Escape to Midnight

Episode 6

Charis Point Of View

It felt like I had only been asleep a few minutes when Bennie woke me up. The sun was rising and he was ready to start moving. My stomach was growling. I don’t know if he heard my stomach or if he was also hungry, but he led me to a bush with little blue berries on it. I thought They were the best berries I had ever eaten, but that may be my hunger misleading me. 

Bennie started to explain his plan to me as I finished my berries. “The Devil’s peak  is the quickest way across the valley. It is called the devil’s peak because it looks like an inverted Mountain, Pointing down instead of up. At top speed you should be across in three hours. As soon as you enter the Valley, the Rogues will be able to smell you. They will hunt you. I will do my best to protect you, but you must keep running. No matter what happens, keep running. Your only chance is to out run the ones not already on the trail. Any Rogues already there I will handle, but you just keep running. Most rogues will be in the mountain, They have to come down to the trail to find you. You need to stay ahead of them. 

My heart was racing. If the rogues caught me, They would kill me. We started jogging towards the valley. “We need to maintain a slow pace right now. You need as much energy as possible to run the peak.” His voice was stern, but supportive. I only had one question. As scared as I was to hear his answer, I had to ask. “Do you think I can make it across?”  

‘I would tell you to go home, it's too dangerous. I get the feeling home is dangerous for you too. Why else would you risk your life to get away. I will do everything in my power to help you, but it is up to Selene.” The reality of his words hit me hard. I really could not go home, this was my only chance to find happiness. I was just waiting to die living with Warren.

We came to a peak that looked down into Rogue valley. From this vantage point I could see the Devil’s peak clearly. It was a long trail. It appeared to be mostly straight through, but parts of it were covered by the forest. A wolf could follow you from the ridges above the trail and jump down onto you. 

“There are not a lot of places to jump down onto the trail, That is an advantage. The disadvantage is you are trapped in the trail. There are only a few places to get out. You can run faster in the trail than a wolf on the ridge line. You will be downwind from them until you pass them. They should not smell you in time to block you. 

We started down the mountain and into the valley. We were not in the valley yet, but Bennie had already picked up the pace. Within minutes we were running full speed. The further down we got the more afraid I became. My adrenaline was pumping, helping me push myself harder. The path suddenly became very steep and narrow., I knew we had entered the devils peak. There was room for us to run side by side, but not comfortably. Bennie fell back and ran right behind me.  I  heard a wolf begin to howl. All of my fur stood on end. The Rogues knew we were here. I felt Bennie fall back further. I wanted to turn around and ask him what he was doing, but his words were echoing in my mind. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a wolf on the ridge beside me. He was dodging trees and I was outrunning him. I saw a spot ahead of me where the ridge dipped down. He would be able to jump right on top of me. I pushed myself harder. I needed to get past that ridge before he could jump down on me. I did not feel Bennie behind me anymore. I was  not sure if he was even there. As I crossed the ridge I saw the wolf reach it and prepare to jump. I had beaten him to it, but once he was behind me he would catch me. I just kept running. He landed somewhere behind me. I expected to feel his claws on me. I suddenly heard a loud yelping noise and growling. Bennie! He must be fighting the rogue, I wanted to turn and check on him. I wanted to help. I kept hearing him in my head telling me not to stop. I felt my eyes fill with tears. I had a long way left to go.

