Thorn's Arc

Chapter 1 of 2

Thorn crouched at the ridge above his cave, counting breaths in the cold. Midwinter had pushed everything living closer to his mountain, and that was the problem. He had built this hidden home to be left alone. The creatures inside the rock kept it that way, fed on quiet and meat and his refusal to ask questions. Below, a bunny-kin girl had strung a pale cloth between two low branches near the cave mouth. A small iron pan sat on her fire, salmon hissing in melted fat. Her long ears twitched at every sound she could not name. Thorn saw the signs before she did. Pawprints pressed deep in the snow, ringing her camp in a slow circle. Steam curled from a crack in the stone where something warm had just passed through. The creatures were already deciding. Then he heard the dogs. Far down the slope, men were calling her name in voices sharp with hunting. The girl froze over her pan, ears flat, eyes wet. She whispered that they would kill her if they found her. Thorn swore under his breath. He kicked snow over her fire, grabbed her pack, and pulled her past the cloth and into the dark of the cave. Behind them, something heavy shifted in the rocks and went still. He had just brought a person inside. He did not yet know what that would cost.