ChapterFourteen—Found。
Bythetimethesunbegantosinkbehindthemountain,thesearchpartyhadgrownlarger。Ayaohadreturothemountainpath,refusingtogiveup。Shekhemountainpathsbetterthanmostofthepalaceguards,andshewascertainSuyuanwouldhavetakenaless-usedrouteratherthanthemaintrail。"MissYuan!"Ayaocalledagain,shieldinghereyesasshesearchedbetweerees。"MissYuan!"
Noanswercame。
Tarkandismountedheedgeofasteepslope。Hecrouchedandexamiheground,brushingawayleaveswithhishand。Therewereseveralbrokenbranchesandalongmarkthroughthesoil。"Shefellhere。"Khasarclimbeddownbesidehimandexamiheslopebelow。Khasarimmediatelytiedaropearoundatree。Tarkanstarteddownfirst,followedbyKhasar。。Themountainwasalreadybeingdark。ThenKhasarstopped。
"Wait。"Thesurroundingsbecamesilentatfirst,therewasnothing。Thencameafaintsoundfrombelow,awolf。Tarkanlookedtowardthesoundandmovedthroughthetrees。Afterseveralsteps,hesawsomethingpalebehthebranches。
Apieceofwhitecloth。Hehurriedforwardandthere,besideafallenwolf,wasSuyuan。Shewascurledbehhercloak,holdingasmallwolfpupagainstherchest。Herfacealefromthecold,andonelegositionedawkwardlybehher。
"Suyuan!"
Tarkandroppedtohiskneesbesideher。
Hereyesflutteredopen。
Foramoment,shelookedfused。
Thenshereizedhim。
"Tarkan?"
Hisshouldersfinallyrelaxed。
"Wefoundyou。"
Suyuanglanceddownatthepupinherarms。
"Dontsteponit。"
Tarkanstaredather。
"Youvebeenmissingforhours,andyoureworriedaboutawolf?"
"Wellitsalive。"
Helookedatthetinypup。
ThenatSuyuan。