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Darkness falls, and we’re left inside the cart. Some of those around me are surprised. But most of us aren’t. The wolves aren’t known for their kindness. After all, they’ve stolen us from our homes and lives for their own uses. Uses that I’m not interested in sticking around for. Especially if they’ve grown desperate enough to steal away someone like me.
I don’t sleep that night. My eyes stay locked on the flickering flames of the guard’s camp. They take turns patrolling the cart as if we can escape. Around me, the women sleep or cry as I keep watch. I wait for any chance to escape. If the guards so much as step toward the cart to open the cage, I’ll be the first one out, and I won’t stop until I’ve put them far behind me.
Morning comes, and we’re handed more water skins and bread. Several of the women plead with the guards for the chance to relieve themselves. The guards don’t acknowledge their words. Instead, leaving us to sit in our own filth as the day presses on. Desperation overtakes my companions. Their pleas grow more desperate the further we get from the city.
I do my best to ignore everyone around me. My eyes roam over the landscape outside our cart. I commit every strange rock or lopsided tree to memory in case I need to use it to locate myself later. Once I’m free. I cling to the hope that I’ll get away as I remain silent. Not a single word slips from my lips as the other women’s voices grow hoarse from their wailing and pleads.
The second night is the same as the first. We’re given food and then left in the cart. Exhaustion pulls at me, and I finally close my eyes. Sleep comes to me in fits that night. When I open my eyes in the morning, I feel more tired than before. But I’m still alert as the guards approach. I see them wrinkle their noses and can’t help but smile at their discomfort. The cart is foul, and each of us is covered in filth from the road and not being allowed out of the cart.
My stomach growls as I stuff my share of bread into my sleeve. I’m not sure how long it’ll take me to return to the city or any town, so I limit myself. As the cart takes off, I shift so that I’m closer to the bars. A crying woman glances at me as I bump into her. Her eyes immediately fill with tears.
“We’re good as dead,” she cries.
Startled, I pat her back, glancing about. The women here are all younger than me. Old enough to bear children but not by much. Exactly how the wolves like them. Disgust fills me as I turn back to the landscape. In a different world, the wolves wouldn’t hold so much power over us. They wouldn’t be able to snatch us away from our lives without some consequence. I cling to my anger as I watch the trees drift by.
The cart jerks to the left, sending all of us flying into one another. Several groans of pain sound as the cart slows. I’m already dragging myself away from the others as the guards begin to shout. Reaching the edge of the cage, I note that the cart now lists to the left.
“Looks like a broken wheel,” I hear a guard mutter to another.
“We’ll have to get them off to fix it.”
Excitement bubbles through me as I wait. This is my chance to escape. They’ll be so distracted by the broken wheel and the other women that I can easily slip away.
“Listen up,” a guard says, rapping the iron of our cage. “You’re to have your hands bound while you’re out of the cage. It’s just momentary, and there’s more of us than you, so don’t get any ideas.”
The women mutter amongst themselves as the guards open the iron gate. Their excited for the chance to stretch their legs and be away from the filth of the carriage. None of them seem to realize the opportunity we’ve been handed. I do my best to school my face as I approach the end of the cart.
“Hands,” a tall guard demands without so much as a glance in my direction.
I present him with my hands, wincing as he tightens rope around them before he drags me from the cart. My legs wobble after over a day of being stuck sitting in the cramped cart. I do my best to stretch as I move toward the other women. Their eyes are wide as they glance about the trees surrounding us.
Joining them, I let my eyes move over the trees as well. I couldn’t have asked for a better place for the cart to break down. There’s plenty of cover for me when I make a break for it. The wolves will never catch me. Biting back my smile, I move deeper into the circle of women. Some have tears wetting their cheeks, while others look just moments away from fainting as they watch the towering guards move about.
The guards don’t circle us now. Their attention is split between the women and watching the trees. Perfect. Stepping from the group of women, no one notices I’m slowly distancing myself from them. It doesn’t matter that the hairs on the back of my neck rise. As though I’m being watched. It’s just the darkness from deep within the trees getting to me. The guards are all here. Every single one that I’ve watched for the past day. Now is my chance.
I pivot, causing dust from the road to rise, before launching myself away from the group of women. For one glorious moment, as I propel myself forward, the world falls away. Everything is perfectly quiet as I duck into the trees. I don’t hear anything as the trees swallow me up. Not even my pounding feet on the ground.
That should be my first sign that I’m not alone. But I’m so excited that this is working. I’m so focused on putting as much distance as possible between the guards and myself that I don’t pay attention. I just assume that I’m too focused. That the birds are still singing to one another above me, that the world hasn’t gone eerily quiet.
Until I run into a clearing. I pause, for just a moment, to suck in a breath as I pull at the bindings on my wrists. The snapping of a twig reaches my ears, and I spin. Around me, the trees are dark. I go still as I wait. Another snapping. This time, I catch the shadow of a creature. It’s taller than I am. Giant and hunting me, I realize. My heart pounds as I spin in another circle.
Crouching, I reach for a stick, something to use to defend myself if it comes to that. I know that whatever is out there will kill me before I have the chance to so much as swing the stick. But still, I feel better with it in my hand. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the shadow approaching me.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I take a breath. I have two choices. Stay, and hope whatever this creature is makes my death swift, or run, and pray that I get away from it by some miracle. I’m moving before I realize I’ve made a decision. With my eyes wide, I barrel back through the trees. The quiet from before presses in on me, making me pump my legs harder. My muscles protest, but I ignore them until I come bursting from the trees. And straight into one of the guards.
8
Heath
Standing on the edge of the trees, I peer into the darkness. Rykker should be around here somewhere, waiting for the signal that the cart has been repaired so he can return to stalking ahead of us. Ensuring that our path is clear.
I hear her panting and sense her frantic heartbeat a moment before she runs straight into my arms. Her red hair is free from its braid, full of leaves and twigs, as her wide eyes meet mine. My hands come to her shoulders, holding her steady as she gasps for breath. Glancing past her, I just make out the form of Rykker in the trees.
“Beast,” the woman gasps.
My eyes snap back to her. It takes me a moment to realize that she’s one of our captives. There’s still rope dangling from one of her wrists as she struggles in my grip. I release her. Her eyes go wider at this as she stares up at me.
“You escaped.”
