Chapter 5 Ylvana: The Crows

Chapter 5 Ylvana: The Crows

“My cabin is down the road,” Firyali said. “Meet me there at nightfall. If you’re not there, I’ll find you and drag you back by your hair.”

“Sounds good. I’ll see ya then,” I said, branching away from her towards the restaurant.

Pine trotted along at my heels until I reached the porch steps.

“No animals inside,” I said.

His ears dropped. “You’re gonna leave me alone?”

“You have Mo to keep you company.”

“But she’s mean!”

“See ya.”

The air was thick with the smell of buttery popcorn and alcohol as I walked into the dim room, igniting a symphony of childhood memories of days spent here with my friends after school.

“Why, if it isn’t the Wolf Princes!” said an old man from behind the counter.

I smiled at the owner of the Lodge. “C’mon, Moose. I’m no princess.”

“That’s not what folks say.”

“They’re just rumors.” I shrug. “I’m no more powerful than any other Shifter. Probably less since I can barely handle a sword.”

He tilted his head in a disappointed smile that made me wish I could say something else. “Shame. We could really use someone like that. Anyway, what can I get ya?”

“Oh, um, I didn’t bring money.”

He waved a withered hand. “On the house. I have too much food in the back and not enough people eating it.”

He wasn’t going to let up, so I ordered a small sandwich, then began searching for my friends. The place was painfully empty: the usual bustle of people was whittled down to a few lonely couples dotted around the tables. It would have hurt less stabbing a butter knife through my hand than seeing this place so miserable.

Relaxing in a booth in the corner was a boy and girl playing cards, completely oblivious of me as I crawled into the booth behind them.

I clutched the girl’s shoulder. “What’s up?”

My ears are nearly twice as sensitive as a normal human’s, so when she screamed, it felt like a hammer smacked my eardrums. I guess it was fair payback for scaring her out of her skirt.  She whirled around, red hair flying as she twisted my wrist into a lock. Thankfully she recognized me before breaking it.

“The bloody hell, Ylvana!” she huffed. “Try it again I’ll clype ya!”

I scooted next to her, laughing my lungs out.

“Nice one, Ana,” Chris said, leaning back in his chair. He wore a small smile, which I guess was all I could expect from him. He hardly ever laughed like he did when we were kids.

“Isn’t there a ball ye should be at?” Cao asked.

I rolled my eyes. “Judgmental royalty sashaying around in pink dresses? I think I’ll pass.”

“It beats the action ‘round here,” Chris said, nodding towards empty tables.

I shook my head. “Why didn’t you guys tell me things had gotten so bad?”

Caoimhe sighed. “The only thing it would do would make ye worry. Not like anyone can do anything. The Crows be belten the Warriors.”

My lips formed a tight line. “And when were you gonna tell me about my cabin?”

Chris sighed. “We didn’t know how…”

A scream snatched my focus to the window. A couple villagers raced down the street, pursued by four Warriors in armor marching forwards. Two of them were the guards at the front gate. The other two wore armor as black as coal. Now I understood why Firyali didn’t recognize the guards: they weren’t Sølvefalske Warriors.

My voice quivered as I called out to Moose. “There’s Crows on the street!”

The old man mumbled a curse and locked the front door. “Everybody, stay inside!”

The Warriors fanned out, peeking into windows as they stalked closer. My heart pounded against my ribs. Of all the times to be separated from Firyali! Then again, we needed more help than her alone, she wouldn’t stand a chance against four.

“We know she’s here!” one of the Crows bellowed. “We saw the Wolf Princess return to the village. Release her to us and no harm will come to you!”

Heat burned through my veins. How dare they come here, threaten my home, all based on some ridiculous rumor! I wanted to run out there and scream at the idiots that they were wrong, but that would only end badly.

Caoimhe’s wide eyes locked on me. “We’ve gotta get ye outta here!”

We snapped our heads up to the skylight in response to a tapping sound, only to see a Crow peering down at us beyond the glass. As soon as I met its beady little eyes, it flew to the others and shifted into a human. Her lips moved as she pointed towards me. The sound of crunching gravel beneath boots grew louder on the other side of the door.

“Moose, is there a back exit?” Chris asked.

He shook his head. “You kids are safer in here.”
“They’re coming in, and a wooden door and lock aren’t gonna keep them out,” I argued. We could definitely be killed while running, but I’d prefer that to trapped in a corner.

He glanced out the window. “Fine. There’s a way through the kitchen, but please; be careful!”

The Crows shattered the front door just as we stepped into the backyard.

“There’s a Warrior down the road,” I told my friends as we ran. “She’ll know what to do. With her, we may stand a chance.”

Shattering glass and shouting voices stopped me dead in my tracks. We ran a couple yards away from the Lodge, but I could hear Moose’s strangled cry like a whistle straight against my ear. As scared as I was, something pulled me to turn around.

“What’s going on?” Cao asked.

“They’re torturing them,” I said in a small voice.

“There’s nothing we can do,” Chris said, grabbing my wrist. “We have to get help.”

He tried to tug me along, but my feet were stuck in the middle of a tug-of-war match between instinct and fear. Only the crash of the restaurant’s back door swinging open motivated me to move.

“They’re coming… go!” I shifted into wolf form and bolted into the woods.

Cao called after me, but thankfully Chris forced her to keep running.

Just as I hoped, the Crows completely forgot about my friends and pursued me. My problems were simplified, but not vanquished. As they got closer, I shifted into human form, so in the worse case, I could feign being a normal human not worth their time. I had no plan, I was running away from civilization and all possible help. My brain was working so fast that it skipped over logical thinking processes.

I dove behind a tree and pressed my body tightly against the rough bark. Wolves could run for miles, but Crows could fly, so my chances of outrunning them were slim. The rackety birds passed overhead, but I stayed hidden. The forest went still, like prey under the eyes of a predator.

Boots stomped towards my hiding spot, spooking me off the ground. Before I could sprint away, hands snaked around my waist and pinned me in place.

“Think you could hide from us, mutt?” a girl whispered in my ear.

I tried to wrestle out of her grip, but the cold steel of a blade against my neck quickly sedated me.

The other Crows found us and shifted back into a bunch of humans covered in armor that I had no chance of escaping from.

“He wants her alive, Surtra,” growled a burly man with a thick red beard.

My captor huffed and threw me into his arms. “Didn’t know having a little fun was against the rules.”

“You have the wrong person!” I yelled, trying to stomp on the man’s feet to get him to loosen his grip, but his boots were tough. “I’m not the Wolf Princess!”

“Fenrir says otherwise, child,” said the man.

My blood turned to ice at the sound of that name. Fenrir was the vicious King of the Sutherlands, leader of the Crows, and Sølvefalske’s greatest threat.

A cloth was smashed against my face. At first, I thought it was to silence my screams, but then my vision went dark.