Sylvie was just as unhappy with Tim as he’d expected, but she understood why he’d acted, and she was fascinated by Blane’s report of Tim forming a pack and calling a hunt.

Some of the Airta had seemed shocked by that and had wanted to gainsay it, but in forming the pack, Tim had inadvertently bonded Fenn.

Even now, Tim could feel the subtle bond between them in a way that he couldn’t quite explain. Whatever he’d done, he’d also reached a point where he could sense his bond with Sylvie.

It was deeper and more profound than the one with Fenn, which made sense. The only similarity between them was that they both linked to his soul.

At least, that’s what he assumed he was sensing from what he’d been told in the past.

Tim sighed and rubbed at the red skin covering over his recent wounds. Zhalia had healed him, but the itching was almost unbearable.

Currently, the Airta had gathered around the farmhouse while their scouts scoured the area for where the Cyth encampment was.

That was, of course, assuming there was one for them to find.

“Meu drassul, how are you feeling?” Sylvie asked, coming inside and giving Tim a warm smile.

“Better, I’ll be ready to join the hunt when the time comes,” Tim said, reaching down absently to pat Fenn’s head.

The big dog hadn’t left Tim’s side for more than a minute or two since the Airta had arrived, not that Tim was complaining.

It was nice to have a companion who was here for him, not for Sylvie.

“You’ll be resting, not hunting,” Sylvie said, her eyes flashing dangerously as she folded her arms.

“I’m fine. Zhalia did her thing, and I’ve had some time to rest.” Tim paused, trying to bring his thoughts together as best he could. “I hate these things, Sylvie. I hate what they do and what they represent. Verdan saved me and Tom from becoming one, but sitting in that rusty prison, waiting to be sacrificed or corrupted, has stayed with me ever since.”

Sylvie walked over quickly and wrapped her arms around him, holding him close. “I’m sorry, meu drassul. I did not realise it was so personal for you. Join the hunt, but promise me you will take better care of yourself.”

“I have no intention of getting injured,” Tim said in a dry tone that earned him a swat on the arm, followed by a long kiss.

“The scouts will be back soon,” Sylvie said softly, tracing a finger down his jaw. “I have to go make sure everyone is ready.”

Tim stole a last kiss before she left, enjoying the brief moment of privacy.

-**-

Less than an hour later, Tim was crouched in the undergrowth, looking out at a gaggle of Cyth.

The scouts had reported back that there wasn’t an encampment like Tim had seen before. Instead, the Cyth had taken over another farmstead in the area.

What had once been a thriving home was now a corrupt shadow of itself. The crops were dead, the livestock butchered, and even the farmstead itself had been corrupted by the Cyth.

To make matters worse, there were almost a hundred Cyth scattered around the farmstead, with another thirty hunting in the local area according to their scouts.

The Airta were tough, and they hit hard, but the odds were against them and they knew it.

Still, no one wanted to leave and let the Cyth grow in strength, which left them watching and waiting for an opening.

As Tim watched, a hulking Cyth Lai, easily twice the size of the others, helped drag a bear carcass into the farmstead.

Hopefully, the bear was for food, rather than using it to create some sort of Cyth bear.

“What’s the plan?” Tim asked, looking at Sylvie expectantly.

“I’ve sent the scouts and some of the Draskir to attack the hunting parties,” Sylvie said calmly. “We’ll see if we can draw out a response and then take them down one slice at a time.”

“Alright, that sounds easy enough,” Tim said, more to himself than anything.

“The problem is that we need them to split up, but there’s a good chance that they will react as a group,” Sylvie said with a shake of her head. “There’s one of the Bayne among them. I can smell it.”

Tim stiffened and gave the group of Cyth a concerned look. The Cyth Bayne were spellcasters, and that made this whole thing far more dangerous.

Stolen novel; please report.

Unfortunately, that danger was to everyone in the area, not just them. Withdrawing here would leave anyone like those farmers he’d saved to a terrible fate.

A distant howl broke Tim from his thoughts as the first of the scouts engaged a Cyth hunting party.

A stir went through the Cyth, but they soon went back to what they were doing.

Having watched for several minutes now, Tim realised they were destroying the farm and using the debris to build something new.

An altar, perhaps?

Tim saw no sign of any captives, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. They could be indoors or stashed in a cellar as easily as anything.

Another chorus of howls heralded the next Cyth group being attacked, and the Cyth reacted once more, with several of the ones doing the building work becoming increasingly agitated.

A wizened creature with bestial features and curled horns like an old goat came out of the farm, and where it moved, the Cyth regained their purpose and order.

A dozen Cyth soon went loping out of the area, heading off to investigate what was happening. It was a good start, but not nearly enough.

Each minute stretched on seemingly endlessly as the distant Airta worked hard to ambush and slaughter the smaller groups of Cyth.

They drew out two more in the process, leaving only sixty in the clearing, along with the Bayne.

Between the Airta and all the fraktiri, they had almost forty fighters. Some of those were far more effective than others, however.

