The Jewel of Turmish - Mel Odom [56]
Pain froze Stonefur as he lay atop Haarn. The druid felt the blood-slick and rain-matted fur against his hand where he'd driven the knife to the hilt. At least two or more inches of steel had pierced the wolfs heart.
Blood leaked from Stonefur's flaring nostrils and mouth. A choking sound rumbled in his throat. Lightning strobed the heavens again, but there was little left in the wolfs eyes to light. Battling sounded in his lungs and the great beast grew heavier. I die, Stonefur gasped. Yes.
Sorrow and pain ached in Haarn's chest. He no longer tried to hold the wolf from him, and knotted his fingers in the bloodied fur to hold him close.
No! the wolf bitch roared. Not kill Stonefur! Not let!
Knowing the wolf was coming from the slick spatter of paws against the stones and mud, Haarn tried to push Stonefur's great weight from him. The wolfs ribs trapped Haarn's knife, leaving him unarmed as he shoved to his feet.
The wolf bitch leaped the last six feet, aiming herself at the druid.
Haarn reached out and caught her muzzle, trapping it in his hands.
She has life within her, he thought. They are Stonefur's get, and they hold the promise of greatness.
The wolf bitch's weight pushed him back into the mud. She snarled and growled, but the effort came out strangely through her trapped muzzle.
Wounded and battered as he was, Haarn wasn't certain he could survive her attack. Her grief and hunger, and the protective urges that filled her from the pups being so close to being born, made her overpowering. She squirmed and struggled to get her jaws free. Her claws raked at his chest, then a shudder passed through her and she stopped.
Staring into the feral eyes only inches from his own, feeling the strength drain from the wolf bitch, Haarn felt a new fear dawn in him.
"No!"
The wolf bitch slumped to the side, propelled by a booted foot. A long sword jutted from the wolf bitch's side.
"No," Haarn repeated through a dry throat. He stared up at Druz Talimsir. "Do you know what you've done, woman?"
She frowned, leaning on the long sword and twisting it to widen the wound that had killed the wolf bitch. "I saved your life," said Druz.
"Get away from her. Now!"
Confusion darkened Druz's rain-soaked features. She withdrew her sword but remained close by.
"By Tymora's skirts, but you are a hard one to understand. She had you. She would have killed you."
"No, she wouldn't have. I could have handled her." Haarn took in a deep breath as he forced himself into a kneeling position.
Dazed and bleeding, Haarn stared at the dead wolf as he rolled to his knees. He stretched his hands out, calling on the power that Silvanus had entrusted in him. Many druids had the power to heal wounds. As he laid his hands on the wolf, he felt and heard the last breath go out of her. The convulsive shudder that shook her shivered through him.
"What are you doing?" Druz sounded incredulous.
"I would heal her if I could," Haarn said, "but she's beyond anything I can do."
"That's stupid," Druz said. "Tymora's blessing on fools and children. Even if you did heal her, she'd only go for your throat again."
Haarn ignored Druz's words. Saving the wolf bitch was beyond him, at least in his present condition. He stared at her sides, seeing the movement caused by the pups struggling in her womb. Making his decision, he forced himself to stand, placed a boot on Stonefur's body, and yanked his knife free. Turning, he crouched, struggled with his balance and unfocused vision, and plunged the knife into the wolf bitch's body.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
other Tohl held fast to the side of the small wagon he and Effrim had liberated from the meager resources the Temple of the Trembling Flower had at their disposal. The wagon, though serviceable, had seen better days. The rudimentary spring struts had long since given out, making for a rough ride through the pitted back roads Tohl directed the younger priest to follow. A lantern mounted at the side of the wagon swayed as the ironbound wheels