The woods above me seemed eerily quiet. I did  not see any wolves and the rogue in the peak with me was not close enough for me to hear. I kept running. My chest burned from lack of oxygen. I was pushing myself too hard. I needed to slow down or I would not have the strength or energy to make it out of here. I saw some rocks falling from a ridge in front of me. My eyes checked the top of the ridge where they came from. I saw a giant wolf on the ridge in front of me. I knew I could never get past him. I decided not to look at him. I focused on the path in front of me only. I saw him jumping down at me. I did not slow down. He was about to land on me when I felt something brush across my fur. Bennie had jumped from somewhere behind me and intercepted the giant wolf before he landed on me. I was so shocked. I didn't realize he was still behind me. His strength was so impressive. As fast as I was running, he was able to jump over me to tackle the rogue. I felt the path begin to even out and I could see the next part of the peak. It was as straight up as the last part was straight down.  I started to run up the trail, my body felt like it was being pushed past what I could endure. My speed began to lessen as fatigue started taking over. I had stopped watching the ridges, I did not see what was about to happen. I felt a searing pain on my right hind quarter, I felt a claw cut through my left side. I began to yelp in pain. A giant wolf had landed on my back. I began to slide back down the peak. I felt the blood pouring out of me and down my legs. The pain was blinding, I felt his teeth sink into the back of my neck. I tried to keep climbing up but more weight landed on top of me. A second wolf  had landed on top of us. The weight caused me to flip over and start rolling back down the trail. I felt both wolves fall off of me. I jumped back to my feet and started running back up the trail. I heard the wolves fighting behind me. The second wolf must be Bennie. As I continued to run I realized I was much slower, My injuries made my left leg lame. I had lost track of time, I was not sure how far I had left to climb, Or how much longer I could keep going. I was tired and dizzy from the blood loss. My pace was too slow. 

I could see the end of the peak. I felt relief wash all over me. My leg was still bleeding, but it had slowed. My healing powers were keeping me from passing out, replenishing my blood. I was almost there. As I climbed out of the Devils peak I saw something that made me stop in my tracks. A group of wolves was waiting at the exit to the peak, waiting for me. I was done. I was too tired and too weak to defend myself. I shifted back into human form. My right leg had a gash from my hip to my ankle and my ribs on my left side were cut open in a swipe that went all the way to my spine. I dropped to my knees, exhausted and defeated. The rogues were circling round me growling. I was too tired to remain upright. I lay down and curled myself into a ball. I felt a warm breath on my skin. I saw Bennie standing over me. He was covered in blood, layers of blood. Some of the blood was dry and some of it was still wet. 

I could barely speak. I was so weak, “I am so sorry Bennie.” I slipped out of consciousness.  I had doomed us both. 

Logans Point Of View

We had been searching for  days with no trace of Charis anywhere. There were times the unknown was crippling. I was glad my father and Sterling were searching with me, I needed their support mentally to keep going. Her scent was nowhere outside of her pack land. 

Sterling contacted friends of his in the crescent pack. They told him the entire pack scoured the woods within their lands looking for Charis. They did not find a trace of her. Several rogues had wandered into their territory and killed pack members out looking. Warren decided to cancel the search. He was reinforcing his border to keep the rogues out and to make sure we did not trespass. No one knew where she could be.

On the third day of searching some of our warriors came across an interesting find. Two Rogue wolves had been killed one beside a waterfall and the other in close enough proximity to have been killed together.. They had been killed by another rogue. This was the only anomaly we had found. I had our best tracker meet us at the waterfall. As he studied the scene, he recognized a smaller set of paw prints. They were only visible at the water's edge. you could smell the scent of three rogues, but the prints indicated a fourth wolf with no scent. We could not be sure if the fourth set of prints were made at the same time as the other three, but it was our only lead. 

The next question is why would a rogue go to the trouble of covering the scent of another wolf. Sterling’s answer made me want to vomit. “If he is keeping her alive for...um...company, he might want to hide her from other rogues.” He said.

I felt like my body was turning inside out. I was angry and nauseated. I felt like the situation was hopeless. After 3 days we were no closer to finding her and the thought of her being held prisoner by a rogue for company was more than I could bear. I dropped to my knees and threw my hands into the air. “Moon Goddess, Why are you allowing this? Why did you let me see her just to lose her?” I yelled in anguish. 

“Logan, you have to hold it together. you can sit here and feel sorry for yourself, or you can get back up and follow this rogue and find out if she is with him.” My dad responded in a stern voice making me feel ashamed for thinking of myself and not the hell Charis must be going through. 

