Chapter 97

Netya jolted awake, her hands flying to the shaft of her spear as a cry of alarm split the air. She clawed her way out of the bushes in a panic, remembering the hunters, before more voices echoed the first. The sun had risen, but the top of the small outcrop was still empty. They had not found her while she slept.

Her arms shaking, she crawled to the edge overlooking the plains and peered down. The voices had come from the trees below. Something was happening, but she could not tell what. A wolf howled, and a moment later two brown-furred bodies streaked out into the open, coming from the direction of the river, before diving through a screen of bushes and vanishing again.

Netya’s heart leaped. They had been too large and distinct to be wild animals. Resisting the urge to call out, she stared wide-eyed at the area of trees and foliage beneath her, trying to wrap her thoughts around what was happening.

A savage warning bark sounded a moment later, followed by more h