The growl from Bear makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. If there’s one thing she’s good at … it’s guarding. Something is in the woods and I just hope it isn’t interested in us.

“What do you think it is?” I ask Raydn. He has moved closer to Bantoo and I as he scans our surroundings. “Do you think they’ve discovered we’re missing?” The thought makes me want to take off at a sprint. Now that I’m out of that place, I don’t want to go back. My mind is set on finding my way back home.

“I find that unlikely,” Kayne says. “But let’s get moving anyway.”

“Yes,” Raydn says, “Keep moving.” Kayne takes the lead and Raydn motions for us to follow him.

“Bear, come,” I say. She’s standing her ground, focused on something behind us. “Is there something that lives in these woods? Something that wouldn’t take kindly to us being here?”

“Pretty much everything, once night falls,” Kayne says.

I study him for a moment to see if he’s joking but it’s quickly clear that he’s not.

“How much further until we reach the spaceport?” I ask. I’ve never actually been to the spaceport before so I have no idea how to get there on my own. But I have paid attention to the swarms of people on fight days, the direction they come from when they arrive and the direction they go when they leave. One of the perks to being a slave in a master’s house that sits on top of a hill and looks down on the rest of the town is the view. It was my plan to head in the same direction the crowds go and hope for the best. I didn’t expect to luck out and get my own personal escort.

“It is still far,” Raydn says. “Come.” He takes off down the path, leaving Bear and I to follow behind. I don’t like bringing up the rear, I’m getting a strange feeling that we’re being followed. Raydn is focused on the woods around us, constantly scanning the darkness while we walk. From what I can tell there isn’t an end in sight to this journey. It’s as if I am walking with a blindfold on my eyes, that is how well I can see around us.

Bear walks right next to me, her body brushing against my smock. When she walks with me she stands up to my waist and all I need to do is reach my fingers down to brush them through her fur. From the sound of it, Baslors like Bear have always lived in the wild, impossible to domesticate. Back on Earth, I was always an animal lover, so the Baslors didn’t instill the same fear in me that they did the other slaves. Now I find myself feeling comforted because I have Bear beside me. I think of all the times I stole small pieces of food from the kitchen and fed them to her when no one was looking. Apparently, small kindnesses can go a long way … even when it comes to wild animals.

Suddenly, Bear stops again and starts turning around, sensing something but unsure where it is exactly. I grip her chain and try to get her to keep walking with me. “Bear, let’s go,” I say, not daring to make any more sound than a faint whisper. When I look up it isn’t just blackness that I see in the woods. A pair of eyes watch me from behind the trees. Red eyes that look like they’re glowing. My breath leaves my body as if I was punched in the stomach, knocking the air from my lungs. Bear sees this creature at the same time that I do. She readies herself to attack but before she can, Raydn is blocking us, a long, sharp weapon that looks similar to a sword drawn, ready to engage whatever it is that is hunting us.

“Both of you, run,” Raydn says.

I want to but it doesn’t feel right to leave him behind. He senses my hesitation and instead of staying behind, grabs onto my arm and turns to run with me.

“What is it?” I ask.

“Yhm’s guards. But I don’t know how many.”

Bantoo and Kayne are further ahead but I can hear their feet pounding on the dirt as they run. Or maybe it’s my heart that I hear. It is pounding loudly in my chest from the fear and panic that is overwhelming me right now. Suddenly, my feet go out from under me, as if caught in a tree root snaking across the ground. But when I look behind me, someone is gripping onto my leg.

Before I can scream, Raydn is on him. He grabs the guard and pulls him off me. I scurry backward, pulling my legs close to my chest and curling into a ball. It’s hard to make out exactly what is happening, but Raydn is struggling with our pursuer. From the sound of fists connecting with body parts, it is hand-to-hand combat. Then there’s a loud crack and Yhm’s guard goes limp in the dirt.

In the next moment, Bantoo is at my side, grabbing onto my arm. Kayne joins Raydn just as three more guards materialize out of the woods. They fight with their weapons this time, but just as quickly as the guards fall, more continue to come. One moment Bear is by my side, the next she takes off to join the fighting.

“Bear, stay!” I yell, but she can’t stop herself. I hear a loud growl, followed by a loud chomp and then someone screaming. Baslor teeth are incredibly sharp. I wish I could make out what was happening around me. The loud clash of swords is unmistakable but it’s hard to tell who is who.

A few more minutes and the quiet returns to the night. Raydn is at my side, grasping my shoulders. “Are you ok?” he asks.

“Yes, I’m fine. Is it over?” I ask.

“For now. We must hurry and make our way to the spaceport before we have any more company.”

He pulls me to my feet and I grab Bantoo and pull her up. Without waiting to find out if anyone else is going to come out of the woods, we take off at a run, this time with Bear leading the way.