Lily Moonwhisper's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Lily Moonwhisper knelt in the wet grass and pressed her hand to the wounded creature's flank. A white wolf cub, no bigger than a lamb, shook under her palm. Its hind leg dripped red from a hunter's snare. Lily had spent three seasons searching for a place to hide creatures like this one, a grove where nothing hunted lived in fear. She had not found it yet. Behind her, hounds bayed, and the sound was getting closer. She could hear the hunters crashing through the brush. They had chased the cub straight down her path. If she stalled, they would break the treeline and see them both. Lily whistled sharp and low. Her gryphon dropped from the sky and landed hard beside her. Its coat blazed with blue, red, and gold, and its eyes fixed on the trees. She lifted the cub against her chest and climbed onto the gryphon's back. "The old cave," she whispered. "Fly low." The gryphon ran three strides and launched. Branches whipped Lily's face. She spotted the cave ahead, its mouth ringed with stone and glowing runes. Crystals grew from the ground like teeth. She had never trusted its magic, but she had no other door. The gryphon landed at the entrance. Lily slid down and carried the cub into the dark. Cool air swallowed the hound-cries. She set the cub deep in the tunnel, behind a shelf of glowing rock, and pressed her hand over its muzzle to keep it quiet. Boots scraped on stone outside. A shadow filled the cave mouth. "Clever," a man said. "I lost the blood trail at the crystals." Lily turned. A hunter stood in the runed archway, bow slack in one hand. Dark hair fell wild around a bearded face. He did not rush her. He studied the walls, the cub, and her, like a man reading tracks. "Raven Thornwood," he said, tapping his chest. "That cub belongs to my party. You're standing between me and a full season's bounty." Lily stepped in front of the cub. "It belongs to no one." He smiled without warmth. "Everything belongs to someone, girl." He glanced at the runes above him, then at the gryphon filling the cave mouth behind her. His hounds circled outside, unwilling to pass the crystals. Something in the old magic held them back. Raven lowered his bow. "The stone won't let my dogs in. Not today." He backed toward the light. "But I know this valley now. I know your face, and I know your beast. Hide one cub, and I'll find where you hide the rest." He turned and vanished into the trees. The hounds followed his whistle. Lily sank against the cold wall. The cub licked her wrist. She had saved it. But she had shown a hunter her secret cave, her gryphon, and her purpose. He would come back with more men, and now he knew exactly what to look for.