Lilly Lakin's Arc

Chapter 4 of 4

Lilly reached the river and dropped to her knees. Her ankle had swelled tight inside her boot. Behind her, the howls came closer, spread wide through the pines. She had to follow the water north, against the current, but she could not stand on the foot. Every step sent white pain up her leg. She pressed her hands into the cold mud and tried to rise. Her ankle folded. She fell. A branch cracked behind her. She spun, expecting a wolf. Instead, she saw the oracle who had sent her here. Elizabeth stepped from the thick bushes, her staff burning faint at the top. It was the same woman who had told Lilly she was "something far above them all," then sent her into the dark alone. Lilly had not expected to see her again. "You found me," Lilly said. "The staff did." Elizabeth knelt and pressed two fingers to the swollen ankle. Lilly hissed. "Broken? No. Torn. It won't hold you." "It has to. The pack is right behind me." "They follow your scent." Elizabeth reached into her cloak and drew out a small bottle. The liquid inside shimmered, purple to green, with a pale thread of light curling through it. "Drink this. It hides your scent so they lose your trail." Lilly took the bottle. "How long does it last?" "A few hours. No more." Elizabeth's mouth went flat. "Use them well." Lilly pulled the stopper and drank. The potion burned cold down her throat. The air around her seemed to go thin, empty of her own scent. In the trees, a wolf yipped, confused. The howls broke apart. They circled, lost the line, and drifted the wrong way. "It worked," Lilly whispered. "For now." Elizabeth stood and pulled Lilly's arm across her shoulders. "You still can't walk. The potion hides you. It doesn't carry you." Lilly leaned on her and took a step. The ankle screamed, but Elizabeth bore half her weight. Together they moved along the riverbank, upstream, north toward the black pines. The current ran silver beside them. Lilly watched the water and counted her breaths against the pain. "Why help me?" Lilly asked. "You sent me out alone." Elizabeth did not look at her. "I read a path wrong once. Someone died." Her voice cut short. "Not this time." They walked until the packhouse howls faded behind the trees. But Lilly felt the potion thinning already, hour by hour. Her scent would return. When it did, the pack would find the line again, and she would still be limping. Elizabeth stopped where the river bent toward the first black pines. "There's a cave ahead, past these trees. It has a back way out." She looked at Lilly's ankle. "You need to be inside it before your scent comes back." Lilly stared at the dark line of pines. The scent-mask bought her hours, not safety. She set her jaw and limped forward, racing the potion toward the cave. As they made it to the cave, Elizabeth took her down a side passage that was in the cave. This is where Elizabeth has her hidden stash of other potions. Hidden away from Alpha Edward.