The Spell Realm (The Sorcery Code #2)(18)

Opening his eyes, he saw the girl standing there, her face pale. “We need to wake the others,” she said urgently.

“What is it?”

“I don’t know, but if it’s anything from the Dark Woods, we need to prepare immediately.”

They hurried back toward the tents, approaching Kostya first. As soon as Ara explained the situation, he ordered all the rest to be woken up. Only Maya, Esther, and Gala were allowed to sleep uninterrupted.

“How far away would you say were the noises you heard?” Kostya asked Blaise, his voice tense.

Blaise thought about it. “About half a mile away, I think.”

“What? There is no way you can hear that far,” Shram said derisively. “Are you sure you didn’t fall asleep and dream the whole thing?”

“We were both awake,” Ara said sharply, looking at Shram with annoyance. “And he could hear that far because he did a spell to enhance his hearing. And be glad that he did. If there is even the slightest possibility that there is something from the Dark Woods here, this close to the village . . .”

The other men nodded. “She’s right,” a blond man said. “We have to check this out, and if it’s a threat, deal with it.”

“You don’t have to come, Blaise,” Kostya said, apparently reaching a decision. “This might be dangerous.”

“I want to come,” Blaise said. “But we should leave someone behind to guard that tent.” He pointed at where Gala and the old women were sleeping.

“Yes, and we need to make sure someone can warn the village, should something go wrong with our hunt,” Ara added.

“Then it’s settled,” Kostya said, ordering four of his men to stay behind. The rest gathered their weapons and quietly headed in the direction of the noise.

Letting the hunters walk ahead, Blaise spoke the words of the shielding spell again, casting a protective bubble around the tent. It wouldn’t last long, but it was better than nothing.

Then he hurried to catch up with the others, looking through his spell cards on the way. He was not prepared for encounters with wild creatures, but he was sure he could improvise.

As they got closer to the source of the noise, Blaise held up his finger, warning the hunters to be careful. “I can only hear one of them now,” he whispered to Kostya. “Maybe the other ones left?”

“Let’s see what we’re up against,” Kostya whispered. “How far is it?”

“Not far now. It sounds like it’s heading in our direction.”

The hunters got their bows ready.

Two minutes later, a powerful roar split the air. Blaise felt a chill skitter down his spine. Whatever this creature was, it sounded big and vicious.

It was also running straight at them.

The hunters spread out in a semi-circle and drew back the strings of their arrows. They looked scared, but determined.

And then the creature was upon them.

Bursting through the bushes, it was a blur of dark fur, claws, and teeth, with small yellow eyes that had some kind of a reflective sheen.

It was also massive. For a second, Blaise thought it was a bear—but the creature was even larger, with a thick tail, long pointed snout, and movements reminiscent of a jackal or a fox.

The archers released their arrows.

Only two reached their target, and the hide of the beast seemed too thick for the arrows to penetrate. One of the arrows fell harmlessly to the ground, while the other one got lodged in the creature’s massive paw.

The sound it made was hair-raising. And before anyone could react, the thing jumped onto a nearby tree, making a leap over the stunned hunters’ heads, and disappeared into the forest.

“We must go after it,” Kostya yelled, apparently emboldened by their success. Before Blaise could object, the hunters took off at a run, forcing him to sprint after them to keep up.

“What was that?” Blaise managed to ask, catching up to Ara. He had no idea how the hunters were able to move so quickly through the dark forest. Even with his enhanced vision, he found it difficult to keep such a fast pace.

“It’s a bearwolf,” she panted in response, ducking to avoid a low-hanging branch.

“A bearwolf? Do you mean a wolf-bear hybrid? I didn’t know those things still existed.” Blaise remembered the old stories about the sorcerer who had done experiments on living creatures. Augusta had been obsessed with those tales at some point, using them as an example of the dangers of hubris in sorcery.

“Oh, they exist,” Ara muttered, breathing heavily from the run. “The Dark Woods swarm with them. I think a couple of those things got there at some point, and they bred like rabbits. That’s partially why so few people get through those forests—that and all those poisonous plants.”

“How did you and the others get through it, then?” Blaise jumped over a thick tree root, barely managing to stay upright as his foot sank into a hidden hole. Yanking it out, he hurried after Ara, who continued running at a breakneck pace.

“Long story,” she panted, apparently reaching the limits of her endurance. He could see beads of sweat glistening on her forehead.

At that moment, they reached a large clearing. Bursting through the bushes, they stopped abruptly when they reached the middle.

The other hunters were already there, standing frozen in place.