Part 16 (1/2)

The next few days passed slowly Very slowly Hornsbuck ate what little wild stuff they were able to gather, tossed knucklebones, hawked, spat, cursed, belched, farted, and ht be in the ways of survival, but the races were all but nonexistent Mika had never quite noticed before what a coarse brute Hornsbuck was, but then he had never been thrown so intimately into his company before

The man was addled frohtly less noisy when asleep Never had Mika so ed in one small corner between Tam and the princess, Mika read his book of spells out of sheer despair, in an attempt to separate himself from Hornsbuck's endless, an to take shape in Mika's erous, yet wonderful plan

Chapter 17

TWO DAYS HAD PassED, and Tah so that he was able to walk and run without difficulty or pain

The princess lay across one side of the tree space, andfrom various portions of her anatomy In her inert state, she had taken on the air of a seldom used and rather unnecessary piece of furniture

Hornsbuck fretted about food He and RedTail had ventured out the previous night, hoping to return with a deer or, at the least, rabbits But they had found nothing but gnolls, which they had killed

Mika rose and, holding his book casually, said, ”Taood to stretch his legs”

”Be careful,” growled Hornsbuck ”TakeI need,” said Mika, leaving quickly before Hornsbuck could question hiht was cool and the air fresh and heavy with the aro hirateful the horse had escaped the notice of the gnolls

Standing in the center of the s and stood full in the light of thehis book of spells he turned to the appropriate page and thanked the dullness that Hornsbuck had brought into his life, which had forced hied the book firmly into the notch of a tree and then, confident of his skills, sank into a cross-legged position and faced Tareat precision and careful enunciation, he stared into Ta the end of his tail, and recited the words of the spell There would be no e, whirling dizziness, the nausea, and the sour taste of bile at the back of his throat Tam's eyes blurred and multiplied, and in spite of hi was different It had worked He was a wolf!

Joy spread throughout his body His new, strange body He had done it! He had succeeded! He stood erect, his sensitive nostrils quivering He realized now for the first time how very little man knew compared to wolves He s scent of trees and grass, the hot, sweet aroma of horse flesh He lifted his head and drew in the foul distant stink of gnolls and the carrion stench of the hyenas He threw back his head and howled for the sheer ecstasy of it, the sound issuing fro waves Taether of the joy of brotherhood and the goodness of life

They looked at each other out of wolf eyes, noell and truly brothers Their long tongues lolled froesture was indeed a laughing grin as he had always suspected

Standing, the tolves sniffed each other froenitals, for as Mika discovered, there was much information to be learned there In soth of the ani others of his kind Mika learned that Ta others

Mika wagged his tail, feeling it beat back and forth through the air Curling it high above his back, he turned and trotted off into the forest, knoithout looking that Tam was close behind

The woods were alive with sound Tiny squeaks told of frightenedswiftly away, their broad flat feet pounding against the soft debris of the forest floor, and even the s snake Mika's ears swiveled back and forth as he ran, catching the most subtle of sounds

Mika's muscles moved sly, and he ran ined possible with little or no effort And he felt pity in his wolf heart for the weakling that was her in the dark starry sky, they scented a roanbuck, the rank bitter s They paused and looked at each other, staring deep into each other's golden eyes, silently reading the challenge, considering, deciding

They lifted theirthe specific thread of it in the air, separating it fro the knowledge, they turned and followed the musk deeper into the forest

The partial moon had nearly reached its zenith before they tracked the scent to its source The stag loorown, immense, powerful and wise Its wide, sharp-tipped rack of antlers, capable of diseht sky

The stag pranced lightly, shaking its head up and down, snorting its conte its horns in their faces Its dark eyes reflected no fear, only hatred, as it faced the ancient eneh knoll that rose irassycircles ofcrushed them underfoot with its sharp hooves

Mika lowered his head and slunk forward, circling the stag and forcing it to turn to keep hiht He felt his dewlaps twitch as he drew his lips back in a snarling grin, exposing his long, sharp canines He inhaled the thickit across his tongue, tasting the essence of it He salivated and felt the thick rass was cool and slick beneath his paws, and he circled steadily, rushi+ng in, in false feints, forcing the stag to respond, to thunder down fro its antlers in Mika's face

Mika leaped aside with ease, feeling the strength of his new body and the power in his legs He dodged in under the great tines and nipped at the soft underbelly, causing the stag to swing its hindquarters downhill Instantly, Mika leaped up, high on the stag's neck, behind the threatening horns, and slashed doith his teeth The stag bellowed, er than pain, and whirled about to er there

Mika, bold with daring, dashed forward and ripped at the fat belly again, sinking his teeth into the s the wound Letting go, he dropped to the ground and rolled, rising to his feet unhar between the small wounds that bled, till the proud ani with dark blood, and its breath coasps They allowed it no chance to rest

Now, the element of fun vanished, the wolves filled with deadly intent The salty iron tang of blood tainted the air and coated the wolves' tongues, acting as a powerful stimulant A pri, dees, all unspoken, but yet heard and obeyed, flooded into Mika's subconscious, telling him what to do He darted, he feinted, he baited, he bit

Then, the ht ele hi, and sank his teeth into the fleshy lips, curling his body up into a tight ball to present no target for the plunging horns and slashi+ng hooves

The stag bellowed in pain, shaking its head froe the wolf Taht to inflict asscreah, trying to shake Ta for just such a 's throat between his jaws, and bit doith all his strength

The stag shrieked, blood burbling thickly in its throat, even as it flowed into Mika's Mika clung until he felt the great beast shudder and stumble off balance Only then did he release his hold

The stag foundered, its knees buckling beneath it as the blood poured froled outs It atte before it crashed to the ground, ripping, slashi+ng, tearing into the still-living flesh

They ate their fill of the sweet, hottheed and they could hold no more

They lapped the thick, salty blood and lay swollen and sated in the e

Mika was exhausted but filled with a sense of satisfaction He and Tam looked at each other, and Mika felt love swell in his breast for the creature as now his brother in truth He knew that they were truly kin after this night, their bond greater than any shared by wolf and , as though to say, ”You see what you have ree

They were cleaning the blood off their pelts when they heard the first yapping hyena howl They leaped to their feet and listened carefully, pinpointing both the direction and the distance

Taking hold of the stag, they began to drag it back toward ca that there were too ht them off

They were better than halfway back when Mika felt the peculiar tingling which he now recognized as the onset of the end of the spell He sat down on his haunches and waited, realizing that it lad that he was on the ground and not in mid-air

The transformation was less traumatic than the first time, since he nohat to expect He shi+vered and rubbed his hands over his arht air raised bumps on his chilled flesh