The Wolf's Bounty

by K. T. Harding

  “How should I know?” he thundered. “Just run! They’ll kill us if they catch us.”

  She ran through the dark. She dragged her fingertips over the walls to guide her way when she couldn’t see a thing. All at once, Bishop snatched at her shirt from behind. “This way!”

  He yanked her back and bolted down a side tunnel going the other way. For an instant, the Endavors fell behind, but they recovered faster than Raleigh expected. Within seconds, they barreled into the tunnel right behind Bishop. Raleigh heard their tell-tale grunting as they ran.

  She considered using the crossbow on them the way she hunted kataracts back home, but that wouldn’t work. She barely had enough bolts to kill one, let alone a whole crowd of them. Besides, stopping to take the bow down and get it loaded would take time, time she didn’t have to waste right now.

  Bishop must have some plan when he turned into this tunnel. He would tell her or show her what it was in no time now. They would slip out to freedom and leave this terrible situation behind.

  He didn’t reveal any plan, though. Maybe he was just as lost and terrified as she was. Maybe he couldn’t find his way out of Hinterland without that magical vehicle. Maybe they traveled too far, and now they were stranded, hundreds of miles from the nearest exit.

  Raleigh’s heart sank. No wonder he never told Dax where he was going. Better that Dax and Mrs. Mitchell and everyone else on the surface never found out what happened to them. Knowing would only hurt them and rob them of the happiness she and Bishop wanted so badly to preserve for them.

  He didn’t try to turn and fight them, either. If she stumbled or fell behind, he shoved her forward harder than ever. The tunnel led farther underground until all light from the exit holes vanished to pitch dark. Where were they going?

  Just when Raleigh began to despair of ever getting out of these tunnels, the passage exploded into another huge space. No light brightened the gloom, and she and Bishop burst into the open so suddenly, they couldn’t stop themselves. The tunnel spat them out on a steep incline, and they plummeted down it on a collision course with the river.

  Faster than she could think, Raleigh scrambled for any handhold to check her fall. The Endavors didn’t know where they were either, and they fell down the bank too. They floundered all around Raleigh and Bishop. They roared and beat the air with their arms, but their great weight dragged them toward the black water so fast they couldn’t check their fall.

  One enormous brute flailed right and left with a club twice the size of Raleigh. It slammed into the bank and knocked her loose from the precarious spot where she clung by her fingernails. She skidded another ten feet toward the water before she fought herself to a standstill.

  Another Endavor hurtled through the opening at breakneck speed. Before he knew what hit him, he sailed into thin air and smashed into the bank right on top of Bishop. The two bodies floundered together for a terrible moment before they both slid past Raleigh.

  She shot out one arm to grasp Bishop’s coat. “Bishop! Hang on to me!”

  He tried to catch her hand. He cried out, “Raleigh. No!” but he missed his aim and sailed out of reach.

  Raleigh lost sight of him among a glut of Endavors slashing and churning the water’s edge to froth. The dark water streamed by in a steady current. It tugged the Endavors away from the bank. One large body floated into the stream. The Endavor bellowed to the skies, but all the flapping and stroking in the world couldn’t stop the current sweeping him away.

  Ten Endavors piled at the river’s edge. They all clawed and struggled to get up the bank, but they only succeeded in making it more slippery and perilous. Raleigh screamed again and again for Bishop, but she couldn’t see him anywhere. She dared not let go of her place on the bank for fear she’d get caught in that deadly maw along with him.

  More Endavors fell into the water and got sucked away on the current. The creatures left behind panicked and attacked each other in desperation. They clubbed each other and climbed over one another’s unconscious bodies.

  All at once, a single smaller body swam up among the wrestling Endavors. Bishop looked tiny next to them, but his smaller size gave him all the advantage he needed. He clawed his way over the seething mass of bodies to get clear of the water.

  Little by little, he climbed up the bank to Raleigh. His breath wheezed through his teeth, but he didn’t stop until he reached her. They inched the last few feet to the tunnel before they paused to catch their breath.

