Lupi 04 - Night Season

Ahk’s belly, twisting his body—and shoving.
    The Ahk teetered on the edge. And started to fall.
    One gray hand shot out and seized Steve’s arm. Steve threw himself back, pulling them both away from the edge before he was dragged to the ground. The big Ahk swarmed over him, teeth and tusks bared in a snarl made for nightmares.
    He went for Steve’s throat with those tusks.
    Cynna’s boot landed on his temple. Hard.
    She hadn’t been positioned right, so the kick wrecked her balance. She fell against another big, gray body. Two huge hands seized her arms, holding her upright. The Ahk she’d kicked shook his head once, as if puzzled. Then collapsed.
    The one holding her spoke thoughtfully. Her charm said, “Good kick.”
    â€œSteve Timms?” Gan’s voice rose from the hole, thin with fear. “Cynna Weaver? Are you killed?”
    â€œNot yet,” Cynna called back. She jerked away from the Ahk holding her, moved to the edge, and peered down.
    Some kind of sinkhole, she thought. But it was dark down there. She couldn’t see a thing, not even a bright orange thing, so she sent her mage light down.
    â€œCynna,” Steve said, his voice muffled, “when you get a chance, I could use some help getting this asshole off me.”
    â€œI’ll do it,” Daniel said. He sounded out of breath.
    â€œYou okay, Steve?” Cynna’s mage light drifted down, and at last she saw Gan.
    â€œFine. Sure, I’m fine.”
    The hole was round. Was that normal for sinkholes? The sides were almost smooth, almost vertical. Impossible to climb. Cynna couldn’t see the bottom. She did see the tree that, collapsing when the earth beneath it suddenly vanished, had wedged itself across the hole about twenty feet down. Gan clung to one of its branches.
    Those miserable assholes had been chucking rocks at her. Big rocks. Even if they didn’t hit her, they could have dislodged the tree.
    Chulak’s distinctive rumble made her turn. He still sat his horse, staring down at his men. Her charm whispered, “Sithell. Report.”
    The one who obliged with a terse account was short for an Ahk and built like a tank. The Ahk carrying Gan had, as they thought, lost control of his horse. The animal had been running flat out, with no chance of stopping when he saw the sinkhole. They’d jumped it—but the rider lost his grip on Gan. When the others arrived, they’d been so relieved that the horse took no hurt that they’d felt playful.
    Chulak did not. “Which of you leathin thought I did not need so many hostages?” He paused. “Did one of you—any one of you—think at all?”
    Sithell spoke respectfully. “It seemed the mountain had decided to swallow the orange one. We did not wish to argue with Hvrash’s mate.”
    â€œBut you thought she would not object if you chucked rocks down her throat?”
    Looked like the Ahk knew a rhetorical question when they heard one. No one said a word. So Cynna did. “I need rope. Now.”
    Chulak’s head turned slowly. “Come here.”
    That did not sound good. Balking wouldn’t help, though, and she wanted that rope. She walked up to his horse.
    His hand shot out. A sledgehammer hit the side of her head, knocking her down. Dimly, through the roar in her ears, she heard him rumble, heard the charm whisper: “I do not like the way you speak to me.”
    She didn’t quite pass out, but she wasn’t fully there, either, as they discussed Gan’s rescue—and the punishment of those who’d risked losing one of Chulak’s hostages. Three of them lost a finger. One—the one she’d knocked out—lost two fingers. They waited for him to come around so he could chop them off himself.
    While they went about their bloody business, Cynna distracted Gan from her plight by describing the way Steve had championed her. Her father sat behind her, propping her up. That felt weird, but it was a nice weird.
    Finally they gave Steve a rope, and he hauled Gan up.
    The former demon was scratched, bruised, and bloody. Her blood was red, as red as anyone else’s. Her eyes were huge. “You saved me,” she whispered to Steve. “You fought the Ahk to make him stop. He’s huge and could kill you, but you fought him.”
    She lurched forward suddenly and clasped him around the knees. Hugging him.
    Steve made a strangled sound and