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Back The Last Wilderness Save as PDF
Chapters (76)
  1. Also By
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Map
  6. Chapter One: Ujurak
  7. CHAPTER ONE:
  8. Chapter Two: Lusa
  9. CHAPTER TWO:
  10. Chapter Three: Toklo
  11. CHAPTER THREE:
  12. Chapter Four: Kallik
  13. CHAPTER FOUR:
  14. Chapter Five: Lusa
  15. CHAPTER FIVE:
  16. Chapter Six: Toklo
  17. CHAPTER SIX:
  18. Chapter Seven: Toklo
  19. CHAPTER SEVEN:
  20. Chapter Eight: Ujurak
  21. CHAPTER EIGHT:
  22. Chapter Nine: Kallik
  23. CHAPTER NINE:
  24. Chapter Ten: Lusa
  25. CHAPTER TEN:
  26. Chapter Eleven: Toklo
  27. CHAPTER ELEVEN:
  28. Chapter Twelve: Ujurak
  29. CHAPTER TWELVE:
  30. Chapter Thirteen: Kallik
  31. CHAPTER THIRTEEN:
  32. Chapter Fourteen: Ujurak
  33. CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
  34. Chapter Fifteen: Toklo
  35. CHAPTER FIFTEEN:
  36. Chapter Sixteen: Kallik
  37. CHAPTER SIXTEEN:
  38. Chapter Seventeen: Ujurak
  39. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:
  40. Chapter Eighteen: Lusa
  41. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:
  42. Chapter Nineteen: Ujurak
  43. CHAPTER NINETEEN:
  44. Chapter Twenty: Toklo
  45. CHAPTER TWENTY:
  46. Chapter Twenty-One: Ujurak
  47. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE:
  48. Chapter Twenty-Two: Kallik
  49. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO:
  50. Chapter Twenty-Three: Lusa
  51. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE:
  52. Chapter Twenty-Four: Toklo
  53. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR:
  54. Chapter Twenty-Five: Lusa
  55. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE:
  56. Chapter Twenty-Six: Toklo
  57. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX:
  58. Chapter Twenty-Seven: Kallik
  59. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN:
  60. Chapter Twenty-Eight: Lusa
  61. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT:
  62. Chapter Twenty-Nine: Ujurak
  63. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE:
  64. Chapter Thirty: Kallik
  65. CHAPTER THIRTY:
  66. Chapter Thirty-One: Toklo
  67. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE:
  68. Chapter Thirty-Two: Ujurak
  69. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO:
  70. Chapter Thirty-Three: Ujurak
  71. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE:
  72. Chapter Thirty-Four: Kallik
  73. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR:
  74. About the Author
  75. About the Publisher
  76. Cover

‘Hunters who do not respect the animal spirits as my people do,’ Tiinchuu said. ‘Men who want to cover the wilderness with roads and houses. And others . . .’ He frowned. ‘Others who want to rip the heart out of the earth for their own profit.’

Ujurak’s eyes widened. He didn’t understand what Tiinchuu meant, but it sounded terrifying.

‘Don’t worry,’ Tiinchuu said. ‘While there is breath in my body I will fight the change that is coming, and I’m not the only one.’

Chapter Fifteen: Toklo

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CHAPTER FIFTEEN:

Toklo

In his dreams, Toklo found himself in a thick forest. Branches arched overhead and rustling in the undergrowth betrayed the presence of prey. He let out a growl, rearing up to score his claws down the trunk of a tree.

This is my territory! Better not mess with me!

A mule deer stepped out of the bushes and stood in a clearing just ahead of him. Toklo bunched his muscles, ready to hunt it down, but as he bounded forward he seemed to fall over his own paws. He woke to find himself underneath the rocky outcrop with Lusa and Kallik beside him and a faint dawn light seeping across the sky.

Toklo sat up, yawning and giving himself a vigorous scratch with one paw. That was a weird dream!

Beside him, Kallik huffed out a breath and opened her eyes. When she saw Toklo, she heaved herself to her paws.

‘I’m glad you’re still here,’ she murmured.

Toklo nodded. ‘For now.’

He was relieved that Kallik seemed to understand that he couldn’t stay forever. Soon he would have to take the path of a brown bear into the forest, but he knew that however much he tried to explain, he would never make Lusa see that it was the only choice he could make.

‘I’m hungry. Let’s hunt,’ he said out loud.

Padding out into the valley, he snuffed at the air for the scent of prey, and spotted a rabbit nibbling at the long grasses on the edge of a pool. Kallik saw it too; with a brief nod she glided forward, skirting the rabbit in a wide circle so that she could come at it from the other side.

When she was in position she jumped forward with a fearsome growl. The rabbit started up, saw her, and fled straight into Toklo’s paws. He killed it with a blow to its spine.

‘Great kill!’ Kallik said, bounding up. ‘We should try that again some time.’ Then her eyes grew shadowed, as if she remembered that they wouldn’t have many more chances to hunt together.