  Bishop flopped his torso into the tunnel and heaved his feet up behind him before he helped haul Raleigh in behind him. They collapsed together on solid ground. Bishop’s head fell back against the rock wall. “Phew!”

  Raleigh swallowed to get her parched throat working. “Where do we go now? We can’t get away on the river.”

  He glanced up the tunnel. “If we get back to Rolling Downs, we can get the vehicle. Then we can get out of here.”

  “Do you really want to go back there?” she asked. “These Endavors came from there. If Fuki sent them after us, he’ll send more. Going back to Rolling Downs would be running straight into his hands. Besides, he could have taken the vehicle to stop us from getting away.”

  Bishop shook his head. “It’s our best hope. Come on. With any luck, these are all the Endavors coming after us. We might have a straight run back to the vehicle.”

  Raleigh made a face. “You don’t really believe that, do you?”

  He pushed himself up on his hands and knees. He leaned forward and kissed her before he climbed to his feet. “That’s what I love about you. You never pull any punches. It’s always right out front with you, isn’t it? You say exactly what’s on your mind.”

  “Well, what good would it do if I didn’t?”

  He didn’t answer. He got to his feet and affected to straighten his clothes, even when mud caked them to a sad remnant of their former glory. He faced the direction from which they came to head back to Rolling Downs, but he never took the first step.

  At that moment, two dozen Endavors came barreling down the tunnel straight for them. The moment they appeared, a loud thump echoed down the tunnel. Dozens of lights sprang to life along the tunnel ceiling as far as the eye could see. Light behind her made Raleigh turn around to see dozens more lamps blazing all along the river. They illuminated the underground world brighter than any sun.

  The mass of Endavors still struggled and tumbled down at the water’s edge. More Endavors floated on the water far into the distance. Raleigh cast around this way and that, but she couldn’t get herself to move. What could a person do in a situation like this? It was hopeless. She couldn’t fight her way forward and she couldn’t go back.

  A blinding flash startled her out of her reverie. That flash sprang from some source right next to her. When she looked, she saw Bishop lunged forward on one knee with the cube weapon in his hand. He held it out in front of him to aim it at the oncoming Endavors.

  She stared at him. What was he doing? As she watched, another blazing torrent of light ripped the air apart. A bolt of lightning shot out of his hand. It crackled down the tunnel and struck the foremost Endavor. It splintered the creature’s giant club to matchsticks.

  The Endavor whirled one way with a fearsome bellow. It swung the tattered remnant of its club, but nothing remained to hit or destroy. It flung the stump against the wall and trained its small black eyes on Bishop. It balled up its fists in fury and lowered its head to charge.

  Raleigh never stopped to wonder what to do. On instinct, she whipped her crossbow off her back. Before she had time to think, the first bolt whistled through the air. It hit the Endavor in the right eye. Pulp and fluid spattered across the tunnel. Just for an instant, Raleigh hesitated. She stared at the bolt sticking out of the Endavor’s face.

  The creature thundered louder than ever. It stopped in its tracks to flail and claw at its eye. It blocked the tunnel and prevented its comrades from advancing.

  She couldn’t understand what was happening. She
told herself these Endavors were some kind of modified kataracts, but no kataract ever reacted to a bolt in the eye like that. No kataract’s eye ever exploded like that. Something wasn’t right, or she made a big mistake equating these things with kataracts. Maybe the two species were nothing alike. Maybe they only looked similar.

  She didn’t have time to think right now. She snatched the next three bolts and sent them whizzing through the air. She blinded the lead Endavor and shot out the eyes of the next two behind the leader.

  Their confusion and rage stopped up the tunnel even longer. She wheeled around to shout at Bishop. “Let’s get out of here.”

  “How?” he hollered back.

  “I don’t know,” she shrieked. “Let’s get down the river.”

  “How?” he repeated.

  Three blind Endavors rushed at them. They couldn’t see, but that made no difference. They were coming. Raleigh and Bishop had to get out of the way. The only place to go was down the bank.

