The Jewel of Turmish

CHAPTER EIGHT

The wind howled along the mountainside, coming in from the east in great swirling gusts that hammered Haarn and whipped his hair. A chill hung in the air, but warm layers mixed in with it, letting the druid know the storm wasn't going to be an easy one, and that it was almost upon them now.

He climbed with steady grace, managing the thinnest of grips with practiced fingers and toes. Straining, he forced his body up the sheer side of the mountain. Pausing to regain his breath for a moment, he gazed down at Druz Talimsir.

The woman climbed the rope he'd set for her, but he still moved upward with more alacrity than she did. Her hair hung in sweaty clumps around her shoulders.

Stubborn, Haarn told himself as he watched her, and proud.

Both of those were good traits, if exercised with proper restraint. His mother would have been pleased with her spirit, but Haarn knew his father would have faulted Druz for her self-aggrandizement.

Druz gazed up at him in defiance.

"You're not waiting on me."

Haarn nodded and turned back to his attack on the mountainside, knowing the wolf pack waited for them. He could smell the stink of them, and he'd heard them growling among themselves, stoking up their courage to attack him and the woman. They were hungry, and a storm was blowing in. Wherever they holed up to wait out the storm, the wolves wanted to do it on full stomachs.

He reached up and caught another hold, shifting his head a little to avoid the mud that slapped under his left eye.

"Are they still there?" Druz asked.

"Yes."

Haarn estimated that less than three feet remained to the top.

"What makes you so sure?"

"I can hear them."

She was silent for a moment then said, "Then they can hear us."

"Yes."

"They'll be waiting."

"They already are," he said.

The rope slid against the rough stone fronting the mountainside as Druz pushed up.

"They think they can kill us," Druz said.

"Yes," Haarn replied.

He pulled the other end of the rope she'd climbed up to him. As she'd climbed, he'd held onto the other end, managing a rope loop, and took it up higher to find a new place to tie on.

Small trees and brush spotted the mountainside's edge. Haarn chose a thick-boled fir tree and tied the rope fast. Below, Druz swapped ends of the rope again and began climbing the final ten-foot stretch. Breathing out, knowing that their climb up the mountain had given Broadfoot plenty of time to come up the other side and provided a distraction for the wolves, Haarn pulled himself up onto the ledge. The bear traveled faster than Druz could have.

The wolf pack remained hidden in the shadows of the brush crowning the mountaintop. Despite their silence, Haarn smelled them even over the howling winds. Their anticipation and hunger colored their odor.

Druz threw an arm over the top of the ledge and began hauling herself up. Wariness tightened her features as she glanced around the promontory.

Haarn kept his voice soft and low. "They're biding their time."

He opened his senses to the forest world around him, searching for Broadfoot.

Ah, he thought, there you are.

The bear's scent threaded the air and Haarn didn't think the wolves had noticed it or considered its presence important.

Druz started to draw her sword.

"No," Haarn said when he heard the rasp of steel against leather. He turned to face her.

She cut her eyes toward his, her sword half out of its sheath. "If they rush us there's no place to go."

"No, there isn't," Haarn said, stepping forward. "We know that already, and so do they."

He walked beyond the shelter of the trees and out into one of the clearings atop the mountain where the rocky strata had proven impossible to dislodge. Standing in the center of the huge rock shelf half-buried in loam, trees, and brush, the druid spoke a few words of a prayer then inscribed a series of arcane characters in the air before him.

The characters glowed an eerie blue for a moment then dissipated as if torn apart by the winds.

Haarn felt the power of the spell invade his mind, opening corners of understanding to him that he could never quite remember afterward. The spell was an old one to him, but it had never quite become too familiar. A quiet filled his thoughts, then it was invaded by an angry series of throaty growls.

"What are you doing?" Druz asked.

Haarn ignored her. If his spell was going to work, he had to stay focused. He concentrated on the growling noise, knowing that it came from the wolves. As his enhanced senses sharpened, he recognized that there were eleven distinct voices among the pack. Three of them were male.

What is man doing? a soft voice asked.

Watch, a strong male voice answered. Wait.

When will we eat? My cubs are hungry.

Soon. We all eat soon. Rush now, we may have to chase their bodies to bottom of mountain.

