Aegis Rising (22 page)

Seeing little chance of reaching the exit, Kody had jumped into the pond. He was a good swimmer despite having been overcome by the fast and furious rapids the day before, and thought he would have the edge against the wolves. He front crawled toward the middle of the pond where he stopped and straightened, kicking his feet underwater to keep himself afloat. He gazed out to the shore where a wolf was racing around the pond, hopping up and down and whimpering in frustration as it looked at him. Kody couldn’t help but laugh at the helplessness of the animal.

“Loser!” he shouted as he treaded water. He waved his index finger around his head, motioning to the pond around him. “You want to mess with all this? Well good luck, pal!”

The wolf stared at him for a moment, silhouetted by the fire behind it, then careened into the water and dog-paddled madly after him. Kody squawked and swam from the wolf as fast as he could.

Tegan had been following Aari and Mariah as they ran toward the second opening and had witnessed the oncoming wolves, so instead she’d raced straight for the rock wall where boulders were piled on one another like the steps of a giant staircase. She vaulted onto the first boulder and clambered up on top of the second one. When she landed on the third, she turned back to look down and panicked when she saw a wolf already up on the first boulder. She turned and gazed up at the next boulder above her. Its surface was at least six feet above her. She retraced her steps until she was at the edge of the boulder she was standing on and glanced back down.

When she saw the wolf clawing its way up onto the rock below her, she turned and ran, launching herself at the edge of the boulder above. She grabbed on and hung there for a moment, trying to get at least one leg up onto the boulder, but found herself unable to. Instead, she army-crawled up, giving no thought to scraped elbows and knees. Once she made it, she rolled onto her side and looked down again. The black wolf was now on the second boulder, staring up at her. It was smaller than the others but equally aggressive. It snapped its jaws in her direction and tried to scrabble its way to the third level. Tegan didn’t wait for the wolf to reach it. She whirled around and quickly mounted the next boulder.

Standing by the fire next to the pond, Jag faced the giant wolf that had been the first to enter their refuge. He’d lit his spear on fire and kept the burning end at the wolf’s eye level. The wolf tried to lunge at him but swerved away when Jag brought the burning tip around. He never took his eyes off the animal, knowing that if he did, it would surely go for his throat. He found the wolf’s eyes unnerving, more so with the flames reflected in them. From the creature’s confident stance he guessed that this was the alpha male.

Leading with the flaming stick in his hand, Jag tried to gain ground by advancing. The wolf backed away, its tail high, before trying to lunge at him once more. Jag jumped back and thrust the stick at the wolf. The wolf swayed from side to side, trying to get past Jag’s defense, then leapt to Jag’s left. The boy whipped the stick in the animal’s direction and it backed up, growling.

Jag suddenly remembered something: the flare gun. He needed to reach it, but it was in the emergency bag. That was thirty feet away under the tree with their packs. He dared a rapid glance behind and saw the tree. He quickly looked back at the wolf and sidestepped as it attempted once more to attack him.
Come on, Jag,
he thought desperately.
You’re a traceur. This is what you’ve been practicing back home. Parkour. Use your environment. Just do it!

He counted silently to five before jabbing the stick at the creature, letting it fly in the process, then turned and tore toward the tree. As expected the wolf sprinted after him. Using his momentum, he kicked a leg up onto the trunk and ran a couple of steps up the tree. Arms outstretched, he gripped a branch with both hands and swung himself up in an arc onto the branch. He stared down and let out his breath.
Made it.

The wolf was staring up at him, and it looked furious that it had been outwitted. Jag quickly climbed up over another branch so he was hidden from the creature’s view by the thicker foliage. From his perch, he stared through to the ground below. His eyes landed on the emergency bag. He knew he would have to be very careful, because he would have to take his eyes off the wolf to get the pistol out once he was back on the ground.

He took a few deep breaths, then launched off the tree and hit the ground rolling. He threw himself at the emergency bag and struggled with it until he found the flare gun.

