Free The Last Heroes Before Judgement by Matt Wilk Page B

continue and the red shadow washed away with my tears. Sloan and Major Talon were screaming at each other in Old Slorrick. I could not translate and I did not try. I saw only Sinner, and he, like all alphas, do not take kindly to being looked in the eye. I slowly placed Kru on the ground, and reinstated the dizzying spinning of my hands.
    My left hand I stretched out further to use for bait. Sinner licked his jowls preparing to bite down. Before his uncles could circle the cart, Kru made the first move. He bit down on Sinner’s left arm with all his might, but the thick fighting dog did not show even the slightest sign of pain. He grabbed Kru before I could. I crawled after him as he dragged Kru under Sloan’s pony and threw him off the cliff. There was no time to think, or hesitate. With all my might, I dove over the edge. I managed to grab Kru’s tail between my fingers and pull him tight to my chest. Then we raced down to the valley floor together.
     
     
     
    Rushing air blew the red shadow completely from my eyes and turned the cliff side argument into a dull buzz. I heard only the little puppy whining with fear and he could not help but to pee on my already disgusting goat skin vest. I was not there to help Leiza, but, even if my body was crushed on impact, saving Kru would be an honorable death. We hit the canopy at an angle and crashed through many frozen branches. Hitting the ground knocked the wind out of both of us, still, we did not stop. The steep slope supported few saplings and their weak roots gave way under our weight. The shell slid on the ice fast enough to throw us back into another free fall on the last hill and I made the mistake of trying to breathe. We hit the valley floor hard and stuck right in the snow. The air was pushed from our lungs all at once. After a few gasps, I checked us both for broken ribs and blinked up at the blue sky.
    “Look Kru, that phoenix thinks we’re dead. Or is it an owl?”
    A large figure came swooping in on us but his screech sounded more like a howl. I made ready to kick it away, just in time to realize what had happened. I flipped us over to use the shell for cover. Sinner had been thrown over the edge in retaliation and, though he just missed us, he splattered blood and guts all over the place. I peeked out and saw the horrific seen and for a moment my eyes saw Leiza’s body instead. Then the noise from the high road echoed down.
    “Matthius! Where are you?”
    “We’re here! Tell Tina I saved Kru! We made it!”
    “Good job boy-o. Now, get to the Moser by sun down or I’ll have Sloan all to myself.”
    The scuffle with priest Sloan ended with him fleeing in terror- and rightly so. Major Bloodaxe shouted orders to his steeds and they immediately gave chase.
    “Wait! What about us? There’s no way up without a rope! Senjay! Lazarus!”
    The convoy had orders to move and I was once again left behind. I had never been outside of Ulfbar but I had seen enough Lantos issued maps to know the glaciers molded the landscape in great waves. The high road would have to arc north for many miles and we would likely find another plateau at the next tip.
    “Well Kru, we’ll have to walk west all day but we should catch them in time for dinner.”
    The puppy was not ready to be coddled. He was just as angry as I was, and just saying the word ‘dinner’ made him hungry. The snow was light enough to let him down and he sprinted west up the first hill without hesitation. I started to follow, then stopped and turned back to Sinner. His body was splayed on a felled stump and the bloody mess covered everything around the corpse.
    “Too bad, no need to waste them and all.”
    I spit at the words of the underpriest and walked into the circle of death. I pulled the necklace off of Sinner, careful to avoid the spiked collar. The scavenger birds were already having an aerial battle for rights to the delicious meal but it made me want to vomit. Kru had taken the hill and barked