Chapter 10

  I settled down against a tree about twenty yards from the shelter, close enough to hear if anyone needed help but far enough that I wouldn't wake them by moving around. The survivors had finally gotten quiet—exhausted probably, or just in shock. Either way, they needed sleep.

  I couldn't afford it. Not yet.

  Nox positioned himself between me and the forest. Orion had taken up a spot on my other side, head constantly turning as he scanned for threats. Fei perched on a low branch above us.

  The orange glow on the horizon hadn't gotten any closer in the past hour. G1 and G2's firebreak was holding—I could see the line where they'd cleared everything combustible, creating a barrier the flames couldn't cross easily. The golems themselves had positioned themselves at the edge of our camp.

  Still, I kept my eyes on the forest. Those knights might decide the fire wasn't enough. They might come looking.

  My hands were still shaking a little when I thought about it. The wet crunch when Nox's jaws had closed around that first knight's throat. The way the second one had tried to scream before Orion finished him.

  I killed people today. Real people.

  The logical part of my brain kept insisting it was the right choice. Those bastards had been hunting down civilians, planning to murder a woman and her kid. They'd burned an entire town, for fuck's sake.

  But knowing something was right and feeling okay about it were two different things.

  "You did good today."

  The voice made me jump. I spun around to see the old man from the group of survivors limping toward me, favoring his injured leg.

  "I thought you were sleeping." I said, pressing a hand to my chest.

  He chuckled, settling down on a fallen log a few feet away. "Hard to sleep when your mind won't stop racing.

  Nox had lifted his head when the man approached, but a quick mental command from me told him to relax. Still, my wolf's eyes tracked the old guy's every movement.

  "You should be resting," I said. "Today was..."

  "Bad as it gets," he finished for me. "But we're breathing, and that's 'cause of you."

  I shrugged, uncomfortable with the praise. "Anyone would have done the same thing."

  "No," the old man said firmly. "They wouldn't. Most folk would've seen those soldiers and run fast as they could. Can't blame 'em for it neither."

  He had a point.

  "What happened back there?" I asked. "In the town, I mean. Who were those knights?"

  The man's face darkened. "King's men from the capital. Came saying they were collecting taxes. But soon as the gates closed..." He shook his head. "Started killing everyone. Didn't matter who."

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  "Why?" The question came out harsher than I intended.

  "Don't know. Maybe our lord made someone angry. Maybe they wanted our land. Maybe they just like killing." He spat into the dirt. "Don't matter now. They're all dead."

  My stomach twisted. "All of them? The whole town?"

  "Most of 'em. We got lucky—lived near the edge, saw the smoke before they got to us. Others weren't so lucky."

  Something in his tone made me look at him more carefully. There was more to this story, something he wasn't saying.

  But I could see the exhaustion written all over his face, the way his hands shook slightly when he thought I wasn't looking. Whatever secrets he was carrying could wait. The man had been through enough for one night.

  "What's your name?" I asked.

  "Henrik," he said. "And yours?"

  "Vera." The name still felt weird in my mouth, but it was getting easier.

  "Well, Vera, I– no we owe you more'n we can ever pay back." Henrik glanced at Nox, who was still watching him. "You and your... friends here."

  We sat in comfortable silence for a while, watching the firebreak hold against the distant flames. The smell of smoke was getting weaker, which I took as a good sign.

  "So what now?" I asked eventually. "For you guys, I mean. Do you have somewhere else to go?"

  Henrik's face grew thoughtful. "Can't go back, that's for sure. And most of us don't have family in other places."

  "But there are other towns, right?"

  "There's other towns," Henrik said slowly. "Cardhaven's about a week north. Smaller than what we had, but they might take us in. If we can make it that far."

  A week's journey through the wilderness with seven civilians, one of them a kid, another an injured old man. And that was assuming we didn't run into any monsters, bandits, or more knights along the way. I can’t help but feel grim about it.

  Henrik glanced at my torn clothes, then back at my face. "Don't mean to pry, but..." He gestured vaguely at my appearance. "You look like you been out here a while. And those clothes... never seen fabric like that before."

  Shit. I looked down at myself—my jeans were ripped in multiple places, the denim faded and stained with dirt and blood. My t-shirt wasn't much better, the cotton blend probably looking as foreign to him as his rough-spun tunic looked to me. Even my sneakers, beaten up as they were, probably screamed "not from around here."

  I'd done my best to patch the worst spots with leaves and strips of fabric, but it still looked like I'd been wrestling monsters for a week. Which, to be fair, I had.

  He studied my face for a moment. "Must've been a hard journey,”

  I almost laughed. If only he knew.

  "Something like that," I said.

  Henrik didn't push further, which I was grateful for. Instead, he just gave me another one of those knowing looks that said he understood there were things people didn't talk about.

  "Well," he said, settling back against the log. "Wherever you came from, we're lucky you ended up here when you did."

  A comfortable quiet settled between us again. Henrik seemed content to just sit and watch the forest, while I kept scanning for any sign of pursuit. My monsters remained alert but relaxed, a good sign that there weren't any immediate threats nearby.

  Henrik eventually headed back to the shelter, leaving me alone with my thoughts and my monsters. The fire in the distance was definitely dying down—the orange glow was fainter now, and I could see actual stars again in some parts of the sky.

  The firebreak had worked. We were safe, at least for tonight.

  I settled back against the tree, pulling my knees up to my chest. Just for a minute, I told myself. Just to rest my eyes while I kept watch.

  Nox shifted closer, his warm bulk pressing against my side. Orion settled down near my feet, and I could hear Fei's talons shifting on the branch above. My monsters forming a protective circle around me.

  Maybe it was the adrenaline finally wearing off, or just pure exhaustion from everything that had happened today. My eyelids felt heavy as lead, and the steady rhythm of my monsters' breathing was oddly comforting.

  I'd used this same spot as a makeshift sleeping area before G1 and G2 had built the proper shelter. The depression in the ground still held the shape of my body, worn smooth from nights of restless sleep.

  It was familiar…and safe…