Our tracker began to follow the scent of the surviving rogue. By nightfall we were sure he was heading into the Rogue Valley. We decided to stop for the night to formulate our plan and rest up for the fight. It would be the first ever rescue attempt into the Rogue valley, for good reason. No one knows the terrain, or how many rogues are in there. It may be a suicide mission to even try, but we were going to get her. Sterling ordered all warriors who could make it to us by morning to join us. I hoped it would be enough. 

We woke up as soon as the sun started to rise. I was relieved to see the number of wolves that had joined us during the night. At least 75 would be joining us. We were 2 hours away from the valley. We began a slow jog. Our tracker was leading us directly to the trail they entered on. If we caught up to them we might be close enough to turn around. As we came upon the area we entered we were stunned. In front of us was a very steep descent into the valley, it appeared to be straight down and then straight back up. It felt like a trap. we would only be able to move forward or backward, not side to side. The sides of the trail were not climbable in most places from what we could see.

As we stared at the trail the different scenarios began bouncing around in my head. I was trying to sort them out when Sterling began to speak, “This may be a trap. Why else would he bring her to this part of the valley to cross. According to maps I have seen, this is the section of the valley with the least amount of territory. It is the quickest way through the valley based on the maps, but is he trying to cross through quickly, or lead us to our deaths?”

“Would the rogue know we were looking for her? Maybe it is  trying to help her.” My father stated. 

“”A rogue would never help a pack wolf. Even if one wanted to, helping her would put a target on its back. The other rogues would consider it a traitor. I am going to let every wolf decide for themselves. Come with us if you want, but you don’t have to. This may be a suicide mission.” 

I looked around at the warriors, holding my breath. We needed them to fight with us if we were going to stand a chance. Sterling turned around and started towards the trail. I turned and followed him, I did not look back, I was afraid to. 

As we dropped into the trail sterling began to run at top speed, I had forgotten how fast he was. I struggled to keep up with him. It wasn’t long and we saw some rogues running beside us on top of the ridge. Our scent was out and they knew we were there. Seeing them  on top of the ridge made me feel better. If this was a trap they would be waiting for us on the trail. I watched as a honey colored wolf lunged down at Sterling. He missed and landed between us. I grabbed him by his neck and began to shake him. I felt another wolf grab his hind quarter and pull.  The rogue was ripped in half. I Felt wolves passing me on both sides as I fought with the rogue. The path was narrow and they had to brush against me to pass me. I turned to look and realized all the warriors had decided to come with us. I began to run as fast as I could trying to catch up with Sterling. I passed another dead rogue but this one had been dead before we got there. The traitor rogue  theory seemed plausible. As we continued running downhill, more rogues began to jump down onto us. So far we were able to kill them easily. Occasionally we passed rogues killed earlier, but it looked like we were gaining ground on the mysterious rogue and his companion. as steep as the trail was going down it was just as steep going up. We were only a few feet uphill when we came to a wall of rogues. The trail only allowed 2 wolves to stand side by side, but they were lined up for the hill at least twenty rows deep. Sterling never missed a beat, He grabbed the first wolf and my father grabbed the second. A third warrior squeezed between them and attacked the next rogue in the line. It was like watching dominoes fall. Each warrior broke through the line and grabbed the next rogue until they were all dead. I noticed groups of rogues watching from the cliffs above us. They did not attack, only watched the fight. It was very unusual. Had they engaged we might have had casualties. I could see the top of the trail and realized we were almost out. as we came out onto the level surface I was shocked by what I saw. Charis was there, passed out on the ground. A group of rogues were fighting. It appeared to be one rogue fighting a group of twenty. I was impressed by the fight the one rogue had in him, He was still standing and several of his attackers were dead. 

Charis Point Of View

I felt something warm all around my body. I wanted to see what it was. It felt so comforting and I felt so safe. I could not open my eyes to see what it was. I tried to ask Saria what it was. I could not find her. She would not answer me. I was gripped with fear. She had never gone away from me. Maybe I am dying. Maybe this is what it feels like. I wanted to give up, I was so tired. I wanted to let my life slip away from me. The warmth around me would not let me go. I surrendered to the darkness.