I screamed as an incredible pressure clamped down on my thigh, dragging me to the ground. Long, yellow teeth ripped through my dress and sank into my flesh, sending agonizing gouts of fire through my leg. The pain was explosive, scattering what little hope remained like seeds before the wind.
The wolf shook its head, tearing its teeth free in a spray of crimson blood. It vanished back into the shadows, leaving me writhing on the ground, screaming. No matter how tightly I clashed at it, blood continued to spurt in time with my beating heart.
"S-stay back!" I sobbed, scrabbling back against a tree.
Glowing red eyes stared out at me from all directions, filled with a hunger and malice that I'd thought impossible in wild animals. The long winter of the Northern Continent left this pack thin and mangy, hungry for a kill. Each pant sent spurts of fog drifting through the air, carrying the stench of death toward me.
