The Forbidden Compass Trilogy: Book One- Caged
Chapter 6

Irelle stares in shock as Omega crumples to his knees in front of her. His guttural scream of pain shatter the still silence. Mahna freeze as Fenn runs forward, trying to heal the unexplainable. Irelle turns at the sound of yelling and running feet. It doesn’t matter if Fenn heals him, the damage has already been done. A silent escape is impossible. As the Hunters round the wagons, Irelle builds a dome of water around them, freezing it hard.

She is distracted by the Hunters’ strange behavior. Fur grows on their bodies as they morph in a terrifying and wrong way. The change becomes complete, and she realizes they have changed into wolves. They are larger than regular wolves, fiercer, more terrifying. Their eyes are ice blue and cold, their fur gray, their teeth and claws deadly sharp and long. They race towards the dome, and Irelle rushes to freeze it. Most just hit the ice and bounce off, but one gets part way through, its jaws snapping.

She tries to freeze it in place, but it moves too much. It lurches forward, causing her to stumble back to avoid its snapping jaws. It grabs her ankle and bites down, hard. She nearly faints at the pain as she hears her bones crunch and feels her warm blood flood out. She feels the liquid of her blood leaving her weakening body. She’s singing as strongly as she can through the pain. She feels her own spilled blood flood its mouth, drowning it from the inside with blood it spilled. She feels it fall away as it dies, blood staining its fur and bubbling from its mouth.

Irelle scramble back, pushing herself to sit, her elbows keeping her balance. Her ankle is going numb, but she can feel her blood pumping out with each ragged breath.

The wolves continue to attack the dome, bashing it with their bodies. Spider-leg thin cracks spread across the surface with each attack. Omega has stopped screaming, so the only sounds are the constant thump of flesh hitting the ice, claws scratching at the surface, and her own labored breathing. Irelle tries to reinforce the dome, but the water, and air, is running thin inside it.

“Mahna! Help me!” Irelle calls to her, where she stands frozen, staring at the cracks spreading across their only protection. With her last breath, Irelle calls, pouring all her desperation into her voice, “Mahna!”

She watches Mahna, her face the perfect picture of concentration and dread. “I can’t!” Mahna screams, her voice on the edge on hysteria. Irelle makes one last attempt to hold the dome together, but her heart sinks as a vjorc runs at her, jaws wide in a evil smile. With a sound like thunder, the dome implodes. The force pushes Irelle to the ground, slamming her head against the earth. Shards of ice rain down on her as the world goes black.