“The Searchers are friends to our kind.” I kept walking forward. The other two Guardians had taken flanking positions close to the first woman. “Our masters made us believe otherwise, to our detriment.”
“These are broad claims for one who is but a child,” she said. “Perhaps you have been misled because of your youth.”
“I learned the truth about the war,” I said. “And we’ve been fighting on the wrong side.”
She laughed, tossing a glance at her companions, who grinned. “No,
I didn’t know if I shuddered because of the blast of icy wind that hit me or from the harshness of her tone.
“The wolves may be fools.” She lifted her hand, and I watched her nails lengthen into claws.
“Calla!” I heard Shay shout as the immense she-bear swiped at me, but I was already rolling along the snow, shifting into wolf form as I tumbled.
When I scrambled to my feet, she roared, clawing at the crossbow bolts that protruded from her dark fur. The bear’s fury filled her deafening bellows.
Crossbow bolts buzzed through the air. The she-bear ignored them, charging me instead. I braced myself for her attack, catching a glimpse of Mason and Sabine flashing past to meet the onslaught of the other Guardians.
A flash of golden brown fur caught my eye and I knew I wasn’t alone in the fight. Shay struck at the bear’s flank just before she reached me. The blow caught her off guard. She turned her head and I lunged, locking my jaws around her neck. My teeth tore through thick tendons, but I couldn’t get a strong enough grip to crush her windpipe.
She rose onto her hind legs. Still clinging to her, I swung from her neck like a rag doll. I heard Shay barking below me; the bear grunted in pain and I knew he’d attacked again. Kicking up with my back legs, I propelled myself away from her, releasing my grip and flipping through the air. While it wasn’t graceful, I managed to twist around and land on my feet.
The bear was bleeding profusely from the wound I’d left on her neck and bites Shay had inflicted on her flank. Connor was beside him now, wielding a sword in one hand and the short, wide blade of a katara in the other. While Shay kept the bear’s attention, Connor stalked close. With incredible speed he slashed the wound at her neck, widening it, and then plunged the katara into her chest. The bear shuddered. Connor had just enough time to spin away, pulling his blade free, before she collapsed.
“Let’s go,” Connor said, bolting toward the others.
We reached Sabine just as she leapt aside while two bears, one black and one ash brown, lumbered after her. The shaggy black bear roared, dropping lifeless to the ground. Ethan’s bolt protruded from its left eye.
The brown bear gave what appeared to be a casual bat of its paw, but the blow sent Sabine sprawling. Ethan shouted, running to her side. The bear roared, charging at the shaken wolf. Mason stood his ground between the bear and Sabine.
A blade whirled past Shay and me. The sharp steel of Connor’s sword sank into the bear’s side. It roared but didn’t falter. Connor swore. I threw myself at the bear’s hind legs, snapping at its hamstring, but I missed, crashing to the ground. Shay caught the bear’s left heel in his jaws. It kicked hard, shaking him loose, leaving Shay on the ground beside me.
The bear suddenly stumbled, its right front leg jerking out at an awkward angle. A silver rope stretched from the bear’s shoulder, pulling it off balance. It took me a minute to recognize Adne’s spiked chain whip. Silas had his arms around her waist. The two of them hauled on the whip, dragging the bear onto its side. It roared in pain, swatting at the whip’s length.
“Connor!” Adne’s knuckles were white as she clung to the other end of the whip, and Silas’s face was as pale as her bloodless hands.
Connor dove forward, his left arm pulled back. While the bear fixed its gaze on Adne and Silas, Connor punched the katara’s blade into the wound at its neck, driving the steel deep into the bear’s throat. The beast’s roar became a gurgle and it slumped into stillness.
Connor grunted as he pulled the blade from the bear’s throat, wiping it clean on the snow. “Some fight.”
“So much for alliances,” Ethan said. Sabine had shifted to human form. He helped her to her feet and was studying her face.
“I’m fine,” she said. “Not my first fight.”
“That bear hit you hard.” He touched her cheek.
“I can take it.”
He smiled. “I’d rather you didn’t.”
Shay’s nose pressed against my jaw.
I wagged my tail, sending my laughter into his mind.
“Time for the main feature.” Connor was standing beside us. He looked at Shay. “I think you’ll need your hands for this.”
He was still watching me when he shifted into human form. I rested my chin against his palm, licking his fingers. Fighting with Shay at my side was more than fun. It was everything.
SEVEN
“SO THIS IS TORDIS,” Shay murmured as if we’d entered a holy place.
Haldis had always been imposing. Its maw-like opening acted as a warning, never inviting exploration. Tordis couldn’t have been more different. The claustrophobia-inducing, dark passageway into the mountain kept a secret carved into the silver-blue glacial wall before us. A secret that might have been the most exquisite place I’d ever seen. The ice-filled cavern wasn’t just beautiful, it was breathtaking. Each frost-covered surface captured light, reflecting it back into the space. The tunnel was bright, covered by a glimmering net of sunbeams, delicate as lace but far more captivating to the eye. The dancing web of light was broken only by a small, dark opening on the far side of the cavern.
Shay pointed at the crawl space. “Looks like that’s where we’re headed.”
“How do you know?” Ethan asked.
“Haldis was in an antechamber off the main cavern,” Shay said. “I’m guessing Tordis is the same.”
“Fair enough,” Connor said, despite Ethan’s deepening frown. “Let’s go.”
I lifted my muzzle, opening my jaws to let the frigid air slide over my tongue. Nothing. No alarming scents. No off-putting tastes that might alert me to danger.
Shay was watching me. “Any sign of mutant spiders, Cal?”
I barked and wagged my tail.
He frowned. “Really? Are you sure?”
“I don’t like it,” I heard Ethan grumbling. “Something’s in here. It has to be.”
