By The Light Of The Moon

Chapter 30

I peered out of a cluster of trees halfway up the small ridge. The forest looked empty, but the occasional warning call from birds betrayed that illusion. The rain was letting up, so I was stuck here until nightfall.

The chances of the fighters checking this ridge were slim to none. It had been hard for Milly to get up the narrow, rocky trail, so I couldn't see a horse managing it. Nor was there a reason for someone to climb onto the small ridge when there was an entire forest to scour and a wolf howling in various places.

At first, I was worried they might have caught Shane, but the howls had come from too many places since then. He must be running around and trying to lure them away from me, or at least distract them.

I rubbed my eyes; I was exhausted but couldn't risk sleeping when dozens of people were wandering around the forest. Had it just been me, I could have crawled under a bush for a nap, but I didn't dare go far from Milly, lest she decide that she'd been alone in the forest for too long and wanted company.

A small shower of rocks had me tensing up, not daring to move in case the motion let someone spot me. A frustrated whine came from above. It was familiar enough for me to lean around a tree, spotting the brown wolf on top of the ridge.

Shane's eyes locked onto me, and he sighed in relief. He craned his neck in several directions, eyeing up the ridge I was on and the long drop.

"There's a narrow trail at the bottom of the bluff," I whispered while pointing, unsure if he could hear me but not daring to speak any louder.

He disappeared in that direction, and I wandered to the edge of the trees, knowing it would take him some time to go around. After much longer than I anticipated, I heard claws scrabbling over stone. The trail Milly had struggled with was also a challenge for the wolf, and it took him some effort to reach the outcropping I was on.

"Are you okay?" I asked as he finally reached the semi-level ground in front of me.

He gave a brief nod before examining the forest below.

"Let's get into the trees. I haven't seen anyone lately, but that doesn't mean much."

With a huff of agreement, he trotted ahead and quickly checked every corner in the small patch of trees, much to Milly's disgust. She flattened her ears and stomped a foot at him, but otherwise, she tolerated his presence like she had in the past.

I walked under an overhang along the side of the ridge. "This is the only dry spot up here. I don't dare start a fire in case someone smells it, but if you shake out your fur, you can lay on Milly's blanket."

He paused to shake out his fur several times, sending water flying. His dense wolf fur seemed to repel the rain better than his werewolf fur, but he was still soaked. If he hadn't been running so hard, he'd probably be shivering.

Once no more water flew, he came over and flopped down on Milly's saddle blanket with a heavy sigh. I sat on my bedroll, absently noting that Milly had closed her eyes now once the wolf had laid down. I picked up the two trail bars I'd put to the side and offered him one.

"It's not much, but it'll be something in your stomach."

He took it delicately from me, making sure his teeth didn't come anywhere near my fingers. I took a small bite of mine and chewed it contemplatively. I already knew the pieces wouldn't soften without cooking, so I swallowed the semi-hard bits.

Judging from how Shane was chewing a large bite of the trail bar, he'd never experienced the chewy trail rations my family adored. Even his jaws were getting a workout as the pieces kept clumping together as quickly as his teeth broke them apart.

He finished before I did and rested his head on his paws.

"Do you think it's safe for us to sleep?"

He gave a long sigh as his eyes closed, clearly exhausted.

"I think we'll hear them if they come up here, but there's no easy way down, so it's not like we can just sneak away. My biggest worry is Milly calling to their horses, but since she's sleeping, that isn't much of a worry right now."

The wolf beside me remained a motionless rug. I took that as a signal to get some sleep while we could. Our travels tonight would be very tense, so we'd need all the rest we could get.

As I finished off my trail bar, a light shiver ran through Shane's wet fur. After some consideration, I rummaged through my backpack, eventually finding a light shawl. I set it beside me and began folding the unused corners of the saddle blanket over him.

When he pried an eye open, I quietly said, "I don't want you to catch a chill and get sick."

After a long moment, he closed his eye with a long sigh, too tired to argue. Not much of the blanket stuck out, so only two corners were big enough to be useful. This close, I could tell his fur was soaked through, so I shrugged out of my cloak and draped it across his broad back. I wrapped the shawl around my shoulders and got into my bedroll.

The moment I lay down, the long night and day caught up to me, and I instantly fell asleep.

~

   The quiet crackling of fire greeted me as I woke. I blinked sleepily at the sunset and yawned. My muscles were stiff as I sat up, now able to see Shane sitting on the saddle blanket in human form. He was tending a tiny fire with strips of meat above it. To the side, my cloak hung from several branches to catch the heat.

"A fire?" I mumbled, covering another yawn with my hand.

"It's small, the branches are dry, and the wind is blowing enough to disperse it." His words had a miffed tone that had nothing to do with me questioning the logic of a fire.

I freed my legs from the bedroll and sat cross-legged, pulling the shawl around my shoulders to keep the evening chill at bay. Shane frowned slightly at that.

"I thought you put that knit thing across my back, not your good cloak."

With a shrug, I replied, "It kept you warm, and I had the bedroll and the shawl. Besides, if you caught a chill and got sick, we'd be in a lot more trouble than if I lent you my cloak for the night."

"If I hadn't started a fire, it would still be damp."

"That cloak is designed to trap heat, regardless of whether it's wet or dry. The shawl and my shirt might have gotten damp, but I would have been warm."

His long exhalation was reminiscent of my father's when I tested his patience.

I decided a change of subject was in order and asked, "Are there still lots of fighters around?"

"Far too many. Even my attempts to confuse them earlier didn't do much. Someone must have realized I was trying to lure them away. I think half the soldiers in the valley are somewhere on this mountain."

"What are the odds of us slipping past them?"

"It won't be easy, and we aren't leaving this ridge until the sun completely sets."

"Milly needs some light to traverse those rocks on the path," I pointed out.

His gaze moved to the grazing mule. "Let me quickly check the area, and if it's clear, we can take her down and tether her. Once darkness falls, we should head uphill and get into the other valley."

"Are there fewer fighters there?"

"I didn't make it to the pass to check. I got about halfway to the top and noticed torches approaching the campsite. Given how many soldiers are around here, I can't see more being in the other valley."

He stood up and removed his necklace, shifting to his werewolf shape before walking to the edge of the trees and scanning the forest below. After a while, he dropped to all fours and quickly darted down the trail.

While he was gone, I got up and had a bathroom break behind some bushes, then proceeded to pack my gear and saddle Milly. I checked my cloak, which was still a tad bit damp, and turned the skewered meat.

I continued stretching while waiting for Shane to return.