Kerri locked her front legs. Her paws slid through the dead leaves bringing her to a halt. She spun around to confront her pursuer but could only hear her own gasps for air.
Another two down. That leaves three apes and that monster Alpha, she thought. “And Sonny!” she said, wanting to spit after saying his name.
She followed her own scent through the gloom to where she’d hidden her pack and second staff. She changed back to her human self and decided to attack again before they had time to think or plan.
Following the smell of apes, she knew she was close when she found the staff she’d dropped earlier. Pushing through the bushes onto the trail, she felt her knees shaking as three apes turned towards her.
She realized Sonny and the Alpha were not with them. She looked around, searching for them, and caught movement from the corner of her eye as an ape rushed at her.
Kerri turned sideways towards her attacker. She let both staffs slide through her hands, grasping the ends. Swinging her right arm in a slow feint, the charging ape easily ducked below it but was blind to Kerri’s real attack. She turned, swinging her left staff in an arc that hit the ape behind its ear. It tumbled forwards, and Kerri jumped over it as it rolled beneath her.
In her peripheral vision, she saw a second ape make a move, but a snarl from the ape standing over Carter stopped its charge.
Using its clenched fist as a club, it brought it down on Carter’s face. Kerri was horrified when he gave a low groan. The ape brought it down again on Carter’s stomach. The ape continued to watch Kerri as it stamped on Carter’s tied legs. The blood was boiling in her ears as she knew her temper would explode. She stepped forward to attack, but a voice whispered in her head…
Wait, it wants you to lose control. Stay focused, or you’ll lose everything.
Kerri understood what the ape was doing. She lowered her left staff, closing the distance between them. Turning her head, she saw the first ape clambering back to its feet, shaking its head to clear the spinning stars.
“Kerri, watch out!” she heard Carter shout.
An ape rushed forward. Kerri anticipated the move and, at the last moment, jumped out of the way, bringing her staff down across its neck. The ape stumbled, but it was not the blow she’d wanted. The ape to her right punched Carter again. He’s not going to survive much more, she thought.
She took a step closer to Carter. The ape saw her move and made a warning sound to the others. One more step, and he’s within range, she thought. She saw the ape lift its fist to hit Carter again.
“Look out!” Carter yelled.
She sensed an ape move on her left, so she took two quick steps to her right, crossing her arms over her chest to hide her staffs from direct sight. Carter’s tormentor saw her closing the gap and charged. She swung both arms wide at the same time, her staffs slicing through the air. She hit them both.
They tumbled unconscious into the undergrowth. She turned to face the third ape. As it charged, she brought her staffs together in front of her. She hit the ape on both sides of its head at once, hearing a satisfying crack! The wood vibrated through her arms when it connected with the ape’s skull. It fell flat on its face into the dead leaves and mud of the forest floor. She knew it would not get up.
She slowly turned, searching for Sonny or the Alpha, but the forest was still and deathly quiet around her. Though the fight had taken only seconds, she found herself gasping for air. Taking big, deep breaths, she strained to hear any noise around her, but the silence of the forest was absolute. Her whole body began to shake uncontrollably, and she felt her stomach heave. She couldn’t stop herself from falling to her knees as her legs gave way. Then the vomiting started and continued long after her belly was empty.
A groan behind her finally brought her back to reality.
“Kerri, are you okay?” Carter’s voice was weak and barely above a whisper.
Carter! We’ve got to get out of here. She wiped her nose and dried her eyes. On wobbly legs, she staggered to where he lay. Dropping beside him, she looked at his bruised and bloodied face, still in his wolf form.
“I was gonna ask you the same thing. I’ll be back. I need my knife to cut these bindings.”
She recovered her pack and ran back to where Carter lay. Slicing through the ropes to free his legs, she couldn’t help making an involuntary gasp, seeing the damage to his body.
“I hope you can walk ‘cause I’m not gonna drag your sorry backside all the way home.”
“Don’t make me laugh. It hurts too much,” he groaned. His smile looked more like a grimace.
“Right, first things first. We’ve got to get away from here,” she said.
She lay her blanket on the trail and dragged Carter onto it. Taking two corners, she pulled the blanket, with him on it, back into the depths of the forest. She knew what she was looking for; the fallen tree she’d had to jump over earlier would give them a well-hidden clearing beneath the roots. It was a perfect place to hide and watch the surrounding forest.
After pulling Carter beneath the upended roots, she ran back to the path. Finding a broken branch, she swept the ground clear of the tracks they’d made to hide any sign of their passing. Satisfied she’d done the best she could, she ran back to Carter with her supplies.
Crawling beneath the fallen tree, she emptied her pack onto the blanket, looking for her bundle of moss and a wooden bowl. She broke the moss into small pieces, put it in the bowl, and poured water over it. The moss quickly absorbed the liquid, becoming a soft green sponge that she used to bathe Carter’s cuts and wounds. As she washed the blood from his chest, he gasped in agony. Kerri ran her fingertips delicately over his ribs, looking for the place causing him pain. Where he jerked in reaction to her touch, she left the spongy moss in place.
“Rest now and try not to move. Let the moss do its magic. I’ll keep watch, okay?”
He looked up at her kneeling over him, seeing her long, dark hair falling around her face. With an attempt at a smile, he nodded. He was asleep before Kerri had pulled the blanket over him.
She sat beside him all night, waiting for the sky to lighten overhead, listening for any sign or sound of danger around them. With the dawn, the forest started to come alive with birds calling for mates and chicks calling to be fed. A grunt and a rustle of leaves told her that the boar had started their morning forage, turning over the forest floor for anything remotely edible. She recognized their smell from home and thought that if the boar were at ease, the forest was, for the moment, without danger.
She pulled back the blanket to look at Carter’s wounds again. She moved her fingers gingerly over his chest, hardly touching, just using the tips of her fingers to sense his ribs beneath the skin. She touched the point where he’d gasped the night before and saw him twitch slightly. She took more moss soaked in water and placed it over the same place. Grabbing a bandage from her pack, she wrapped it around him to hold the moss in place. Her exhausted mind swung in turmoil between hope and fear.
What if he has internal injuries? she thought. Now stop it! He’s gonna be okay.
In the cold light of day, she was horrified by the sight of his bruised and bloodied face. She bathed his battered eyes, his cut lips, and his bruised cheeks. Lifting his lip, she saw a canine tooth hanging from his gum. She gently pushed it back, twisting it slightly to find the right placement.
“Why do you keep getting into so much trouble?” she said. His silence brought with it a resignation of their fate.
“Well, Carter Woodman, I suppose you wouldn’t be you if you never tried.”
She lay down next to him and pulled her blanket over them both, cuddling his back to share her body heat. As she lay listening to his steady breathing, feeling his chest rise beneath her hand, she said a prayer to her Guardian Angel to take care of him during the coming hours while she slipped into a dreamless sleep of exhaustion.