Ulva

Chapter 10 - Friend and Foe

Ceyla was running as fast as she could. Padded paws flew over the ground, spurred on by fear and adrenaline. Behind her, she could hear the heavy breathing and laboured footfalls of her pursuer; she'd thought he'd give up by now, but he didn't. Apparently, she was worth chasing.

She knew where the others were thanks to their mind connection. Magnar's anxiety was palpable, but she had to block him out. She needed to focus.

In an attempt to escape her hunter, she leapt upwards, launching herself onto the roof of a low building. It bought her useful seconds as the wolf behind her had to figure out a way to follow. Ceyla was getting tired – her muscles were aching and her lungs stung with every breath. Still, she kept going, she couldn't afford to rest.

Magnar was getting more and more tense. She knew he was running somewhere, and worried that his pursuer was hot on his tail. She hoped he was alright.

With as big a spurt of energy as she could manage, Ceyla spurted forward, allowing some distance to form between her and the wolf behind.

Suddenly, she was forced to come to a stop.

The grey wolf had leapt up onto the roof from in front her. It crouched low, slinking towards her with its teeth bared. Behind her, the large brown wolf was doing the same.

She turned, planning to feint left before sprinting right, jumping off the roof and leaving her attackers on the roof. She didn't even get to try. The smaller brown wolf was in the way. The three of them drew closer, snarling at her. She was surrounded.

'Ceyla, fight, you have to fight.' Magnar told her, panicked. 'We're on our way.'

Ceyla had no idea how to fight. She thought it would have come instinctively, but instead all she had was panic. There were three aggressive wolves surrounding her, and she had no clue how to get them away. Desperately, she leapt into the air and over the small brown wolf, before diving off the roof and running as fast as possible down the street below. The other wolves gave chase, staying on the roofs so they had the advantage of higher ground.

In a split second, Ceyla realised something: the other wolves had only seen her in her wolf form. It might have been a stupid idea (the wolves may catch her scent and then she'd be done for), but she had to try.

Terrified, Ceyla shifted back into her human form.

She tried to blend in with the crowds of people running from the wolves. Screaming and running, she headed back in the direction she'd come from, heading to the outskirts with the crowd. The other wolves, still up on the roof, turned around. They were following her still. And now she was human, she had no way of running, no way of fighting. She was as good as dead.

Dread filled her, and she looked up at the sky with tear-filled eyes, cursing whoever might have heard. All she'd wanted was to finish school and get out of Accfrith and instead she was made a hybrid who was about to die. As she glared at the clouds, a flurry of black fur sprang through the air above her, landing on the roof and immediately engaging the bigger wolf in an aggressive fight. Magnar.

Close behind him were two grey wolves. Bella and Aiden had come to help her as well.

Each of them sprang at one of their enemies. Stunned, Ceyla watched for a moment, before shifting back into a wolf to help.

'What were you thinking?' Magnar snapped, biting at his opponent's neck as Ceyla leapt onto the roof, helping Bella attack the smallest.

'That they only knew me as a wolf,' she replied, redirecting her focus to the wolf Aiden was fighting, biting his side hard and making their attacker yelp in pain.

'They had your scent, they saw you shift, you have wolf eyes...'

'I get it, I was stupid. Can we focus on not dying, please?'

The wolf Ceyla and Aiden were fighting was getting more and more aggressive. Its jaws snapped close to Ceyla's neck several times, and the same happened to Aiden repeatedly as well. Ceyla's fur felt slightly wet with blood. Her attacker had grazed her.

Bending down angrily, she gripped her jaw onto his leg, clenching down with her teeth. The metallic tang of blood stung her tongue and she abruptly twisted her head. A loud snap reverberated around the seven wolves, made all the more terrible by their sensitive hearing. Above her, the grey wolf had gone very still and quiet, despite his immediate screech of pain.

Without another thought, Aiden caught under the wolf's belly with his snout, using sheer force to push and lever him off the roof. He fell heavily from the height, landing in an awkward position. He lay still.

'Go back to Bella,' Aiden ordered. 'I'll help Magnar.'

The two of them split up, and Ceyla directed her attention to the brown wolf that was snarling at Bella as they circled each other. The brown wolf's fur was matted with blood, and he walked with a hefty limp. He seemed to be struggling to open one eye. In contrast, Bella was unharmed. She was powerful, strong and beautiful.

As the brown wolf lunged at Bella, Ceyla lunged at him, biting hard at his soft belly and making him flinch away from her. Bella took advantage of his pain and distraction to aim for his throat. She injured him (blood was now pouring from a large wound), but couldn't get a good enough purchase to kill.

The two female wolves moved back, watching their opponent closely. He and the large grey wolf exchanged a glance, presumably communicating in the same way Ceyla and her pack could. Together, the pair of them turned and fled. They had decided the cost of the fight was not worth the prize.

'Oh no they don't,' Magnar muttered, before darting after them. The others began to follow, but he told them he wanted to do this alone.

By the time Magnar returned, the sun was beginning to set. He led the other three far away from the town, into a forest. 'We'll sleep here for the night. I know of a cottage further in but we're all tired.'

They debated lighting a fire but decided it was unnecessary. Not only would it attract insects, but it was already hot enough thanks to the heat wave, even during the night. The four of them were tired and subdued, and fell asleep quickly under the shelter of the trees.