Page 174 of A Tribute of Fire

“Why are they hunting us?” Ahyana said, shoving her blanket into her knapsack.

“Were you looking for an answer besides ‘in order to eat us’?” her older sister asked, quietly pulling out her dagger.

“They won’t find us easy prey,” I said.

Io was mumbling to herself. “Their bite is venomous. Slow acting.”

“Are we going to fight our way clear?” I asked.

“No,” Io said. “There’s no way. We have to run but ... oh! I remember now. When I read about them, it said that terawolves cannot cross water. If we can find a body of water, we’ll be safe.”

Zalira dropped to her knees, putting her hand flat against the earth and closing her eyes. “There’s a fairly wide river not far from here.”

It was probably the same one that fed into the temple grounds.

“I thought aether dragons weren’t real,” Ahyana said. “And that the terawolves were all dead.”

“Apparently not,” I said, taking my xiphos out and getting ready.

“We have to run for the river without stopping,” Io said. “Just because we can’t see them doesn’t mean they’re not there. They can turn invisible.”

An enemy I couldn’t even see? My heartbeat hammered in my chest. How was I supposed to fight that?

Stupid girl, if you can’t see your enemy, listen!

Suri had been quietly gathering long branches, tying a strip of cloth at the top, and then dousing them in the fire. A light source so that we would be able to see in the darkened forest.

But it would also make it easier for the terawolves to follow us.

We didn’t have a choice. We couldn’t risk falling. I took the torch from her.

“Are we ready?” I asked. “On three, following Zalira.” For the second time that day, I counted. “One, two, three!”

Zalira turned and sprinted and I kept back for a moment so that I would be the last one, making certain that Io didn’t fall behind.

A few seconds later I heard something running in the bush behind our group, and heavy panting and the hurried footfalls of a large animal followed us. Terror churned in my stomach. I didn’t know if we would be able to outrun them, but I wasn’t in a condition to fight them all off.

I did as the voice in my head suggested and strained my ears to listen.

Another beast joined the hunt, and another, and another. I wondered how many there were, how many I couldn’t hear because they were farther back.

There was a snarl to my right and then I felt the rush of something sweeping out at my legs. I immediately brought my xiphos down and was rewarded with a cry of pain as I made contact.

The next one came from the left in exactly the same way and I was ready for it as well.

This caused the terawolves to not attack again, but I felt them as close as ever. They were biding their time, waiting to corner us.

I knew from personal experience how dangerous it was to be cornered.

Io nearly stumbled and I reached out to grab at her and keep her upright. One of the terawolves seemed to see this as a weakness and it lunged for her.

“Go!” I told her. I had to sense where it was and stabbed my xiphos out, but I only swung at air.

The beast shimmered into sight. It was nearly as big as me, all dark fur with silver stripes, bright white teeth, and silver claws. It had curved silver horns on its head and its golden eyes stared at me. It seemed like it had appeared with the sole intent of terrifying me, and it was working. It growled and I tensed, prepared for it to make a move.

It didn’t attack.

I realized that it was waiting for the rest of its pack so that they could overpower me together. I turned and started to run, feeling it right behind me.

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