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He’d give Lorelei that; she could see farther than any other realm person he’d ever known. Has to be them.
When the echoing shriek of a wraith rolled through the mountains, Seth took to the air in pursuit. He descended swiftly, flying as fast as he could.
By the time he reached the opposite ridge, he could see the pair in the distance and that they’d headed down one of the most difficult trails in the Realm.
From experience, he knew that Lorelei tracked with him. The shifter part of her could run as fast as the most powerful alpha males of the four packs of his realm. Since the time she’d been here, she’d make her way through the mountains, using the numerous footbridges that crisscrossed the hundreds of gorges in this part of the realm.
He knew the paths well, having explored every square mile of his realm from the time he’d learned how to fly. A solitary process, but one he’d savored. Orphaned early in life, when he was eight, he’d built an inner world for himself that kept him satisfied and determined to do right by his mastyr calling.
The Invictus pair he followed involved a wraith and a vampire, the latter just shy of mastyr status, which was a level of power that Seth possessed. However, the bonding that only a wraith could perform with another realm person, created a tremendous surge of power, so that after fifteen miles of pursuit, they were still at least a mile ahead of him.
He picked up his pace, aware the Lorelei tracked with him, racing at full shifter speed.
Another turn in the bend and he saw the wraith-pair in the distance, racing across a shallow meadow and heading toward what he knew to be a box canyon, one called Loperz after a troll family of ancient lineage who ranched there.
He smiled and went faster still.
He had them now because if they dared rise into the air above the mountains, they’d be visible for miles and his Vampire Guard was in flight, hunting for them from every possible direction.
He flew through the meadow, the freezing temperature making him glad for his long Guardsman coat, battle leathers and boots.
From his periphery, he watched the white wolf racing over the snowy ground, leaping over deadfall, but always keeping pace.
He slowed slightly as he approached the narrowing entrance to the canyon, rising higher in the air at the same time. He didn’t want to be caught by a guerilla strike from the surrounding trees.
But the wraith-pair remained tight to the canyon floor, streaking through a scattering of firs, the wraith’s gown of red gauze strips flying behind her, a beacon in the night. Wraiths stayed warm no matter how cold the temperature dropped.
He gradually descended to his original position just above the ground, flying swiftly. The canyon floor spread a half-mile across.
The wraith-pair had also started to slow down and he thought he knew why. They’d probably just discovered that they’d chosen a box canyon. To escape him now, their only hope was to rise up and over the mountains, but they risked revealing their position to his Vampire Guard.
The wraith-pair had just lost the advantage and he smiled a little more.
Another mile and Loperz Canyon would end in a waterfall and a sheer rise to the ridge above.
He also hoped to the Goddess that the troll family had gone into town for supplies.
He listened hard, but he didn’t hear any sounds coming from the direction of their rambling log house.
He pathed to Aaron, I’m at Loperz Canyon. Do you have anyone in the vicinity?
Everyone knew the Loperz place. Arlen Loperz had a fondness for the Walvashorr Guard as well as the Shifter Brigade and fed any at his table who came by during nightly patrols. He brewed a fresh pot of coffee every couple of hours.
I can have three Guardsmen there in ten minutes, but not sooner.
Send them in. The Invictus are here. I’m not seeing any of the family, though. I’m hoping they’re either in hiding or away from the house. Tell the nearest Guardsmen to get here quick but to be careful. This is a dangerous pair.
You got it.
He shut the communication down, slowing his pace at the same time.
The approach to the ranch had a broad wind-break of trees, at least a dozen deep that served as an all-purpose weather barricade. Right now the trees gave him cover until he could assess the situation.
Another shriek sounded over the canyon, louder this time, the wraith giving full expression to her battle-voice.
When he reached the inside edge of the line of trees, not even a small column of chimney smoke rose from the cabin, a good sign that the family was safe.
The wolf growled, maybe a warning, he couldn’t be sure.