  Raleigh took one look down the steep slope she just worked so hard to climb up when Bishop snatched her sleeve. He yanked her over the edge. She barely had time to wrench herself around to land on the seat of her pants in the slick mud. She slid all the way down to the water and came to rest with her bootheels propped on an Endavor’s head.

  The three blind Endavors plunged over the edge behind her, but their comrades caught themselves in time. They hovered around the opening and snarled down at Raleigh and Bishop among their fallen comrades. One Endavor grunted something to his friends.

  Raleigh didn’t like the look of the situation. The Endavors all around her feet seethed out of the water, pawed their way up the bank, and slid down again. One of them grabbed her ankle and tried to use her to drag himself up. She kicked him off, but the others would do the same thing before long. She couldn’t stay here. She and Bishop had to find their way out.

  A monstrous splash erupted out of the water’s surface. Raleigh spun around. The Endavors on top of the bank raised giant stones and hurled them down at her and Bishop. The first one sailed clear to plunk into the water. It lapped waves around the stricken Endavors. Those waves threatened to tug Bishop and Raleigh into the black depths.

  The second rock bounced off an Endavor’s head. He screamed in pain. Then he submerged and vanished unconscious under the undulating river. High above her, more Endavors appeared with rocks to hurl down on their cringing victims.

  Raleigh looked everywhere, but the situation appeared hopeless. She opened her mouth to tell Bishop they would have to take their chances in the current when the sound of a motor buzzed around the corner. It drowned out her voice so he didn’t hear her.

  Bishop looked up at the Endavors ready to strike, but they didn’t notice him. They held their rocks aloft, but they didn’t fling them. They stared out into the river at something coming around the bend. Raleigh glanced over to see what caught their attention. Then Bishop looked, too.

  Another vehicle spluttered through the waves. It plowed through the dark water and sent a streaming wake foaming behind it. A boat buzzed into view and slowed near the thrashing Endavors in front of Raleigh. Her mouth fell open, and her eyes popped out of her head. “Dax!”

  The boy grinned up at her and waved her toward him. “Come on! Get in!”

  Bishop bared his teeth and snarled. “What are you doing here?”

  Raleigh grabbed his sleeve. “Who cares? Come on.”

  She hauled him into the water. They floundered up to their waists before Dax steered his boat toward them and pulled them aboard. Once they collapsed in the bilge, he took the helm and motored away, far from the falling rocks thrown their way by the Endavors left behind in the tunnel.

  Chapter 27

  Bishop drew himself up to his full height and confronted Dax. “Start talking, boy. You better explain yourself, and it better be good. What are you doing here and how did you find us? You’re supposed to be at home.”

  Raleigh laid a hand on Bishop’s arm. “Leave him alone. Just be grateful he showed up when he did.”

  “How can you defend him at a time like this?” Bishop bellowed. “Don’t you know what this means?”

  “Yeah, I know what it means,” she returned. “It means he’s not the ignorant kid you thought he was. He knows a lot more about Hinterland than you give him credit for. You should have trained him when you had the chance. Now he’s here, and he won’t go back to being your little errand boy, so get used to it.”

  Bishop spun one way and then the other. He glared first at Dax and then at Raleigh. “You’re both in this together. I should have known.”

  “You should have known a long time ago Dax wasn’t living in the dark,” Raleigh replied. “He’s one of us. He’s a slayer, and you’ve neglected his training something awful. You should be ashamed of yourself, but there’s no time to regret it now. We all just have to move forward and deal with the situation as we find it. The question is how we’re going to get back to the exit.”

  Bishop turned away. “I’m not going back to the exit. You and Dax will go to the house. I’m going to the market. I’m not leaving until I find out who contracted Soto to acquire the twen. I have to find out before I quit.”

  “If you’re going to the market,” Raleigh told him, “I’m coming with you.”

  Dax caught her eye and she recognized the expression on his face. He wanted to go to the market, too. He didn’t want to go back to the house. He wanted to get involved in this investigation. He wanted to jump in the deep end, boots and all. Here he was, and there was no going back for him any more than Bishop or Raleigh were going back.

