The thought made his heart heavy as he crept along. Crouching behind a blackberry thicket, he peered through the branches. The Crows were tiring of their game, several of them fussing over the bald spots Nocturne had left in their wings and upper backs. Soon it would be time to feed. He crouched low and crept forward.
Nocturne screamed as she flipped, head over heels, through the air. Her boots kicked the top of a spruce; snow and cones showered the ground. A Crow caught her by the left arm, while another flapped over to grasp her right. They held her like a puppet on strings as the leader glided forward, her wings shining like liquid onyx in the moonlight. In their humanoid forms, the Crows retained their wings, and some still had beaks. This one, however, had a crooked nose peppered with warts, and her skin was papery and white as bone.
“You’re a pretty one,” the leader hissed. A grisly smile coiled up the side of her face as she used a black claw to trace a line along Nocturne’s jaw. “I’m looking forward to changing that.”
Kit crept closer, a growl slipping through his teeth. Crow meat tasted rancid, but his mouth salivated at the mere thought of ripping apart the leader for what she said.
Nocturne was clearly exhausted, her head lolling against her shoulder, but as the Crow prepared to tear her face to shreds, she lifted her head and looked the leader dead in the eye.
“Go ahead,” Nocturne growled. “I’m already dead inside.”
The Crows grew utterly silent and still; not even their feathers rustled. And then the leader smiled, exposing teeth black with rot, and wound up to deliver the final blow.
The Wolf of Winter sprang.
~
A blur of white shot through the air, rebounding off the trees, and a snarl rippled through the woods. Nocturne didn’t have a chance to make sense of what was happening before the Crows released her, squawking in panic, and she plummeted through the air like a stone in water.
She hit the snow.Hard. Gasping down mouthfuls of air so cold it burned her throat, she lifted herself to her hands and knees and crawled frantically toward the nearby woods.
One by one, feathered corpses dropped to the ground around her, and black blood splattered the snow like ink.
She had almost made it to the shelter of the trees when some-one grabbed a fistful of her hair. Wincing in pain, her hands flew to the back of her head—to the scaly claw holding her in place.
Before she could even scream, a deafening roar shook the mountains, and the Crow was torn to shreds. Sticky blood splattered Nocturne’s face as the claw in her hair slackened, but she was so frightened she barely felt it.
Her heart was racing, her body hot against the snow. With tremendous effort, she flipped onto her back—just in time to see a massive white wolf approaching her with caution. Though his muzzle was covered in blood, his eyes were filled with concern. With empathy, she thought. One was blue, the other brown.
He was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.
The wolf huffed in encouragement and nudged her shoulder with his damp nose.
Carefully…hesitantly…she placed a trembling hand against his snowy head and stroked his ear with her thumb. The wolf leaned into her touch, his steady breaths warming her cheek.
A weak smile flitted across Nocturne’s chapped lips. “Kit,” she whispered.
And then darkness swept her into oblivion.
16
I don’t think we’re going the right way,Sable said.
And where exactly is therightway?Avalon snapped, kicking up leaves as she trudged through the thick forest. Dotell me where we should go.
I don’t know!Sable retorted.I just feel like we shouldn’t be going this way.
Avalon breathed in the reek of loam and ancient trees.Well, until we figure out the first step to breaking you out of that mask, you’re going to have to trust me. I say we go this way, so you’re going to have to cooperate.
Don’t talk to me about cooperation. You’re the one with the legs.
Avalon had to laugh at that. But when the shrill cry of a small beast caught in a predator’s grip carried through the forest, she fell silent.
What’s the matter?Sable’s tone was anything but sympathetic.Afraid of a little bird?
For your information, the owls get quite large in the North.Carefully, she grabbed hold of a sturdy tree branch for assistance in climbing down a steeper, rockier part of the hill.And yes,she admitted.I am afraid, though not of birds. At least, not the kind you have in mind.
You’re afraid of Crows,Sable stated.
