Page 93 of Warrior of the Wild
“The trees grow thicker more to the north. And—they’regreener. I wonder what we’d see on the other side of the mountain! Do you think the wild continues on in an endless expanse or would we see something new?”
“When we discover the otti bird to be only a myth, we’ll have all the time we want to explore it.”
My heart drops a moment. What if Soren is never allowed to go home? What if he is doomed to stay in the wild forever?
I won’t let that happen.
I pull Soren to me in a fierce hug. “You won’t be stuck out here alone. I will earn my place back as my father’s heir, and I will change things. I will find a way to bring you home.”
He returns the embrace, and we stand like that for a while, just holding each other.
But over his shoulder, I see a hint of movement. It blends in almost perfectly with the surrounding trees. If it weren’t for its open eyes staring fixedly at us.
I whisper, “Don’t move.”
My hands go to the sheath at Soren’s back. So very slowly, agonizingly slowly, I begin to slide the ax upward.
The mountain cat doesn’t blink as it watches Soren and me. I wonder if it’s the same one from before. Perhaps the goat got away and it followed our trail until it caught up with us?
Its haunches sway back and forth, steadying, readying to pounce. In a decisive move, I rip the ax the rest of the way from the sheath and sidestep Soren. I feel pressure on my back, but I ignore it. Because as soon as I decided to move, so, too, did the cat. It leaps forward and sprints the few yards to us, before leaping again, this time with the intent to pin me.
My mind works at an impossible speed. I should dodge the strikeand go for one of the clawed legs, but sidestepping leaves Soren open. If only I had my ax, I could activate the spike and get the cat in the neck as it lands.
Instead, I shove Soren’s ax straight ahead of me and brace myself for impact. The two tips of Soren’s double blades pierce the cat’s chest, but only just. That thick skin holds against the force of its own pounce. Its back legs land on solid ground, but the front—
They go to my shoulders and dig in.
At first, I think my armor will hold, but there’s achinksound, and then needle-sharp pain. The cat bends at the neck, trying to bring its gaping jaws closer, but I hold my arms steady, letting the weight of the cat dig deeper against the ax. My arms tremble from the force of it.
Out of the corner of my eye, a slice in the air, a blur of a blade.
My ax in Soren’s hands.
He embeds it deep in the cat’s back. Trapped with my blade beneath it and Soren’s above it, it can do nothing except extend its claws, digging them deeper into my shoulders.
I set my teeth, let a wisp of air snake through, as I hold back a scream.
Soren dislodges the ax, and the cat releases me, backs up so it can take us in, readying to strike again. Brown-black blood drips from its chest onto the ground.
Everything darkens all of a sudden. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see a shape blocking part of the sun. Not a cloud, something nearer and swifter. I’m torn between not taking my eyes off the cat and seeing what the blur of movement is.
It’s growing closer. Growing bigger.
It’s coming right for us.
I can’t help it.
I look.
Blue and white, a mixture of cloud and sky. A perfect camouflage—just like everything else in the wild.
As if the otti bird needed the extra advantage.
Razor-sharp talons that match the azure of its underbelly stretch out, each one the size of an arm. They clamp firmly over the middle of the great mountain cat. The feline didn’t even hear it coming.
A mighty growl lets loose, but it’s nothing to the shriekingcawof the victorious bird. It takes off in flight, the great cat clutched in its talons. Wings flap against the ground, sending rocks tumbling over themselves. I waver, nearly knocked over from the wind gust. Soren reaches a hand out, whether to steady me or himself, I don’t know.
And we watch as the bird and cat disappear from sight.
