by Claudia King
To Caspian's surprise, Hawk's mate Essie also insisted that she join them. It had been a long time since she hunted, but years of motherhood had certainly not softened the woman. Much like her male, she was a focused, practical sort, and she had joined the pack on many forays into the Sun People's territory in her youth. She said little about her reasons for joining them, only that the seers had always been kind to her. Whatever debt Essie felt she had to repay, it was her own secret to keep.
The four of them gathered at the base of the outcrop before noon. Little explanation was needed. They all knew what they intended to do, and the danger they might face. Netya could not have made it all the way back to the village on her own, but the longer they took to find her, the closer she might get.
With a tireless energy lending strength to his strides, Caspian led the way out into the plains, his wolf's soft brown fur rippling in the wind as he searched the air for any trace of Netya's scent. He set a hard pace, but his three companions kept up doggedly. Perhaps they all desired to see Netya safe just as much as him, or perhaps they sensed the passionate urgency driving their leader. He did not care to pretend otherwise. It was difficult for wolves to hide the silent language of their emotions from one another. His actions spoke of more than concerned friendship. The force pushing him forward could have kept him running for days.
It was only later that afternoon, as they slowed their pace to spread out and begin searching, that a fifth wolf caught up with them. Neither of them said a word as Khelt bounded up through the tall grass and settled into place beside Caspian, growling under his breath as he lifted his muzzle and sought out the myriad scents in the air.
It was a bittersweet relief to have the alpha join them. Half of Caspian wanted to embrace his friend in relief, while the other almost wished he had stayed back at the outcrop. He knew he needed Khelt's help. He knew Netya was safer with the alpha out looking for her.
But he also knew that his companion cared strongly for the woman they both loved. Just as strongly as he did.
Careful not to wear themselves out, they made camp before sundown and took time to hunt and rest. Night was the natural time of their wolves, and it would be safer to search under the cover of darkness while they were so close to the Sun People's territory. The edge of the forest was already visible from the top of the small hillock they rested on. After catching a few hours of sleep, they would spread out and start searching back the way they had come.
Caspian's body still burned with energy despite his lack of rest, but he knew exhaustion would dull his senses if he did not force himself to sleep while he had the chance. Fern was impatient to carry on searching as well, but Khelt reminded her of the danger they were in. The Sun People would be eager to take a tired wolf's skull for their wall if given the chance. All of them needed to stay safe and alert.
Caspian was thankful for Hawk's presence. Between the three males, the practical talk of their plans helped mask the lingering sense of discomfort between him and Khelt. On some instinctive level, they both understood far more than they were willing to give voice to. Neither of them had ever wanted a female to come between them, and yet they had been forced into a situation where concealing their true feelings was no longer possible.
Once their wolves had tracked down a few small critters to satiate their hunger, they slept in shifts until the stars were out and night had blackened the plains. The others allowed Caspian to sleep without standing watch, and despite knowing that he had probably needed the rest most of all, he still could not shake the feeling of guilt at having lain idle for so long while Netya was still out there.
They split up three ways to begin searching. Hawk and Essie headed south, Fern and Khelt north, and Caspian in the middle, where both pairs could quickly come to his aid if he ran into danger. It was a painstaking search, requiring much patience when all his wolf wanted to do was latch on to a scent and chase it down until he found Netya. The running during the day had felt like progress, but now the challenge of patience began.
Forcing himself to push aside his wolf's reckless impulses and focus on its calm cunning, he began combing the plains for fresh scents. His ears pricked up as he tasted the smell of the Sun People on the wind, but his heart soon sank when he realised it did not carry Netya's unique flavour. The scents on the breeze were just traces of hunting parties who had passed through here recently, and he ignored them as soon as he realised what they were.
As the night wore on, however, he began to question what he was smelling. The scents were fresh, and they carried the distinction of many different bodies. What was more, they seemed to have been moving in a meandering, searching pattern, just like him. How often did the Sun People venture into the plains to hunt, anyway? The more he thought on it, the more it began to concern him, not least due to the freshness of the trail indicating that they were still out here somewhere. They would know better than to light a fire that would betray their position to the beasts roaming the plains ( beasts like him, Caspian reflected grimly), and that could mean stumbling upon them at any moment if he was not careful. He would have to keep track of the scents to make sure.
His agitation flared up again every time he stumbled over the Sun People's trail. Perhaps it was only the instincts of his wolf, but he felt in competition somehow with their hunting party. Two opposed hunters could not share the same territory. Despite his best efforts, he was unable to shake their scent. They had been everywhere, doubling back on themselves and combing every inch of the plains, searching every tangle of undergrowth and every spur of rock that broke the flat landscape. Their paths even extended all the way to the craggier land in the south close to the river, where Hawk and Essie were searching.
Dawn had almost crossed the horizon by the time Caspian caught sight of a small wisp of white fur caught on a blade of grass. The Sun People's trail was so easy to follow that he could have tracked it without relying on his nose any more, but the little white wisp stirring in the breeze made him pause. It reminded him of a white wolf, and he doubted there were many of those nearby.
