Sophia Janus's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Sophia swept ash from the hearth of the small thatched hut at the edge of the marsh. To any traveler, it looked like a trapper's shack. Beneath the floor, a hidden refuge sheltered three halfbreeds she had sworn to protect. She listened to the wind and waited. The carved wooden talisman hanging from the crooked post by the path stirred without breeze. Sophia felt it before she saw it. Two riders had crossed onto the trail. Hunters. They had been asking questions in town for days, and now they were close. She whistled low. Ghrim rose from the reeds, black fur shot through with veins of ember light. The hellhound met her eyes and waited for the word. Sophia knelt and pressed her hand to his shoulder. "Lead them north," she said. "Lose them in the bog. Don't be seen." Ghrim slipped into the mist. Sophia heard the hunters shout, then the splash of horses turning. By dusk, the trail was quiet again. But she stood at the door a long time, knowing they would come back, and that next time she would have to choose something worse.