Hunted [Wild Hunt Series: 1]

24: Ambush

Haven't given you much in the way of music for Hunted, so here's "Madness" by Ruelle! Enjoy! <3

Knowing Chiro was close enough for Gabriel's howls to prevail over the wind was a far worse fate than stumbling around wondering where in the woods we might encounter him. And we would encounter him, the way we'd inevitably encounter Akta. That wave of dread smashed against my chest, a wretched ache whose undercurrent carried on no matter what I did or where we went. We were destined to meet again.

As the group of us huddled together in the blackened cave, with only the coals to leer at us, I  experienced a small bit of relief in my chest that perhaps the Prince would find us before the Stag. Though there was a chance he could be just as ruthless as the pale, thin warrior, I preferred Chiro.

Dawn brushed the cliffs in a sickly green light. The morning was just as humid as the previous one, with clear skies and wisps of gathering storm clouds. The knotted vines and roots I'd used to repel down swung in the sweltering breeze with ominous creaks. Suspicious, I grabbed the edge and gave it a tug; immediately the plant matter detached and fell limp into my hand. Between the wind and my weight, the rock had shorn the bristly material inch by inch. We had two options at that point: climb up no worse than twenty feet (it'd seemed shorter last night, but then I couldn't see well and in the light I did always got a bit queasy around heights) or descend forty. I wanted to move down, but Dakota was well and truly haunted by the mud and what she'd seen; she was quick to point out that the harpy's remains were nothing but smears on the rocks, which themselves were covered in a syrupy substance.

So up we went.

The trick was in finding secure hand and footholds. The wind had wicked away some moisture from the cliffs, but water bled through the soft stone in muddy rivulets. It was a workout, getting everyone up and out safely: Leda and I each had rocks crumble beneath our hands before we could scrabble over the top with wet asses, soaked chests and the slight panic that comes with slipping on the edge of a cliff. We hurried after that, along the top of the cliffs until the landscape shifted back into milkweed, peat, and the enormous, ever-looming oaks.

Beetles the size of our heads zipped through the borderline cusp of swamp and forest. I thought the bog's thick stench might mask our scents better from Gabriel, but I owed Dakota one here and made a wide birth around the murk, winding our way through bushy undergrowth, back in the direction of Shail and our camp, back toward the waterfall and Jessie.

The other women were relieved for fresh air and sunshine (a temporary pleasure until the clouds formed). I understood why, but couldn't make myself join in their mellow chitchat about old lives and ended dreams. Somewhere between us and safety was at least one hunter. The wolf's howls had faded in the green vespers of dawn, but even now my ears strained to hear that lurid bay.

Dakota had her arm around the nameless woman for most of the walk, lending her the recovered spear as their bare feet eased over root and bramble. Dakota was more subdued than usual, but it was dark-haired girl with the tattoos that had me most concerned. She had the wide eyes of a rabbit, freezing and tensing at the slightest crunch of leaves. Stopping, coaxing and always looking over our shoulders for her was slowing us down, and we had a long way to walk yet. At this rate it'd take us another day to get to Shail, so we'd have to find somewhere to crash in between. As we moved forward, I cut between Leda, tall and graceful, and the tiny Val, who moved with a fire and energy I wished I could emulate.

"Do we have any idea what her name is, anything about her?" I asked at the next stop. A lizard spooked her. We were near the mole's churned soil, where all manner of crawling insects and lizards had tucked themselves into the newly formed ditches and holes. Dakota passed a strained smile toward me and murmured encouragement to the shadow at her side. "Anything?"