The Bear King by James Wilde

Author:James Wilde [Wilde, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781473526792
Publisher: Transworld
Published: 2020-01-09T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Fang and Claw

THE LAMP OF THE MOON BURNED WHITE THROUGH THE branches. Stark shadows carved across the pools of light leading them on as they raced through the trees.

‘Thank the gods it’s not a dark night. We’d be dead by now,’ Solinus croaked. He was scowling, sweat running along the lines of the scar that quartered his face. Though he looked as vinegar-sour as always, Bellicus could sense the fear washing off him. And who could blame him?

Behind them, howls tore through the night, whipping up into a frenzy.

Bellicus felt his stomach knot. That chilling sound, so familiar from their long nights in the Wilds. The wolf pack sensed their prey was almost in their grasp. They were exhorting their brothers to run faster, driving their meal on to exhaustion. The music of that baying, soaring up then clashing, would wring terror from even the bravest heart, and in that dread mistakes would be made. Wrong paths would be taken. The prey would stumble, or dash wildly into a place from which there could be no escape.

They mustn’t make that mistake.

Bellicus threw himself on, leading the way along the narrow trail through the forest. Feet pounded behind him. The others were still keeping pace. That was good. There was no room for even the slightest error, because he knew too well that the wolves were faster, their stamina greater. They would never simply give up the hunt.

His nostrils wrinkled and he smelled brine on the breeze. Had they been driven so far off course that they were near the southern coast? His legs burned. He felt as though he’d been running for ever. Hours now since the wolves had first picked up their scent and decided they would make a good feast.

But they were brothers. That’s what he couldn’t understand. And he knew all the other Grim Wolves were thinking the same. Never had any wolf threatened them before. Not since the night of their ritual, when they had stalked and killed an old wolf, the king of a pack, and earned their place as arcani.

‘The gods have abandoned us,’ Comitinus moaned at his back. ‘There can be no other explanation.’

‘You know what would solve this problem?’ Solinus snarled. ‘If I punched you in your face and threw you back there. We four could get away while they feasted on you. What say you?’

‘Silence, both of you,’ Bellicus roared.

‘I wouldn’t be surprised if they can smell Comitinus’ fear,’ Solinus grunted, demanding the last word as always.

Bellicus thundered to a halt, snatching at a branch to prevent himself from plunging over the edge into an abyss. He sucked a mouthful of air into his searing lungs and peered down. As his eyes searched the dark, which was punctured here and there by silver moonbeams, he sensed the lie of the land. A valley side, so steep at the top it was almost sheer. The earth had fallen away in places and the trees punched up in a jumble of angles, some half slipped, their roots straining.

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