Page 46 of A Storm Rises

“He must have.” She scrunched her face and scratched her head. “Though at the time, I could not decipher it in his words.”

“What exactly did he say to you?” Two minds focused on the same purpose were always better than one. “Leave nothing out.”

Avalynn paced with her finger on her lip. “They’re from the far north. They’re cunning and devious. They disappear in the shadows. They can inject a deadly toxin with their claws.” She paused, closed her eyes, and then exhaled. “They’re vampiric, feed on small animals, and their favorite meal is rabbit.”

“Their favorite?” The answer came to Mateo in a flash of inspired genius. “That dwarf Kragar did give you the answer.” It was obvious to any experienced hunter.

“He did?” Her head tilted sideways, and she squinted. “Perhaps I’m not seeing what you do.”

Mateo knew exactly what Kragar meant with that sly piece of information—Rabbit could be bait. “If they love rabbits, we can use their cravings against them. Instead of tracking the Shadowblood, we will summon the creatures. All we need is a rabbit or two.”

Her brows furrowed. “What do you mean by summon?”

He, Lirien, and Gareth had used still hunting before. Messy yet effective, it worked well against intelligent prey. “We smear rabbit blood on our bodies. If we wear the pelts, the Shadowbloods will think we are rabbits and come close, and then we will attack them.”

She closed her eyes and swallowed. “That’s what I thought you meant.”

He glanced at the darkening sky, then set his spear on the ground. “Stormshroud will hunt for rabbits. We will stay here.” He lowered himself in front of Stormy. He held his hands to his head with the backs of his hands facing out. Then he raised his middle and index fingers and twitched like rabbit ears. “Rabbits. Fetch.”

His wolf knew this routine well and excelled at the task. She barked and then darted from the cave’s mouth.

“How do you know how to communicate with your hands like that?”

“My friend back home, Gareth, is mute and speaks with his hands. Over the years, I have learned and taught Stormshroud. It is most effective in hunting when silence is needed.”

“That is actually quite amazing. I hope to meet this Gareth one day.”

He wanted to believe she would have that chance. “I hope so too.” Again, he glanced at the sky. “We should spread out sticks and leaves so we can hear the foxes approaching.”

“Good idea.”

They gathered armfuls of kindling and spread their haul over the cave’s floor like a rug. He glanced at the remnants of the fire they had burned with the other hunters. Eiric and Finnian were dead, and Selene had most likely joined them. He and Avalynn could suffer the same fate. His empty stomach grumbled as he suspected they would. His gloomy thoughts remained hidden from view. As a lowborn Sublander, life had trained him to hope for the best yet expect the worst. The Summit Range Hunt would be no different.

Avalynn leaned into him. Her floral scent delivered him from his morbid thoughts. “What is in your pocket? You keep touching it.”

His hand clutched his outer pocket, holding the cross within. How long had he been doing that? He loosened his grip, slipped his fingers inside, and removed his wooden cross. He placed it on his palm.

“It’s a cross. My father made it for me when I was a child.” He dismissed all notions of anyone else being his father. He belonged to Manny and Faeryn. Their beliefs belonged to him, too. “It is a symbol of my father’s human religion.”

“May I hold it?” Avalynn held out her hand.

He passed it to her. “Of course.”

She brought it closer and studied it, rubbing her thumb and forefinger over the smooth surface. “Such a simple thing. Does it hold any power?”

“No. It is only a shape, but wielded by a believer, it symbolizes the greatest power of all.” His father explained his religion once a week for all the years of his young life. When Mateo grew to the age where he would account for his own actions, his father’s teachings ceased.

At this moment, here with Avalynn in the cave, he regretted not learning more from his father. Yet he remembered every lesson. “The cross represents the sacrifice of a savior from the human realm. One with great power. This symbol is a sign of hope and love.”

“Really?” Her eyes widened as she turned the wood over in her hand. “A savior with power?” She handed the cross back. “Do you touch it hoping it will provide you that power?”

“I touch it for hope.” Everything about his life as a lowborn and his place in the hunt had him feeling powerless. But he kept his fears hidden and slipped the cross back where it belonged.

“Do we need hope?”

“We all need hope. It inspires courage. My father says faith is a warrior.” Without being killed, they needed to capture two Shadowbloods and cross the finish line together. Hope was important, especially now. “Hope ignites resilience and influences destinies. In times of total darkness, hope is that small sliver of light visible only when you look hard enough.”

“Faith is a warrior.” Her lips curled with a smile. “You are a savior like that. You bring hope.”

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