Wolf Blood Read Online Free PDF Page A

well have called out to the wolves to come and get me. Two of them are there in a heartbeat, prowling around the tree and whimpering. I had hoped they would be too well fed by now to bother me. It looks like I’ll have to try the second part of my survival plan, once I’ve rid myself of the cramp anyway. I keep a close lookout and squint to see beyond this tree to the camp. I think the other wolves may have gone. There are just these two to deal with. It is hard to tell from this distance but I think one of them might be Morcant.
    I use the end of the spear to cut a strip of fabric from the bottom of Morcant’s cloak and I bind it around the long metal shaft and tip. One spear; two wolves. I’ll have to kill the one and scare away the other. I will not be able to do either job from my present position. I can’t stay here much longer in any case, unless I want to die of cold. I have to rub my hands together to warm them and then tuck them under my armpits. Neither works – they are still stiff and it hurts to move my fingers. I wait until I can see a dark shape under the tree and then throw my borrowed pack down. The wolf leaps back with a yelp as I miss its head by less than a hand span. Pity. Now for the difficult part. I begin to climb back down and when I reach the lowest branch I leave the safety of the tree’s canopy and wrap my legs around the tree trunk and try to hold myself steady. These months of slavery have weakened me. It is very uncomfortable but I need to be below the pine-covered branches in order to have the space to attack. I will have to be quick. I try to find the fire inside me, the spark of flame that I can sometimes will into being. It is hard to concentrate when I am so worried that I’m going to fall straight down into the waiting jaws of the wolves a spear’s length below me. I can see them both now. I should have a clear shot. I almost lose my balance getting the spear into position and then I breathe in slowly and breathe out flame. Only nothing happens. Oh, may the gods of my tribe not desert me now! I shut my eyes and steady myself as if for battle. There. I breathe in and out and this time flame blooms along the fabric wound round the spear shaft. I take aim.
    One of the wolves reacts immediately to the sound and scent of fire and begins to run deeper into the forest. The sky is lightening, dawn is not long away, and I can see the beast quite well. I time the throw as I’ve been trained, estimating the wolf’s speed. I count to myself. My muscles are burning with the unfamiliar strain of keeping me securely wrapped round the tree. I can’t hold much longer. I let the spear fly. It is not my best shot. It misses the neck and spine of the running wolf, only grazing its flank. The creature yelps and disappears from view. I’ve not killed it nor have I frightened the other. Gwyn would have had something to say about that.
    I can’t see the second wolf, the wolf that might be Morcant. Perhaps I’ve been luckier than I deserve and I have scared him away? Either way, I am too cold to stay where I am. I let myself slide down the trunk, scraping the inside of my thighs. The second my feet hit the ground my sword is out. I pull the spear out of the trunk using all my remaining strength and try to make sense of the tracks around the tree.
    I move as stealthily as my stiff joints allow until I see one set of wolf prints change into the distinctive form of a man’s bare foot. Morcant must have transformed back! I feel a surge of something – relief? Hard to know. Maybe it is hope. Maybe I will survive the night.
    I am alert for any sign that the wolf pack might lurk here still but I think they’ve gone. It is getting lighter all the time. The sun is not yet fully up and everything is bleached grey, grainy and unreal. The prone, naked figure of Morcant the man looks waxy. Is he alive? His skin is tinged with blue, but his chest rises and falls quite regularly. He does not stir as I cover him