Tug of War

Alaron stopped speaking suddenly and cocked his head to listen. Around them, the forest had gone deadly still. The few birds left were eerily silent.

"We need to hurry. They are getting closer."

"Hurry where?" Renat caught his words.

The Guardian flashed an apologetic wince, but realized no one could see. "Hurry to safety...I hope." He turned to Eira. "You make sure the princess is safe and stick together. If either of you falls behind, signal me. I'll take Dania with me. And you..." he looked at the battered Renat. "You take care of yourself. You've already done the hard work today."

Renat wanted to argue that he could protect his wife and the soldier, but he knew the Guardian was giving him a warning not to overdo it. If he lost control while they were fleeing, the others would not have the time or resources to bring him back.

"Understood," the brown wolf rose to his feet unsteadily. He decided to drop onto all fours for stability. "I'll take the rear."

With the males in front and behind, the group moved as quickly as they could through the dense forest. Both Alaron and Renat could sense the presence of other beings nearby and growing nearer, but they did not want to cause undue panic.

By what the brown wolf could tell, the creatures knew that they were looking for something, but their wide sweeps from side to side indicated that they had yet to pick up on the exact trail. Renat's scent intermixing with the humans was probably confusing them, making them think it was somewhere they had already checked.

This was a huge advantage, and they did not want to see it go to waste.

So the group moved as silently and as swiftly as they could. Unwilling to give the enemy any hint of the human's passage, Renat carefully erased any footfalls with his own massive paws. On they went for some time, each silently hoping that they would not be discovered.

They were drawing closer to the lake. Renat had expected them to be heading south. The wildlands would provide more animal game trails to follow and would eventually lead to human settlements where they could find the help they sought.

While it didn't answer the problem of how they would reconnect with the Emperor, it would at least be the most likely way to shake off their monstrous pursuers. The lake was about as illogical a choice as Renat could fathom, especially with all of his encounters with water lately.

There were no people there, and the mermaids and selkies had fled. There would be no help waiting for them on the edge of the lake. Beyond the spectacular view of the ice barrier, the shoreline was completely exposed.

There was nowhere to hide.

'What is the Guardian thinking?!' Renat was about to break the silence and voice his concern when a twig snapped in his peripheral hearing. Something was watching them.

"Here!" a gravelly voice broke through the forest. "They are over here!"

And just like that the surreptitious hurrying of the five fugitives turned into an all-out run.

"Arrows!" Mairwen called to her brother.

Already pulling out his own bow, the Guardian passed a fresh quiver to his sister. Slinging a second set over his shoulder, Alaron paused for barely a moment to send a warning shot into the monster who had blown their cover.

The metal head flew at impossible angles through the wooden maze before lodging deep in the armpit of the lizard as he reached up his hands to his mouth to call again. The leathery skin slowed the shaft enough to preserve his heart and lungs, but the pain was still very real. He hissed into the breeze as blood dripped down his ribs.

But Alaron did not look back to see. He was trying to gauge if his route would be cut off by the incoming enemy. 'As long as they come from the east, we will be alright.'

He looked to his left and cursed under his breath. Things were never easy for him.

'Just once I want to think something and it not come into being...'

From the west, blurs of motion were already coming up alongside them preparing to cut them off. Arrows whizzed from behind Alaron. He instinctively ducked before realizing that his sister had reacted to the threat even faster than him.

The flurry of arrows landed in a cluster, warning the monsters not to come any closer. They fell back momentarily to regroup. It seemed this group at least had not currently gone feral.

This was a blessing in that the creatures did not charge them in a mindless, predatory chase. But it also meant the abominations still had the ability to think. For now, reason kept them from approaching too quickly, giving Alaron the chance to veer in front of the monsters.

Renat knew that his wife had given them a fighting chance, and he intended to lengthen their lead. After a few quick calculations, the brown wolf crashed his body into one of the ancient tree's dead relatives, sending splinters in every direction. The weakened trunk, which had already been leaning at an awkward angle to its brethren, released its grip on the ground and came plummeting down.

The first monster had no time to react as the wooden pillar hurdled towards her, crushing her in its devastating tumble. The ones behind came to a sudden stop, either running into one another or the stump itself.

"That was too close," Mairwen called forward. She had already been preparing to judiciously use her arrows in the most effective manner. If Renat had not acted, she would have been hard pressed to push them back a second time.

"More are coming," the brown wolf whined.

Renat gripped at the shoulder which had only recently been put back into place. He should have led from the other side! Thankfully he had managed to remain in control and keep running even with the sudden pain.

The princess slowed and gave her husband a worried look. She could sense the struggle in his voice.

"Keep moving!" the wolf urged. Defying his own weakened state, Renat scooped up Mairwen and stuck her on his back as he continued on all fours. The woman could not resist his strong pull.

"We are almost there!" Alaron encouraged them. 'Assuming he is there...'

"Where is there?" Dania could not resist the question.

They finally cleared the forest and came on to the open beach. And in the distance a lonely pier awaited them on the otherwise desolate shore. A satyr was sitting on a bench with a parasol overhead, seemingly without a care in the world.

Seeing the visitors, he leapt to his feet and called out to them. "Looking for safe passage? I will cut you a very good deal. My prices are unmatched!"

His face went from jolly to horrified when he saw the brown wolf exit at the back of the group.

"I take it back, I don't want any of his kind. I would rather. Oh!"

Alaron threw back his hood and took the satyr by the collar. "Remember me Polymedes? I don't care whether you like 'his kind' or not. You will give us passage immediately."

The Guardian threw the double-dealing salesmen into the boat and jerked his head for the ladies to follow. They stepped over him and filed into the back two benches. The satyr scoffed at their arrogance.

"I shall not be treated in such a manner. I am a respectable businessman! What makes you think I will help you at all when you treat me so roughly? I am not afraid of the likes of you!" Polymedes straightened his scarf and prepared to exit before Alaron forced him back down into the rowers bench.

His eyes flashed silver. "You have two choices. You can help these well meaning ladies and do some good for once in your miserable life, or I will pilot the boat myself and toss you out to...them!"

At that very moment the abominations began to pour from the forest running at them with their eyes wild. The near death experience with the tree had caused them to go feral. Without a care for one another of their surroundings, they were tearing down the beach in search of the ones who tried to take them down.

Polymedes's face blanched. "Push out, come on!" he screamed at Renat. "You've led them to me, you fools!"

The brown wolf was already shoving the boat into the waves before the satyr ordered him to act. As the water came around his knees, Renat eagerly jumped into the boat just as the abominations stormed the water.

"Row!" he yelled back at Polymedes with equal force.

The oars dipped into the water, pushing against the tide of the waves. The first abomination reached the boat and took hold of the oar. Without the piece of wood, the satyr's small ship would be dead in the water.

A game of tug-of-war suddenly began.