A Wolf's Tale (Book #4) Storm Of Vengeance

Chapter 18

"Wake up. The moon is out tonight."

Misty rolled over, not telling him that she actually wasn't asleep. She couldn't. Not until she found the answers Hidden promised were awaiting her.

Cayden gestured with his nose, pointing at a huge mountainside with a yawning cave opening at the bottom. "I think that's where we need to go."

Misty jumped up, itching to understand the madness running wild in Samara's twisted mind. Everything was about to come clear.

She pushed through the last few trees and stood at the edge of the darkening forest, staring out across the landscape to the cave in the side of the mountain. It's all come to this.

Surely, she took one step after another, bringing herself closer to unknown threats, promised answers, and whatever else may be lurking in the constant shadows.

She didn't have to look to know that Cayden was walking beside her, his ears pricked and alert. His steps as light as a falling feather.

Misty didn't give herself time to think. She plunged into the darkness, and instantly the air shifted. Carrying a cool breeze through the tunnel that smelled damp and of the earth. The dirt path beneath her paws turned to stone, moist and cold to the touch. She suppressed the shiver that ran down her spine.

The moonlight behind them faded as they reached deeper within the cave. Strangely, Misty felt surprised to be relieved when the light turned to pitch black. She wasn't afraid or nervous. She embraced the gloom with a black heart.

Cayden, on the other paw, was about ready to have a come apart.

"Are you sure this is right?" The tone of his voice suggested that he was trying to conceal his fear, but Misty could smell it. His uneven breathing gave him away. But she didn't acknowledge the fact that her partner was on the verge of a mental breakdown.

"Yes." She replied, sniffing the air as she picked up her pace.

Cayden's footsteps fell much quicker. She knew he was trying his hardest to keep her with him. "Hidden say where we would find our answers. She only told us which direction to go in."

"My instinct is telling me that this is the right way, Cayden."

"Sure. Because you're the expert right?"

"Yes."

Cayden swallowed. "You're not scared?"

Misty paused and faced him. She knew they couldn't see each other, but she could easily picture the expression on his face.

"I'm done being scared."

And he didn't say anything in response to that.

~~~

It had felt like a lifetime. Walking in that dark, confined tunnel. Misty's paws began to ache. She longed to curl up and sleep, but she was determined. The drive to protect what family she had left was stronger.

Misty was thinking about turning around when the tunnel ahead was glowing with a faint silver light as the path steepened into an upward climb.

She had to squint against it after being in the dark for so long. Each step brought her closer to the glow, and it grew brighter as she padded faster, until she was running and closing her eyes against the searing light.

Cayden panted behind her, trying to keep up with as she ran faster with every breath.

She broke away from the darkness and found herself in a huge cavern. A hole in the upper walls opened up to a beautiful indigo sky dotted with shimmering stars. The window to the sky spilled silver shafts of light onto the stone floors, turning everything pale.