rarely stirred. There were supplies in the packs they had salvaged, and when he needed to eat, he could.
By the fourth night, the distant howls of the beasts, ever-present, had caught up with them.
They ran on, the howls of their pursuers snapping at their heels. ‘Why do we run?’ Stregga barked, limbs pumping as she pushed herself through the knee-high snow. ‘We’ll butcher them as easily as the others, surely…’
‘There are more of them,’ Rasha said. ‘Listen to the howls.’
‘More to kill is all,’ Stregga said, grinning.
‘Feel free to stay behind,’ Naaima snapped. She looked at Neferata. ‘They will catch us,’ she said. Neferata snarled in consternation. The beasts had tracked them, or, more likely, the dwarf.
They could leave him and keep moving. But Neferata knew that they would need him, and alive for preference. She couldn’t say why, exactly, but she knew enough to trust her instincts when it came to such things.
Besides which, they needed blood, fresh blood. And the only palatable supply was charging towards them. She unsheathed her sword. ‘We fight,’ she said. ‘Kill them all, and drain them dry.’
‘Yesss,’ Khaled said. The others echoed him. In the snow and shadows, they looked monstrous. Inhuman lust had burned away all pretence of humanity now, and only the blood-hunger remained.
Another howl rippled through the dusk and the harsh stink of the hunting horrors followed it. Something big crashed through the trees, its footsteps causing the ground to tremble. A moment later the trees immediately behind them disintegrated as a massive shape crashed through the curtain of flying wood and falling snow, bellowing. It was as big as four men and had the head of a deformed bull. Teeth like knives snapped together in a spray of froth and foam as the creature pursued them like an ambulatory avalanche.
‘Ha!’ Khaled crowed. He stopped and slewed around, his sword cutting across the beast’s muzzle. It did not stop its charge, but instead crashed into him, catching him between its great curling horns. Khaled cried out as he was lifted off his feet and tossed into the monster’s wake. It roared again and made to draw the great, primitive blade stuffed through the loop of its ratty loincloth.
Neferata struck out, her sword sinking to the hilt in the flesh of its forearm. It shrieked and reached for her with its good hand. She danced back and the claws closed on empty air. The others had joined the fray by then, circling the beast and striking at it like wolves bringing down a stag. Their swords left ragged bloody wounds on its thick, porous flesh and it grunted and howled, furiously lashing out at them.
Khaled had got to his feet and met the first of the creatures that had followed the big one through the trees. The goat-headed abomination chopped at him with a stone axe. Khaled ducked and weaved around its blows, toying with it for a few moments. Then, bored, he circled it too quickly for it to follow, grabbed one of its horns and kicked it in the small of the back, snapping its neck and spine with one jerk. More creatures boiled out of the dark trees and howling snow like ants. Several loped towards the dwarf, who lay unconscious and unawares on his litter.
‘Khaled, Anmar, keep him alive,’ Neferata said, avoiding an awkward blow from the dying giant. She stepped past it, leaving it to Naaima and the others.
‘Do as she says,’ Khaled said to his sister. He lunged after Neferata, sword flashing through a hairy throat. Anmar made to call out to him, but she was soon too busy defending the dwarf to make any sound save an enraged snarl as her thin blade lopped off the crooked limbs that reached for her.
Neferata prowled among the monsters, letting her bloodlust have free rein and leaving bodies in her wake. There were dozens of the beasts, and she wondered where they had all come from. Had they inadvertently stumbled into the creatures’ territory? Perhaps it was simply hunger. They all had the starveling look, with hairy hides shrunk tight to malformed bones.
‘Look to your side, my lady,’ Khaled said, sliding past her and bisecting a beast with a single graceful twist of his blade. Neferata glared at him.
‘I told you to defend the dwarf!’ she hissed.
Khaled didn’t meet her eyes. He caught a heavy blow on his blade, turned it aside and grunted, shoving his opponent back. The creatures were stronger than men, and starvation had