She thought the deer might run but Riley stood his ground and waited for the two men to make their attack.
Not having time to watch the scene play out, Keira had issues of her own. Three boars lit the fuse to the explosives they armed for the middle gate.
There was no time to put it out, to save the gate from the same destruction the others had met. But for now those same boars had their backs turned and were easy picking.
Avoiding a wire held by two medium-sized boars, Keira slashed at their hooves. She couldn’t stand these hairy creatures with brown and black hair.
The boars cried out.
She paid no heed to their pain, and struck one of the three boars holding the fuse line.
It was ill-timed, not due to her pulverizing the boar with her paws and teeth, but misjudging his size and girth. As she pulled him to the ground, his massive size and weight rolled onto her body. She was now immobile while the dying animal lay on top of her.
The other two boars got down on all fours and attacked her with their snouts. They pecked away at her sides, as thought she was food to be foraged.
Keira was hurt, but she wouldn’t give up without a fight.
* * *
KABOOM!
KABOOM!
The explosives destroyed the third of the five gates. Rocks flew in every direction.
Riley watched the two men stumble. Giving him the time he desperately needed, he deflected one knife and stabbed the other man in the chest with his antlers.
Despite the deflection, the knife was jabbed at his body for a second time.
His front shoulder felt the blade make impact, but with a quick turn to his left, the blade was flung in the air and the man knocked to the ground unconscious.
“Why couldn’t Bilal have been that easy?” he said out loud.
* * *
The explosions shook the ground around the entire area. While the dead boar still laid on top of Keira’s dangling body, her attackers fell.
“Rarrrrrawww!” She screamed like never before.
Whether it was the sound of her roar or the extra effort, Keira rolled the six hundred pound boar off her body and got back on her feet.
They backed away from the snarling mountain lion. Neither one wanted a piece of the teen.
She was ready to grab the one closest to her, but caught sight of ten new arrivals.
Catching Riley out of the corner of her eye, she yelled, “Wolves!”
Grey wolfs, large ones, trained specially by Sohon’s special forces were coming through the last remaining gates.
Those boars still upright fell back and let the four legged elite take over.
Taking a step back, Keira looked on to see still more animals arriving. Croatian sheepdogs, lynx, and marten all arrived ready for battle.
She looked up in the sky.
“Where are the loons? Where’s my backup?”
For the first time in days when faced with adversity, she was alone with only Riley on the other end of the field, outnumbered 30 to 1.
* * *
The mighty buck knew enough to leave. He saved his strength and bolted for the woods.
She’s not stupid enough to stay. She can’t be that stupid.
He looked back at the settling invasion force.
Run Keira, run while you can.
Call him a coward if you want, but Riley was no match for those numbers. He put Keira out of his mind. Instead he hoped and prayed that he’d have time to protect and save Luza before the army was upon them.
* * *
Luza watched Birchard disappear into the fog. It infuriated her that the loon would betray her. She stormed over to the trees, wondering who else was waiting for her, Riley, and Keira to die.
“Are you all a bunch of chickens? Fraidy-cats? Yellow-bellys? I can’t believe this.”
The yellow, brown, red, and black eyes of over fifty birds, blinked back from the trees above.
“Are you kidding me? Where are you Great Loon so I can give you a piece of mind? Where are you?”
Luza covered the brim of her eyes, searching for the old loon. She wanted retribution. She wanted to tear off his feathers.
As much as she looked, the crafty bird was already on the other side of the island.
* * *
Caught up in the moment, Keira latched onto another boar. With an extra burst of strength, she dug her claws into the boar’s side and tossed the animal out of her way.
She might have bit another before the wolves had gathered their reinforcements, but the boars had fallen back.
Above her the Great Loon swooped down from above and landed only a few feet from the lone remaining gate.
She watched the wolves ignore the bird. One with a jade collar around his neck stood away from the others and conversed with the old loon.
Keira had seen enough.
Whether it was poor judgment or not she wanted the loon for herself.
No matter that there were enemies in front of her, she bolted away from the lines and ran along the rocks, mud, and trees that had been destroyed by the explosion.
He was close.
She could see his red eyes and the white feathers under his chin.
One swipe and he would be punished once and for all.
With tunnel vision, Keira focused solely on the bird, and she paid dearly for it.
KABOOM!
* * *
“You hide in the trees because an old loon couldn’t see past his own fate. Ridiculous! At least the geese, I expected more from you.”
Luza stared up at the pine trees, searching for the familiar black and white feathered birds.
Where did those long necks go?
“If you think you’re safe, you’re wrong. Nothing can protect you, not a handshake, an agreement, or a cranky old bird. If Sohon doesn’t kill you, in time the faeries will.”
Her voice was hoarse from yelling.
KABOOM!
Luza looked in the direction of the smoke.
She closed her eyes and quietly said, “At least act on behalf of the Princess, the Queen to be. She doesn’t hide in the shadows. She’s doesn’t fall back just because she’s scared. She believes in something, more than you can say and maybe even me.”
