CHAPTER NINE
Kai sprinted to keep up with Jidan as the great wolf-lion raced back up the hill and down the other side, chasing the hideous scent that had caught their noses.
Kai wasn’t sure what it was exactly, but he could pick out strong smoke, far too cloying to be a simple camp fire, and something similar to the odour of the animal carcasses Yusumi had been cooking when they’d first met her. Pausing briefly to catch his breath, he picked up a new smell within the mix: the sour tang of blood. Lots of blood.
Ahead of him, Jidan veered hard to the left, heading towards an enormous thicket of brambles in a dip between two neighbouring hills. From inside the thicket, plumes of smoke rose high into the sky.
Loosening the scabbard of his Dorretwood sword, Kai scrambled after him, squeezin
