Viper's Kiss - Lisa Smedman [75]
Now, in his mind, he repeated one of the howls that had prompted him to free the creature: a long, wavering, mournful cry.
The wolf cocked its head and gave Arvin a questioning look. It would see him for what he was: a human who had just howled like a wolf. Then it threw back its head. Its reply startled Arvin; it sounded as if the wolf were right next to him, howling in his ear. The cry ended, the wolf cocked its head a second time, following Arvin's gaze as if it, too, were looking at the stone. Arvin could hear it panting… and the sending ended.
Exhausted, Arvin rose to his feet.
"Did it work?" Karrell asked.
"I made contact with a wolf, but I don't know if it will come," Arvin said. "We'll have to wait and see." He left the lapis lazuli in place on his forehead. If a wolf didn't arrive in a reasonable amount of time, he'd try again.
Tanglemane returned then, carrying an armful of dead branches. He cleared a bare spot on the ground near the stone giant then dumped the branches onto it. "We need fire," he announced. "To keep warm. And to keep the wolves from coming too close."
Arvin nodded. Tanglemane needed something to drive away his fear of the wolves while they sat and waited. Arvin slipped his pack off his shoulders and rummaged inside it for the wooden box that held his flint and steel. The moss and shavings that were nestled inside were still dry, he was glad to see. He offered the fire kit to Tanglemane, who took it with a nod of his head.
The centaur soon had a small fire burning, despite the dampness of the wood he'd collected. He fed it until it blazed. Arvin felt its heat as no more than a dull warmth, thanks to Karrell's spell, but soon his wet clothes were steaming. He stripped down to his breeches and hung his shirt, pants, and cloak on sticks near the fire. He even pulled off his glove; it might be magical, but the leather had become as soaked as the rest of his clothes by the fall of sleet.
Karrell hesitated a moment-unlike other yuan-ti, she seemed to be shy about her body-then stripped off her own clothes. Something that glinted reddish-brown in the firelight fell to the ground: loose scales.
Arvin glanced at them, wondering if he should say anything. Curiosity won out. "Do you shed your skin?" he asked.
Karrell stared at the scales that lay on the ground at her feet. "Not normally at this time of year," she said. Then she shrugged. "Perhaps it is the change in the weather. Or perhaps the wet clothing chafed them off."
She settled cross-legged by the fire, naked, combing her long, dark hair with her fingers. Her breasts and hips were full and rounded, her mouth soft and inviting.
If Tanglemane hadn't been with them…
Arvin decided to channel his energy elsewhere, into something productive. He stood and kicked away fallen branches and dead leaves, expanding the bare patch around the fire. "I need to meditate," he told Tanglemane and Karrell. "Let me know if the wolf shows up."
He lay prone on the cold, wet ground, assuming the bhujanga asana. He still found it the most effective pose for replenishing his muladhara; sitting cross-legged, as his mother had done, never worked quite as well. The rearing-serpent pose gave his meditations an edge that the comfortable, seated position did not.
When his muladhara was replenished, he rose and flowed through the ten forms Tanju had taught him. Tanglemane was still keeping a close eye on the surrounding woods, but Karrell watched Arvin, her eyes ranging up and down his body. Her frank interest distracted him, causing him to lose his concentration and falter