Defying every rational instinct he possessed, Ares dragged his broken frame into the snowbound woods.
Was venturing into an untamed wilderness with fractured ribs and a battered body a suicidal act of sheer madness? Undeniably.
Would that stop him? Unlikely.
The lingering echo of the monstrous howl still vibrated in his ears, shattering whatever fragile composure he had left. Elowyn’s prolonged absence and the horrific roar was no coincidence.
If she hadn’t made it back to the shelter yet, he needed to find her before whatever was out there found her first.
Coiling his fingers around the rough grain of the wooden stick, he slammed it down into the crusted snow, leveraging his weight as he limped doggedly forward.
With every agonizing step, he constantly reminded himself that his actions were strictly driven by pure pragmatism, and that this crazy, reckless endeavor of his was nothing more than a manner of basic honor.
She had saved him first and tended to his wounds, hence, he owed her a life debt. It was only natural for a gentleman such as himself to ensure she hadn’t met an untimely demise while completing a simple errand.
Yet no matter how eloquently he rationalized it, his own logic did nothing to stifle the suffocating ache in his chest.
As he reached a fork where the pines split into two silent trails, Ares stumbled to a sudden halt, the bleak reality of his predicament hitting him all at once.
He was completely lost.
He had never stepped outside the clearing until today. To his unrefined eyes, the frozen wilderness stretched out as an endless, featureless maze of white and gray. There were no distinct landmarks. No visible trails. No sense of orientation whatsoever. How in the nine hells had she managed to survive out here without losing her way every single day?!
"Curse this miserable waste," he hissed through clenched teeth, his right knee collapsing under the weight as he sank into a fresh snowdrift. Looking back at the uneven furrow his boots had carved into the snow, even he felt a grim, dark shock that his body hadn’t given out completely yet.
Logic told him the water source couldn’t be far away, but blindly picking a path was nothing short of a fool’s gamble with death. He refused to die out here, at least not before he exacted his revenge on his enemies.
Ares let out a harsh breath.
What in the world was he supposed to do now?!
His golden eyes scoured the monochrome wall of pine with helpless rage, until a flicker of impossible color caught his vision. A cluster of vibrant green leaves danced upon a gust of wind, and it swirled down to the left fork of the trail as if making the choice for him.
Seeing more of those anomalies again only left him stunned.
He narrowed his eyes.
Where are those leaves coming from?
He was certain he hadn’t come across a single unseasonal tree on his way here.
Blood hit the back of his throat suddenly, and every muscle in his thighs burned like liquid fire. But he ignored the pain.He couldn’t afford to be weak now. He needed to find Elowyn first, and once he’s dragged her back to safety, he was going to demand she attend to his every need all over again as recompense for this absurd, nerve-wracking ordeal.
He couldn’t explain the strange, magnetic pull drawing him toward those emerald leaves. But pushing aside whatever tangled, uninvited mess his current emotions were in, he was out of choices. He was truly about to stake his very life on a trail of green anomalies.
Jamming the crude stick into the snow, he dragged himself upright and pressed down the left trail.
Ares dragged his aching body down the winding path, following the scattered emeralds like a man possessed. Minutes stretched into an agonizing blur, his breath coming in short, burning gasps as the deep snow threatened to trap his boots. Darkness crept into the fringe of his vision, yet he refused to stop, propelled by raw, stubborn arrogance and a terrifying, clawing dread.
A sudden irregularity in the snow made his stride freeze. Crouching through a wave of sharp pain,his golden eyes narrowed as he took in the sheer size of the gouges pressed into the ice.
Which meant...
The howl from earlier...
He cut off the horrifying thought before it could finish, refusing to grant it life.
Spurred by a sudden, frantic surge of adrenaline, he followed the deep tracks until the trees parted, revealing the frozen creek bank.
The forest fell eerily silent.
Up on a flat, snow-dusted rock, two wooden pails lay tossed on their sides. The spilled water had already flash-frozen, casting a rough glass-like sheen over the stone.
Ares stood paralyzed, every drop of color draining from his features as a cold, sickening dread clamped around his chest.
The pristine snow along the creek bank was violently torn up by small, hurried boot heels. Running parallel to the frantic stride were massive, crater-like gouges.
