Page 47 of Solivagant
Decision made, I picked her up again. I wasn’t usually one for pets, but something about her was different. I didn’t want to let her go and leave her to her fate. Not if there was something I could do to help.
Getting us both over the wall wouldn’t be easy, but we’d manage.
“Was that your family I heard last night?” I asked as I walked through the chamomile field, then the trees and rubble. She oinked softly, surprisingly calm considering I was just a giant strange creature that had snapped her up and wrapped something around her injured leg, though considering the kinds of creatures that were out here, I was the least of her worries.
I’d managed to tuck the piglet somewhat securely into the front of my shirt, tearing more fabric to serve as a harness for her.
We were almost to the wall when a shiver ran up my spine.
A weight fell over me, the air suddenly still and the forest silent.
Something was watching me. I knew it without a doubt.
It weren’t another pig either.
This was the heavy gaze of a predator.
Turn around.
No.
I swallowed. Heat rapidly left my body as I scaled the wall with my eyes, planning my path of escape.
Whatever was watching me now, it was the type of beast you ran from, not the type you fought.
A low rumble started and I recognized it too well.
I bolted for the wall, and the growl turned into a roar, loud enough to rattle my ribs and tighten my chest in fear.
Adrenaline fueled my ascent, I barely felt the pain as I yanked myself higher, faster than I ever knew I was capable of.
It wasn’t fast enough.
Something wrapped around my waist, and then I was falling.
My brain jolted in my skull as my head hit something hard. And I was out.
23
KHORLI
Intruder. Stealing. Taking Jem’s pig. Must protect Jem’s pigs. Must guard Jem’s land.
My head hurts. The intruder… Jem? No. Not Jem. Maybe Jem?
Attack.
Protect.
Who is he? Why does he feel like my Jem?
Red. Hurt him. Hurt my Jem.
I whined.
Never hurt Jem.
The pig squirmed in her restraints. I tore the fabric. Set her free. Injured.
