Chapter 355: The Chase
The sun had barely breached the horizon when Luki stood at the edge of the camp, eyes fixed on the fading hoofprints in the dewy grass. The forest on their left was quiet now—eerily so, as if it too held its breath. The embers of the fire still glowed behind him, but the heat of his fury had long since surpassed their warmth.
The scent of the leaves drenched by the droplets of the morning dew clung to the air. He exhaled slowly.
"They have a night’s head start, but they couldn’t be traveling the entire night," his deputy muttered, adjusting the straps of his leather armor.
"They left traces," Luki said coldly. "That means they were rushed. Good! Desperation makes people sloppy."
In the distance, he saw the dust rising in the air. His reinforcements had arrived!
And with them—the horses!
He mounted the black stallion that was his original steed when he was still the bandit leader. The reinforcements he called were not the soldiers or guards of the North but former bandits who lived among the common people. Luki always kept a few things hidden from his general and his own men. Trust, after all, was a currency he never spent freely.
Fifty of his best riders formed up behind him—lean men with cold eyes, all handpicked. He didn’t want the bulk of the camp slowing him down, and no shouting fools. No half-trained guards. Just the wolves.
"Take something you can carry," he ordered. "We ride light, we ride fast. And when we find them..." He smiled, cruel and sharp. "Show no mercy. Bring back the generals alive. Especially that servant girl."
"The servant?" one of them asked, surprised.
Luki’s eyes narrowed. "She’s no servant. She’s something else entirely. I guessed she is the fabled daughter of General Odin, who joined in the war two years ago."