Shaking her head in disgust, tears fell from the Arctic teen’s face.
“Somebody help us, please.”
* * *
Keira rolled hard onto the loose dirt. Her eyes burned. Her body ached.
She gasped for air.
Smoke continued to rise around her and the destroyed gate behind.
Gone were her paws, the two-foot long tail, and the whiskers to match. She laid there on her stomach all five-foot-ten of her human frame.
She wanted to cover her forehead and the welt from one of many rocks that struck. Instead, her hands clung tightly onto her bruised ribs.
Her strength knocked out of her, Keira laid on the ground wondering when the others would settle the score.
She imagined the Great Loon perched on a large boulder strides away, safely in front of the last gate and surrounded by Sohon’s force.
If she had the ability to cry, she would have.
The wolves, martens, lynx, and Croatian sheepdogs ignored the teen altogether. They set out in haste leaving only a small force behind with the remaining pigs.
Keira was alone and for the first time since her transformation, genuinely afraid.
* * *
Riley didn’t know how much time he had. Sohon’s guard had to be close. They didn’t come here simply to guard a gate. He was confident of that.
Turning his head back and forth, Riley didn’t see anyone, let alone Keira.
He considered shifting course and finding the teen.
KABOOM!
Time was running out and he knew it.
Passing the remnants of the turkey fountain, the teen ran faster.
Snorting, he continued to run as hard as his hooves would take him, to Luza and hopefully off this is
land.
* * *
Fighting the pain, Keira opened her eyes and watched the Great Loon continue his conversation with the necklace-wearing wolf.
She didn’t know why, nor did she care about the wolf. The loon and his grin irked her at the core.
Weakly, she cried out, “Why don’t you finish me Charlie? Or are you going to let them do your dirty work?”
He shifted his beak and cawed, “You were never the target my dear. What a shame to see you lying in so much pain. Just rest and I promise they’ll let you be. I swear on your father.”
“My father?” she sniffled.
The comment devastated the teen. It was more than just Lane’s legacy at stake, but what he had wanted her to do. Keira didn’t understand the politics and who wanted what. She only understood they had been betrayed and those animals crisscrossing the island were after Luza.
* * *
Riley couldn’t run any faster.
His legs burned with lactic acid.
Two wolves burst by the teen.
He begrudgingly couldn’t act or do anything to slow their pace. The grey wolves with red in their eyes and the taste of blood in their throats, knew there was nothing he could do to stop them.
* * *
The image from days earlier of Luza bursting out of the woods, running away from Bilal and his dog Junkai, filled Keira’s thoughts. She remembered the little Arctic fox, with the adorable black button nose, and that long bushy tail she would wrap herself in while sleeping at night.
Luza’s deep blue eyes with amber specs had come all this way to find her. She had come through one of those gates and now Keira was unable to repay her for the sacrifice the fox had made.
It pained her, more than those bullets Bilal had unloaded on her body in the cave.
She took a deep breath and gasped for more air.
Looking up, she watched the grey wolf with the necklace swat at the Great Loon. The old bird never knew what struck him as he fell to the ground.
The golden eyes of the wolf fixed in on the wounded teen.
She watched him approach and wondered what she had left, if anything to fight.
* * *
Luza heard the two wolves coming. She saw them soon enough. Two large grey wolves, the scouts of the advancing force meant more were close behind.
My prince. Where is Riley?
She hoped he would be there to protect her, but instead the Princess of the Northern Wood stood defenseless, footsteps away from a smoldering fire, and a forest filled with birds who were content to hide.
* * *
The golden eyes came closer. Keira fixated on the emptiness of the grey wolf’s face and the jagged teeth that belonged to him.
She might have given up then, but from above a familiar cry came out.
“For King Lane, the rightful king!”
She raised her weary head and saw what seemed to her hundreds of red-tailed hawks and Canadian geese.
The wolf focused on the teen far too long. He wasn’t prepared for the impact of several hawks and geese dive bombing into his sides and back.
Keira lifted herself off the ground and stood.
She thought of her father and where he might be.
The birds fought for him, but she knew in her heart they had come for her.
With renewed strength and a heart filled with love, Keira ran on all fours. She was going after Luza.
Chapter 15
Luza stood in front of the fire. She didn’t have time to climb trees or hide in the shadows, nor did she want to. The Arctic princess picked up a half burnt branch from the fire, the tip still glowing from the embers and heat of the blaze.
She felt her legs shaking. It was different standing defenseless without any help to fend off the attackers.
Still Luza held tightly on to the branch and pulled it back, ready to swing at the two wolves only feet away.
“We’ll make it quick Princess of the Northern Wood,” the larger of the two wolves snarled.
“Don’t worry your family will join you soon enough,” the other wolf cackled.
“I don’t think so,” Luza flipped her chin in defiance.
The two wolves approached together.
Luza looked into their golden eyes. She couldn’t help but smile as she heard the sounds of a familiar hoof not too far away.
