The Blood Witch (The Blood Reign Chronicles Book 1) Read Free

Jak could not spare any effort to even glance over his shoulder to see if they were being followed by the cat, for fear he would lose his grip and fall.
    Suddenly, Jak’s answer came all the same when the cat’s shrill cry pierced the night, and this time it was much closer. It was fairly certain now, that the cat had caught their scent and was stalking them. The small stone ledge they were scrambling to reach wasn’t going to offer much protection, but it was the most defensible position available at the moment, for that matter the only one available. Jak figured if they could reach it, then they could crowd the edge and swing branches or something which might keep the cat from coming up after them. The cat couldn’t climb up the way they had come, but it could probably leap that high without too much trouble. If they made it seem to the predator that there was no place for it to land on the ledge, then maybe it would look elsewhere for an easier meal. It was a pretty flimsy plan, but it was the best he could come up with at the moment.
    Finally, they were able to reach the stone ledge, but only to find there were no sticks or branches within reach. Jak chanced a glance down and could now see the cat stalking threateningly towards them as it crossed the small clearing. Its eyes glowed with a pale blue hue in the moonlight, and its long razor sharp teeth gleamed. The moon had just topped the horizon and now bathed the forest in eerie blue-black shadows. It was like a terrible nightmare that Jak couldn’t seem to wake up from. He didn’t want to die here and now, he was only sixteen. They were both too young to die, but if the cat really wanted them there would be little they could do to stop it. The ridge cat would surely kill them and devour their bodies. The thought of being eaten by the ridge cat was actually worse than the thought of dying. Jak had seen the way wild animals fed, the image came to him unbidden of the cat tearing messy bloody chunks of him and Brigette apart and devouring their bodies. He shuddered at the prospect and pushed the thought from his mind, since dwelling on the gruesome image wasn’t really helping matters.
    Jak was at a loss as to how they were going to get out of this impossible dilemma. It was almost certain that they were about to die tonight. He looked to Brigette to see her beautiful face framed by her fiery red hair, but now in the moonlight, her hair had more of a deep violet hue. Her face was a mask of worry and distress, but there was no fear in her dark eyes. Jak was surprised to discover calmness inside of him as well. Even more perplexing was that his-own death was a distant thought. What he really feared was for Brigette’s safety. The thought of any harm coming to her pained Jak more than anything else. He would not let that happen to her. He loved her and he would protect her………. He loved her? What an odd thought at a time like this, but at that moment he realized he did indeed love Brigette. He didn’t want to admit it to himself before now, but the strange feelings he was having for her lately, their constant companionship, it all hit him at once. He had always loved her the way you love your best friend, but lately the feelings had become much deeper than just friendship. This day they had spent together had made his feelings even stronger. The thought of loosing her now was unimaginable to Jak.
    Suddenly, Jak stood up at the brink of the rock ledge and began to shout as loudly as he could. One time he had seen his father and brothers chase a pack of hungry wolves away from the herd by shouting and banging on pots and pans. When Jak had asked him about it afterwards, his father had told him that the trick was to make the wolves think you are bigger than they are. One way to accomplish this was to make a lot of noise and commotion to distress the animals. Jak’s elevated position on the ledge, along with the all the noise he was making might serve to dissuade the