Chapter Thirteen

By the time night falls Kai has successfully gotten a fire going and captured a couple of small hares to cook for the night, letting Niklas and Gunnar run wild and catch their own dinner, a great excuse to leave him and Serenia alone for a little bit.

Sitting by the fire and eating their shares of meat sticks, Kai is expecting Serenia to ask questions about what to expect when they finally reach Wolfmane territory to get an idea of what she is about to walk into. Instead, she sits and listens intently to the rather noisy forest scene, the birds never ceasing their chirping and in turn, bothering the bullfrogs commuting to the stream.

She reminds him of a wide-eyed doe sitting in the middle of a meadow, opening her eyes and ears for the first time and experiencing the natural sounds of life. Kai thinks back to the few times he had entered the forest territory of the Raseri Tribe and doesn’t remember hearing many sounds if any sounds of birds or insects.