Hunters' Shadow (Book one of the Hunter Chronicles)

Chapter Fifty Five

The mist flowing out of her faltered, driven back as the wolf growled at the encroaching barrier. It stared at the white fog a moment, then back up to Hannah, the quick movement sending a second driving pain shooting through the stricken redhead.

Who are you? she asked it through watering, pain-filled eyes. Why does it hurt?

It didn't answer, but turned away and padded deeper into the shelter of the pine trees, out of reach of the mist. Every now and then it would pause and glance behind it as though checking if she was still there, each time igniting another shaft of pain that bounced around in Hannah's skull like tiny lightning bolts.

As the wolf moved further away, Hannah's mist seemed to regain its confidence and swirled  around her possessively, warning the wolf to keep away. It lift its head and howled, a song of loneliness and loss that tore at her fragile heart.

Wait! she called out. Don't leave me behind!

Straining to keep the wolf in sight, Hannah fought against the lethargy that seemed to hold her down. Despite the lancing pain, the wolfs presence had cleared the foggy indifference that surrounded her, reigniting her need for answers.

With an enormous effort, she fought to stand up, embracing the agony, and focusing all her effort towards moving just one step in the wolfs direction. Her struggle seemed to no avail and tears of sheer frustration began to slide down her cheeks, the chill air freezing them into tiny crystallised droplets against her pale skin.

A second howl caught her attention. A shadow on the edge of her vision, emerging from the tree line across the rocky shore, and stalking towards her. Another wolf, larger than the russet and as black as coal. Its golden eyes shone with a fierce intelligence and she felt an aching familiarity as it passed her by, her fingertips just out of reach of the thick fur. She paused in her struggle.

Blake?

He showed no sign of hearing her, heading determinedly towards her russet wolf who wait patiently beyond the pool of mist. The tantalising smell of sage and wood smoke drifted upwards from the dark fur as he passed by, further piercing her cloak of indifference, and she felt a sudden, painful compulsion to follow them both.

Blake? she called again, but her voice was nothing more than a whisper of wind in the silent forest, caught up and muffled by the steady current of the mist surrounding her. They couldn't hear her. The two wolves met under the sheltering branches of an old pine, and turned to look back towards the shore.

I know you, she called desperately to the russet wolf again. Why do I know you?

Frantic now, and determined not to be left behind, she renewed her fight against the invisible forces that held her in place. With a sudden clarity she couldn't explain, she knew the mist was an enemy, pinning her down and preventing her from moving forwards. Her frustration turned to anger, her anger turned to despair and her despair sank deep into fears as she wrestled against the blank spaces in her memories.

Suddenly and without warning, her feet came loose and she stumbled forward, the rattle of the pebbles under her feet startling the two wolves in the forest. Ignoring the biting cold, Hannah eagerly waded through the thick fog pooling around her ankles – every step an agonising struggle – a determination she'd never felt before filling her veins.

The russet wolf's tail began to flick back and forth as it watched her struggle, and its ears twitching in silent encouragement. The sight spurred Hannah further on and she doubled her efforts. One step. Two. Three, and several more, the pain growing stronger as she drew closer to the tree line and the mist more frantic in its efforts to hold her back, forcing the wolves to move further out of its reach.