The Ranger of Marzanna (The Goddess War #1) - Jon Skovron Page 0,76
address it sooner rather than later.
The next night, they couldn’t find any trees, so they had to dig out their cave completely on their own. That took a fair bit longer, and required more care to make certain there was no danger of the cave collapsing on them while they slept. And then Sonya began to dig a narrow secondary exit tunnel just big enough for her to wriggle through.
“Why are you making another tunnel?” asked Jorge as he helped her toss the excess snow out through the main entrance. “Won’t that let more heat escape?”
“It’s part of my plan to catch whoever or whatever is stalking us,” she said as she continued to dig.
“Wait, something is stalking us? For how long?”
“I first noticed two nights ago. They’re keeping their distance, but I’ve caught the scent a few times and last night they came right up to our cave to sniff around.”
“Oh, God, you don’t think it’s a polar bear, do you?”
Sonya could faintly see the concern in his expression from the bit of moonlight that spilled into the cave.
“Don’t worry.” She paused her digging to pat his arm reassuringly. “I’ll take care of it tonight.”
“How?”
“I’m going to dig this tunnel to come up a little farther downwind but not break through completely, so it looks like there’s still only one way in or out. Then, when our stalker comes to investigate again, I sneak up behind them.”
“And I’m the bait,” he said gloomily.
“Mmm, delicious Raízian boy!” She pinched his cheek. “Who could resist?”
He did not seem to find that as funny as she’d hoped.
“I promise I won’t let anything happen to you, Jorge. But it wouldn’t be safe to ignore this problem.”
“You’re right, of course. I put my faith in you to sort it out.”
“Thank you.”
Jorge settled in for the night while Sonya stayed crouched by the second tunnel.
After a few moments, he said, “You were right, it’s nowhere near as warm without you.”
“Told you,” she said.
“Good night, Sonya.”
“Good night, Jorge.”
Jorge lay down and closed his eyes, although Sonya could tell by his breathing that he wasn’t sleeping. She waited patiently, as a proper hunter was wont to do, crouched at the entrance to the second tunnel with her knife held loosely in one hand. At last she was rewarded around midnight with the heavy crunch of steps near the entrance. Once again she caught that curiously unfamiliar smell. Now was her chance.
She clenched her knife between her teeth and quickly wriggled up the tunnel. It rose at a slight angle, so that by the time she reached the end of it, she was nearly thirty feet downwind of their stalker. Unless of course the wind had shifted since she’d dug the tunnel, in which case she might be in big trouble. But there was no time for doubt. If she didn’t move fast, the stalker would retreat again, and she’d have to do the whole thing over again tomorrow night.
She used her knife to clear away the last portion of the tunnel and broke the surface. Slowly, silently, she pulled herself up until she was lying facedown in the snow, spreading her body out as widely as she could so she didn’t sink down too far. In the distance, a figure crouched near the main entrance to the cave. The moonlight revealed it to be a person wearing a hooded leather coat lined in white fur.
For a moment, Sonya was too shocked to even react. Could there be another Ranger of Marzanna out here? Maybe they could help her recruit the Uaine—
Then a knife blade touched her throat, and a strong hand pressed down on her back.
A growling male voice said, “Not bad, little cub. But it appears you didn’t consider that there might be more than one of us.”
Sonya couldn’t believe her luck. Two Rangers living out here?
“Thank you for this lesson, Uchitel,” she said.
“A little presumptuous to call me teacher, don’t you think?”
“Someone who teaches you something is your teacher, isn’t that so?” she asked.
She still couldn’t see him, but she heard and felt him sniff closely a few times. Then he grunted.
“Fox cub. Should have known, you cheeky little thing. What are you doing out here?”
“My friend and I are going to find the Uaine. We’re going to enlist their aid in liberating Izmoroz from the empire.”
“That so?” He didn’t exactly sound supportive of the idea, but maybe he was just jealous he hadn’t thought of it first.