""Survival is a cruel mistress, demanding sacrifice and yielding nothing without a fight..."
Adrianna could hear low grumblings masked under the sound of a cackling fire, she could distinguish three...no four other persons in the cave, as for what they were saying, she'd have to get closer to find out.
A low groan escaped her lips when she tried inching closer, only to find out her wrists had been bound to her ankles behind her.
Who had taken her? The rebels? The Lycans? She couldn't pick up any scent, save for the uneven mix of liquor paired with the repugnant stench of her blood trickling down her forehead. The last thing she recalled was getting caught in a storm and getting tossed around by the raging wind...
"Tch, those wolves are a pain in the arse." A gruff voice cursed, slicing through her mental recap.
Another, his voice a low rumble, grumbled. "As if raiding our storehouse wasn't enough, they went and fucking burnt it to ashes!"
A hoarse voice, echoed off the cave's walls, "With the blizzard growing stronger, they were doomed to come out of their hiding place, granted they took their fucking precious time."
Adrianna inwardly gasped, so these were Lycans, and by their tone they sounded pissed. And what was this about a raided storehouse? Llia had told her these rations were from their last expedition, stashed away in this cave for the winter.
Speaking of Lila, she had not said anything about Lycans inhabiting this cave...
The fourth voice, crisper and younger sounding than the rest spoke up, "This couldn't have worked any better to our advantage. The moment we located this cave, the wolves stopped coming and completely covered their tracks. It seems their leader had a head on top his shoulders."
The voice closest to him laughed from his stomach, "For a moment, we started thinking this mission was pointless, the King would be pleased to learn we've found and vanquished the bastards who infiltrated our territory."
Adrianna's heart skipped a beat, the rebels were stealing from the Lycans? Had they been possessed?! Raiding caravans and harassing travellers was one thing, but to steal would mean a blatant breach of the pact both races had made.
He went on, "And what's more, they sent a frail bitch! Are the wolves all a bunch of fucking pussies?!"
The youngest one, whom she assumed was the leader pointed out, "They might've gotten desperate, we have this blizzard to thank. Unlike the rest of them, her scent is all over, once the storm passes, we can backtrack her trail all the way to their hideout."
Her heart dropped. The image of blood stained, women, children, elderly, Elder Jael, the old man whom had been so kind to her, brutally maimed flashed before her eyes. All those people harmed all because of her mistake.
She slowly opened her eyes, stealing peeks at the hollow cave. It wasn't deep, the rations were stacked in a pile next to her, their fur pelts draped over them. She narrowed her gaze at the exit of the cave, the winds seemed to have calmed down, the storm was resting.
'I can make it if I leave now!' she was convinced, as she lengthened her claw and used it to discreetly cut through the ropes.
The rope collapsed, freeing her wrists!
She took a deep breath, stole a glance at her drunken captors, then sat up. Hurriedly, she slashed through the ropes, tearing into her skin and made a dash for the exit!
Unfortunately, she tripped over a satchel, landing with a loud thud in front of the cave!
"Fucking bitch" A burly figure charged at her, he reached for her leg, and raised her off the ground.
"You have some nerve trying to-"
His words were sharply cut off when Adrianna used her claw and struck his left eye drawing blood! He tossed her at the cave, whipping her back against its hard interior.
"Aaa!" Adrianna cried, she could feel her bones cracking inside of her.
"The bloody cunt got me!" the tallest in the group hissed, his hand over his eye. He charged at her, and began kicking her stomach, drawing bloody coughs out of her!
He might've killed Adrianna had the leader not held him back. Despite being a head shorter, the younger looking man stopped him completely with just a grab of his wrist.
Crouching down, he grabbed her by the neck, forcing her crying eyes to meet his indifferent gaze, "I don't have the time for your bullshit, so I'll make things easier for the both of us. Take us to your camp ground, and I will spare you."
The burly man protested, taking his hand off his already healed eye he shouted, "Boss! We cannot let this bitch live! I have to kill her!"
