Chapter 8 Wolves

The Magi don’t usually take Prince Eaters still with their mothers. They need us to have the strength and stamina to succeed. We thought I would be too young. — Prince Eater #34

Jon floundered when he tried to crawl. A wide swath of blood marked the tiny distance he had been able to traverse. Small insects buzzed around him excitedly. Something nibbled his ankles. Scavenger birds circled in the sky overhead and from time to time swooped down to gauge whether or not he was ready to be eaten. He lost consciousness again. Woke up and then passed out again. The process repeated until a low, intense growl reached his ears.

Widening his eyes, he turned his head to see three wolves stalking him. The nostrils of the wolf in the lead flared, and it tipped its head suspiciously.

“HEY!” Jon yelled desperately. A crossbow bolt with thin wood fletching soared over Jon’s head but didn’t strike the wolf. Jon raised his left arm and waved it wildly. “AAAH!” The wolves paused. He hollered as loudly as he could with the ruined muscles in his face. “Hey! Go on! Go away!”

Another bolt with wood fletching flew across, terrifying Jon. “Quarrels. They’re here. I have to move.”

The lead wolf crouched, growled deeply, and then sprinted toward him. When the wolf leaped, Jon put his arms up defensively. The wolf snapped his teeth into Jon’s left arm and whipped it aside before it dropped toward Jon’s head and neck. As the predator’s opened jaw and wide teeth came at Jon’s face, a bolt with white and blue fletching speared between the wolf’s eyes. The beast collapsed on top of him.

An oof of air jerked out of his lungs, and his brain rebuked him, “You’re a dead man, Jon. The archers have come. Get this beast off you and figgict run.” The white and blue of the fletching of the crossbow bolt in the wolf’s skull was so close that it blocked Jon’s vision. “White and blue,” he thought. “Alec uses white and blue —”

“Stay down, Jon. Stay down,” Alec bellowed. “I’ll be right there. I’ve got to chase off the other wolves. Stay down.”

Prince Jon shoved against the dead animal but was unable to dislodge it, so he pressed himself against the ground and tried to wiggle out from under it. He made some progress, but couldn’t get free. He couldn’t see his friend but was heartened when he heard Alec yelling, stomping, and running followed by the thunk of another crossbow bolt. The wolves yelped and then ran in fright across the field and into the trees where several louder yelps were followed by silence. A moment later, Alec’s beautiful brown face appeared behind the carcass of the wolf, his unruly black hair falling loosely from its tie and concern swimming in his dark, mahogany eyes.

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The weight lifted from Jon’s chest, and then Alec was kneeling at his side, asking, “Jon? Jon, are you okay? Jon?”

The prince moaned but didn’t try to speak.

Alec jumped up, rummaged through his bags, and then returned to Jon’s side with bandages and an antiseptic solution extracted from the crushed, indigenous incappbo seeds. Holding Jon cautiously, he cleaned the bite wound and lacerations in Jon’s left arm and then poured the stinging liquid across the torn skin and puncture wounds. Jon gave a muted scream and his eyes rolled back into his head. Bracing himself to continue despite Jon’s pain, Alec dabbed and poured the incappbo extract where he could, and then wrapped bandages securely.

When Jon regained consciousness his arm was already splinted, and Alec had examined Jon’s broken leg and was preparing to splint it again. Alec regarded him thoughtfully, and cautioned, “This will hurt, my love. I’m sorry.”

Jon again fainted at the pain, so Alec splinted the break without reviving him, reusing Jon’s padded short sword as a splint.

Alec removed his jacket, bundled Jon, and then stood to gaze around the clearing. He knew that Jon would die from his injuries before First Sun if he didn’t receive professional medical care and the opportunity to rest in safety. Alec sighed. SnakeIn was the only place he could take him. Alec might have to fight to get in, or use his life savings to bribe the sentries on watch – thankfully, his former colleagues had packed all of his money, and judging by the weight of the purse had made a sizable contribution from their own savings – but Jon wouldn’t be safe anywhere else. Not the King nor his soldiers, not the Most Revered nor her magi, none of them would set foot in the western town, located in the largely unsettled Midhe Thiar.

Alec hooked his crossbow on his back and walked around Prince Jon with his lips pursed as he tried to determine the best way to proceed. He was worried. Prince Jon was too hurt to be able to keep his balance so Alec would have to risk harming Jon to hoist him over his shoulder and climb on. A flash caught his eye. He straightened and scrutinized the boulder at the edge of the clearing. A hand appeared from behind it to set a crossbow on top of the rock. A longsword followed, and then a war axe. Unarmed but wearing his helmet with the visor closed, the Grays Commander emerged from behind the boulder and displayed his empty hands in front of him. He bowed respectfully and took a step toward Alec and Jon. He paused. Waited. Took another step. The closer he got, the wider he held out his open palms.

“I’ll hand him up to you,” the Grays Commander offered. “Get mounted, and I will help you settle him in front of you.”

“Why would you do that?” Alec answered, his hand up and resting on his crossbow uncertainly.

“I won’t see one of Harrison’s sons slaughtered if it is within my power to stop it,” The Grays Commander answered.

“Why didn’t you stop it sooner?” Alec questioned. “He wasn’t a coward. All he did was go out to collect moonflowers for the cottage we’ll have together.”

“Lord and Survivor, Ava always has been an unclaimed. Figg’t her and the Ritual both. I won’t harm either of you. I left all my weapons behind.”

Alec gazed at his dying love and realized he had no choice.

Before the night had passed the midway point, Prince Jon was mounted on Alec’s horse with the former Royal Archer’s strong arms supporting him. The couple had traversed the remainder of Midhe Thiar and stood at the gates of SnakeIn.

©2022 Vera S. Scott