Chapter 21

S tormshroud trotted toward them with her tail swishing. Two dead rabbits dangled from her drooling jaws. Steam rose from her muzzle as she nudged Mateo. "Hey, Stormy. You missed the elks and the dragon." She tilted her head. "Never mind," he said with a pat to her head.

Mateo and Avalynn scrambled to their feet, dusting each other off. While the rabbits' blood dripped to the ground, Mateo studied the sky's deepening darkness. "We need to hurry."

The full moon had begun its slow rise. The temperature had dropped. Time to turn the tides and get their prey before any other creature discovered their cave.

He tugged the kill from Stormshroud's loosened jaws and looked at Avalynn in the cave's half-light. "You may want to turn away."

She moved closer to Stormshroud and faced the trees. "Go ahead."

With his boot heel lodged against the rabbit's neck, he jerked and ripped the head from its body. He repeated the exercise with the other one. "Okay, you can come over now."

With the carcasses, he covered her tunic and pants with warm blood. For the finishing touch, he smeared it across her face. He repeated the process on himself. When there was no blood left, he draped one carcass around Avalynn's neck and the other around his own. They were ready for a still hunt of the Shadowblood foxes.

"Now what?" she asked.

"Now we wait."

Stormshroud stayed in the woods while they positioned themselves in the dark around the unlit fire pit. In hushed silence, they sat on the logs with their spears resting on their laps. Side by side, they faced the cave's mouth, which showed a moonlit panorama of the tree line. They stayed still, hands wrapped together, and waited. Seconds turned to minutes. Minutes turned to hours. Mateo knew the stillness represented the calm before the storm.

An owl hooted in the distance. Maybe the Shadowbloods were too smart for a still hunt. A flock of nocturnal nightweavers flew through parting clouds. Perhaps the Shadowbloods had all been wiped out during the dragon melee. A breeze whisked around them. The vinegary stink of rabbit decay kicked in the air. The pungent stench turned Mateo's stomach. He side-eyed Avalynn. Her nose wrinkled, and her lips pursed shut. At the end of all this, after they crossed the finish line together, could he somehow keep her by his side? He pushed those ideas aside. They needed to survive first.

Crunch . At the sound, Mateo's eyes shot to the cave's mouth. It came from where they had scattered leaves and twigs. Crunch . Crunch. Snap . His hands tightened around his stick spear. He heard them, but he couldn't see them. Snap. Snap.

That's right. Come on. Come get your snack, you devils.

The still hunt had begun.

A large ball of wire-like fur leaped out of nowhere onto Mateo's chest. His spear wrenched from his hands and rolled to the ground. He flew to his feet and clutched at the beast. But the more he pulled, the deeper the beast's claws sunk into his skin. He gathered all his strength and might for one last yank. Writhing in pain, he jerked the beast loose by ripping it away. Tiny bits of bloody flesh flickered in the cave's glow as he flung it from his body. He patted his chest. Flesh wound. He would survive.

His eyes scanned the melee for Avalynn. Her weapon whooshed. She yelled and grunted, but he couldn't help her yet. He whistled and shouted, "Stormshroud!"

With a swipe of her claw and a crunch at the neck, the wolf finished off one of the creatures then bounded toward Avalynn with a ferocious growl.

Another Shadowblood attached itself to his thigh. With a left hook and a straight right, he slammed his fists against the beast's wicked jaws. It shrieked, released its hold, and dropped to the ground with a loud thud. Mateo raised his boot, but the creature scurried off, circled, and then latched back on to his arm. "You want more? You get more." He tried to do it the humane way. But this beast demanded a dramatic end… So he got it.

Mateo grabbed the beast by the jawline. Staring into its dark beady eyes, he spun toward the cave's wall and smashed it against the solid rock. The beast whimpered, but Mateo slammed it again and again. With a murmur, its eyes fixed, and the Shadowblood beast went limp.

He breathed a sigh of relief and tossed it aside. As it touched down, a burst of blinding white light erupted from underneath its rigid flesh. The light danced in a dazzling and twirling display all around the cave's walls. Then, like a shooting star, it shot out of the cave's mouth, leaving a luminous trail. It raced upward over the trees and into the night sky. He felt a part of him rising with that star. He was the light—the shooting star.

He destroyed a Shadowblood, the hunt's prey. He had done it. First place and all the pride and satisfaction that came along with it. A life of hopes, dreams, wishes and hard work came together in that one glorious moment. He had bested all the highborns, all the naysayers, all the nonbelievers…

"Hey! A little help here!" Avalynn stood on the log, waving her spears toward two advancing Shadowbloods. Nearby, Stormshroud wrestled two regular foxes.

Mateo scooped up his spear. He got a running start, leaped with all his might to his highest point, and then descended with his weapon into the back of an advancing Shadowblood. It howled, yipped, then wobbled out of the cave.

He spun around to assist Avalynn, but she rolled away the final beast with a kick. She balanced the spear in her hand, then hurled it. The wood spear carved a hole through the Shadowblood's skull. It teetered and fell on its side with a whump. The same white light exploded from the downed beast. It whirled throughout the cave in a glorious streak, and then shot into the dark night and up over the trees.

Silence filled the cave as Stormshroud joined them. Gulping for air, the trio waited and anticipated the next attack, which never came.

"My Stars," she whispered. Soft whimpering came from her as he held her tight. The emotion of the hunt finally spilling out. "We did it."

He squeezed and pulled her closer. The weight he'd been carrying since he arrived at Stromm Palace slowly dissolved. "We did."