Chapter 10
As he half-dragged her along the loamy ground towards the thick brush at the treeline, Ona's eyes widened in pained shock. "Wait! My arm...you're hurting my—"
But her words devolved into a muffled scream of agony as white-hot pain lanced through her left arm and shoulder. Tij instantly halted his movements, his gaze swinging with almost frantic intensity between Ona and the direction of the rapidly nearing sounds of pursuit. "Fuck it all..." he ground out in a tense undertone.
Shifting his grip to her uninjured arm, he looped it around the back of his neck before scooping her up into his arms with a surprising strength. "Hold on," he muttered urgently in her ear as her good arm reflexively gripped his shoulder. And then, heedless of her renewed sounds of pained protests, he pressed forward into the dense thickets and shadows of the forest.
Tij's long strides ate up the ground as he barreled through the dense underbrush, Ona gripped tightly in his arms. Her pained gasps and whimpers were the only sounds besides the crashing of branches and foliage around them.
As they burst into a small clearing, Ona's eyes landed on a dark crevice in the nearby rock face – the entrance to what looked like a cave. "There!" she rasped out, struggling weakly in his hold to gesture towards it. "We can take shelter in there!"
Tij's gaze followed her pointing finger for only a brief second before he grunted out a terse, "No." Readjusting his grip on her, he lengthened his stride towards the far side of the clearing.
Anger flared through Ona's pain and confusion. "You cannot simply disregard my suggestion without reason!" She twisted in his arms, ignoring the spike of agony from her injured limb. "I am ordering you to secret us within that cave at once!"
A muscle ticked in Tij's clenched jaw, but his strides did not falter in the slightest. "With all due respect, my lady," he bit out in a low, strained tone. "I'll not be taking orders from you, for your information. Besides, that cave is a deathtrap."
Ona opened her mouth to protest furiously, but Tij abruptly skidded to a halt, causing her to involuntarily clutch him tighter as he swung them both around. She gasped at his sudden movement – and also at the sight now before them.
The dark, gaping maw of the cave beckoned ominously. But clustered around the entrance were at least half a dozen sets of faintly glowing eyes peering out from the shadows within.
"You see?" Tij's voice was a rough whisper against her ear. "That maze of tunnels and chambers is home to deadly predators who would happily make a meal of us."
As if in emphasis of his words, a series of bone-chilling howls and snarls echoed from the black depths of the cavern. Tij shifted his hold on her abruptly before sprinting away from the cave's entrance.
Yipping calls and the scrabbling of clawed paws against the rocky ground assaulted their ears as pursuit was given. Ona squeezed her eyes shut, whimpering as Tij dodged and wove away from the ever-nearing sounds of danger.
After several endless, jarring moments, her eyes flew open once more as Tij abruptly slid to his knees, depositing her in a careful yet hurried manner on the ground beneath the gnarled, reaching branches of an ancient oak.
"You'll have...to make...your own way...from here," he panted out, his breath coming in harsh rasps.
Ona stared at him in bewildered horror as his words sank in. Make her own way? Injured and alone, pursued by ravenous beasts? "You cannot leave me!" she cried out shrilly, clutching at his arm with her good hand.
The growls and barks were closing in rapidly once more. With a muttered curse, Tij tore her grip free and met her wild-eyed gaze steadily. "Trust that I'll draw them off so you can escape, my lady."
And with that brusque reassurance, he was off and running once more, crashing away through the tangled foliage as the pack of wolves burst into the small clearing mere moments later. Ona shrank back against the trunk of the ancient oak, her breath coming in petrified gasps.
The lead wolf caught sight of her, yellowed fangs bared in a vicious snarl. Abandoning the trail, it barreled straight towards her frozen form, the rest of the pack following in a single-minded frenzy of hunger.
Paralyzed by terror, Ona could only watch in horrified fascination as they rapidly closed the distance between them. Closer...closer...until—
A deafening caterwaul shattered the tension as a grey streak of fur launched itself from the uppermost reaches of the old oak's branches. It slammed into the lead wolf with bone-crunching force, sending the two tumbling furiously amid a frenzy of enraged yowls and high-pitched yelps.
The distraction caused the rest of the pack to grind to a confused halt mere feet from where Ona huddled, trembling. One wolf regained its focus first, yellowed eyes zeroing in on her with frightening intensity.
It bunched its haunches to spring...when a tremendous cracking sound overhead made both Ona and the wolf flinch backwards. Her head whipped up just in time to see a huge thick tree limb separating and plummeting straight towards the snarling canine!
With a startled yelp, the wolf turned and fled, the rest of the pack rapidly following suit as the ancient oak rained debris down upon them.Ona watched in numb shock as the animals rapidly disappeared from view once more, leaving her shaking and utterly disoriented in their wake.
Tij...where was Tij? Her gaze swept wildly in all directions,but there was no sign whatsoever of her erstwhile companion and protector. Struggling to her feet despite the lancing pain, Ona leaned against the sheltering trunk of the ancient tree, wheezing from exertion and sheer panic.
Where could he have gone? How was she to find her way out of these forsaken woods alone? Frightful images whirled through her mind, each more dire than the last, as the unmistakable howl of a wolf rent the air once more in the far distance.
Jumping violently at the chilling sound, Ona wrapped her uninjured arm around her torso. She was utterly alone, hurt, and defenseless against the myriad perils of the forest. Hot tears of anguished fear and bewilderment stung her eyes as despair rapidly set in.
Tij...if only he had not abandoned her here in this nightmare! That bastard!
A distressed sob escaped her lips as the long shadows deepened around her solitary refuge beneath the ancient oak tree.
Clinging to the ancient oak for what felt like an eternity, Ona's harsh, panicked breaths slowly began to even out. The continued absence of any sign or sound of the wolf pack could only reassure her that the threat had passed - for now at least.
But Tij remained nowhere to be seen or heard, and her disoriented mind could not discern which direction he might have fled, if he even still drew breath at all. The thought caused a renewed lump of dread to swell in her throat.
She could not remain here indefinitely, she realized with a shuddering inhalation. She was exposed and vulnerable here in the center of the forest glade. If the wolves or some other danger circled back...
Steadying herself against the rough bark, Ona pushed away from the tree trunk with a tremulous step. Then another. And another, until her halting gait slowly found a rhythm as she moved deeper amongst the shadowed trees and underbrush.
Her injured arm cradled protectively against her torso, she valiantly blinked back the hot tears that threatened to blur her vision. Tij had urged her to trust that he would create a diversion so she could escape. So escape she would, though every snapping twig and rustling leaf set her nerves jangling.