* * *
Riley willed himself to the ledges. The approaching force were stride lengths behind, but yet he managed to get there, unscathed, and almost to Luza.
He watched the scouts close in around her.
Unable to cry out, he pushed onwards, hoping it wasn’t too late.
* * *
Luza always considered herself scrappy. She couldn’t wait for the wolves to make up their mind. With as much force as her two arms could swing, the branch made contact, grazing the face of the smaller wolf.
The impact startled the beast and he fell over from the inflamed tip breaking against his jaw.
The broken branch held tightly in her grasp. She prepared to strike again.
“You’ll have to do more than that to scare me,” he hissed.
Hesitating, the large wolf cut to Luza’s left. He nipped at her feet.
Shifting two steps back, Luza stood on the edge of the fire, prodding the second wolf forward.
She waited for him to nip at her again.
* * *
The influx of more animals arriving at the gate led to much disorder. Keira couldn’t look back. She didn’t have time. While some of the geese and hawks remained, clawing at the eyes of the few boars who had either not fallen or who had failed to leave, they paid no attention to the others that began to line up several hundred feet away from the gate.
Keira was already far from those fields. The birds that went with her gave her strength to run at a speed she had never done before.
She might have gotten across the island even faster had it not been for the Croatian sheepdogs she overtook near the faerie fountains.
The dogs didn’t see her coming. They heard her heavy steps, the shallow breaths she panted, but they only turned around just as she ran over them.
None of the dogs expected an animal of her size, let alone an oversized black she-bear. If Lane was exceptional, Keira wasn’t far behind.
* * *
The wolf dove at Luza. Unable to react quickly enough, the branch was the only thing separating her from the wolf’s teeth now inches from her face. He clawed at her sides.
“Owwwww!”
Sliding the branch into the wolf’s mouth she kneed and slapped at the wolf with her spare hand and feet.
“Give up,” he howled.
The former Arctic fox would do nothing of the sort.
Reaching into the fire, she grabbed for the first log that would fit her grip. Grasping onto the burning wood, she thrust it at the wolf and rolled away with the impact.
Despite a singed face, the smaller wolf recovered enough and rushed to aid the second.
* * *
Riley, now on the scene, lowered his head and drove his antlers into the wolf.
The impact shattered the wolf’s rib cage and unable to control his limbs, the wolf flipped over the ledge on to the rocks below.
The mighty buck turned in his tracks and honed in on the large wolf that was now crying in pain.
“Luza!” Riley called.
If she heard her name, she never acknowledged. The teen ran as fast as her two legs would take her, and tackled the wolf into the fire.
* * *
Riley watched in horror as his loyal friend fell into the flames. His instincts left him confused and uncertain.
He shrugged. Immediately, he lost his shape and form, returning to his human self.
His eyes watered, but he had no time to spare.
The attacking force had arrived and they were coming right for him.
Reaching for the curved knife in the belt of his pants, he drew it, and wiped away the tears from his eyes.
&n
bsp; “Why Luza?” he cried out. “I’m so sorry I failed you.”
Doing what he could to contain his emotions, he whimpered loudly as more wolves came into view. Martens and lynx flanked to the sides with their eyes set on the birds waiting and hiding anxiously in the woods.
* * *
The dogs and other animals that lagged behind cowered at the sight of Keira bounding across the open ground.
They did nothing to stop her, nor could they.
Those that fell along her path were immediately struck by her large black paws with nails as strong as any knife or blade. Despite the brown muzzle, a white blaze on her chest, round ears, and a short tail that might have made Keira blush; the teen was the same girl who left Gilmanton days earlier.
Her eyes were the same amber bluish color, yet they were different. She was battle tested. Sure, she was only 14 years old, but Keira had seen enough bullies and faced enough hardship for a lifetime. No animal was going to stand in her way as long as she still had breath to breathe and strength in her limbs to guide her.
* * *
Riley waited impatiently for the wolves to arrive. They slowed their pace and even the martens and the lynx did the same.
“Why? What’s the purpose of slowing down? You have the blasted numbers and you already have Luza.”
He was angry and upset. Grime and dust covered his forehead and forearms. His jeans were shredded and even with several new gash marks, the boy fumed, ready to fight on.
Beating the hilt of the knife against his leg, he wanted to stab the blade in any animal that had sought to cause him and Luza harm.
“It’s not fair,” he glanced back at the fire. “You should be here with me.”
“I’m right here, my prince. Remind me to never do that again,” Luza was covered in soot. Her clothes were burnt, although her hair, face, and arms were unscathed. She gingerly walked from around the far side of the fire.
“What? How?” Riley’s face lit up. His jaw dropped and a huge smile formed.
“They made it look so easy on television. I should have known better.”
“Are you okay?” Riley looked her over from head to toe.
Luza wrapped her arms around the boy. She squeezed tightly and said, “I knew you’d come.”
KABOOM!
KABOOM!
* * *
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