“Does anybody know where he is?” I asked.
There were murmurs indicating no, and much shaking of heads, while others just looked back at us blankly.
I heaved a sigh. It was very possible—perhaps more than likely—that he had gotten caught in the blaze outside. He had been in a tree when Vicky had last seen him, after all. I breathed in deeply. This might be the first true heartbreak my daughter had ever experienced.
Derek
While my sister and brother-in-law hung back in the auditorium, the rest of us continued through to the other tunnel, where we found more hunters. The jinn and witches led the way, doing most of the heavy lifting, ending hunters swiftly with their various brands of magic. We traveled deep into the mountain until we reached the end of the tunnel. We turned around and returned to Rock Hall.
The werewolves had gathered around Xavier and Vivienne, but their attention shot to us as we emerged in the hall. I didn’t think I’d ever seen so many werewolves all in one place. I wondered how many tribes in total were in here. Victoria hadn’t mentioned a number when describing the gathering to us.
A group of men stepped forward, the strongest, most imposing men in the room. Next to some of them were women, hardly any less fierce. A crowd of about forty in total. I supposed they were the alphas. The chieftains.
“Are you King Derek Novak?” one of the men asked, surveying me and the rest of my group.
I nodded.
“I am the leader of the Cuthrals,” he said. “Your sister and brother-in-law explained to us that you have come to free us from these barbarians.”
I nodded again. “That’s what we hope we have done, or will have done very soon.”
All the chieftains bowed their heads low to me.
“Thank you.” Several spoke in unison.
“Our deepest gratitude.”
Gratitude shone in the eyes of every single werewolf in this hall.
“We have destroyed their primary base,” I went on, “where they had established a compound with buildings, and we have gotten rid of every hunter in sight in and around this mountain. But I believe that you are not free yet. There are hunters elsewhere in this realm, am I correct?”
The werewolves exchanged glances. “It is hard for us to say for certain, but we believe so.” A female with wild blonde curls spoke up.
“Do any of you have any idea where they might be located?”
“They invaded the Tuftbrooks,” the Cuthral chieftain said. “We believe that they killed them all and then occupied their burrow. Other than that, we are not aware of any other locations.”
I drew in a deep breath. “Then you must help us search this realm and eradicate any hunters who remain.” I had no idea how big The Woodlands actually was, or just how colossal a task that would be—or how many days it would take—but while we were here, we needed to make sure that we had well and truly gotten rid of the last of the cockroaches.
Then we would need to assume that they would not return anytime soon after the massacre we had just proven ourselves capable of. And in the meantime, we had to begin uprooting them from other realms—I supposed starting with the ogres’ kingdom. They must’ve built very strong walls around that base, with high-voltage electricity, to keep the likes of ogres out. I wondered if they had even established a base in the dragon kingdom already. Something told me that if they had, they would be doing all that they could to keep it hidden. I couldn’t imagine them easily gaining a foothold in The Hearthlands against the strength of the fire-breathers, who, perhaps more than any other species, were intensely defensive of their land. Besides that, they were also extremely close-knit as a people—unlike the werewolves, among whom it was rare to find two tribes who could cooperate. Now, however, observing these werewolves all gathered in here together, I couldn’t help but feel this invasion would improve relations between them as they fought together for their country. This could only make them stronger in the end.
“Thank you again for your assistance,” another chieftain spoke up. “We will do all that we can to locate the rest of the hunters. We can split up into parties, each one searching every mile of The Woodlands. But I would suggest that a good place to start would be the Tuftbrooks, since we know for certain that the hunters have been there.”
There were murmurs of agreement from what seemed like every other wolf in the hall. It was as though they thought and spoke as one unit now, as true countrymen and women should.
“Then there is the matter of Bastien’s cousin, Detrius.” Sofia spoke up. “The Blackhalls’ lair has been compromised too, thanks to him.”
Of course. Although we had not noticed any hunters there during our brief stop, Detrius was in cahoots with the hunters. That would not do.
I was leery of being so heavy-handed, however. Especially since we had no idea who the culprits really were—whether it was solely the work of Detrius and his father, or whether others had joined in the conspiracy too. Once we had visited the Tuftbrooks’ burrow and finished our search across the rest of The Woodlands, I sensed it would be best to leave that matter to Detrius’ angered countrymen. After everything they’d almost lost, I doubted that they would have a problem agreeing amongst themselves who deserved to be punished and what the appropriate punishment was.
“Then let us gather outside at once and prepare to leave,” I boomed.
Victoria
I couldn’t focus on anything. No matter what I tried to distract myself with, my mind just kept being drawn back to that werewolf.