Chapter 94

Netya ran. She did not know why, but she ran anyway. It seemed all the world had turned against her. Her mother, her village, her pack—even fate itself.

What a cruel trick had been played upon her, for her last ray of hope to have been snatched away just as she was beginning to overcome despair. There was nothing for her now. The medicine in her pouch was useless. Adel would be dead long before Netya could reach her.

As she fled across the plains that first morning, her legs refused to keep her up for more than a few dozen paces at a time. She stumbled and tripped, and each time she fell she wondered whether it was worth getting back up. Though she did not realize it at the time, it was likely this that saved her life.

Her first instinct had been to dash across open ground, trying to outpace the hunters of her village until... She did not know what. All she knew was that some insolent spark of life still clung to her soul.

Had she remained on her feet, the hu