Forty
Vahn yanked open the backpack and retrieved the blaster, cursing himself for being caught unprepared. It should never have happened. He had been distracted by Kara but he’d also been foolish. It had been many days since an animal had ventured close to their camp and he’d been lulled into complacency. But that was no excuse.
As a soldier, as a protector, he had failed.
He wiped the blood from his eyes, wincing at the sharp sting of torn skin A rustling from the bushes made him start and he turned with blaster cocked. But it was only Rocky.
The hound limped out, four parallel gashes scored into his side like red stripes. The wounds looked sore but Vahn knew he didn’t have time to tend to them.
He studied the traces of Kara’s footprints vanishing into the trees, overlaid with the massive paw marks of the creature which had attacked them. Dread churned in his gut.
Viramec , he thought. That’s what it had resembled. A mythical beast in Vraxian folklore which was used to frighten hatchlings.
Be good or the viramec will steal you to its lair.
He pushed the thought away. Kara had escaped, he told himself. He just had to find her.
He started jogging in the direction of the footprints, his long strides covering the ground quickly. It was only after he’d been running for several minutes that he realized Rocky was keeping pace.
The tracks were easy to follow. He held his fear at bay as he closed the distance, refusing to allow his mind to dwell on the possibility that Kara was hurt – or worse.
It was only when he came upon the place where her footprints suddenly stopped that his terror inexorably seeped through.
And then it began to rain.
In seconds, the trail he’d been following was washed away in a torrential downpour. With mounting despair, Vahn raised his hands to his mouth.
“Kara! Kalehsha! Where are you? Can you hear me?”
The only response was the sudden commotion of a flock of birds as they took to the sky.
Rocky sniffed the churned soil, whining. Vahn knelt and placed a hand on his head.
“I know we have not always seen eye to eye, beast,” he said. “But we both care about her . So find her. Lead me to her.”
Rocky put his nose to the ground again. And when he began to run, Vahn was right behind him.