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Torj’s apprentice Cal and the troublemaker Kipp were waiting for them by the gates of the village, saddlebags full to bursting.

‘Sure you got enough?’ Thea said as she approached.

Kipp rolled his eyes. ‘In case you haven’t noticed, there’s six of us. And two of us look like that.’ He jutted his chin in Wilder and Torj’s direction.

‘We’ll hunt on the way,’ Wilder said, urging his horse past them and onto the main road.

‘More for me, then,’ he heard the strategist quip.

* * *

Wilder led the company inland from the seaside village, already missing the fresh briny wind on his skin. They had been riding for some time already, following the lay of the golden valleys before them. But try as he might to soothe his stallion, the creature was on edge.

Torj noticed him fussing and gestured to his own horse. ‘Tucker isn’t himself either,’ he said with a wary scan of the lands ahead. ‘Teerah panthers, do you think?’

Wilder shook his head. ‘Not this far south of the mountains.’

Teerah panthers were enormous, predatory wild cats that were rumoured to have entered the midrealms through a tear in the Veil long ago. A pride of them were known to hunt through the mountains south-west of Notos, but as far as Wilder knew, they kept mostly to themselves, unless set upon. He’d only ever seen one from a distance, its silvery-black fur a stark contrast against the golden mountainside. It had locked eyes with him, staring him down until it realised he had no cause to attack. Then, it had turned with a flick of its tail and disappeared into the rugged terrain.

Torj’s stallion gave a loud snort and skidded to a stop, pawing the earth beneath its hoof.

Wilder frowned. ‘Something’s not right —’

Wren gave a shriek as her horse reared up.

Thea was a blur as she lunged for her sister’s reins. ‘Hold on!’ she shouted, half out of her own saddle, trying to wrangle Wren’s horse back onto its front legs.

Somehow, Wren managed to keep her feet in the stirrups, and Thea brought the terrified creature to heel, still clutching the reins, giving Wren a worried look as the horse whinnied loudly, a tremor passing through its shoulders.

Wilder turned his gaze skyward, his heart seizing at the shadow he found circling above. ‘Torj —’

‘On it.’ The creak of a longbow sounded and an arrow whistled as it tore through the air.

A scream pierced the sky and a pair of membranous wings flapped wildly as the projectile found its mark.

‘Cal!’ Torj yelled. ‘Your turn!’

His apprentice had already nocked an arrow to his own bow and was taking aim. The bow twanged upon release, the arrow soaring.

It was Cal’s shot that brought the monster down, a precise shot that went clean through one of its wings. An agonised cry sounded, one that seemed all too human to Wilder, his insides turning to lead at the realisation.

The creature came crashing towards them, landing on the hard ground with a thud. Wilder flinched.

Steel sang as it was unsheathed from various scabbards and the Guardians and Warswords of Thezmarr leapt forward, blades in hand as they surrounded the monster.

‘It’s one of them…’ breathed Cal, his eyes wide in disbelief.

‘A half-wraith,’ Thea murmured, her gaze tracking across the still-human body and the wings spearing from the monster’s back.

The half-wraith’s eyes were screwed shut in pain, a trail of blood leaking from the corner of his mouth, one wing in tatters.

Wilder stared, resisting the urge to crouch beside him. He looked familiar.

‘We should question it,’ Torj said, palming a dagger and surveying the creature’s body for the best place to start.

At that, the half-wraith’s eyes flew open with a gasp. For a moment, he looked feral, black veins fracturing his otherwise smooth, human face, claws protruding from his fingertips.

‘Ladies,’ Torj was saying. ‘You may want to walk away from this.’