Without disturbing the piece of fur, he brought his muzzle close and sniffed. Instantly, Netya's warm scent flooded through him, bringing back so many fond memories. He closed his eyes, almost forgetting where he was for a moment. He smelled the seers' cave, herbal tea, smoke, grass, sweet meadow plants, and that fragrant core that was distinctly Netya, tinged with the gentle flavour of the Sun People. Latching on to it, he followed his muzzle until, with growing unease, he realised that Netya's trail was now indistinguishable from that of the phantom hunting party. It was hard to tell whether she had been travelling with them or not, but it was a bad omen.
Lifting his muzzle to the sky, he let out a low howl. The Sun People would hear it, wherever they were, but he could not worry about that now. After a painstaking wait, he finally caught sight of Hawk and Essie bounding through the long grass from the south, and Khelt and Fern appeared shortly after, just as day was breaking.
Caspian told them what he had found. Hawk and Essie recounted a similar tale, having tracked a second band of the Sun People heading west near the river. They too seemed to have been searching for something.
"It cannot be Netya they were looking for," Fern said. "She could not have made it back to the village already, could she?"
"Perhaps they were looking for something else and stumbled across her," Hawk replied. "Or perhaps they have seers of their own who foresaw her return. Either way, they are out here, and so is she."
"If she is with them, we must try and talk," Caspian said, looking to Khelt. "She would not want blood to be spilled on her account."
"Will it do any good if she is?" Khelt grunted. "Perhaps she is glad to be back with her own kind. When has their tribe ever proven willing to talk?"
"Perhaps now, if Netya is with them. What other choice do we have? They are greater in number than us."
Khelt ran a hand over his chin in agitation. Even out here, he was still alpha, and it was h
is word they waited on. "Try and find Netya. The three of you follow this trail. Fern and I will run ahead and try to overtake the Sun People. We must find out where all of them are, and whether Netya is with them, before we do anything."
"Take care," Caspian said, clapping a hand on his friend's arm. "Call for us if you run into trouble."
Khelt's frown softened, and after a moment he gripped Caspian's wrist and gave him a faint smile. "You too, brother."
Fern had already taken the shape of her wolf and run ahead by the time Khelt stepped away. A silent moment of understanding passed between the alpha and his friend as their eyes met.
Whatever we have to settle will be settled later, it said.
Caspian let out a long breath as he watched them go, before turning back to Hawk and Essie. "Let us hurry. If the Sun People made camp out here last night, they may not yet have risen."
It was not long before Netya's trail veered off to the south, back in the direction of the river. They made their way forward cautiously, ever aware that the increasingly uneven land provided many spots in which their enemies might linger unseen. As the ground softened, the tracks of the Sun People grew more clear. They had been running. Fleeing something, or chasing down their quarry?
Caspian almost pierced his paw on the broken fragments of a discarded stone axe, slipping on the rocks near the river as he struggled to keep track of Netya's scent through the shallows. It became difficult to follow her path as the land rose up in rocky spurs around them, the churning noise of the river muffling their sensitive ears as the watercourse widened and rumbled its way through the rough terrain.
The three of them were forced to split up, combing different areas of the bank so as not to lose any of the disparate trails they were following. The scents were stronger than before, but still several hours old. Caspian did not expect to stumble across anyone just yet.
Unfortunately, his instincts proved to be wrong. A sky white with clouds cast its stark light through the leaves as he prowled away from the river, heading down a slope into a thinly wooded area, where shrubs and trees encircled a number of clearings. The foliage masked the strong scents lingering in the air. Caspian did not realise anyone else was nearby until a young man pushed his way through the bushes in front of him, and froze. His eyes widened with fear at the sight of the huge wolf standing a few yards away, fingers tightening around the shaft of the spear he held.
Caspian's quick eyes registered everything that was about to happen within an instant, and his choices flashed through his mind faster than he could weigh them. Before the boy opened his mouth to yell, Caspian left his wolf behind him and rose up on two legs, reaching out with open palms.
"Wait!" he said in the language of the Sun People. "We are not here to fight —"
He got no further before the young man's spear pierced his side, and pain stole his breath away.
—39—
Hunted
Netya ran. She did not know why, but she ran anyway. It seemed all the world had turned against her. Her mother, her village, her pack—even fate itself. What a cruel trick had been played upon her, for her last ray of hope to have been snatched away just as she was beginning to overcome despair. There was nothing for her now. The medicine in her pouch was useless. Adel would be dead long before Netya could reach her.
As she fled across the plains that first morning, her legs refused to keep her up for more than a few dozen paces at a time. She stumbled and tripped, and each time she fell she wondered whether it was worth getting back up. Though she did not realise it at the time, it was likely this that saved her life. Her first instinct had been to dash across open ground, trying to outpace the hunters of her village until... She did not know what. All she knew was that some insolent spark of life still clung to her soul.
