Only an hour had passed, and Nyx was already nearing her limits.
It was getting difficult for her to breathe because of the constant running, her ankle was throbbing with each step. The cuts from bush stung her face and legs, and her hands were shredded from tree barks.
But she didn't stop.
Behind her, the wolves howled. They were close again. She needed to find shelter. She needed to rest for even ten minutes, to catch her breath and to think.
After running a little more in the forest, she saw some stone formations sticking out from the ground.
Caves?
Nyx ran towards them. She reached there and saw a narrow gap between two large boulders. It was perfect; too small for the wolves but wide enough for her to squeeze through.
Nyx squeezed herself into the narrow space. She could still see the entrance and watch for danger, but anyone passing by wouldn't notice her. Her legs gave out as she sat on the cold ground.
"Count to one hundred. Slow breaths. Quiet."
Soon, the wolves reached there, she could hear them.
"She came this way." A male voice said. "I can smell blood."
"Spread out." Another one ordered. "Check every gap, every cave. She's close."
Through the narrow opening, Nyx saw them searching for her. One wolf paused near her hiding spot. It sniffed the air and turned its head towards her hiding spot.
"Don't breathe. Don't move." She muttered to herself.
The wolf took a step closer. Nyx immediately grabbed her knife. It was useless against a wolf, but if it came down to it, she'd go down fighting.
The wolf opened its mouth to howl when a different long howl cut through the night from the east.
The wolf's head snapped up. It looked in the direction of the sound, then turned and ran towards it. The other wolves followed.
Nyx waited for sometime. But it was complete silence outside. They were gone atleast for now.
"Why did they leave?" She muttered to herself. "Darius is too smart to just have wolves blindly search. That howl could be a signal to adjust tactics. Maybe they'll be back with a new plan."
Nyx pulled out her waterskin, and drank three sips of water. She looked out at the sky, the night was still young.
"I can't run for eleven more hours. My body won't last."
She needed a better plan than just running until she collapsed. She thought about her assests, liabilities and wolf weaknesses.
Assets: Knife, rope, herbs, water skin, intelligence from Razeil.
Liabilities: Injured ankle, cracked ribs, exhaustion.
Wolf weaknesses: Can't climb above 10 feet, communicate through howls, pack mentality
A risky idea came into her mind.
"If I can't outrun them, I need to outsmart them. I need to make them waste their time and energy and turn their coordination against them."
Nyx checked her supplies. She sniffed the herbs Raziel had given her, which were not medicinal. They had strong scent. She decided to use them again to create false trails and confuse their tracking.
The rope could be used to slow wolves down, and knife could be used for creating obstacles for them by cutting tree branches, and setting traps.
"Tire them out, frustrate them, and force them to do mistakes."
Nyx stood up. She came out from her hiding spot, and looked at her surroundings carefully. This place had a lots of gaps, and places to hide.
"I can use this place."
Nyx then quickly scattered the strong scented herbs in all directions.
"It won't last long, but even few minutes would help."
She used the rope to create a trap across a narrow gap between rocks. Anyone running fast wouldn't notice it until it was too late.
Then she walked towards the west and climbed onto a higher ground from where she could observe the area from above. She sat there, hiding between plants and waited for the wolves to return.
And after ten minutes, they did return. Nyx watched them from above.
They found her herb trails immediately. Confusion rippled through the pack as different wolves picked up different scents, each one turning towards in a different direction.
Three wolves went towards the north, three went towards the south and three went towards the east. The rest stayed to search that area more thoroughly.
One of the remaining wolves walked towards the gap where Nyx had hidden before. He peered into the darkness, and sniffed.
"She was here. There's blood on the stones." He announced.
The others immediately ran towards that spot and a female wolf got trapped in the trap Nyx had set up with the rope earlier.
"It's a trap!" Someone shouted.
"Where is she?"
"Did anyone see…"
"QUIET!" A big brown wolf shouted.
He examined the rope, and the rocks. Then he lifted his head while sniffing the air. He looked up and saw Nyx hiding.
Shit.
Nyx immediately ran. Behind her, howls erupted again.
Nyx's tactical approach was working. She'd set three more traps, created half a dozen false trails. Each tactic had given her few minutes to run.
But her body was failing. She reached the river Raziel had marked on his map. It was approximately 20 feet long but the water was freezing cold. She could feel it just by standing near it.
Nyx dived in, gasping as the freezing water hit her legs. She turned around and used the current's momentum to carry her rather than fighting it. She swam and reached the opposite bank, shaking from the cold.
"Can't stay wet. Hypothermia will kill me."
Nyx ran to generate body heat. The leather vest had protected her core, but her pants and boots were soaked.
She saw a fallen tree ahead with a hollow base. It was big enough for her to crawl inside, and it faced away from the river.
"The wolves would check riverbanks first, not the forest behind them."
Nyx crawled into the hollow, sitting in the driest part.
"No one can see me here and the tree would hide some of my scent as well." She whispered.
She pulled out her waterskin and took another three small sips; ate a piece of the meat to keep her body working.
She could hear the howls from a distance. They were frustrated now.
"Good. Frustrated predators make mistakes."
Nyx then checked her injuries. Her ankle was swollen to nearly twice its normal size, her ribs were paining as hell every time she breathed.
Her palms were bleeding.
But she was alive and still fighting.
"How many hours left? Nine? Ten?" She asked herself.
Then suddenly she heard the sound of heavy footsteps from near the tree. She froze. Through the hollow tree's opening, she saw Darius Bloodmaw.
He walking on the riverbank alone and then stopped at 30 feet away from her hiding place.
"You're clever." He said. "More clever than I expected. The traps were childish but effective. The false trails bought you time, using the river was smart; it broke your scent trail completely." He paused. "But you made one mistake."
Nyx stopped breathing, praying he won't sense her.
"You're injured." Darius continued. "I can smell blood. You're bleeding through your bandages, leaving a trail even water can't hide." He turned, and looked directly at the tree. "You're in there, aren't you?"
Nyx grabbed her knife.
"I'm not going to dig you out." Darius said. "That would end the hunt too quickly and you've earned more than that." He walked closer and crouched down so he could see into the hollow but Nyx was in the far back.
"Before the human bonded my grandfather, he was the strongest wolf in our history, pride of our pack and my hero."
Nyx just waited.
"I'm telling you this because you need to understand when I'll hunt you, it won't be because of any personal reasons. It's just me trying to make sure that never happens again."
"By killing every human you find." Nyx finally replied.
Darius smiled.
"By eliminating the threat. But you're different. You've survived two hours against my entire pack, set traps that slowed us down. You're not using bonding magic. You're using intelligence."
"Is that a compliment?"
"It's an observation." He smiled. "Keep running, Nyx Keller. Make it to dawn, prove that humans can coexist with us without enslaving us or die trying and prove we were right three centuries ago." He turned to leave, then paused. "Either way, you've already lasted longer than any prey in my lifetime and that's worth something."
"Wait…" Nyx said. "Why tell me all this? Why not just drag me out and end it?"
Darius looked back.
"Because Raziel believes you might be proof we were wrong. And I'd like him to be right. But it requires evidence. So, provide it. Survive and show me humans deserve a second chance."
Then he walked away.