Savage King: New Worlds - Milly Taiden Page 0,59

around, most of the village was gone and the air was heavy with smoke. She coughed, fanning the air in front of her face.

Iridia and a few men were left. The tops of the mounds were burning on the back side of the perimeter.

“Come on, Iridia, let’s go. Get the men going.”

With sad eyes, the alpha glanced one last time at her and her people’s home. Wren had no doubt they would rebuild bigger and better. Her coughing became worse. Iridia called for everyone to leave and Wren led them down the path.

The fire was literally nipping at their heels. At the entrance to the tunnel, she directed the guys inside. Iridia made her go first, and she wasn’t about to argue. She dropped to her knees and started crawling.

Iridia called behind her. “We need to get you shoes.”

Wren laughed. “Sure, why not?” As she crawled, she noted the small glowing things that Zee had called up through the ground in their dome last night so it wasn’t pitch dark. She knew earth had creatures in the oceans that glowed, giving off light, but she wasn’t sure about the ground. But they sure came in handy at the moment.

Behind her, Iridia cried out. “What’s wrong?” Wren hollered.

“The fire is burning into the tunnel. It is following the dirt.” The alpha coughed.

“Oh shit,” she whispered. Nobody had thought of that. They needed to seal off the end. The tunnel wasn’t wide enough to move around. One direction was it. “Iridia,” Wren said, “make the tunnel fill in behind you. Pull the dirt down.”

“It’s not enough. The fire is eating through it.”

“Shit.” Okay, now what? They needed a large amount of dirt all at once to choke the air from the tunnel. “Iridia, I need to crawl as fast as you can until I say stop, okay?”

“Yes, go!”

Wren pounded her knees and hands into the hard dirt as they raced forward. Wren closed her eyes and asked the trees above them to push the ground to close the tunnel. For their roots to dig in and collapse the gap so the fire couldn’t follow. And to please try not to bury them alive.

She crawled what felt like hours. The pain in her knees was slight compared to what she would’ve thought they’d be by now. When the ground started to slant down, the composition of the dirt became rocky and damp. In her mind, she imagined crossing under the creek. Even though it wasn’t logical, she felt like she had to be as quiet as possible to not be heard by the soldiers above land.

After being with the friendly Gnoleon people, coming across the armed group seemed weird. There was no question they meant to take whatever they wanted by force if necessary. What they wanted, Wren and her cousins refused to give up. Whatever reason the leader wanted the stones couldn’t have been good. That in itself was reason enough to keep him from getting what came for.

Hopefully after this, she’d never have to see their ugly mugs again. They stirred a bad feeling inside her.

About the time she was going to call a break, her eyes noticed light ahead. Continuing to move forward, she approached the end, and Zee reached in and nearly dragged her out then squeezed her in his arms. She didn’t know why he was worried.

“We’re okay,” she said. “Iridia and I are the last ones.”

He nodded and pressed her lips together. Yeah, she got it as she smiled around his fingers. They had to be quiet in case the armed little shits could hear them. She wondered how far away they were. She crawled forever after passing the creek.

Haml helped Iridia to the surface, ending the successful escape attempt. Together, the four led the tribe through the forest coming to the jungle. During the flee, she noted Iridia and Haml held hands while she carried a child on her hip. Boy, she hadn’t seen that coming. But who would be the logical counterpart to a female born of an alpha? If not another alpha, then certainly a beta.

At the edge of the forest, a few yards from the giant jungle plants, Zee called a halt and the group began setting up camp. They were hours away from the creek, and Zee didn’t seem worried about being followed.

Wren watched as men and women used their magic to lift the dirt into hollowed domes. Those carrying leather bags moved belongings into the arched ground, children coming out with