Had she remained on her feet, the hunting party would have caught sight of her within the first hour after dawn. With exhaustion crushing the strength from her body one pace at a time, it was not long before she collapsed in the tall grass and began crawling. It was too difficult to get back on her feet. Too pointless. The villagers would be upon her soon, and then it would all be over. She must have crawled numbly for another hour before she felt the ground growing damp beneath her palms, and realised she had meandered all the way to the bank of the river.
Netya's waterskin still hung against her chest, but she had not thought to drink from it for hours. Tears and exertion had drained the moisture from her body, and it was only the dampness of the river that kicked her thoughts back into motion. Struggling with the wooden stopper, she finally managed to bring the waterskin to her lips, spilling half its contents on the ground before swallowing the rest greedily.
She lay there for several moments, waiting for the inevitable to come, before realising that the voices of the hunters had grown distant. In fact, the longer she listened, the quieter they became. Her features contorted in frustration. Why were they taking so long to find her? Why could it not be over?
After a short time had passed, she unslung her spear from her back and used it to lever herself back to her feet. Peering over the long grass, she made out two dark groups of bodies in the distance, both moving away from her, headed deeper into the plains. At first she was confused, until a dim connection registered in the back of her mind, and she remembered Vaya's pawprints in the dirt.
She ran a hand across her face, once again wondering whether she should laugh or cry. Vaya had left her at the mercy of the Sun People, but in her haste to leave she had not bothered to be inconspicuous. The villagers were looking for a wolf, not a person, and Vaya had left much clearer tracks than Netya.
Vaya.
The name burned on Netya's tongue like a metal brand. She knew why she had not given up now. The huntress had taken everything from her. Could it have been Vaya that poisoned Adel too? In that moment, Netya was willing to believe her adversary capable of anything. There was no life for her back with her own kind, and within a few hours the Moon People would think her a murderer. The wilderness held nothing but loneliness and despair as she waited for nature to claim her. Perhaps she could try to find the North People, but she had not the first idea where their village lay. She might wander for months without stumbling across it, if she could even survive that long by herself.
She had nothing. Nothing but the urge to take vengeance on the one who had done this to her. It was a wicked feeling, one that was such a small part of Netya that she barely even recognised it. But when everything else she cared for had drained away to near insignificance, it glinted with dark lustre.
It seemed an impossible task to find her way back to the outcrop alone, and to evade the hunting parties in the process, but she had felt the same way the last time Vaya's actions left her alone and helpless in the valley. Revenge did not count for much, but it was a reason to keep going. Small hopes still lingered in the bottom of Netya's heart, but they were stray threads in a tangle of darkness.
The sun rose higher, and she drifted in and out of consciousness until the voices of the hunters returned. Rubbing her eyes, she pulled herself up again and squinted through the grass. One of the groups had disappeared into the distance, but the other had doubled back and turned south, making directly for the river. Had they found her trail? Glancing back the way she had come, she saw the grass had been crushed and bent where she crawled through it. If they were not tracking her yet, they would be soon.
Netya kept her body low and her spear horizontal at her side. Creeping across the muddy ground to the edge of the river, she splashed a handful of cool water into her face, then held her waterskin below the surface until it was full. It helped to clear the hot, hazy fog of bleakness from her mind a little, but she was still exhausted. The only advantage she had was her ability to hide. If she could remain ahead of the hunters, perhaps she could lose them farther out on the plains.
Realising that she had left several clear footprints of her own in the mud near the riverbank, she waded through the shallows until sh
e found a rocky area that would conceal her tracks. Her moccasins were soaked through, and the cloudy summer sky withheld its warmth, but she kept on going. Just as she crawled out of the water and hurried back into the grass she heard the sound of a splash behind her, followed by raised voices. The hunters had found her footprints already.
That day felt like the longest in Netya's life. The hours soon became a blur, fear and exhaustion bleeding together with the pain of her aching limbs to make every moment a trial unlike anything she had ever faced. There were times when she ran, fearing the hunters would be upon her at any moment. Then she would slow down, creeping as silently as a shadow through the undergrowth, afraid that the slightest noise would give her away. Every time she had to abandon the long grass and cross open ground her heart pounded in her ears, expecting to hear a cry of alarm go up behind her at any moment, or to feel a javelin pierce her vulnerable back.
She might have been less conspicuous without the white wolf's pelt wrapping her body, but the warmth of the fur was one of the few comforts she had against the dampness seeping into her clothes and the chill of the clammy breeze. More than that, her wolf might be the only thing protecting her spirit from giving in to hopelessness. She could not abandon him out here. He was the only friend she had left.
Netya's flight led her deeper into the plains, but her path had no real direction or purpose to it. Every moment was occupied searching for a new hiding place, hopping from one cranny in the exposed landscape to the next. A small hill, a swathe of long grass, a patch of brambles. No matter how far she went, the hunters never seemed to give up. They were always there, always hounding her. The only respite she had came when they momentarily lost her trail and were forced to start searching, but they would always pick it up again before long. They were experienced hunters, and she was just a girl.