But he ignored him, focusing his attention to Adrianna, he proposed, "You must've heard us speaking, so you understand what it is we're going to do. But don't get it twisted, this is just payback for your leader burning down our storehouse. If I were you, I'd save myself."
Adrianna coughed, "I-I..I don't know!"
"Don't lie to me!" he tightened his grip on her neck.
"Why...would I...I lie..." in all honesty, Adrianna was more than ready to sell out the location of the rebels, as long as she was able to save her life, the lives of peple she knew nothing about was the least of her concern. However, she had not the faintest of an idea where they were, and the compass Lila had given her was lost in the blizzard.
The leader brought his claw to her eye. "Perhaps losing an eye will jog up your memory-" midway through his sentence, the neardistant sound of galloping stole his attention. He and his men exchanged quick glances, his grip on her neck loosened, as his attetion was unevenly didvided.
"It seems like someone must've come to save you." he said, to the burly man behind him he charged, "Bring them to me-" he was saying, only to get cut off by an arrow shot at his eye!
He was quick to dodge the flaming projectile by an inch of a second, freeing Adrianna. She reached for her neck, gasping for air, but there was no time to rest, more arrows were fired into the cave, some hitting the sacs of rations, burning their fur pelts.
"Those damned bastards! Kill them all-" mid command, the leader's angry charge was drowned out by a galloping horse charging into the cave in a panicked frenzy! The saddle of the horse was set flame, causing the animal to kick and sway it's head blindly!
Adrianna quickly got off the floor, taking adavantage of the panic, she nabbed the satchel and dashed for the exit, or rather she tried to, but her swollen limbs, and fading consciousness did not get her far. Just as she reached the entrance of the cave, her knees gave out, dropping her to the unforgiving snow.
"Get up! Get up!" she punched the ground repeatedly, but her attempts failed, she heard the commotion inside the cave die down and the order for her to be captured. Desperate, she crawled, prepared to take her chances with the storm than with angry lycans.
But they were faster, they charged out of the burning cave to capture her and the rest of her party, but there was no one but the pitiful Adrinna half buried in the snow. Or so they thought.
'Mate!' the wolf within her raged, seconds later, Adrinna caught a whiff of Ryker's scent carried by the wind.
The brute had come to save her?
She folowed the scent and raised her head at the source, only to see Ryker up in a tree, pointing an arrow at them. Before she could blink, he fired an arrow right at the nearest lycan to her, shooting his neck!
This time, the leader was able to pinpoint his location because of the direction of the arrow. He grabbed Adrianna and placed his claw to her neck. "Surrender! Or I'll kill her right here and now." he threatened.
Struggling to stand, Adrianna managed a laugh. The lycans were foolishly mistaken if they thought that someone as ruthless as Ryker would charge into this blizzard just to rescue her.
Ryker jumped down from the tree, his bow raised over his head, "Let her go, I'm the one who led my people to the storehouse, she has nothing to do with it." he said dropping the bow to the ground.
"Nothing to do with it, do you think we're stupid? The moment you suspected we were onto you, you masked your scents and went into hiding, I find it hard to believe that someone as calculating as you would surface for some bitch." he analysed, bringing his claw closer, sinking the tip into the side of her neck.
Adrianna frowned. Why would he go this far? She wondered as her vision blurred, he hated her guts, just as she did him, there was no merit she could think of for saving her.
"Take us to the camp ground if you want her to live." Their leader ordered.
Adrianna couldn't pick out what he said njext, but she distinctively heard him whistle, and on cue, the horse came galloping out of the flaming cage. It ran through, seperating her from her captor.
"Take her!" Ryker commanded the animal, who to her surprise picked her up with its teeth and tossed her on its back!
"Get them!" the leader yelled, his remaining men sharply shifted into two large gray wolves and dashed towards the running horse. But Ryker picked up his bow and stood in front of them both, pointing his arrow at them.
Adrianna flung her head back, "Ryker-"
"Keep moving! Don't look back." he ordered, making the horse gallop faster.
"No! We...have to go back...he'll die..." her words grew softer and softer as she slolwy lost consciousness, the last sight she saw being the blurred vision of two large wolves pouncing on Ryker...