Chapter 51

Several people had been wounded in the ill-fated hunt, but much to everyone’s relief the entire party was eventually accounted for once the last few stragglers found their way back.

The chasers had run straight into the mountain cats before anyone else as they ran up the sides of the ravine, and in the ensuing chaos the group that had been sent ahead with Vaya turned back to help, thankfully arriving in time to save the stranded chasers and drive most of their attackers off.

Nobody seemed to know whether it was the cats or the early arrival of the forward group that had turned the drove of horses around. In the panic that followed, nobody had managed to make a single kill.

The plan had failed, but despite the morose mood among the pack as they retreated down the opposite side of the ridge, Hawk reassured the others that the great hunt was far from over.

When they began tracking the horses again it became apparent that they had not split and scattered, and the