Druz Talimsir stepped up beside Haarn. Her fist still wrapped around her sword hilt.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"I'm going to talk to the wolf," Haarn replied.

The mercenary looked at him. "We're not here to talk to the wolf. We're here to kill it. We had an agreement."

"Yes," Haarn agreed, "but I don't want to kill them all if we don't have to."

"They hunt as a pack. All of these animals are man-killers."

Even caught up in his spell as he was, Haarn couldn't miss the vehemence in her voice when she called the wolves animals.

"The wolves follow a leader," he told her. "Take the leader away and you can change the pack."

"We may not have a choice about how many of them we kill."

"I'm working so that we will," Haarn said, but he didn't know if it would work.

The lead wolf strode from the darkness. As he moved into the opening, a fierce blaze of lightning lit the heavens. The wolf growled. Dark fur stood up in a spiky ridge along his back. The wolf's gait was the crooked movement Haarn was familiar with, the hindquarters following the forelegs at an angle.

With the spell in place, Haarn understood the wolf's growl.

Human, the lead wolf snarled, twisting his head sideways and flashing his fangs in open threat.

Food, a female voice said. She emerged from the shadows and flickering lightning reflected in her eyes. Kill humans, Stonefur. We eat.

Quiet, the lead wolf ordered.

Stonefur moved with rolling precision that seemed too loose to stay together, as if he were a puppeteer's device and the strings had become worn and frayed.

Haarn maintained eye contact with the wolf and turned his body to keep the creature before him. The druid's throat worked, but growls came forth instead of words.

You are called Stonefur?

The wolf closed his jaws and took a step back. Muscles coiled and quivered beneath the sleek fur.

You speak, the wolf said.

Yes.

Excited confusion rippled through the growls of the other wolves. They strode forward from the shadows, five on either side of Stonefur.

Are you wolf-man? Stonefur asked.

No.

Haarn wondered if the wolves had encountered a lycanthrope at some point. It would have been the only way Stonefur would have known about the existence of werecreatures.

You know me, Haarn continued. Open your nose. Breathe me.

The druid spread his empty hands at his sides and the wolf approached with caution but stayed well out of arm's reach. Feral gleams ignited in the yellow-green eyes as they flicked back and forth between Haarn and Druz.

Not wolf-man, Stonefur said. Know you. You lifekeeper. Protector of lands.

Yes. Haarn remained still.

Not afraid of Stonefur?

No.

The wolf snapped his jaws, and for a heartbeat, a lightning flash made the fangs look blue while the wolf's eyes turned orange.

Stupid human.

I respect Stonefur's pack, Haarn growled.

The wolf preened, drawing his wedge-shaped head high and unfurling his tail like a flag in the wind.

Stonefur great killer, said the wolf. Stonefur kill many humans. Eat humans. Feed pack good.

I know.

The wolf paced in a semicircle before Haarn.

Why you here, lifekeeper? You search for Stonefur?

Haarn didn't break eye contact. Yes.

What want?

You can't keep killing humans.

Haarn noted the crafty set to the wolf's eyes as he paced. Stonefur knew how the meeting was going to go. Perhaps conversation with prospective prey wasn't the wolf's usual method of operation, but Stonefur was intelligent.

The other wolves milled around, their attention shifting from Haarn to Druz.

Stonefur kill humans if want, the wolf declared. Humans more challenging than other food. Fun to kill. Human young feed many wolves. Only one kill.

Killing humans stops, Haarn said.

Not stop. The wolf stood still. Stonefur say when stop. Not lifekeeper. Lifekeeper be friends with humans if want. Not Stonefur. Not Stonefur's pack.

I will stop you.

Stonefur growled and even the druid's spell couldn't translate. The wolf's teeth flashed and snapped as the first raindrops swirled into the mix of whipping winds.

The rain stung Haarn where it struck him, and spread an icy chill over his exposed skin. The stones in the clearing would become slick with the precipitation.

How lifekeeper stop? Stonefur challenged.

Without hesitation, Haarn drew the long-bladed dagger at his hip.

You kill Stonefur?

Yes. Haarn kept his voice as cold and unflinching as the storm rain.

The other wolves moved in closer, growling threats and baring their fangs.

Stonefur snapped at the other wolves, then ran at them and smashed against them to halt them. The female bearing pups fought with Stonefur, but the bigger wolf snapped his jaws and bit into the bitch's ear. Blood streaked the fur as the wolf bitch turned and trotted back.

