19 Days — & Counting Down To “The Gathering of the Lost”
Counting today, there are now 19 days until the USA & Canada, Australia & New Zealand release day for The Gathering of the Lost, The Wall of Night Book Two.
(The UK release day is 5 April.)
To mark the countdown, I am posting a series of excerpts from the book, and today’s extract is from the opening of Part 2, The Northern March:
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from The Gathering of the Lost
(c) Helen Lowe
Chapter 11, The Wolfpack
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“Carick was cold, tired, and a long time past fear. He had been running and hiding for over two days now, and knew his pursuers would catch him soon. They had forced him to abandon his mule and most of his gear, and flee into the wild country that bordered the road through the pass. He had been all too aware that this was their territory and that no stranger, however young and fit, would lose the wolfpack in its own terrain. He had known, too, that he could not abandon the road and risk wandering in the wild until he died of exhaustion and exposure—if the outlaws did not hunt him down first.
Unfortunately, his pursuers were also aware of his dependence on the road and every time he had tried to cut back to it they were there, waiting for him. Now exhaustion and hunger were taking their toll and Carick knew he could not last much longer. He suspected that his pursuers knew it, too, and were already closing in; he could feel their intent, savage presence, ominous as the shadow of a hawk to the rabbit crouching below.
He would not have survived this long if he had not been sleeping a short distance from his campfire and tethered mule. It was this precaution—and the first of the Seruth charms in his pocket—that had gotten him away when the outlaws rushed his camp in the gray, still dawn. He had been dubious of the charms when given them as a parting gift, but the first one had confused his enemies, sending them baying on first one wrong trail and then another while he ran until his lungs were on fire and his heart bursting in his chest. Carick had hoped that he might lose them altogether in the confusion, or that they would be satisfied with the mule and his gear, and for a time thought he had won clear. But eventually he had seen the first loping shadow on his back trail and forced himself to run on, and then run further again, even when he felt he could not take another step. And despite having the charms to aid him, the pursuit had never completely lost his trail.
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As part of my effort to rebalance my gender imbalance in reading this year, Heir of Night, anyway, is definitely on my list…
I think that should definitely help with ‘correcting’ any gender imbalance … and obviously I hope you will enjoy!:)