The Stone Wolf (The Chain Breaker Book 4) by D.K. Holmberg (digital book reader TXT) 📕

team. Just those he took on jobs with him. Having one now would be to his advantage—and it would be something Tristan wouldn’t expect. He’d trained Gavin to work alone.

He sat back, studying Imogen. She got to her feet, and she moved out of the clearing.

“Where is she going?” Gavin asked.

“I find it best to leave her alone.”

Gavin frowned and got to his feet, starting toward where Imogen was going.

Gaspar reached for him. “She’s not going to care for it.”

“We’re working together,” Gavin said, shaking him off.

He followed Imogen and found her in another small clearing, her sword unsheathed, flowing through movements. It was no different than how he practiced alone, and knowing her exquisite sword skill, he wasn’t at all surprised that she would practice like this. She swept her blade through a quick arc and turned to him, hilt held in both hands, the blade perfectly still in front of her.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

Imogen sheathed her blade in a flurry. “I need to remain sharp.”

“We could spar.”

She arched a brow. “I’m not sure that sparring with the Chain Breaker would do me any good. Or you.”

Gavin smiled. Having seen her move with the blade, he had little doubt that he would be challenged, at least some. “You might be surprised. I don’t have to fight hand-to-hand with you. We could find a couple of lengths of wood and treat them like practice staves.”

She glanced over to him, her gaze drifting down to the hilt of his sword. “Must we?”

She flashed a hint of a smile and darted forward. The movement was sudden, a fluid glide, and she stood before him. Gavin unsheathed his blade in a heartbeat and brought it up to block. Imogen twisted her blade in a swirl of movements.

Gavin had known she would be incredibly skilled. He had seen her fight, dealing with sorcery and not struggling with it.

But sparring with her…

It was exhilarating.

They moved in a dance, their blades playing off each other. Every time Gavin thought he had the advantage, she slipped beneath his defense, and he had to deflect. He avoided using his core reserves. He didn’t want to draw on any magic to face her. Plus, it was far more rewarding to do without it.

He held back. Gavin could call on his core reserves, but he didn’t want to use them against her, thinking that doing so amounted to cheating, in a sense. He noticed the pattern to her movements, and it was a pattern that he could follow, but he’d need time to study it so that he could master the technique. Thankfully, Tristan had trained him to learn patterns quickly.

Strangely, he had the sense that she held back as well.

It was enough to make him push harder—but he didn’t, not wanting to do so when they might have to fight the next day. Still, she pushed him harder than he would have expected while holding back.

And then she stepped back, lowering her blade. She bowed her head, and with that, she strode away. Gavin turned to watch her and realized that Gaspar was standing there.

“How did that go?” Gaspar asked.

“She’s incredible,” Gavin said.

Gaspar grunted. “I think she was holding back.”

Gavin had done so, and he had come to suspect that she had as well. Gaspar knowing the same shouldn’t surprise him, though somehow it did.

He started to smile.

“What is it now, boy?”

“Just that I think I misjudged her.”

“Most do.” Gaspar nodded toward the clearing. “Time to get some rest. The wolves took off, so I wonder if they picked up on anything.”

Gavin frowned. The wolves had left? They were set to protect them. If he and the others didn’t have the wolves, they also wouldn’t have any way of getting to Nelar quickly.

He followed Gaspar and nodded to Imogen, who was sitting in the clearing.

As he did, the stone wolves returned, prowling with their steady movements.

If the wolves had needed to leave to protect them, Gavin doubted that any of them were going to be getting much sleep this evening.

Chapter Fourteen

The wolf raced across the ground, moving far faster than Gavin had ever gone, even by horseback. What was even better was that the wolf didn’t tire or slow, which made it easier for them to keep up pace. He pressed down on the stone, still feeling like there should be fur as it looked so lifelike.

They’d had a fitful night. No other attack had come, but the wolves would dart off every so often, leaving them. The sounds of their odd howls had called out in the night. It had been surprisingly soothing. When they’d howled, Gavin had stirred. Thankfully, he didn’t need much sleep, but he worried about the others. He didn’t know what had drawn the golems off to protect them, and the stone creatures couldn’t speak to share. Gavin had to hope they were offering protection and not just disappearing for another reason.

He wanted to be out of the forest. He wanted to find Wrenlow and get back to Yoran as quickly as possible.

He looked over to Gaspar, who sat astride his own creature, which galloped alongside Gavin. Imogen rode slightly behind. Nobody spoke, which would’ve been difficult to do on the racing stone animals, with the way they sped across the ground and chewed up the distance.

His backside ached from sitting on top of the wolf, and his arms throbbed from how he had to grip the creature, essentially holding on to his neck as the only option. Every loping step left him hurting more. Though Gavin had been a bit doubtful when Mekel and Zella had called it a him, he decided that it had to be true. No woman would treat him so poorly.

They hadn’t gone but half a day before they reached the outskirts of Nelar. The wolves started to slow.

Gavin looked over to Gaspar, shaking his head. “We shouldn’t be here already.” Had they ridden hard the day before, they could have made it in a single day. That