The wolf snarled and ran around the tree the instant it heard Jag land. It bunched its muscles and leapt. Jag knew it was coming. He loaded the flare cartridge into the pistol and rolled out of the way. The wolf landed, missing Jag by a couple of feet, then turned and lunged at the sixteen-year-old again. Quick as lightning, Jag cocked the gun, pointing the barrel at the oncoming animal, and fired. Bright orange and red blinded him but he rolled out of the way before the wolf could land on him. He turned to look at the creature. From its chest, the dark gray fur was on fire. It dropped to the ground and rolled on the moist grass, yelping as the fire singed its fur and scorched its skin and burned up to its face, blinding it. It bounced up to its paws and galloped in loops before dropping to the grass again, twisting and turning. Intent on putting the fire out, the wolf paid no attention to where it was headed as it stumbled and rolled toward the bonfire. Jag stared on with a mix of awe and horror as the beast tripped over the rocks surrounding the fire pit and tumbled into the blaze. The licking flames surrounded the creature, swallowing it into the depths of the inferno.

Watching as the wolf’s agonized writhing slowly dissipated, Jag sat down on the damp grass, legs shaking slightly. Within moments the animal’s movements ceased altogether and the creature was consumed by the bonfire which enveloped it completely in its burning embrace. Jag quietly ran his hands through his hair and shut his eyes tight.

All this time, Kody had been swimming in circles around the pond as the wolf after him paddled feverishly to catch up. Kody could tell it was tiring, but it would not quit. He was desperate. He needed to get away from the wolf before he too was exhausted. Glancing quickly over at his pursuer, he took a breath and dove down, hoping he could shake the wolf off his track. It worked. When Kody disappeared, the wolf faltered, ears twitching. It swam around in agitated circles, whining, but couldn’t find the boy.

Submerged, Kody was unable to see a thing. The water was too dark. He stayed down though, and kicked away from where he had been. Being a good swimmer, he’d spent a lot of time learning to hold his breath for extended periods, so he was under for over a minute before he had to pop up for some air.

He shot to the surface and took a gulp of air. He didn’t see the wolf and exhaled gratefully. But as he turned around, color drained from his face. The wolf was right there, not three feet away, staring at him. He choked, splashing the water. The wolf shoved its face at Kody’s, fangs gnashing. Kody turned and swam for his life.
“God save me!”
he screamed before getting a mouthful of water.

Jag heard Kody’s yell and looked up. The light from the bonfire illuminated the water and he could see Kody swimming wildly away from an enraged wolf. He jumped to his feet and ejected the used cartridge from the pistol and put in the second one, the last one. He hollered, “Kody, duck!”

Kody heard Jag and paused in the water, looking around as he tried to stay afloat. Jag yelled again. “Keep swimming, you idiot! And
duck!
”

Kody saw his friend on shore with the flare gun. A spray of fiery colors emanated from the barrel of the pistol. He shot underwater just in time. He could see a bright flash above him but didn’t dare surface yet. Instead, he kicked away for several yards, then came up to look for the wolf. It wasn’t hard to find. The flare had lodged itself into the creature’s mouth and was burning furiously. Kody watched the scene in disbelief. Flames reflected on the water around the animal. The wolf thrashed in agony as fire shot out of its jaws, burning its face. It swam in dizzying circles, a ghastly animal scream torn from its throat as it choked and tried to put out the fire.

Over by the rock wall, Tegan was about to scale a sixth boulder when she heard the wolf in the pond screaming in agony. She looked over and saw the unbelievable sight, but didn’t allow her astonishment to distract her.

She was about to look down at her own pursuer but flinched when she heard the sound of claws scraping against granite. She quickly went for the topmost boulder. When she finally reached the summit, she blew out a pent-up breath and gazed down, squinting to see better because the fire’s light didn’t reach this far. The wolf was just two boulders below her. She looked around frantically. She needed somewhere to go, else she’d have to jump off to save herself from the wolf. She turned and, for the first time, clearly saw where she was. She was on a flat-topped boulder a few yards from the top of the enclosure wall, about twenty-five feet up from the ground. A fallen tree had created a perfect bridge for her, linking the boulder and ledge. Tegan didn’t even think but bolted to it and started to cross. She didn’t have a problem with heights, but she was feeling as though the wolf was breathing down her neck.

