Prophecy of Power: Quarry

Chapter 7

Caroline and Kirsty ran as hard as they could, holding hands as they struggled on the uneven slope. Caroline barely kept her feet as Kirsty stumbled and nearly fell. A wolf paced them in the trees to their right as Caroline pulled her friend back into a run.

"Another wolf! Hurry!" Caroline hissed, her breath frosting in the air and her icy wet skirts hampering her stride.

The full moon illuminated patches of ground through the spring canopy, but not enough to see clearly, and what she could see was mostly moss-covered trees. They desperately needed to find somewhere safe to hide.

A wolf cut across their path and both girls cried out stopped. Caroline pulled at Kirsty's hand. "Hurry. Hurry!" she cried. Almost twice Kirsty's weight, she had no trouble dragging her friend into motion again, snapping a dead branch from her path before plunging through a tree-fern's spring fronds. Caroline's heart pounded anew as another wolf showed itself to their left.

"This way," Caroline said, dragging Kirsty up-slope. A wolf howled somewhere behind them. Two. Three.

"Wolf ahead!" Kirsty screamed.

They turned across the slope again, gripping hands as much to keep upright as to ensure they stayed together. Caroline had a feeling the wolves turned to keep pace with them. A quick glance confirmed movement to either side. A new fear consumed her. The wolves were herding them like sheep, but she couldn't think of a way to escape them. They ran until they were stumbling over every uneven patch of ground, every deadfall and rock. The wolves turned them away from trees they might climb and rock faces they might be able to use as shelter.

"Call the izzat," Kirsty pleaded between breaths. "Speak his name three times. For me, please."

Caroline stopped, doubled over and wheezing. "No!"

"I trust him! Please." Kirsty panted each word.

"How could you even ask that? Izzen are evil." She pushed hair out of her face. Her side ached, forcing her to keep a hand on it. "They're wearing us out. Save your strength." Wolves howled, close by, showing themselves briefly and disappearing back into the moon shadows.

Caroline heard something and spun, but her right foot slipped. She fell, her hand slipping from Kirsty's.

"Help!" Caroline screamed as she tumbled, breaking saplings and ripping her skirts. She rolled to a stop in a gully beside a thick tree trunk and a trickling stream of water. Everything hurt, while her knuckles bled from a graze.

"My Lady!" Kirsty screamed. "Watch out!"

"What?" Caroline cried, pushing herself to her knees.

A dark wolf crashed into her with a surprisingly quiet snarl, the impact throwing her sideways and exploding the breath from her lungs. She raised her arms over her face, expecting the pain, but the wolf only kicked once across her then lay still. Caroline opened one eye.

The beast lay across her thighs and hip, a three-foot arrow buried in the base of its neck. Dark blood stained its fur. Shaking, Caroline found she didn't have the strength to push it off.

A huge izzat with ice-blue eyes appeared before her, holding a longbow. A thrill of recognition passing through Caroline, and she couldn't help but stare. It was almost as if she knew him. He bent and lifted the limp wolf with his free hand like it was a rag. She cringed more than if he had been a wolf.

"So you wouldn't call Allyn, huh? Lucky I came then, isn't it?" He sounded annoyed.

"Your eyes..." she whispered. He didn't have emerald or jade eyes - but pale blue, like a shivra or human. He was big enough he could be half shivra - bigger than most humans, anyway. He effortlessly dropped the wolf beside her. Caroline leaned away from both him and the wolf, the warmth of the animal's blood soaking through her dress.