We Walk As Wolves

Chapter 30

Dells

Dells hurt.

Each movement, each swing of his arm and snap of his wrist - it all hurt. Blood slid down his skin, some of it wolf, but most his own. The boys fought in a circle around him, fending off the beasts and tucking the wounded into the center. They would rest, catch their breaths, and then they'd rejoin the fight.

But fewer and fewer boys were standing beside him. Cass was still on his feet, swinging the sword with a confidence Dells hadn't truly believed he'd ever attain. He fought like an Equal fought, a flame of irrepressible rage thrumming through his fingers and into his sword.

As Dells fought, he kept one eye on Cass, one foot always ready to lunge in his direction. If they lost him now, everything they were sacrificing would be for nothing.

"Watch out!"

The boys scattered, the ground beneath them rocking. Dells pushed Cass behind him as the world shook, drawing everyone's focus to the surrounding trees. With another deep pulse that Dells could feel in his bones, the wide trunks split in half.

Some of them landed with heavy crashes on the wolves emerging out of the woods, cracking their skulls and breaking their spines, but most toppled into useless heaps, piling up with each quake and blocking off many of their escape routes into the rest of the Island.

Was that supposed to help us? Dells shot the air a glower.

The Island didn't answer. A voice in his head did. This is it, it whispered, quieter than normal. This is the end.

"Reed, get back!" Dells shouted, pulling the children's focus to the wolves as they stumbled back to their feet, jaws peeled open.

"Dells, there's too many!"

"Something's wrong with the island!"

"Keep your eyes sharp," Dells hollered over them. "They see your fear, they see the best ways to bring you down."

As the boys scrambled to gather their wits, Dells watched the collapsing trees. The Thief waited somewhere beyond the damage, beyond the chaos. Dells needed to get Cass to him. Before all the ways were thwarted off.

He turned, but kept his eyes on the wolves closing in. "Cass, I -"

The world screamed, a piercing sound that spiked through Dells's head. The ground shuddered again, but his boots seemed to sink into the dirt this time, like something in the core of the earth was sucking the soil down through a funnel.

Dells could feel the Island's struggle, the war with itself, like the ends of two swords clashing: the pieces that protected its people, and the pieces the Thief had ruined.

Come on. Come on, old pal. Hold together.

Dells felt the exact moment one of the swords found its mark. With an angry crack, the ground split into two halves, sloshing to each side like parting waves. Dells latched a hand around Cass's wrist just as the earth sent them flying sideways.

Dells hit the ground hard on his back, and something shattered near his hip. Cass landed beside him, catching himself in an awkward tumble. Gasping, Dells rolled over and grabbed onto Cass's shoulder. "Get up. Get up, now."

The wolves saw the way the humans broke as they hit the ground, saw their advantage. Dells had just pushed Cass to his feet when the first wolf reached them and pounced on his chest. Cass shrieked and hurled himself backward, slashing blindly with his sword. The wolf brought him down with a sickening scrape of its nails, but didn't have the chance to sink its teeth in before Dells had a hand around its rough tail and snatched it backward.