Jace Valcraft's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Jace Valcraft crouched behind a fallen log and counted the tracks in the mud. Boot prints. Human hunters, four of them, headed toward the hollow where the beast-folk hid. He was a tiger, big and strong, but strength meant nothing against rifles. He had promised these frightened people a sanctuary. Now he knew he could not guard it alone. He ran back to the shelter of stones his people called home. Old badgers, a limping deer, three cubs too young to flee. They looked to him with the same trust that kept him awake at night. "They're close," Jace said. "I need help. Real help." A brown rabbit lounged against the rock wall, arms crossed, ears flicking. Tyrus. Jace had met him at the river two days back, and the rabbit had done nothing since but flirt with every doe who passed and eat their stores. "Help," Tyrus said, grinning. "You want me to punch a hunter? Look at me, stripes. I'm charming, not bulletproof." "You're fast," Jace said. "Faster than anything they carry. I need someone to draw them off the trail." Tyrus stopped grinning. He looked at the three cubs pressed against the deer's flank. Something in his cocky face cracked. "Bait," he said. "You want me to be bait." "I want you to run and live. Lead them east. I'll close the hollow behind you." A green snake slid down from a high crack in the stone. Molly. She curled around Jace's arm, and her small head lifted level with his ear. "He can't do it alone either," she said. "But two of you splitting them? That could work." She looked at Tyrus. "You brag about being quick. Prove it." Tyrus stared at her, then at the tiger, then at the cubs. He pushed off the wall. "Fine. But if I die, I'm haunting both of you." He shook out his legs and bolted into the trees. The hunters heard the noise and turned. Jace saw their rifles swing east, away from the hollow. He herded his people the other way, through the ravine Molly marked with her tail. Branches tore his fur. A cub stumbled and he carried it. Behind him, shouts chased Tyrus into the dark, and then faded. By dusk they reached the far ridge. Jace set the cub down and counted heads. Everyone had made it. Tyrus limped in last, one ear notched by a bullet, breathing hard, still grinning. "Told you I was fast," he wheezed. Molly coiled tighter on Jace's shoulder. "They saw where we went," she whispered. "They'll come back with more." Jace looked at his small band, safe for one night. He had his first two allies now. But the hunters knew his people were worth chasing. The next hunt would be bigger.