Treasures of Fantasy - Margaret Weis [110]
He caught a glimpse of Acronis, saw him lying unmoving on the pavement, and then the wolves were on him.
Skylan slashed at the wolves with his sword. At the sight of the gleaming steel, the wolves shrank back, staring at the weapon with hatred in their glittering eyes.
Fire doesn’t affect them at all, but they are afraid of the sword.
Skylan didn’t have time to follow where that thought might lead him. Hearing a warning shout, he glanced over his shoulder to see Keeper pointing at a wolf dashing up on him from behind, as another wolf attacked from the front. Skylan yelled and lunged with his sword. The wolf leaped nimbly away. The other wolf jumped on Skylan’s back and bore him to the ground.
Skylan smelled the stench of rotten meat on its breath. He felt hot breath and burning pain as the wolf sank its teeth in his flesh, trying to clamp its jaws on the back of his neck.
Skylan fought to heave the beast off him, but the wolf was heavy and he could do nothing but strike frantically and blindly at the wolf’s head with his fist and the sword’s hilt. He could hear snarls and growls. The other wolves were coming in for the kill.
And then he was bathed in an eerie light and from somewhere close beside him, he heard Wulfe singing. The wolf on Skylan’s back gave a yelp of pain.
Skylan raised his head. Wulfe stood over him, holding a torch in his hand. Red-hot cinders rained down from sky, landing on the wolves like fiery snowflakes. The wolves howled in pain as the cinders set their fur on fire and burned into their flesh. The wolves snapped at the burning cinders or ran around in panic or rolled around on the ground, trying desperately to put out the fires.
Wulfe continued singing and waving the flaming torch in the air. A cinder landed on Skylan’s head. He smelled singed hair and quickly brushed it away.
Zahakis and his men moved in, attacking the wolves, who were now caught between bright steel and magical fire. The wolves gave up the fight and with parting snarls ran off into the night, some of them still smoldering.
Skylan heaved himself to his feet. The wolf bite hurt worse than a sword thrust. The soldiers were tending to Acronis, trying to staunch the flow of blood from his wounds.
“I’ll take that now,” said Zahakis, wresting the sword from Skylan’s hand.
Zahakis hesitated a moment, then gave Skylan a curt nod that might have been gratitude, then thrust the sword into his belt and went to see to Acronis, who was conscious and asking frantically about Chloe. Zahakis assured the Legate his daughter was safe and advised him to lie still. Acronis insisted on seeing for himself and tried to rise. He fell back with a groan and then doubled over, vomiting.
“I have to talk to you!” Wulfe said urgently, latching hold of Skylan.
“Later,” said Skylan, stifling a groan.
“It can’t be later,” said Wulfe. “I can’t stay. Raegar will come for me.”
“No, he won’t,” said Skylan. “I won’t let him. Not this time.”
The soldiers were helping Acronis back to the litter. Zahakis stood staring, frowning, at the blood on the pavement. Hearing the boy’s voice, he looked up and seemed to see Wulfe for the first time. Zahakis’s eyebrows shot up.
“Where the devil did he come from?”
Wulfe gave a leap, preparing to flee. Skylan grabbed hold of the boy. “He was in the alley. He warned me the wolves were coming.”
Zahakis’s eyes narrowed. He looked back down the alley, to where the wolves were disappearing into the night.
“I’ve fought wolves before and I’ve never seen the wolf who wasn’t afraid of fire. Or wolves that pick and choose their victims, let a horse go to get at a man. I’ve never known wolves to come into the city, either, not in the middle of summer when food is plentiful.”
He looked back at Wulfe. “Skylan said you warned him. What do you know about this?”
“Nothing,