Blood on the Mountain
544 Words
he first arrow killed the driver.
It punched through his throat before anyone heard the bowstring.
The horses screamed.
The carriage lurched violently.
I slammed against the wooden wall.
"What happened?"
Nobody answered.
Outside—
Steel crashed against steel.
"AMBUSH!"
The Royal Envoy's voice thundered through the mountain pass.
"Protect the candidate!"
The carriage stopped so suddenly I nearly flew through the door.
Then...
Everything went silent.
Too silent.
The carriage door burst open.
A Royal Guard grabbed my wrist.
"Run!"
"What about—"
"RUN!"
He shoved me into the forest.
I stumbled down a muddy slope.
Branches clawed at my face.
Behind me—
More shouting.
Then wolves.
Real wolves.
Dozens of them.
Their howls echoed across the valley.
They weren't attacking me.
They were chasing me.
I ran until my lungs burned.
Until I couldn't hear the battle anymore.
Only rain.
My heartbeat.
And footsteps.
Not mine.
Someone else was running beside me.
I glanced left.
Nothing.
Right.
Nothing.
Then—
Crunch.
Behind me.
I spun around.
Empty forest.
"Very funny."
Silence.
Another step.
Closer.
My hand closed around a broken branch.
"As weapons go..."
I whispered,
"...I've had worse."
A low chuckle drifted through the trees.
Male.
Young.
Confident.
"You'll need something sharper."
I froze.
"Who's there?"
No answer.
Only laughter.
The forest exploded.
A masked assassin dropped from the trees.
His blade came straight for my throat.
I reacted without thinking.
I swung the branch.
It snapped in half.
Wonderful.
The assassin smiled beneath his mask.
"This will be easy."
His sword rose—
Then stopped.
A black arrow burst through his chest.
His eyes widened.
He collapsed.
Dead before he hit the ground.
I looked toward the trees.
Someone stood there.
A boy.
About my age.
Tall.
Dressed completely in black.
A bow rested casually in one hand.
His face was hidden beneath the hood.
He looked at the dead assassin.
Then at me.
"You run surprisingly slowly."
I blinked.
"I've never been chased by murderers before."
"I noticed."
He walked closer.
Not a scratch on him.
Not a drop of blood.
Like he'd stepped out of the shadows themselves.
"Who are you?"
He ignored the question.
Instead he crouched beside the assassin.
Pulled something from the man's cloak.
A silver coin.
No...
Not a coin.
A medallion.
A wolf surrounded by seven stars.
The same symbol I'd seen on the mysterious letter.
His expression darkened.
"They found you earlier than I expected."
"What does that mean?"
He stood.
For the first time...
He looked directly into my eyes.
His own were an impossible shade of silver.
"You really don't know who you are."
It wasn't a question.
It sounded...
Disappointed.
Behind us—
More voices echoed through the forest.
"They're close!"
"Search every trail!"
The hooded stranger sighed.
"This just became inconvenient."
He grabbed my wrist.
"We're leaving."
"I'm not going anywhere with a stranger."
"You are if you want to survive the next five minutes."
"I don't even know your name."
He hesitated.
Then—
"Kieran."
A howl split the mountain.
Not one wolf.
Hundreds.
Kieran looked toward the sound.
For the first time...
He looked genuinely afraid.
"They brought an Alpha."
My stomach tightened.
"So?"
He looked back at me.
"Because..."
"...Alphas don't leave witnesses."
- Writer