The lead wolf slunk back toward Haarn and growled, Stonefur save lifekeeper.

No, Haarn said. You saved your pack.

Lifekeeper not kill all pack. Not strong enough.

I didn't come alone, Haarn said.

Haarn whistled between his teeth. Broadfoot shambled through the forest line farther down the mountain. The bear pushed up from all fours and stood on his two back feet, towering even amid the trees that surrounded him. The bear growled and the sound rolled in with the thunder.

Stonefur resumed pacing, changing his course so that his new path crossed between the druid and the bear, holding both of them back.

You can't stop me, said the wolf.

I will, Haarn promised. You have a choice to make.

What choice? The wolf glared with baleful eyes.

Whether you die or whether your whole pack dies.

Stonefur turned his muzzle toward the pack. They shifted in nervous anticipation.

Lifekeepers powerful, a male wolf said.

Haarn knew the males would probably be no problem. Their whole lives had been about following the male. If they saw Haarn as more powerful than Stonefur, they wouldn't take part in the coming battle. The wolf bitches would be different.

Lifekeepers don't kill furfolk, a wolf bitch said. Humans kill furfolk.

Stonefur has taught you to kill humans, Haarn said. This can't be allowed.

Humans kill furfolk, the wolf bitch repeated. Lifekeepers battle humans.

Killing humans will bring more humans, Haarn said. Hunters have already gathered to track you down.

Let them come, Stonefur said. Humans not hunt as good as Stonefur. Stonefur kill humans better.

Many wolves have already been killed while the hunters have been searching for you, Haarn said.

Stonefur tossed his head. The wolf bitches spread out and crept closer to the druid and the woman.

You do humans' work, lifekeeper? Stonefur challenged. You come to slay furfolk as well?

Haarn returned the wolf's gaze full measure. I came to kill you.

Why? Stonefur's tongue lolled out in disdain.

To keep the humans from hunting wolves. If I give them your head, they will stop hunting.

Maybe they only tell you that.

If the humans continue to hunt, Haarn said, then I will kill them.

Tossing his muzzle into the sky, Stonefur said, These our lands, lifekeeper. Our place here before humans. Before elves and dwarves.

No, Haarn disagreed. The gods made all.

Some places were made for furfolk. Some places made for scalefolk. Some places made for featherfolk. I take places back that belong to me. I hunt where I want, what I want, just like humans.

The humans will grow afraid of you and your pack, Haarn replied. More wolves will die. I can't allow that.

You side with the humans, lifekeeper? The wolf's voice held a taunting lilt.

Anger touched Haarn then. I side with the balance that Silvanus struck when Toril was made. A druid of the Emerald Enclave can do nothing else.

You choose to kill furfolk, Stonefur accused. Your god not choose that path. That humans' way.

Haarn called to mind words that his father had told him when he first started teaching Haarn the druidic ways: Sometimes a tree must be sacrificed so that the forest may prosper.

The wolf threw back his great head and howled at the storm clouds above. Stonefur not your sacrifice, lifekeeper.

Not my sacrifice, Stonefur. I serve Silvanus, and if my path is true, I will be made triumphant.

Strength brings triumphs, lifekeeper. The wolf stood erect and expanded his chest, making himself look larger and more threatening. I will suck the marrow from your bones.

"What's going on?" Druz asked above the storm.

Thunder split the air around them, and the lightning came so close to the mountaintop that Haarn felt the heat. For an instant, everything was rendered in two-dimensional black and white.

"I'm trying to save the others," Haarn said.

Druz turned on him, raising her voice. "You can't save them all."

Haarn met her gaze. "I won't kill any more here than I have to. Neither will you."

She started to reply, but the wolf interrupted them with his growls.

Leave, lifekeeper. Take your bitch with you and live.

Haarn didn't bother to correct the wolf's assumption. He faced the great animal and said, No.

Stonefur growled, Then you die!

This is between you and me, Haarn said. The others need not die. He prayed that would not happen.

They will not die, Stonefur growled.

If they stand with you, Haarn swept the other wolves with his gaze, they will die tonight, or on another night. I will finish what I start, and-Silvanus guide me-I will not falter once I have begun.

