Part 11 (1/2)
A soft as blowing froreen things growing on the prairie, the legacy of the stors and the eastern horizon was stained a brilliant cri a beautiful day to co that would so alar at all; the bright ball of sun brought tears to his eyes and caused hih Ta deep in his chest, and his dewlaps were raised, exposing his canines
Mika looked away fro his eyes with his hand, he looked again, this ti low on the horizon And then he saw the toward thenized them for what they were and realized that they were badly outnumbered
He turned and was surprised to find Hary at his side The man moved so silently that Mika wondered briefly if he were part elf
”What is it?” asked Hary
”Gnolls,” Mika replied grimly ”Sort of a cross between a hurey skin covered with fur, but they wear ar howl split the cal on the sweet air
”Hyenas,” added Mika ”You'll find theer cousins, spawn of Hades, hyenadons And there'll usually be a couple of trolls, trailing in the rear to pick up the scraps”
”Sweet God of the Sea,” whispered Hary ”How? Where? What shall we do? Can we fight the his few possessions and throwing theon
”There're tooabout kobolds this tih Not to mention trolls You can't kill theenerate, and even the pieces can kill you
”Then what should we do?” asked Hary, gripping Mika by the shoulder
Tam's head swiveled toward the white teeth inches away fro fro black lips Hary dropped his hand iesture to force the wolf back
”Run It's our only hope,” said Mika, knowing that it would not be enough ”We cannot hope to stand and fight They would have us in no time Since they are afoot, we u away, he roused his drivers with shouts and kicks, co them to harness their mules as quickly as possible The men did as they were told and Mika had scarcely finished saddling the grey before Hornsbuck rode up and he was surrounded by wagons and nomads, ready to follow his lead
The mules had scented the rank aroma of the hyenas and hyenadons and their nostrils were flared and blowing, their eyes ith terror Unlike other et them started
”Which way? What is the plan?” shouted Hornsbuck froe, thick-necked bay stallion
”Ride for Eru-Tovar, it's our only chance,” said Mika ”It cannot be more than six days distant”
”I say we should return to the Springs,” argued Hary ”We'll never make it to Eru-Tovar It's too far”
”Don't be a fool, s,” said Mika ”They'd just wait until we starved or the Springs dried up”
”But” began Hary
”No tietting ourselves trapped”
”I've no use for running,” snapped Hary
”I've no use for dying,” Mika replied coldly ”You and your wagons can do anything you want, I' for the city as fast as this horse can take me If you're smart, you'll coht you agreed to join us,” hissed Hary ”To help”
”I reement to die needlessly to salve your silly pride,” said Mika as he turned the grey ”I've given you my counsel If you choose to follow me, I will see to it that the nonolls If you choose to ignore ave the grey a sharp kick in the ribs and it leaped away, only too willing, for once, to do as it was told
Then, before the driver of the princess's wagon could react, Mika ripped the traces froged the the mule-team to race at his heels
Cob let out a yell but could do littlebounced off
Recknass stuck his head outside to see as happening, but other than glare at Mika, there was nothing he could do
Hary stared after the runaagon in fury, then glanced back toward the rapidly advancing ar his chances They were close enough to see now, the sun glinting off their sharp pointed pikes, and the howls of the hyenas were loud and terrifying
All around hi loudly, hipping their teaainst the traces, the huge wheels thundering across the stony soil
No clouds of dust under their frantic feet Fear and urgency were a disease trans in his own breast and as the dust settled he saw that he stood alone, surrounded by the few pathetic re left behind in the commotion His own horse whickered in terror and ran, after a ht of nomads and drivers alike ere already well on their way
The advancing arh to see the telltale banner of dust rising fro and yowling eerie caterwauls that sent shi+vers of fear up and down Hary's back
Only at that er and that, perhaps, Mika had ht decision
Kobolds were not unfa with many monsters of other sorts But never before had he encountered either trolls or gnolls in any great numbers, and as a result, he had indeed underestimated the eneallop, he caught up with the front line of retreat
They drove the o, and soon the distance between the army of horrors was increased to approximately five miles
”What do you think, Mika?” shouted Hornsbuck as his bay rey stallion
”Got to increase our lead,” Mika replied
”Theto be heard over the thundering hooves
”The o without, but the horses will need a feed And rest-or they'll founder,” added Mika
”Cursed gnolls! Blasted trolls! They never stop It ain't human”