Werelord Thal: A Renaissance Werewolf Tale Read Online Free PDF

The pain of his long fast worsened
and gave him more courage to proceed. Being especially quiet, he
advanced. A larger camp with wagons and livestock sprawled along
the river beyond the three men.
    He considered how to avoid alarming the trio.
He moved his mouth, attempting to smile. Although it felt strange,
he was sure that this was the signal not to fight, even if it felt
like a snarl.
    An outburst of laughter among the men excited
him. He remembered that laughter was a good thing.
    He was very close to them now but darkness
still concealed him. The fire made him squint and he waited for his
eyes to adjust.
    A dog rushed out, barking fiercely. Thal
looked down at the relatively small canine with small teeth and
short legs. Abruptly the dog ceased barking and backed away but a
deep growl of animosity persisted.
    “What have you got out there?” a man
asked.
    The dog snarled with a surprisingly sinister
note, and the man took it seriously.
    “Bless our asses, it’s something big,” he
gasped.
    Thal entered the firelight and smiled or
hoped that he was smiling. He held out his hands, trying to enhance
his friendliness.
    The men cried out in collective terror. The
dog started barking again and charged. Instinctively Thal stepped
toward the brave little dog and growled back. His natural ferocity
flashed from his eyes, and the dog retreated with a yipe.
    In a panic the men jumped up. One reached for
a branch sticking out of the fire and swung the brand at Thal. He
dodged it and jumped closer.
    A second man pulled a long hunting knife. The
polished blade flashed in the firelight.
    The knife-wielding man yelled and waved his
weapon. Thal sidestepped away. Although menaced by fire and iron,
he struggled to communicate. A few garbled sounds came from his
throat.
    While Thal was held at bay, the third man who
was noticeably fatter than his companions stumbled backward until
his rump hit his wagon. He had a hefty pistol and was ramming the
ammunition into the barrel and fumbling shakily with the wheel
lock.
    The stinging smell of gunpowder blazed across
Thal’s mind. He realized that the man had a killing tool. Thal had
to assert himself. Trying not to hurt anyone he slipped around the
slashing knife and grabbed the man’s arm and tossed him forward.
Then he spun and avoided the hot impact of the burning stick and
knocked it from that man’s hand.
    The third man was raising the pistol when
Thal reached him. The man’s eyes were wide, and Thal thrust his
potent gaze into those circles of fear. Power surged into his
spirit and sapped his opponent of the ability to function. In that
timeless moment of inflicted paralysis, Thal seized the pistol
barrel and angled it upward. It discharged with an awful noise and
blast of smoke. The man threw up his hands. Thal yanked the pistol
into his possession and stepped away.
    Everything had happened very fast, but
already a yelling and barking horde descended on him. He had to
find a way to communicate his peaceful intentions. Submission did
not come easily to him, but he was just a naked hungry man with
nothing. He was not the leader of this pack.
    Thal went to his knees and set the pistol in
the dirt. The little dog rushed him again, yapping victoriously,
but one low growl from Thal made the dog rethink its desire to
gloat. It dropped back to its pudgy master’s heels.
    Men and women rushed up. Their dogs encircled
Thal. His wild eyes darted among the barking jaws but none of them
tried to bite.
    “Oh! It’s just a young man. He’s naked,”
cried a woman who pushed to the front.
    The man with the knife threatened Thal again
and yelled, “Be off with you crazy wild man!”
    “Hush, Petro, he means no harm,” the woman
argued.
    Latching on to her sympathy, Thal looked at
her earnestly. Her dark skin was lined and her round face was
friendly. Gray streaked her dark hair. A colorful and patched shawl
wrapped her broad shoulders.
    More people pressed closer. From the back
rows children