Chapter 6 - The Betrayal at Dawn
With a fiery torch in one hand and his spear in the other, Elan charged down the steep slope into the canyon, with Silver racing alongside him like a streak of gray lightning. The sudden, screaming descent of a human boy accompanied by a roaring, fierce wolf caught both the Blood-Stone warriors and the Dire Pack completely off guard. Elan thrust his torch into the face of a giant Dire Wolf that was about to leap onto a terrified child, sending the beast yelping back into the shadows. Silver threw himself into the fray with terrifying ferocity, his jaws snapping with lethal precision as he protected Elan’s blind spots.
The sheer audacity of their attack created enough chaos to allow Kaelen and his remaining warriors to rally. Seeing an opportunity, Kaelen ordered his men to strike back against the distracted Blood-Stone clan. For a few chaotic minutes, the plan seemed to work, and the rival clan was forced into a disorganized retreat out of the canyon. However, as the immediate threat of the rival tribe faded, the true nature of Kaelen’s treachery revealed itself. Instead of showing gratitude to the boy who had just saved his people, Kaelen looked at Elan and the fiercely growling Silver with absolute horror and disgust. To Kaelen’s superstitious mind, a boy who could control a wild beast was not a savior; he was a demon, a practitioner of dark, forbidden magic.
As Elan stood breathless, his torch burning low, Kaelen suddenly lunged forward, using the butt of his heavy spear to strike Elan squarely in the chest. The blow knocked the wind out of the boy, sending him crashing hard into the freezing snow. Silver roared in fury and prepared to tear Kaelen’s throat out, but Elan, coughing up blood, managed to gasp out a command: "Silver, no! Run!" Kaelen’s warriors quickly surrounded the wolf with a wall of spears, forcing the wounded beast backward. Before Silver could break through, a secondary group of hunters threw a heavy, weighted rawhide net over Elan, pinning him to the ground. Kaelen stood over the trapped boy, a cruel, triumphant smile on his face, declaring that the demon boy would be executed at dawn to cleanse the tribe of his corruption.
