The Path to the Sun

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

His heartbeat pounding in his ears, Kiran craned his neck around to see two, three, four savages towering over him with spears held ready to strike. He swallowed hard. Their arms were big enough to rip a beast to shreds. Their broad chests were lined with muscles.

The men prodded with their spears, forcing him and Bria to stand. His knees threatened to buckle and his hands shook. He dropped his own makeshift spear and raised his hands in the air. “We don’t mean any harm.”

“We’re just looking for our friends,” Bria said, her voice barely a whisper.

One of the savages raised an eyebrow.

“Yes,” said Kiran. “We’re just trying to find them.”

The man nodded as if he understood. To the other hunters he grunted and spat in some primitive communication. They shook their heads.

Then came a shriek carried on the wind. It sounded like Kail.

Kiran scanned the landscape. In the distance, a flock of carrion birds circled. Flying scavengers meant only one thing; someone or something was injured, or worse.

“Friends trouble,” the man said.

Kiran nodded and took a step backward, waiting. He took Bria by the hand and took another step backward. The men made no move. “Let’s go,” he said. Bria nodded and they turned and ran. They ran all the way to the next ridge and ran until Kiran had to stop to catch his breath. He glanced back. The savages were gone.

The sun was setting as they reached a patch of woods that seemed to emerge from nowhere. “This way,” Kiran whispered.

They crept forward, into the forest, carefully placing each footstep, the crackle of dry grass under their feet. The orange glow of twilight streaked through the treetops, but the forest floor was dark. Kiran reached for a tree trunk, running his hand along its rough bark as they moved past.

There was movement in the shadows. Hair stood up on the back of his neck. He grabbed Bria by the arm, yanking her to a halt. Someone or something was watching—and it was close. He heard something. The snap of a twig? Something was moving, breathing.

They took another step forward. Then he heard a low, thick growl. He stopped at once and spun around, trying to pinpoint the source. The woods had grown darker. He couldn’t see beyond a few feet.

The growl came again, closer this time. From his right. No from the left. A shiver ran down his spine.

He turned around. He was face to face with an enormous wild dog baring its sharp, white fangs, its yellow eyes directed at his. He stared into those eyes, too frightened to blink. They were not the empty eyes of a monster, full of bloodlust; these eyes were deep and intelligent, calculating. His heart banged against the wall of his chest. He pushed Bria behind him, putting himself between her and the beast.

A second dog emerged from the dark, jaws snapping, then a third on its flank, moving into formation.

The leader paced forward, sniffing, as if assessing the strength of its foe, its eyes glinting in the twilight, never leaving Kiran’s. The other dogs circled, moving closer and closer. “We’re surrounded,” Bria said, her voice shaking.

Kiran took a stone from his pocket and hurled it at the leader. It jerked its head to the side and the stone grazed its hindquarter. Kiran threw another stone, hitting the beast on the ear. It reared back, snarling.

Something thrashed in the brush behind the dogs. The dogs spun around. Savages burst from the darkness, waving flaming torches at the beasts. The lead dog winced, but stood its ground, snarling. The savages kept coming, poking flaming sticks at the dogs, until all three, one by one, turned and faded back into the night.