The crowd around the front gate didn’t thin with the return of the hunters. If anything, it grew more restless as it fed off Vacksin’s agitation.

  “What did you find?” Velena asked Vacksin as soon as the man got to her.

  “Nothing. Little dancer was shooting at shadows. Wasted our time,” he responded in a hiss.

  Syl held her tongue but didn’t miss Velena’s glance in her direction. Should she object? Say it wasn’t just shadows she was shooting at? Was it, though? Could Vacksin be right?

  “No matter,” Velena dismissed it. “We’ll check again when the sun comes up. It’s easy enough to mistake one thing for another in the dark.” Voice bereft of accusation, was the comment meant for Syl or for Vacksin?

  “Once we get more information from Galli,” she went on, “we can send hunters out for Lorac and the others. We should be able to find tracks there.”

  “If Lorac really is gone…” Vacksin started.

  “Now’s not the time,” Velena stopped him.

  “Now is exactly the time,” Vacksin countered, his chest puffing out. “If Lorac is gone, we need a strong leader to avenge him.”

  Velena turned on Vacksin so suddenly the man took a full step back. “This is not about vengeance,” she said as she took an aggressive step forward. “This is about protecting the village. Protecting our people. Lorac understood that.”

  “Lorac is dead,” Vacksin shot back. “Which is why we need…”

  “Velena,” Enna interrupted. “I’ve got Galli stabilized. He wants to speak to you.”

  Vacksin’s eyes didn’t leave Velena. That conversation wasn’t over, but the look on Velena’s face clearly stated it was postponed. Vacksin gave the slightest nod of acceptance and respect. Velena mirrored the gesture, then turned and headed to where Enna was treating Galli.

  The crowd shifted to listen as Velena knelt beside the injured man.

  Syl, like everybody else, got as close as she could to hear what he had to say.

  “Galli,” Velena said softly. “You’ve been very brave. Can you tell me what happened?”

  Galli reached out and clasped Velena’s forearm like he needed her to ground him. “The other groups? Did they make it b-back? The k-kids?”

  “They’re all safe, Galli. You don’t have to worry about them,” Velena reassured him.

  “That’s g-good,” he stumbled, but seemed to breathe a bit easier.

  “What happened to Lorac and the rest of your group?” she prompted.

  “We were on our way b-back,” Galli started. “It was already d-dark, so we stuck to the road. Lorac was in the f-front. We didn’t want to find the Lake-Wolf in the woods in the d-dark…” he trailed off.

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  “And…?” Velena urged when Galli didn’t continue on his own.

  Even from where Syl stood, the fear in Galli’s eyes was clear. He was reliving it all in his head. And it was terrifying.

  “It f-found us…” Galli said weakly, his quiet words carrying over the still crowd. Other than the popping fires, nothing made a sound.

  “We were on the road, five-point spread with Lorac in the f-front, watching for it. Lorac was in the f-front, I was behind him with Baluc, and Kinu and Jella were in the b-back. Lorac told us to watch out for each other, he was in the f-front,” Galli repeated, and had to stifle a sniffle, “but it didn’t matter.

  “I heard Kinu scream f-first. He hit the ground as I turned. B-blood in the air. B-but the Lake-Wolf was gone. Lorac tried to tell us to hold position. He was in the f-front. Kinu was on the ground. Everybody was moving. Confused. Jella was next. It snatched her into the b-bushes.

  “Her screams…” Galli closed his eyes as if that would block out the memory. “They were terrible…”

  “Galli,” Velena said, gently squeezing the man’s shoulder. “What happened next? What did Lorac do?”

  Galli opened his eyes, but it took him a moment to come back to the present. “Lorac… Lorac told… he was in the f-front. He told us to f-form up. B-back to b-back. As soon as he said that, Jella’s screaming stopped. Then it came at us.”

  “Did you get a good look at it?” Vacksin asked.

  “No. Too f-fast. Just a b-blur,” Galli admitted. Guilt and shame covered his face. “It leaped over me. Clipped me on the way b-by,” he weakly gestured to his bloody shoulder. “B-Baluc wasn’t so lucky.

  “It ripped his throat out.”

  “What did Lorac do?” Vacksin asked, impatient.

  “He was in the f-front. Only one left,” Galli said, a mix of pride and grief in his voice. “Torches on the ground. And b-bodies. And b-blood. So much b-blood,” he had to pause and take a deep breath before continuing. “My torch was by my f-face. It was hot. I couldn’t see past it. B-but I heard him charge. I heard his Sho-Val swing.”

  “He fought it,” Vacksin said proudly.

  “He lost,” Galli said bluntly. “In an instant. His b-battle cry cut off. And then his head. Just his head. It was in f-front of me. His eyes could still see me…” Galli started sobbing. “Lorac, I’m sorry Lorac,” Galli said and drifted back into memory.

  “How did you escape?” Velena asked as she forced his attention back on her.

  Galli blinked several times before he had the strength to continue. “Kinu…”

  “You said Kinu was dead,” Vacksin accused. The sharp look from Velena shut his mouth with an audible clap.

  “No… not dead. Not yet,” Galli clarified. “He got up. He ran. It chased him.”

  “He was running away?” Vacksin asked. “Coward.”

  The glare Velena gave him was withering.

  “He wasn’t a coward,” she said to Galli. “He thought you were all dead. There was nothing to gain from staying there.”

  Galli struggled to hold back the tears. He failed. “No. I’m the coward,” he sobbed. “The Lake-Wolf chased Kinu. I got up. I ran as f-fast as I could. I didn’t look b-back. Kinu started screaming. I kept running.” His voice cracked as he spoke, his spirit breaking at the same time.

  “That’s enough. We should take him back to my clinic,” Enna said. “He needs rest, and I need to properly treat this.”

  Velena held up a hand. “Galli, you said it followed you back?”

  “Yes… yes…” he said, trying to find his voice. “I didn’t look. B-but I could feel it behind me. So close.”

  “But it didn’t kill you,” Velena pointed out. “Maybe it wasn’t…”

  “No!” he cut her off, finding strength in his terror. “It was b-behind me. The whole way. I know it was.”

  “How far?” Velena asked.

  “I think… I think… B-Black Creek. Yes, B-Black Creek when it attacked. Yes… yes, that’s it. Lorac was in f-front,” he went on. “I remember the b-bridge. I ran over the b-bridge.”

  “That’s more than an hour from here,” Vacksin said to nobody in particular.

  “Which is why he’s very tired and needs his rest,” Enna pointed out sternly. She looked to Velena to see if the chief would object again. When nothing came, Enna began calling out instructions to get Galli back to the clinic.

  “Why would it let him go?” Dena leaned over and whispered to Syl.

  The words came out of Syl’s mouth before she could censor them. “It wanted him afraid. It wanted us afraid,” she said in a low whisper. “It worked.”

  “What?” Dena asked. “I didn’t hear all that.”

  But Syl was already heading back towards her house.

  “Hey, Syl, wait!” Dena said as she caught up. “Where are you going?”

  “To get my father.”

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