And it wasn’t just one beast.
Panic, hot and unfiltered, surged through his blood.
"Elowyn!" he called out into the dead silence of the trees, his dark composure shattering completely as he whipped his head around the empty clearing.
"Elowyn!"
He tried to call her name a third time, but the effort caught in his throat. A jagged tear of pain ripped through his broken ribs, forcing a harsh wheeze from his lungs as he instinctively clutched his side, bowing in agony.
Hah... Damn it all!
Pressing a trembling hand to his ribs, he stubbornly forced himself back upright and followed her boot prints.
[•]
High above the snow, Elowyn remained hopelessly trapped in the canopy.
The relentless cold was settling deep into her bones, numbing her fingers and toes until she could barely feel her grip on the bark. She had lost track of how long she had been perched up here, yet the pack sat beneath the trunk like patient, hungry statues.
She promised her flesh really wasn’t worth the miserable wait at all.
Why won’t they just move on?!
A bitter cynical laugh almost bubbled in her throat. Fate clearly had a twisted sense of humor. It seemed she was cursed to be despised by every manner of wolf in existence. Her own tribe had brutally cast her out, and now their wild, mindless cousins were waiting for her to fall so they could pick on her bones.
Her precious bones...
Why was fate so cruel to her?
At this point, she could hardly care about tribes, honor or fate anymore. She just wanted to crawl back into the warm, dim shelter, wrap herself in something warm, and sleep.
Thinking of the shelter naturally dragged her thoughts back to Ares, and she couldn’t believe she almost forgot about him. Was that insufferable man still out in the cold freezing his stubborn tail off? She sincerely hoped not. He made a habit of defying her every instruction out of pure spite, but surely he had enough self-preservation to lean on that walking stick and drag himself back indoors when the mountain wind picked up. She truly hoped he was looking after himself.
Or...
Was there even a chance he was probably wondering why she hadn’t returned yet? Could a man like him actually be worried about her? This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
She shook her head weakly.
It didn’t matter now.
She was bound to freeze or fall. And judging by the hungry monsters prowling below, there wouldn’t even be bones left for place in her grave.
Elowyn hugged the tree bark, resting her head against its side. Perhaps she had misjudged this tree too. So much has happened in a span of a week that it was a miracle she hadn’t yet lost her mind completely. But maybe her luck was about to officially run out.
"...so tired," she whispered to the biting wind, her heavy eyelids fluttering shut.
Just as she was about to surrender to the bitter exhaustion, a sharp, familiar voice echoed through the silence of the trees.
"Elowyn!"
Her eyes flew open.
The sudden shock jolted her entire body so violently that she nearly lost her footing on the branch, her fingers scrambling desperately to claw back into the bark.
Was she hallucinating..?
Is this what dying feels like?
The voice in her head sounded so much like Ares.
It couldn’t be.
He could barely stand on his own two feet. He certainly wasn’t reckless enough to venture into the wilderness by himself... right?
However, ten feet below her, the forest atmosphere shifted violently.
The dire wolves had caught the sound before she did.
In terrifying unison, their massive heads snapped toward the western path. Their ears flattened against their skulls, their dark snouts twitching as they caught a unique, unfamiliar scent on the wind. A guttural, wet snarl vibrated up through the trunk.
For the first time since trapping her, the pack broke their circle around the tree. They dropped their heavy shoulders into the deep powder, turning their backs on her to stalk toward their newest prey.
Elowyn clung to the branch, her heart hammering against her ribs as she watched them stalk forward.
No... please no!
Her breath hitched as a tall, imposing silhouette forced its way through the snowbound pines. The pale, silver-white hair catching the dim winter light was a sight she could recognize anywhere.
Ares?!
What was he doing here?!
How is he here?!
The sheer shock of seeing him sent an unexpected wave of hope through her frozen body, giving her stiff fingers a newfound grip on the bark. But that brief spark turned to pure horror as the full picture clicked into place.
All three apex beasts were already fanning out into a killing crescent, their gaunt, muscular frames coiled to pounce on a man who could barely walk.
This was a nightmare.
Now they were both going to die!