Behind her, she could hear the beast scrabbling to reach the last boulder, the one she was on. Though every single one of her senses screamed at her to keep moving forward, she couldn’t resist looking over. As she reached the middle of the log, she saw the wolf’s head popping over the last boulder, eyes glowing eerily red even in the faint light. It was trying to dig its claws into the rock and haul itself up. When it saw Tegan staring at it, it pulled its lips back in a terrifying snarl.

Tegan whimpered and faced the front, making her way over to the top of the rock wall. At one point her foot slipped and she nearly fell. From there on, she crawled over to the ledge.

The wolf was already about to cross the log bridge, but it seemed cautious of the drop.

When Tegan made it to the other side, she turned and saw the wolf was almost halfway across. Fear made her actions frantic and she started kicking at the log, hoping to push it off the ledge. It was heavy. She cursed as she attacked the log. She heaved it with all her might and suddenly felt it budge. Shouting out in triumph, she continued heaving. The wolf realized what she was doing. As it prepared to lunge off the bridge, Tegan gave one last push with both feet and the log rolled free. The wolf yelped and tried to claw at anything to keep from falling, but in vain. It plummeted, thrashing all the way down.

Tegan knelt and looked down. The wolf lay motionless on the ground below, between the stack of boulders and the rock wall. She gazed at it for a while, then sat back and hugged her knees close to her chest, groaning in relief. Once she caught her breath, she looked around. How do I get down?

Jammed into the small gap between the boulders, Mariah was terrified for her life. She was trapped by two brutal, feverish wolves hell-bent on ripping her apart. She yelled for help, then nearly jumped out of her skin for the hundredth time as the wolf in the front of the gap tried to force its head in.

Suddenly she heard a spine-tingling screech. The wolf’s jaws disappeared from the entrance of the tiny gap. Mariah was too frightened to leave her refuge to see what had happened.

From his vantage point in the tree, Aari had watched helplessly as two wolves tried to force their way into the narrow space between the boulders where Mariah had retreated. Now he watched in astonishment as the eagle that had earlier wakened the group battled the large black wolf. It screeched and sunk its talons into the back of the animal’s neck, clawing toward the scalp. The wolf whimpered, backing away from the winged warrior, its fur matted with dark red streaks, but was not about to surrender. It jumped into the air and tackled the huge bird, trying to drag it to the ground, but the eagle would not give and instead shifted its grip to the back of the wolf’s head. The wolf let go and reared up, crying out in misery.

Aari had never seen such a thing in his life and was completely awestruck by both the fighting and the absolute fearlessness of the eagle. Although the eagle had a wingspan of about eight feet, the wolf was far more massive.

Aari’s eyes went back to the boulders where Mariah was hiding and saw the second wolf still attempting to get its jaws into her hideout. He was trying to figure out ways that he could help her and didn’t notice his own relentless stalker clawing its way up the tree with sheer brute strength. It was almost a third of the way up when Aari looked down and saw its muzzle three feet below. Startled, he flailed his feet and managed to kick the creature under the jaw. The force of the impact was enough to send the wolf skidding back down the tree trunk. It leapt free at the last second and snarled up at Aari. Aari sucked in his breath. I think I just blew my chance of being best buddies with him, he thought as he climbed onto a higher branch.

Still treading water in the pond, Kody was still staring at his flaming pursuer when he heard his name called. He turned around and saw that he was close to the shore where Jag was. He splashed over and Jag grabbed his arm as he got out. “This is the second time in two days I’ve had to pull you out of water,” Jag commented idly. “I’m not in favor of this habit, bro.”

“Well, if you heard my yell right, I asked for God to save me. You’re not Him,” Kody retorted. He shivered with cold as he looked around. “Where’s everyone else?”

Almost at once, they heard Tegan shouting for them. They looked around until they found her silhouette on the ledge of the enclosure, her arms waving above her head frantically. They ran over to her and she yelled down, “How the heck do I get off this thing?”

“How did you get up there in the first place?” Kody yelled back, bewildered.

She stomped her foot impatiently. “That can wait, Kody! Help me down!”

“Okay, okay. . .” Kody gazed around. “Here, there’s a vine to the left. Move over there, like three paces.” Tegan moved to the right. “Not your left,
my
left!”