A World Found--Book 1

Chapter 17

Freya looked down at her watch, they had been traveling for nearly five hours, she was hungry and tired. The wolves had slowed back down to a trot and Freya had managed to keep her food in her stomach. 

Monkin had fallen asleep on Freyas lap and Freya wrapped both arms around Uzus waist. "Can we rest for a while?" Uzu shook his head stiffly. "We must get to those hills before nightfall." Freya sighed and stretched."Okay." 

Uzu slowed his wolf to a walk allowing a few soldiers to pass them. He turned around in his seat and pulled the hood more over Freya's head. "Keep it on so you stop losing energy." Captain Zyle trotted up beside them.

"Uzu, we sent a scout up ahead, and they haven't returned yet," Uzu raised his arm and shouted an order. The wolves started to break into a run again. Freyas hood flew off and she grabbed it pulling it tightly over her head.

 Monkin screeched and gripped Freya tightly. The terrain flew past them as they dashed through the muddy forest. Slowly the grass became green again and the ground became more solid under them, the wolves sped up now having solid earth under their paws.

The trees were huge and blocked out most of the sunlight, their huge leafy tops blowing gently in the breeze. Freya grew uneasy at the silence that was spread over the forest. And the scent, the scent was strong. Freya could smell flesh, rotting flesh. 

"Uzu," Freya whispered close to his ear so he could hear her over the wind rushing past them. "Can you smell that?" Uzu sniffed the air. "No, do you smell something?" Freya clutched Uzu tightly around the waist, she prayed it wasn't Zoe that she smelled. But she couldn't pick up on her scent.

 "Flesh." she whispered. Uzu nodded and raised his hand, his wolf slowed to a trot. He motioned for one of the soldiers beside him. "I need to speak to Captain Zyle." The soldier nodded and turned his wolf around and dashed back down through the other soldiers. 

Zyle pulled up beside them. "What is it?" Uzu nodded behind him at Freya. "She smells flesh, and have you noticed how silent this forest is?" Zyle sighed. "We knew we were going into the unknown." 

Freya hissed and covered her nose as a sweet smell wafted through the trees. It was so thick Freya could almost see it. The wolves all started to whine and paw at their noses, stopping dead in their tracks. 

Zyle turned to Freya who sat gagging and covering her nose with her jacket. "What is it? What do you smell?" Freya groaned. "How can you not smell that?" Uzu tugged at his wolf's harness "Hike! Hike!" Freya looked at Zyle.

 "It's Masters scent." Zyle pulled at his own wolf. "Were almost to the hills, they might not know were here yet." Zyle ran his wolf all up and down the lines, giving new orders.

They trotted silently through the dark woods. Monkin whined on Freyas lap. Freya patted his head. "Shh." she put her finger to her lips. 

"Captain." one of the men pointed to something dangling from a branch of the tree above them. Uzu reached behind him and turned Freyas head away. "don't look." But Freya had already caught the scent of the dead Algras. 

"Captain?" The soldier trotted beside them. Uzu nudged his wolf back into a trot. "Leave it, if we make it back alive, we'll gather it." Freya buried her head in Uzus shirt. She felt like this had to be her fault, Master wanted to play around with her, he was toying with her at the expense of lives.

 "Captain!" the soldier gasped. Freya looked up, bodies of Algras hung from trees, their bodies turned slowly in the breeze. Monkin crawled around Freya and hung onto her neck, looking up at the trees, decorated with bodies. 

Freya hands shook as she stared up at a few of the faces of the Algras. A few feet in front of them carved in the trunk of a tree, were the letters W-E-L-C-O-M-E. Freya gritted her teeth as she heard cries of the soldiers behind her as they saw someone they knew. 

Monkin purred and rubbed Freyas face against his. Freya patted him numbly on the head. "I said don't look." Uzu pushed her face back against his back. Freya pulled her hood further over her head breathing heavily. 

Her hands shook as she thought about Zoe, only now did Freya realized how vile Master was, and what he was capable of. A few moments later Uzus voice broke the silence. "Okay." Freya looked back up. They were just coming to the hills; they trotted slowly up the hill till they stopped at the top.

The sun was lowering in the sky as they set up their camp. Captain Zyle said it didn't matter if they set fires, the Master Clan knew they were here. Freya sat around the fire; her legs pulled tightly to her chest.

 She stared at the dancing flame. If she thought really hard, she could imagine she was back in her alley, sitting around a fire she had just made. "I think your being very brave." Captain Colt sat down next to her with a plate of food. Freya lifted her head. 

"Thanks." she mumbled. Colt handed her the plate and she took it gratefully. The sun's rays were slowly sinking. Five soldiers had gone missing since that morning and Freya couldn't help but feel guilty. 

Colt's wolf whimpered behind her, and Freya raised her arm to scratch its head. It curled down next to her and closed its eyes. Captain Zyle walked up behind Freya startling her.

 "Sorry, here." Zyle handed her the pistol and its holster. Freya took it thankfully. She started to strap it to her thigh. "Do you have the bullets?" Zyle frowned and pulled a box from his cloak pocket. 

"These?" Freya nodded and took them; she opened the chamber and shoved them into the empty gun. She slid the rest of the bullets into her jacket pocket. The rest of the captains came and sat around the fire. 

"So, they knew we'd come," one of them said stoking the fire. Zyle leaned against his wolf that had fallen asleep. "I sent a scout out, he returned with the news I'd been hoping for. Their camp is a little further in the woods. It's a large metal dome, it wasn't being guarded at the moment. There numbers seem to be fewer than we thought, there dying out."

 Colt smirked. "So, it's a little fairer now?" Zyle face grew dark. "Now, Master knows were here, that gives him the upper hand." one of the captains spit into the fire and folded his arms over his chest. 

"We could just give him his daughter in exchange for peace." Freya hand froze halfway between sliding the gun into the hostler. Uzu growled at the captain. "Lord Menk gave us orders Og; we will not disobey them." 

Zyle sighed and closed his eyes. "thanks to Freya we learn that the Master Clan was responsible for controlling the Yeth, and the Master Clan has been threatening us with their power for too long." 

The sun sank behind the hills and the moons rose into the sky. Freya slid the gun into the hostler and leaned against the soft wolf that leaned against her. The stars shone brightly above her. She wondered if anybody back on earth was looking up at the stars wondering if there was anybody out in the universe wondering the same thing. 

Monkin chirped and leapt onto Freyas lap. He grabbed Freyas face and stared at her. Freya frowned. "What?" she whispered. Monkin jumped up and down on her chest before leaping up into a tree. 

Freya sat up and looked around her at the fires burning all over the hill, the soldiers chatting and eating. Freya watched Monkin hiding behind a branch high up in the tree. Freya stood to her feet and walked toward the trees.

 Uzu looked over at her. "What are you doing?" Freya frowned. "Monkin getting upset, I'm checking out these woods." Colt smiled at her. "Don't worry, the wolves will smell anything amiss a mile away. If a Yeth steps even a foot within that mile the Wolves will know."

 Freya drew her hood over her face when the other captain laughed. "Crazy witch." Freya grumbled and stalked off into the woods. Monkin chirped behind her.