Arron Liken's Arc

Chapter 8 of 11

The horns still called across the valley. Arron gripped the charm at his throat. It hid his mixed scent well. But Lilly stood beside him, and no charm masked her. Werewolf blood, sharp and clear. He looked down. Where her feet had touched the stone, small flowers had bloomed. A trail of them wound back through the temple grass. Any tracker could follow that path straight to them. "Your flowers," Arron said. He pointed. "They grow where you step. That's how they'll find us." Lilly's face fell. "I can't stop them. They come on their own." She crushed a bloom under her heel. Another opened where she moved. Morgan laughed from the steps. "So the pretty one is a beacon. Victor won't even need his nose." Arron thought fast. The charm could not stretch to two. Running would only leave a longer trail. He remembered the seer's words from the black pines, weeks ago. Elizabeth could see all. She had found Lilly once across the whole valley. Maybe she could hide her too. He pressed his palm to the temple doors. The moon carving warmed under his hand. "Selene," he said. "Your bond runs through me now. Reach the one who sees." The stone flared. Between two pillars, air twisted into a ring of light. Runes burned along its edge. A swirling gate opened, blue and violet. Then a small figure stepped through, white hair, a staff topped with fire. Elizabeth. "You called loud," Elizabeth said. "The whole valley heard it, wolf. Not just me." Their purple eyes swept the flowers, then Lilly. "Ah. The mate leaves a garden behind her. Careless." "Can you hide her trail?" Arron asked. "I can do better." Elizabeth raised the staff. The fire at its tip dimmed. All at once, the flowers browned. They curled shut and sank into the grass. The path Lilly had left vanished. "I bound her scent and bloom to the temple stone. She may walk free now. Nothing follows." Lilly stepped forward. No flower rose. She laughed and gripped Arron's arm. But Elizabeth's face stayed grim. "The trail is gone. The hunters are not." They turned toward the pines. "They marched on the flowers. Now they'll march on this hill by memory. Victor leads them. He wants the one who took his blade." Arron drew the wolf-marked saber from his belt. Its lycan face caught the moonlight. "Then he can have it. Point first." Elizabeth planted their staff. The portal still churned behind them. "I opened a door for a reason. When the walls break, run through it. It leads far from here." "And if we stay?" Arron asked. "Then you fight them all at once," Elizabeth said. "Whole and bonded, as the captured one warned. Choose before the first hunter reaches the steps." A figure broke from the trees below. Dark coat, knife on his belt. Victor. Behind him, more shapes filled the treeline. The choice had arrived.