Extinction - Lisa Smedman [100]
Ryld was gone.
Lost in thought as he approached the tiny cabin in which he and Halisstra had been quartered, Ryld didn't react, at first, to the faint, musky odor that came to his nostrils as the wind shifted. Instead his thoughts were on the dance he'd been spying on and Halisstra's conversion, heart and soul, to a goddess who would condemn her to forever live in the World Above. Only at the last instant-as a patch of shadow in the bushes to his right suddenly shifted-did he jerk back. By the time he drew Splitter from the sheath on his back, a black wolf had leaped onto the trail in front of him, blocking it. Instead of attacking, however, it cocked its head and gave Ryld a sly grin, tongue lolling from its mouth. A ripple passed through its body, causing the wolf to stagger, and Ryld heard the sound of cracking cartilage as the animal became a dirt-smudged boy.
"If the wind hadn't shifted, I'd have had you," Yarno said.
Ryld grinned in acknowledgement and sheathed his sword. Then, hearing female voices in the forest behind him, he frowned down at Yarno.
"You shouldn't be here," he told the boy. "If the priestesses find you within their sacred grove…"
The boy's eyes narrowed, and he asked, "How many have you killed?"
It took Ryld a moment to realize what the boy was asking. The question was one he was often asked by the students at Melee-Magthere-and one he always declined to answer. "The proud spider gets caught in Its own web," he would quote, reminding them that hidden prowess with weapons was a weapon in and of itself. But Yarno was talking about the priestesses-which reminded Ryld of his promise to the boy.
"They didn't kill Halisstra," he told Yarno.
The boy scratched his ear.
"You rescued her?" he asked. "Then why are you still-"
Hearing footsteps approaching on the trail behind him, Ryld tried to shoo the boy away.
"Go," the weapons master said. "Hurry. If they find you…"
Seeing Yarno tense, Ryld whirled around, drawing Splitter a second time. Relief flooded through him as he saw it was only Halisstra-whichever of the priestesses she'd been talking with must have turned down a different trail. She halted abruptly as she saw Yarno and frowned-and Ryld groaned as he realized what was happening. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the boy shifting back into wolf form-the worst thing Yarno could have done in that moment. If he'd stayed in human form, Ryld might have passed him off as a scattering, but…
"Monster!" Halisstra gasped.
In that same moment, Yarno leaped toward her. Fortunately, Ryld was swifter. Dropping Splitter, he caught the werewolf by his haunches and slammed him to the ground.
"Stop," Ryld grunted through gritted teeth. Yarno wriggled in his arms, teeth bared in a threatening growl as he struggled to snap at Halisstra. "That's Mistress Melarn. The one I came to rescue."
Halisstra, meanwhile, yanked her hunting horn from her belt and raised it to her lips. Still hanging onto the struggling Yarno, Ryld twisted his body like an eel and lashed out with his feet, tripping her.
Halisstra fell, dropping the horn. She scrambled for it.
"Don't blow it!" Ryld exclaimed.
Halisstra glared at him as she recovered the horn and backed out of range of his feet.
"Are you mad?" she asked as she climbed to her feet. "That's a shapeshifter."
Once again, she raised the horn to her lips.
"He won't hurt you," Ryld gritted. To prove it, he released Yarno and sprang to his feet. "Go!" he ordered. "Flee!"
Without waiting to see if Yarno obeyed, Ryld whirled toward Halisstra and grabbed her arm, forcing the horn away from her lips.
Yarno stood panting a moment, glancing between Ryld and Halisstra. Then-with one final snarl at the priestess-he leaped away into the bushes.
Halisstra yanked her arm out of Ryld's grasp