Thunder cascaded through the night, and the druid felt the tremendous noise vibrate through his moccasins. The pack shifted its attention to Stonefur.

Decide for us, the she-bitch heavy with pups said. We follow where you lead.

Broadfoot growled.

Stonefur glanced at the big bear. The wolf licked his chops in consideration. Rain dripped from his wet muzzle. Even the wolves knew they couldn't all escape Broadfoot's wrath.

You fight me, Stonefur said.

Yes, Haarn agreed.

When I beat you, the bear no longer take part against me.

No.

A sinking feeling dawned in Haarn's stomach. He felt a moment of vertigo shiver through him. There was no turning back from where he stood and he knew it.

Stonefur flashed his teeth and said, Then we fight.

Without a word, Haarn started slipping off his gear and hide armor.

"What are you doing?" Druz asked.

"Preparing."

Haarn folded his hides and his clothing so that they turned in to themselves. There was a chance they could stay drier that way.

"For what?" the woman demanded.

"To fight."

"You're going to fight the wolf?"

"Yes." Haarn was irritated with her, not believing that she needed this explained.

"Why did you remove your armor?"

"To make the confrontation more fair."

"That's stupid."

Haarn let out his breath, watching the wolf prowl and build up his own confidence, and fought back an angry retort.

"No," he said, "it's the only way I can do this."

"You have powers, Haarn," Druz said. "Use them."

"No. This must be balanced." Haarn glanced at his companion. "However this should turn out, you're going to stay out of it."

"The hell I will!" Druz's eyes flashed beneath the hood of her traveling leathers. "I'll not be left up here on this mountain to be slaughtered by those wolves."

"You won't be harmed."

"You can't know that."

"Broadfoot will protect you should it come to that," Haarn said. He stood bare-chested in the near-freezing rain, clad only in his moccasins and breeches, which were damp and heavy. "Broadfoot will also keep you from interfering with this fight. He won't be gentle."

"I didn't come here to-"

"Woman!" The tone in Haarn's voice caused Druz to stop speaking and step back. "You came here to get that wolf's head. I'm going to give it to you. Don't argue with me."

Fire flashed in Druz's eyes.

"I have bound us all with this agreement," Haarn said. "I'll not suffer it broken."

"A warrior doesn't give away his strength," Druz argued.

"I'm not a warrior."

Haarn transferred his knife to his left hand. In his mind, he knew his declaration, defensive as it was, wasn't true. During his years, he had fought at his father's side as well as on his own, but those fights had been against men for the most part, not animals who lived in the forests and plains. Druz said, "You're setting yourself up to fail." "I won't fail," Haarn told her. "Not as long as I've got a breath left within me." The clouds burst without warning, unleashing the torrent of rain that had been threatening. He pushed away all thoughts of the cold and concentrated on staying alive. Your long tooth won't be enough to save you, Stonefur said, flicking his tail. Easing down, eyes on the wolf, Haarn reached into his discarded gear and retrieved a small fighting club. The weapon was short-hafted and was run through by a leather wrist thong. It was shaped by a knife blade, hardened by druidic spellcraft, and capped in bone. It's fair enough, said Haarn. "You're not going to use your scimitar?" Druz asked. "No," Haarn answered. "You can't take that monster on with only a knife and a club. That's suicide." "It's as balanced as I can make it." Haarn popped his arm and caused the weighted club to snap into his hand. "The scimitar would give me too much of an advantage." "You didn't seem to mind taking the advantage where you could against the slavers." "No," Haarn said, "I didn't." He nodded toward Stonefur. "Let it begin." The wolf turned to his pack. His fierce growls drove them back into the shelter of the brush and trees. Stonefur came toward his opponent at an oblique angle. Gathering his courage and his sense of purpose, Haarn circled as well. His attention was torn between the wolf and Druz Talimsir. He didn't know if the mercenary would be able to restrain herself. And if she didn't, Haarn knew it would cost them all. Stonefur rushed in, catching Haarn in mid-stride as he circled. Quick, white fangs flashed for the druid's crotch, drawing his hands down to protect himself. Haarn's hands only met empty air, though. Stonefur shifted directions without effort, gliding by, then sinking his fangs into the druid's right ankle. The wolf remained on the run, using his weight and his grip to yank Haarn off-balance.