Page 21 of To Hunt a Demon King

If demons didn’t kill the mortals, maybe that was why Mama had sent me to the Darklands. Except I wasn’t a mortal, I was a witch. My head hurt.

It was hard to see in the fading light, but Hunt seemed to stiffen all of a sudden.

“What—” I started.

“Shhh,” he said, reaching back for his bow. I sat as still as I could, trying to hear whatever it was Hunt had heard. A faint flapping overhead told me that Artemis had gone to investigate, and Akela growled quietly beside me.

“Stay here,” Hunt said quietly, reaching behind him to pull his bow from his back and nocking an arrow. He stood, stamping out the fire as Akela prowled closer to me and rested his large, shaggy head on my knee.

I said nothing as Hunt disappeared into the wood, moving as quietly as a cat as he hunted for whatever it was he had heard. I strained, trying to hear whatever it was too, and shivering slightly from the cold and mild terror. Witch magic wasn’t offensive, and I had nothing to cast a defensive spell. Moreover, with my newfound death magic not working, I didn’t really have a plan for how I would escape a beast or monster if one found me.

Akela snuffled, reminding me of his presence, and I scratched behind his ear.

Hunt returned a few minutes later, still clearly on edge, his bow still nocked.

“What was it?” I asked, Akela still growling slightly as if annoyed that his master had returned empty handed.

“Not sure,” said Hunt tersely, crouching to scratch Akela’s head before flopping down on the ground beside me. He folded his hands behind his head and glanced over at me. “Better get some sleep while you can, Red,” he said. “Akela will keep watch.”

I nodded, turning on my side and wrapping my cloak around me as I tried to get comfortable on the forest floor. I briefly thought about casting a protection charm, but I was tired and cold, and I believed that Akela would watch over us. The great wolf took up a place between us as he had the night before, and I tried to let his warmth seep into me and lull me to sleep.

I think I had maybe just dozed off when a cry woke me. I sat up, looking around our patch of woods to see what could have made the noise. I heard it again, coming from a little further away.

“Hunt,” I whispered. He slept like the dead and I cursed. Akela whined at my side.

“Come on,” I whispered, scrambling to my feet next to the giant wolf. Akela whined again, but he followed me as I headed in the direction of the sound. Hunt had said he was an excellent weapon, and I’d have to trust him to keep me safe.

The sound came again, farther away this time. It sounded like crying, or maybe wailing. Was someone hurt or being dragged away by monsters?

Akela and I crept through the wood, following the sound. We must have been growing closer, because the sound grew louder and the crying grew more insistent.

A hand clamped around my mouth, startling a muffled shriek out of me as a firm arm gripped my waist.

“It’s a leshy,” a deep voice rumbled in my ear. I breathed out a sigh of relief as Hunt released me. “A forest spirit,” he added by way of explanation. “They lure other creatures into their bogs by mimicking crying or wailing, like a wounded animal.”

“What do they do then?” I whispered. Hunt still had his arm around my waist, his jaw pressed against my cheek. I felt him give a wry smile.

“They eat you,” he said, releasing my waist and spinning me to face him. He held me by the arm as he leaned down close to me, upper lip bared in a snarl. “Don’t run off in the middle of the night, Red. It would be extremely stupid.”

“I wasn’t running off,” I snapped, pulling my arm from his grip. “I was trying to help.”

“Well don’t,” he said angrily, gripping my hand firmly and tugging me back toward our camp. Akela growled faintly, and I realized with more than a little surprise that he was growling at Hunt, not me.

Hunt shot the wolf an exasperated look. “She’s fine,” he said to Akela before returning his attention to me. “And anything that sounds like it needs your help out here is likely looking for its next meal. I can’t chase after you all the time to stop you from being eaten.”

“I can take care of myself,” I replied irritably, stumbling a bit as he pulled me through the woods. I felt embarrassment and shame curl in my stomach, and my instinct was to lash out with anger instead of facing them. A hoot above us warned me that Artemis was near, and probably guiding Hunt back toward our camp.

“Could have fooled me,” he said harshly, turning to glare at me as he pressed on through the trees. “And unless you have some magic power I haven’t seen yet,” he added, pulling me through the trees to our little clearing and stomping back to where he had been sleeping, “youcan’ttake care of yourself.”

I pursed my lips, choosing to say nothing as I returned to his side and lay back down, scooting a little farther away from him out of spite. He was right. I didn’t have magic that I could use to defend myself. It had been stupid to wander off.

Akela settled in front of me instead of between us, and I felt a surge of victory as I patted his fuzzy head that he had chosen to sleep next to me. The feeling died a moment later.

“What do you think you’re doing,” I hissed, turning as I felt Hunt close the distance between us and press his hard body against my back.

“Making sure you don’t run off again,” he growled, throwing his arm over me, effectively pinning me in place.

“Get off,” I said, trying to push his arm away. Goddess above, he was strong, and he banded his arm more tightly the more I struggled. The feeling of him against me was doing unexpected things to my stomach, and I wiggled to try to get away from him.

---