No more of the Cyth had left, and the Bayne seemed to be preparing to defend whatever this structure they were building was.

In Tim’s mind, that was all the more reason to destroy it.

Sylvie passed word for the Airta to gather just out of sight of the Cyth camp, intending to lead them on a fast raid to do as much damage as they could.

“Where do you want me?” Tim asked Sylvie as they prepared for the attack.

A few Airta were keeping watch on the camp, but the rest were here, getting ready for what they all knew was going to be a rough fight.

“Look after Zhalia, we’ll be relying on her to counter the Bayne,” Sylvie said with a nod to the Cleric. “She won’t be keeping pace with the rest of us, either.

Almost all the Airta were still in their wolf form, but Zhalia would be staying in her human form so she could use her bow.

Tim nodded, doing his best to hide his frustration that he wouldn’t be by Sylvie’s side during all this. It made sense, but that didn’t make him like it.

“You’re with me?” Zhalia asked as Tim moved over to her.

“Yes, me and Fenn.” Tim gestured at his new shadow, drawing a smile from the Cleric.

“Glad to know it. I’m not a proficient caster, but I’ll do what I can to block the Bayne. Once I do, though, it’ll send everything it can at us. At that point, I’ll need you to be ready.”

Tim nodded. “You can count on me.”

Zhalia nodded, but went still as Sylvie moved to the front of the group and shifted into her wolf form.

In as close to silence as so many wolves could make, the group followed her, building up speed as they went from a walk to a trot.

Tim and Zhalia picked up their pace, but were rapidly left behind as Sylvie and those at the front reached the treeline and burst out in a full charge.

The Cyth were spread out throughout the area, most working to gather materials for their project, but quite a few were simply wandering.

The closest to the treeline fell with barely a sound, brought down and torn apart under a wave of fur and claws as the Airta and the fraktiri surged forward.

Knots of resistance quickly formed as calls of alarm and braying shouts of anger split the air, but they were immediately targeted by the nearest Airta.

The fraktiri had lost themselves in the hunt, only the Draskir and Sylvie had any control, which left the vast majority to run rampant.

In the span of a mere minute, the attacking force had cut through two dozen or more Cyth, but that was when the true resistance began.

The Cyth working on the construction rallied around the Bayne as it called out orders, and the wave of the attack broke on that group as they stood their ground.

A dozen Cyth were torn down and savaged, but twice that number held their ground, and the attackers began to fall.

The tenuous momentum of the attack foundered as the numerically superior Cyth came together, but Tim trusted in Sylvie to win through.

Instead, he and Zhalia were focusing on the Bayne as it conjured orbs of abyssal energy and prepared to send them streaking out toward the nearest Airta.

Zhalia muttered a prayer and lifted her bow, a golden arrow of energy forming as she drew it. “Lord of Hunts, bless my aim.”

With a thrum, the golden arrow shot forth, piercing the gathering abyssal energy and annihilating it with a flash of green and gold.

The Bayne recoiled in surprise before seeking the pair of them out and pointing their way as it called out an angry command.

A second golden arrow struck at it a moment later, its tip vanishing with a crack as it pierced the Bayne’s hasty shield and sank into the Cyth’s shoulder.

Tim knew Verdan would understand the complex interplay of energies and how they all behaved, but to him, the Cyth’s shoulder simply exploded.

The monster was sent sprawling back, but a score of Cyth were already rushing their way from its barked command.

They were well behind the Airta’s line of advance, leaving them exposed, but also well placed to draw off a sizeable chunk of the Cyth that remained.

Already, the loss of that many Cyth all at once was throwing the desperate defence into question.

“If we keep these ones occupied, the rest are doomed,” Tim said aloud, glancing over at Zhalia as the Cyth charged their way.

The Cleric drew a normal arrow this time, sending it streaking through the air as a slight golden trail stretched out behind it. “Then we need to keep their focus any way we can.”

“I can do that,” Tim said, drawing his sword and moving between Zhalia and the oncoming Cyth. “Fenn, stay with Zhalia, keep her safe.”

Tim didn’t question his gut instinct that the dog would understand him. Their souls had touched through the hunt, Fenn understood him in a way that surpassed words.

What mattered now was keeping Zhalia alive. She would pick the Cyth off and he would stop any of them from reaching her.

As he reached that conclusion, Tim felt that cool sensation wash over him once more, bringing with it a crystal clarity of the situation.

Moving to meet the Cyth, Tim met their clubs and improvised weapons with sharp steel and the resolute desire to make them pay for every inch he was driven back.

Despite his every effort, Tim was slowly driven back towards the Cleric, but by the time he was close enough for Fenn to join him, the Cyth were spent.

The last one died, Tim’s sword through its heart, a dozen feet from Zhalia.

Pulling his blade free with an impassive expression, Tim knocked the body aside before taking in the state of the main attack.

The wounded Cyth Bayne was dead, and the last few of the Cyth Lai were being hunted down and slaughtered by angry Airta.

Victory was theirs, but it had been far from a clean one.