“I don’t know how anyone could enjoy this,” I say.
“She’s strong.”
“Clarissa?”
“Mhm.”
“She is. But that saliva gets her every time,” I say.
“Yeah. I saw that.”
“How are we going to win this?” I ask. “How are we possibly going to keep this hoard away from the village?”
I look back and see Vlad and Clarissa defending the edge of the woods. Toshi isn’t in sight, and I don’t know what else to do. Sebastian and I take off for the back of the hoard, tearing them and ripping them to shreds to try and keep any of their forces from pushing past Clarissa and Vlad.
But they’re too much, and we’re not enough. Some of them escape into the woods.
“Should we go after them?” I bellow.
“No. The humans wanted to fight this war, and we’ve done our part,” Sebastian growls.
“But what if they can’t hold their own? We promised them,” I say.
“We also have one of ours that still hasn’t been found.”
I reach for a Deer and rip its spine from its body. I toss it across the field, and Vlad looks up at me and grins. A Bear’s strength on the battlefield should never be underestimated. But it isn’t like we enjoy making a show of it.
“Had enough of a breather?” Sebastian rumbles.
“Let’s go,” I say.
We charge the back of the pack as Clarissa and Vlad fend them off from the woods. But on my count, at least ten Primals have escaped into the dense foliage. Snow is pouring from the clouds, quickly covering the dead bodies strewn all over the ground. Covering the red-stained snow and trying to act as if nothing has happened here today.
Trying to act as if this horrendous occasion hasn’t occurred.
“We have to go to the village!” Clarissa howls.
“Come on guys,” Vlad growls.
“You go on,” I bellow. “I’ll be there in a little bit.”
“What are you doing?” Sebastian rumbles.
My eyes take in the sheer number of bodies before I turn my head to face him.
“They can’t stay here like this,” I say.
“You can’t carry all of them off somewhere,” Sebastian growls.
“I’m not,” I say as I pick up a spear.
I shove it into the first carcass I can reach, and I watch the body sizzle. Shrink. Bubble and rot. The body visibly sinks into the ground, becoming one with the earth beneath its bleeding skin. I look up into Sebastian's eyes, and he nods his head, then the three of them take off into the woods.
But I stay behind, picking up spears and digging them into the bodies so they can be buried where they last stood.
And I send a prayer up to Chief’s ancestors before I place a coated spear directly through his heart.
Chapter 26