‘Is that you Wolf?’

‘Neven! By cheese, I’ve found you.’

Wolf ran up to my side and rubbed his nose against my arm.

‘Okay – okay,’ I let out with a laugh. His rubs tickled.

‘Oh sorry,’ he squeaked and took a step back so I was able to see his furry face clearly. His eyes peered into mine with an expression I hadn’t seen in him before – worry.

‘Why were you looking for me?’

‘For your two-legged friends, the female ones,’ he lowered his voice, ‘they be in trouble.’

‘Trouble?’

My head throbbed with images of Edde and Kalia being locked away in holding cells, constantly whipped and tortured because of my actions. Oh Anwar! What was I thinking when I ran away? I placed my friends in danger.

Wolf’s lips twitched uneasily, he answered carefully, ‘The one with the head of sunny fur was caged in the underbelly of the big house. The tall one went with the old man and a group of black monsters to look for you.’

‘Kalia caged?’

Wolf frowned.

‘The one with the sunny fur,’ I explained.

‘Oh, yes,’ Wolf said, He told me how he had other skirrats to look out for her while he followed the search party. When he caught my scent, he followed it to find me.

‘Why would you do this?’

Wolf twitched, ‘We friends right?’

I gave him a reassuring smile and a few lies about why I had asked. He seemed more at ease.

‘So what’d I do?’

‘You can run away and hide. I fear your tall friend is walking to her death.’

‘Death?’

Wolf shuffled to my left so half his body was blended in with the shadows. He gave the cave a good check with his orb-like eyes before telling me of the dangers.

‘These parts be home to horrible creatures we call Banshees. These creatures like the dark cold holes and cracks these rocks make,’ Wolf whispered.

‘Tell me of these Banshees,’ I asked and scratched his back. He arched his body to meet the strokes of my fingers.

‘Ooh that be good. Get the spot at the back of my leg – ah yes!’ Wolf sighed and shook himself free from the rest of my scratching, ‘Right, the Banshees.’

My heart skipped a beat as he described, in more detail, the spider creatures we had already faced. The tallest banshee was ten times the height of a henchman and the babies just as big as a child. Their spindly legs where sharp as swords and flexible to climb the hills at fast speeds. They always hunted in families, covering the entire area of the Rocky Hills. They had nests scattered all over the place like a web itself.

‘Banshees don’t care what they eat as long as they eat. They even eat their own when there’s no other food,’ Wolf said with a shiver and flinched when he heard a faint howl from the fissure.

‘We must go Neven.’

‘Okay but what about my friend, you said she be walking to her death.’

Wolf’s whiskers twitched nervously. ‘Her group were headed toward the path between the hollow hills.’

‘And?’ I pressed. Wolf shivered as he told me what existed within the hollow hills.

‘Anwar! We have to get to them.’

‘You’ll be in danger too.’

‘I know Wolf but it’s because of me my friend is in danger in the first place. I have to save her!’

Wolf sighed and stood up. I followed his lead out of the cave and into the darkness ahead.