell her she was safe and that
the Viel were far away.

A ringing sound started in my ears. She said
something, but I couldn’t hear her. I took another breath, willing
my control to hold despite the pain. A shudder ran through my skin.
I gritted my teeth, trying to fight the change, but my body was too
weak from the loss of blood and exhaustion of fighting. I didn’t
want Koya to see me that way.

I limped back through the soldiers. The only
thought that made it through the cloud of pain and weariness was to
find some kind of shelter to protect myself when I changed. I had a
hazy memory of animals who left the pack to die alone. I pushed the
thought away and crawled beneath an overturned wagon. The scent of
bodies, blood, and Viel lessened. I curled up in a corner and give
up fighting the inevitable.

***

I awoke to the touch of a hand on my cheek.
For a moment my mind rushed to the circus, the Cruel One, and the
cage. My body ached, my breathing rushed raggedly through my
throat, and I felt like I had been whipped to within an inch of my
life; but the scent was wrong. In the place of stale urine,
boredom, and the cruelty of the Cruel One’s ways lay fear, a bitter
sour stench that turned my stomach, and a faint but overlying note
of triumph. A sharp pain ran through my wrist and a gasp escaped my
lips. The hand caressed my cheek again and sent a tingle through my
skin. No one touched me, no one dared.