The Warlock Enraged-Warlock 4 Read Online Free PDF Page B

together, melded, coalesced, metamorphosed—and a lion, wolf, and bear whirled about, to turn on Rod.
    He howled in rage and glee as the blood-haze enfolded him again, obscuring all but the monsters. They were release; they were justification for lashing out with his power. He would blast them; then his path would be clear, to smear the woman over the meadow grass.
    The wolf was gaunt, with eyes of fire, impossibly huge. The bear, shambling upright, had a human face; and the lion's mane was flame, its teeth and claws were steel. Rod hauled on the reins and Fess dug in his hooves, throwing his weight back, plowing up the meadow in his halt, as Rod rose in the stirrups, stiffened arm spearing out. The wolf exploded.
    Rod's head pivoted deliberately.
    The lion's mane expanded, flame sweeping out to envelop its body. But the beast didn't seem to notice; it bounded on toward Rod, roaring.
    Rod's eyebrows drew down, his brow furrowing.
    The lion's head whipped around in a full turn and whirled spinning away. Fess sidestepped, and the body hurtled on by, to collapse in a writhing heap.
    Rod pivoted toward the bear, his sword hissing out of its sheath; then the beast was on him. A great paw slammed against the side of Rod's head. For a moment, he was loose in space, the blackness shot with tiny sparks; then the earth slammed into his back, and his insides knotted, driving the breath out of him. But the blood-haze still filled his sight; he saw Fess rearing up to slam forehooves into the bear's shoulder. It stumbled, but came on, manlike face contorted in a snarl.
    Rod clenched his jaw, waiting for breath, and glared at his sword-blade. Flame shot down its tip, billowing outward as though it were a blowtorch with a three-foot blast. The bear halted, and backed away, snarling.

THE WARLOCK ENRAGED 27
    Rod's diaphragm unkinked, and he drew a labored breath, then thrust himself to his feet, staggering toward the bear. It threw itself on him with a roar.
    He swung aside, squinting against pain, glaring at it. It flared like magnesium; but it had barely begun its deathhowl when its fires flickered, guttered, and went out. Where it had stood, only ashes sifted to the ground.
    Rod stood alone in the darkness, swaying, as the haze that filled him darkened, faded, and retreated back within him. He began to realize that a breeze was blowing... Fire.
    He'd left a burning corpse. The breeze could spread that flame over all the meadow, and into the woods.
    He swung toward the remains of the lion—and saw
    Gregory floating near it, ten feet away, staring at the charred hulk. Even as Rod watched, bits of it were breaking loose, and moving off through the meadow grass. He turned toward the bear, and saw Geoffrey turning it into a herd of toy horses, which galloped toward the wood.
    "We cannot leave such large masses of witch-moss whole," Gwen's voice said softly behind him, "or the first old aunt, telling of a frightful tale, will bring it up unwittingly, in some horrible guise."
    "No." The last of the anger ebbed, and remorse rushed in to fill its place. Rod spoke roughly to counter it. "Of course you couldn't. What happened to the witch?"
    "She fled," Gwen said simply.
    Rod nodded. "You couldn't follow her."
    "We could not leave thee here, to fight unaided." Cordelia clung to her mother, watching her father out of huge eyes.
    "No." Rod turned to watch his two youngest dismember the remains of what had been horrors. "On the other hand, if I hadn't stayed to fight them, you could've just taken them apart, and still had time to follow her." Gwen didn't answer.
    "Where's Magnus?" Rod sighed.
    "He did follow the witch," Cordelia answered. Air blew outward with a bang, and Magnus stood beside them. Rod usually found his sons' appearances and disappearances unnerving, but somehow, now, it seemed remote, inconsequential. "She got away?"
    28 Christopher Stasheff
    Magnus bowed his head. "She fled into the forest, and I could no longer see her from the