Chapter 808
The Predator Becomes Prey
Meanwhile, a considerable distance away from where the Enclave warriors stumbled blindly through the forest, the Nightshade warriors waited.
Snow continued falling in thick, relentless sheets, coating armour, cloaks, fur and weapons alike. The wind howled between the towering trees, shaking branches already heavy with snow, yet none of them seemed bothered by it anymore. They had lived in the North long enough that the cold had become as familiar as breathing itself.
They had been waiting for this moment.
Preparing for it.
Planning every detail.
Now it was finally here.
Ethan stood beside Orion, his eyes fixed on the forest ahead. His breath escaped in slow clouds before disappearing into the blizzard.
“It’s morning,” he said quietly.
Orion nodded without taking his eyes off the forest.
“The exact time Paula told us.”
Neither of them spoke again.
The wind suddenly grew stronger.
It roared through the forest with frightening force, carrying snow high into the air until visibility shrank even further. Trees groaned as they bent beneath the gale, their branches scraping against one another.
The blizzard had begun.
Exactly as foretold.
Orion’s lips curved into a faint smile.
Amd then Brynhild stepped forward.
She stood quietly, her expression unreadable as she stared toward the white curtain of snow before them. Anyone unfamiliar with her might have mistaken her calmness for indifference.
Those who knew her understood better.
She was listening and calculating.
“The warriors we fought yesterday were merely fodder,” she said at last. “The true fighters are still among them.”
Kevin folded his arms.
“Then let’s kill one of the Enclave members.”
Several warriors looked toward him.
“That should light a fire under their asses.”
A few chuckled.
Brynhild smiled faintly.
“I already intend to.” Her fingers rested lightly against the hilt of her sword. “But Victoria is commanding this battle.”
She frowned thoughtfully.
“If we kill only one Enclave member, will that truly be enough to force her hand?”
“Not really.” Sophia spoke up. “Which is why we must make enough noise that Victoria has no choice but to respond.”
She stretched both arms before rolling her shoulders, loosening muscles that had remained tense throughout the previous day.
“The second phase is about to begin.”
No one argued.
Moments later, hurried footsteps approached through the snow.
Joren emerged between the trees, breathing heavily after his run.
“Alpha Orion.”
He bowed quickly.
“I have a message from the archers keeping watch.”
Orion nodded.
“What is it?”
Joren straightened.
“Just as Elder Brynhild predicted…”
He glanced toward the forest.
“…the Enclave warriors have decided to burn the trees.”
A slow smile spread across Orion’s face.
Beside him, Brynhild smiled as well and it was not in any way pleasant.
She slowly licked her lips before turning toward Kevin.
She never spoke.
She didn’t need to.
Kevin immediately understood.
Without wasting another second, he spun around and sprinted into the forest, disappearing into the wall of falling snow almost instantly.
Brynhild drew her sword.
Then she entered the trees herself.
Her movements were smooth, almost silent, her dark cloak blending naturally with the shadows beneath the towering branches until she seemed to disappear completely.
Sophia shifted moments later.
White fur replaced armour.
Against the endless snow she almost vanished completely.
Only her blue eyes remained visible for a heartbeat before she too disappeared into the forest.
Orion looked toward Joren.
“We move.”
Joren nodded.
Together they headed toward another section of the woods.
Every warrior already knew where they belonged.
No further instructions were necessary.
The second phase had begun.
—
The Enclave warriors never saw it coming.
The wind exploded through the forest without warning.
Snow rose from the ground in violent spirals, filling the air until everything became white.
Visibility disappeared.
Warriors standing only a few paces apart could barely distinguish one another.
Cam immediately felt something tighten inside his chest.
Every instinct he possessed screamed at him.
“Be alert!”
His voice carried through the storm.
“Unsheathe your swords!”
Steel rang throughout the forest as dozens of blades left their sheaths simultaneously.
The warriors immediately formed tighter ranks.
Every pair of eyes searched desperately through the blizzard but there was nothing.
Several minutes passed.
Still nothing happened.
Cam’s breathing gradually steadied.
Perhaps…
Perhaps he had overreacted.
Perhaps the northern warriors truly had fled.
Perhaps—
He turned toward Alpha Joshua.
“Alpha, perhaps we should reconsider—”
His voice stopped.
Cam stared.
For one impossible moment his mind refused to understand what his eyes were seeing.
A massive hole had appeared through Joshua’s chest.
Not a stab wound.
Not an arrow wound.
A hole.
As though something had punched clean through his body.
Blood poured endlessly onto the snow beneath him.
Cam’s breathing caught.
He hadn’t heard anything.
No footsteps.
No arrows.
No clash of steel.
Nothing.
His eyes darted around wildly.
There wasn’t even a weapon lying nearby.
The snow surrounding Joshua remained almost untouched.
How?
His gaze immediately shifted toward Cindy.
She was staring at Joshua too.
Her face had gone completely pale.
Even through the blizzard he could clearly see the disbelief written across her features.
Joshua swayed once.
Then his body collapsed heavily into the snow.
The impact sent snow flying in every direction.
An arrow whistled through the air immediately and Cam reacted instinctively.
He grabbed Cindy and threw both of them sideways.
The arrow struck the tree directly behind where she had been standing only a heartbeat earlier.
Its shaft trembled violently.
Cam’s heart hammered inside his chest.
“What the hell?!”
Screams suddenly erupted all around them.
“Where are they?!”
“I can’t see anything!”
“We’re under attack!”
“Watch the trees!”
“No—”
“I can’t—”
The voices disappeared mid-sentence.
A wet choking sound replaced it.
Then another.
Another.
Bodies continued falling.
Warriors spun in every direction, swinging swords wildly into empty air.
Some struck trees.
Others struck nothing at all.
The Nightshade warriors remained invisible.
They attacked.
Disappeared.
Attacked again.
The blizzard concealed every movement.
The predator had become prey.
“Fuck!”
Cam snarled.
He tightened both hands around his sword before spinning toward another scream.
He searched desperately for even a single enemy.
One target.
One shadow.
Anything but there was nothing.
The forest itself seemed to be killing them.
He never even felt the attack.
From beneath the snow, a blade burst upward through his chest.
At the exact same moment, an arrow tore clean through Cindy’s body.
Both figures collapsed into the snow.