  He didn’t say anything, though. His eyes pleaded with Raleigh, but when she peered at Bishop’s brooding features, she didn’t say anything, either. She didn’t dare. She said her piece to stick up for Dax. Taking him to the market? That was a whole different ball of wax.

  Not even she could justify putting Dax in that much danger. He didn’t even know how to use a weapon. On second thought, she didn’t know how to use the strange weapons Bishop gave her, either. Dax could use them as well as she could.

  The boat churned down the river. No one said anything. Raleigh lapsed into silence. What should she do? If she sided with Bishop and insisted Dax return to the house, it wouldn’t do any good. He would continue to follow them. He would nag them until he got involved in their investigation. Failing that, he would hazard impetuous rescue missions like this one. They would prove far more dangerous than involving him straight out.

  The sad reality confronted her no matter which way she turned. Dax was in this. Going back no longer presented a viable option. They would have to train him, and they would have to take him along. Nothing else made sense.

  Bishop glanced over his shoulder and sliced his finger through the air. “Turn left at the fork.”

  Dax obeyed, and the boat puttered up to the flat landing where she and Bishop arrived at the base of the hidden staircase. Bishop expected to drop Dax off here and leave him behind.

  Dax cast another stricken glance at Raleigh. His eyes begged her to do something, to say something to help him, but she couldn’t. She agreed with Bishop too much. Poor Dax. He could never understand.

  Bishop turned around. “Pull in here and get out.”

  Dax did as he was told, but his shoulders sagged. His eyebrows angled up in the middle, and his lips contorted in anguish. Raleigh couldn’t look at him. He eased the boat to the river’s edge and cut the motor.

  Bishop faced him. “I don’t even want to know how you did this, but you’ll never do it again. Do you understand? Go home and stay there. If I see your face down here again, you’re finished. Do you hear me? You’ll never set foot in my house or have anything to do with me again. Now get out of here.”

  Dax took his hands off the steering wheel. He took one step toward the landing. Raleigh’s throat ached, but she couldn’t look at him. She couldn’t watch his whole world destroyed in a single instant.

  At that mome
nt, something massive zinged through the air. Raleigh only had time to look up and see the most gigantic Endavor she ever beheld standing above them. How it fit into the tunnel, she couldn’t understand. It hunched its shoulders to wedge its massive frame under the ceiling.

  With one powerful blow of its hand, it smashed the boat into the water. The craft splintered into a million shards. Bishop, Raleigh, Dax, and all the debris sailed into the air in all directions. Raleigh flipped over in mid-air and slammed down on the river’s solid icy surface.

  The water sucked her down to her doom. Its chilly fist clamped around her head and filled her mouth and her clothes. It dragged her into the dark. The waves churned all around her, and the current snatched her away in its gravitational pull.

  She kicked and flapped her arms. She floundered to the surface and sucked in a lungful of air and water. She went down one more time before she paddled to the surface and stayed there.

  The current swept her along so fast it smoothed out all the ripples. She shook the wet hair out of her eyes and cast a glance around. In the distance, she saw the huge Endavor staring down at the remains of the boat. Boards and refuse floated on the surface, but she could see no people anywhere.

  Was she alone? Did that blow kill Bishop and Dax? All at once, the Endavor plunged its giant arm into the water. It pulled out the miniscule figure of a human being. Raleigh recognized Dax’s brown hair and rustic clothes. He waved his arms and legs around, and his voice bounced off the tunnel walls to touch her ears. Then the Endavor turned and strode off through the water with Dax clutched in its fist.

  Raleigh called out, but the river swallowed up her voice. The current still swept her away in the opposite direction—away from Dax, away from Bishop’s house, away from the only exit she knew from this terrible world.

  She almost gave up hope when she bumped into something in the water. She tried to grab hold of it when it grabbed her at the same time. A dripping wet head emerged from the black soup all around her, and she gasped out loud. “Bishop! Bishop! You’re okay!”