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He was alone with the Hunters

The roar of the Kirata echoed all around him, soht sight of the two he had seen out on the road as they gave chase, barreling between houses and into backyards, clawed feet tearing up flower beds and vegetable gardens One dropped on all fours and came on even faster, and Oliver forced hi he could run faster if he bent himself to it

He could practically feel their claws tearing his flesh

Ahead of hiested a schoolhouse, there was a playground A slide and a wooden swing-set and a trio of seesaws, all in a row

Twotheir fur One, taller and lanced around, looking for some exit To the left was only fares and the Truce Road, where he would be coerous than the situation he was in, so he diverted toward that opening, feeling the vulnerability of his unprotected back even es he had seen a thousand tiing ani their bloody viscera through tall grass

Screams built up at the back of his throat but he could not set the of his heart and his fingers hite with terror where he gripped the shotgun

The Kirata closed in

A roar split the night above hiered to a halt and stared upward at the Kirata that perched on the roof of a cottage The tiger-un barrel up, set the stock against his shoulder, braced his feet, and pulled the trigger

The blast blew a hole through the tiger’s upper torso It hit the ground a corpse and its blood rained down, spattering Oliver, the copper stink of it filling his nostrils His hands shook, but his grip on the shotgun never loosened, even as hethat was half curse and half prayer

The way out to the Truce Road was open, but he knew that there must be more out there and there were probably others on the way Those giving chase were almost upon him He had nowhere to run Trapped in the space between two cottages, he turned and cocked the shotgun, wishing he had a better weapon, or that they would wait patiently while he reloaded

It was a twelve-gauge Five shots Then he was dead And that was if the Kirata even let hiet five shots off

He took a step toward the Truce Road, turning in jerkythere were no options left The two Kirata who’d first spotted hie on his left Oliver was surprised to find his breathing steady as he crouched into a firing stance and pulled the trigger The shotgun bucked in his hands and the blast echoed off the cottages The Kirata running upright was taken in the shoulder, fur and blood and bone flying as it spun around with a roar of pain alun itself

Three rounds left

But the second Kirata was on all fours, running low to the ground and faster than the first, tearing up grass and soil with its claws as it knifed toward hie on his right, but they were an afterthought A lol like a car engine ruer-man as it bore down on hiun, trying to get a bead He ed its speed The h hiht of the Kirata thu up clods of dirt

Then it was upon hiun up in front of hi it as a club or even ja the stock into its jaws It would buy him only seconds of life, but he found in thatevery possible second out of it

"I’y was directed Perhaps Julianna Perhaps his family Perhaps hih the night air and jaide He thrust the shotgun out in front of him

The fox struck the Kirata fro tiny and insignificant next to the thunderous locoer-man But Kitsune had been stealthy and quick, and her jaws closed on its throat in midair The moment seeainst the beast’s head, using leverage and tearing The Kirata’s throat ripped open and blood fountained froether Kitsune rolled and was up als in defense, copper fur glinting in the ered as it tried to get up onto two legs Its eyes were putrid yellow in the night and glea down from its throat and blood ran froutter Then it faltered, and collapsed

Oliver could not breathe as he looked at her Kitsune barked, her focus not on hi the white tiger-- racing toward theun and fired, and the orange and black Kirata’s leg gave way in tatters and broken bones It went down, but the white tiger came on Oliver had one shot left and he knew he had to ale-force winds and driving snow that existed only in that space between cottages The Kirata roared in surprise and perhaps even fear as the wind drove it backward It dropped to all fours to combat the wind and shook snow froain

The winter man took form just beside it, reached out with his left hand even as the blizzard died, and grabbed a fistful of its fur and skin The Kirata grunted and turned, claws coer fingers of his right hand into its face, puncturing its eyes and thrusting deep into its brain

It fell dead in a light dusting of snow

The wind ceased, save for the ordinary nighttime breeze

Oliver opened his , but Kitsune was beside him, woman now instead of fox, and she clapped a delicate hand over hishiet a better hold on it, and he lost his grip It hit the ground at his feet and he tried to stop, tried to go back for it, but Kitsune would not even allow him to slon

"Run," she said, a whisper harsh upon his ear "Marra has come"