The Ranger of Marzanna (The Goddess War #1) - Jon Skovron Page 0,174
They were such beautiful animals, and she didn’t want to kill any more of them than necessary. As long as she and Blaine stood their ground, the wolves would eventually go in search of easier prey. They just had to be patient.
Unfortunately, patience had never been one of Blaine’s strong points.
He shouted something defiantly in Uaine, raised his sword, and charged the wolf directly in front of him. Naturally, that wolf hopped backward, while the two on either side converged on his flanks. Sonya shot one, but the other reached him.
Still muddled by fear, Blaine couldn’t bring his sword around fast enough. The wolf latched on to his forearm and gave a hard pull. Blaine’s muddy boots slipped out from under him and he fell. The remaining sixteen wolves ignored Sonya completely and went in for the kill.
Blaine had lost his sword, and now kicked desperately at the approaching wolves as he tried to free himself from the one who held his forearm in its jaws. Sonya didn’t want to risk shooting him in the chaos, so she shouldered her bow and leapt into the fray.
Sonya’s knife flashed brightly, throwing splashes of blood into the golden spring sunshine as she carved her way to Blaine. She grabbed his collar, intent on pulling him up. But he was a large man, and the ground was so slick that she nearly fell. With so many wolves surrounding them, that might have meant their deaths. Instead, she let go of his collar and fended off the darting wolves as she shouted at him.
“Get up, Blaine! Get the hell up!”
He was now covered in mud, and half-blinded by it. He groped around for his sword for several moments before he finally found it and hauled himself up.
Once they were both back on their feet, the wolves withdrew and began circling again. They had lost several more of their pack, but the smell of blood was now so strong it was like a tether around which they rotated.
“Can you still use your arm?” she asked.
“A little.”
“Enough to swing that big Uaine sword of yours?”
“A few times. Maybe.”
“That doesn’t sound encouraging.”
This was not how she’d hoped this would go. If only Blaine had listened to her. If only he’d been a little patient. Now things had gotten out of hand and the only thing that would fix it was more death. Death that could have been avoided.
She grimly drew her bow again and began methodically killing wolves. They were still so incensed with bloodlust that she had to slay several before the survivors finally scattered, yelping pitifully to each other as they ran away.
Blaine, still muttering in Uaine, stalked over to one of the dead wolves and kicked it.
“Blaine!” Sonya’s voice cracked like a whip.
His head jerked back to look at her, his expression bewildered.
Sonya pushed him aside, then knelt down beside the dead wolf. Its white fur was now stained with both the brown earth and red blood. She had killed ten of these magnificent animals today. Far too many to make use of out here on the tundra. A waste of meat and hides. And a waste of life. She didn’t use to be so bothered by such things. But now… well, she wasn’t sure what had changed, but it bothered her a great deal.
She gently laid her hand on the wolf’s head and spoke the Ranger’s prayer.
“One day I will return as you now return. Until then, I will travel light.”
She stayed there for a little while, feeling the warmth leave the wolf’s body. Then she looked up at Blaine. There must have been anger in her eyes, because he took an unconscious step back. He still looked confused, as if he couldn’t understand why she had been bothered by his disrespect.
She closed her eyes and took a slow breath. She couldn’t blame him for acting irrationally. After all, he had been struggling with his own childhood trauma. But she couldn’t quite shrug it off, either.
Finally she opened her eyes and said, “Let’s get you patched up, then carve as much meat as we can carry. If nothing else, we can have a feast when I tell the other Rangers that they no longer need to hide out here on the tundra.”
“Is wolf meat good eating?” he asked.
“Not particularly,” she admitted. “But we’ll eat it all the same.”