Rise of the Valiant Read Free Page A

beasts they could not outrun.
    Alec stumbled
over a root and slammed into a tree; he cried out in pain, winded, then bounced
off it and continued to run. He scanned the woods for any escape, realizing
their time was short—but there was nothing.
    The snarling
grew louder, and as he ran, Alec looked back over his shoulder—and immediately
wished he hadn’t. Bearing down on them were four of the most savage creatures
he’d ever laid eyes upon. Resembling wolves, the Wilvox were twice the size,
with small sharp horns sticking out the back of their heads, and one large,
single red eye between the horns. Their paws were the size of a bear’s, with
long, pointed claws, and their coats were slick and as black as night.
    Seeing them this
close, Alec knew he was a dead man.
    Alec burst
forward with his last ounce of speed, his palms sweating even in the icy cold,
his breath frozen in the air before him. The Wilvox were hardly twenty feet
away and he knew from the desperate look in their eyes, from the drool hanging
from their mouths, that they would tear him to pieces. He saw no means of
escape. He looked to Marco, hoping for some sign of a plan—but Marco carried
the same look of despair. He clearly had no idea what to do either.
    Alec closed his
eyes and did something he had never done before: he prayed. Seeing his life
flashing before his eyes, it changed him somehow, made him realize how much he
cherished life, and made him more desperate than he’d ever been to keep it.
    Please, God, get
me out of this. After what I did for my brother, don’t let me die here. Not in
this place, and not by these creatures. I’ll do anything.
    Alec opened his
eyes, looked up ahead, and as he did, this time he noticed a tree slightly
different than the others. Its branches were more gnarled and hung lower to the
ground, just high enough where he could grab one with a running jump. He had no
idea if Wilvox could climb, but he had no other choice.
    “That branch!”
Alec yelled to Marco, pointing.
    They ran for the
tree together, and as the Wilvox closed in, but feet away, without pausing,
they each jumped up and grabbed the branch, pulling themselves up.
    Alec’s hands
slipped on the snowy wood, but he managed to hang on, and he pulled himself up
until he was grabbing the next branch several feet off the ground. He then
immediately jumped up to the next branch, three feet higher, Marco beside him.
He had never climbed so fast in his life.
    The Wilvox
reached them, the pack snarling viciously, jumping and clawing at their feet.
Alec felt their hot breath on the back of his heel a moment before he raised
his foot, the fangs coming down and missing him by an inch. The two of them
kept climbing, propelled by adrenaline, until they were a good fifteen feet off
the ground, and safer than they needed to be.
    Alec finally
stopped, clutching a branch with all his might, catching his breath, sweat
stinging his eyes. He looked back down, watching, praying the Wilvox could not
climb, too.
    To his immense
relief, they were still on the ground, snarling and snapping, jumping up for
the tree, but clearly unable to climb. They scratched the trunk madly, but to
no avail.
    The two sat on
the branch, and as the reality sank in that they were safe, they each breathed
a sigh of relief. Marco burst into laughter, to Alec’s surprise. It was a
madman’s laugh, a laugh of relief, the laugh of a man who had been spared from
a sure death in the most unlikely way.
    Alec, realizing
how close they had come, could not help laughing, too. He knew they were still
far from safety; he knew they could never leave this spot, and that they would
even likely die in this place. But for now, at least, they were safe.
    “Looks like I
owe you,” Marco said.
    Alec shook his
head.
    “Don’t thank me
yet,” Alec said.
    The Wilvox were
snarling viciously, raising the hair on the back of his neck, and Alec looked
up at the tree, hands trembling, wanting to get even farther away