Page 79 of The Hunter

The thornskulls chittered, but their amusement faded quickly at the concern in the eyes of all five winddancers.

“Why is it not safe?” Telok asked.

“This area has been claimed,” Shir said solemnly. “It is the hunting ground of a pack of kurghests.”

Cold pierced Telok’s hearts and slithered through his stomach even as fire crackled under his hide. His breath locked in his lungs, making it difficult to breathe.

“We have hunted beasts more fierce,” Droztar declared, thumping his chest.

“Their prime is bigger than the Blooddrinker Queen was,” said Tas, voice low, “and has claimed many females. Their pack has taken many of ours since they came. That… That is what we would ask of you. Your aid in slaying these beasts.”

Every muscle in Telok’s body tensed, drawing so taut that he ached from his headcrest to the tips of his legs. Of all the creatures in the Tangle, why those? Why now, when Lacey was out here, far from the shelter and security of Kaldarak?

“Telok?” a soft voice inquired as a gentle hand ran over his foreleg, smoothing down the fine hairs that had stood on end. Those hairs took in a soothingly familiar fragrance; warm, sweet, and clean, the most pleasant thing he’d ever smelled.

He looked down to meet Lacey’s strange yet beautiful green eyes. Her expression was filled with concern, which made his hearts ache. He disliked seeing her worry nearly as much as he disliked seeing her in pain or sorrow.

Be calm. She is here in my arms now.

Nothing has harmed her, nothing will take her.

Calm.

Lifting a hand, he caressed her cheek with the backs of his fingers. “I am well.”

Garahk hummed and gestured to the camp’s entrance. “Lead, Wen’Xal Tas. Mine will follow.”

CHAPTER 19

Though their group was large enough to deter most predators, Telok knew no peace as he and the others followed the winddancers through the jungle. Every sound, every hint of motion, every subtle shift in the breeze had his eyes darting and his hearts thumping. More than once, he thought he detected a chillingly familiar, sickly-sweet musk on the air—the smell of blood and death. The smell of a prime kurghest. But the scent would vanish before he could tell if it had been real or a spirit come to haunt him from his memory.

He kept Lacey within arm’s reach, and his fingers itched incessantly with the urge to pick her up. Any amount of distance between them seemed too great. Even half a segment of separation could be the difference between saving her or losing her forever.

When they reached a steep patch of terrain that proved somewhat difficult for the humans, he did not hesitate to guide her up onto his hindquarters. He didn’t stop to let her down once the ground leveled out, and she made no complaint.

Having her pressed against him, holding him, was his only source of comfort, but it wasn’t enough to ease him, especially as the falling sun began to stain the sky orange.

Kurghests hunted beneath the golden sun, hunted beneath the pale moons and glittering stars, beneath empty skies and gray clouds. And the advantage after sunfall would belong to the beasts.

Lacey lightly tapped Telok’s abdomen and lifted herself up to speak in a hushed voice. “You’re quieter and more tense than usual. I mean, you’re always quiet, but this feels…different. Are you okay?”

“I am watching.”

“Watching for what?”

“Everything.”

The brush of her braided hair against his back and upper shoulder told him she was turning her head to look around. “Did you see something that has you so on guard, or was it the mention of the kurghests?”

“The kurghests.”

“Have you hunted them before?”

Telok tightened his grip on his spear as something knotted in his belly. “I did not hunt. I…was hunted.”

“Oh…” she said softly. Her hands flattened against his hide, and her arms tightened around him as she rested her chin atop his shoulder. “What happ⁠—”

At a command from Tas, Swiftclaw sped ahead, the sound of its calls and fluttering wings fading rapidly once it was out of sight. Somewhere far off, other larkhets answered.