Chapter 97: Run.
Swanly grabbed a carrier.
"Pour the animal blood into the pit. Throw in the old fat and resin."
The male stared at her.
"That will draw everything toward it."
"Yes."
"And us?"
"We will not be there."
He ran.
Tovan prepared ropes around the weakened riverbed entrance.
"When the last group passes, we collapse this."
Soren pointed toward the formation.
"First group moves now. No running until the cubs and wounded are through."
The tribe entered the riverbed.
One line.
Then another.
Hunters guarded the sides.
Nahla and Sari remained between the wounded groups.
Tilla counted constantly.
"Thirty-one cubs!"
She looked again.
"Thirty-two!"
Tavi raised one small hand.
"You forgot Tavi."
"I counted you."
"Count again."
Tilla kissed the top of his head.
"Thirty-two, including one difficult mink."
Tavi relaxed.
Behind them, Riverbone’s central fire roared.
Swanly wrapped resin-soaked fiber around an arrowhead.
Kael caught her wrist.
"You are not going back."
"I only need a clear shot."
"You already almost became food."
"And now I am annoyed."
Soren moved beside them.
"I will cover her."
Kael’s eyes narrowed.
"I will."
"You are needed at the front."
"My female is here."
"And the entire tribe is there."
Kael looked toward the riverbed.
The cubs watched him.
Kairo lifted his chin.
"Papa lead."
Kael’s jaw flexed.
Swanly touched his chest.
"Go. I will catch up."
He kissed her forehead.
Then her mouth, fast and hard.
Soren’s expression froze again.
Kael stared directly at him while pulling away.
"Cover her properly."
Soren’s smile showed one fang.
"Run before I reconsider saving you."
Kael shifted and raced toward the front.
Swanly lit the arrow from a guard’s torch.
The warning traps screamed.
The outer wall broke.
Shapes flooded into Riverbone.
Not one.
Dozens.
Root-Eaters crawled over stone.
Bone-backed beasts smashed through the remaining caves.
Hollow birds circled above, calling in the voices of mothers and children.
Swanly pulled the bowstring back.
The fire brightened beside her cheek.
"Come eat."
She released.
The flaming arrow crossed Riverbone.
It struck the rot-burn pit.
Fire exploded upward.
Animal fat caught first.
Then resin.
Thick black smoke rolled over the settlement.
The smell of blood, burned rot, and meat filled the air.
The ancient creatures turned.
Every false voice stopped.
Their heads moved toward the pit.
Then they rushed it.
Soren’s tail wrapped around Swanly’s waist.
"Now."
He pulled her toward the riverbed.
They ran.
A hollow bird dropped behind them.
Swanly twisted inside Soren’s tail and fired upward.
The arrow pierced its open mouth.
It crashed at their feet.
A bone-backed crawler lunged from the side.
Soren struck it with his tail.
The creature rolled but did not stop.
Swanly jumped onto its exposed belly and drove two arrows into the soft flesh beneath the shell.
The crawler bucked.
She nearly fell beneath it.
Soren caught the back of her dress and threw her clear.
The creature rolled upright again.
Raku arrived from the rear.
His stone weapon crushed its head against the riverbed.
"Move!"
The final guard groups entered the passage.
Then someone screamed.
"Harek!"
An older boar guard stood near the collapsed wall.
A Root-Eater had wrapped three arms around his body.
He drove his spear through its mouth.
The creature bit down.
The spear snapped.
Another arm pierced Harek’s stomach.
Raku charged toward him.
Harek looked at the families disappearing through the passage.
Then at the ropes Tovan had prepared.
"Collapse it!"
Raku stopped.
"No."
"Collapse it!"
The Root-Eater dragged Harek backward.
More creatures climbed behind it.
Harek wrapped both arms around the creature’s neck.
"Get them out!"
Raku’s face twisted.
Then he grabbed the rope.
Tovan grabbed the second.
Soren pulled Swanly through the opening.
Thalara remained outside.
Swanly turned.
"Thalara!"
The Aelari stood at the narrowing entrance behind the final group.
Black roots burst from the earth around her.
Some twisted across the path behind the fleeing tribe.
Others rose between Thalara and the approaching creatures, weaving into a thick wall.
For several terrifying breaths, the roots blocked everyone’s view of her.
A frightened survivor screamed from the riverbed.
"She closed the path!"
"She trapped the others outside!"
"She betrayed us!"
"No!" Swanly shouted. "She is holding the entrance open!"
Beyond the roots, the Root-Eaters struck the barrier.
Cracks spread across Thalara’s arms.
Black blood ran from her mouth.
The roots across the path strained apart, leaving just enough space for the last survivors to crawl through.
Thalara turned her forehead eye toward the tribe.
Pain filled it.
Still, she held on.
Then a hollow bird dropped from above.
Its claws tore across her shoulder.
Thalara fell to one knee.
The root wall weakened.
Swanly tore free of Soren’s tail.
"Swanly!"
She ran back.
Kael roared from the front of the riverbed.
Swanly ignored both males.
She fired at the hollow bird.
One arrow struck its wing.
The next entered its throat.
It fell beside Thalara.
Swanly grabbed her wrist.
"Get up!"
Thalara looked at her.
"You came back."
"You nearly got my cubs killed by hiding things from me. I am not letting you escape the scolding by dying."
Thalara’s wide smile appeared through the blood.
"I like you."
"Move!"
The root wall burst.
A Root-Eater’s arm shot through.
It caught Swanly around the ankle.
She hit the stone.
Her bow flew from her hand.
The creature dragged her backward.
Thalara screamed.
Roots shot through the riverbed and wrapped around Swanly’s waist.
The ancient creature pulled one way.
Thalara pulled the other.
Pain tore through Swanly’s leg.
Soren appeared between them.
His claws sliced through the Root-Eater’s wrist joint.
Kael arrived one breath later.
He caught Swanly beneath the arms and ripped her free.
The severed hand remained around her ankle.
Kael tore it away.
"Are you hurt?"
"My leg is still attached."
"That was not my question!"
Behind them, Thalara swayed.
The root wall collapsed completely.
Ancient creatures poured through.
Soren caught Thalara with one coil of his tail.
"Raku!"
Raku and Tovan pulled the ropes.
The weakened stone entrance came down.
Boulders crashed into the passage.
Harek disappeared beneath them with the Root-Eater still wrapped around him.
The collapse crushed the first wave of pursuing creatures.
Dust blasted through the riverbed.
Swanly covered her face.
Kael wrapped his body around hers.
The ground shook.
Riverbone’s main cave groaned behind the stone barrier.
Then the entire settlement collapsed.
Roots snapped.
Walls folded.
The central hollow disappeared beneath earth and rock.
The place Riverbone had called home was buried in seconds.
No one cheered.
No one spoke.
They could still hear things moving beneath the rubble.
Soren lifted his head.
"Run."
This time, everyone ran.
The tribe changed into beast form wherever possible.
Panthers, wolves, deer, boars, bears, foxes, goats, rabbits, mink, and river beasts filled the dry stone channel.
The strongest carried wounded people and cubs.
Smaller animals ran between their legs.
Hunters guarded both sides.
Soren moved through the middle, correcting gaps before they formed.
"Keep the wounded together!"
"Do not chase anything!"
"If you hear a familiar voice outside the group, ignore it!"
A female cried, "My mate is calling!"
Nahla slapped her across the cheek.