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I hoped Mom wasn’t doing anything to draw attention. I could hear Rocket whining and growling, but I didn’t risk taking my eyes from the speaker. Even in human form, werewolves could move likelightning.
“We are the protectors of this forest,” he said. “If you wish totalkto someone, you must go throughus.”
To either side of the trail, wolves prowled closer, all focused on us, all watching. I sensed from the leader that he wanted afight.
Ididn’t want a fight, not with my mother here, and not against so many. While I didn’t doubt my own abilities, I also wasn’t usually dumb enough to take on a whole pack at once. I wished I hadn’t been so focused on the dragon—I should have sensed these guysearlier.
“Will you let us go if we walk away?” I doubted it, but I wanted confirmation. Mom’s vague resource wasn’t so exciting to me that I would risk her life to get to him orher.
“The Ruin Bringer fears to fight us?” He tilted his head to the other side. “This is not what I expected fromyou.”
“The name is Val, thanks. I only fight critters that commit crimes—or that pick fights withme.”
“Critters. You diminish us and belittle us. This is unacceptable. You shall not pass. Nor shall you run away. There are many who will be pleased to learn of your death, and our pack will grow in status when we slayyou.”
“Or we’ll slayyou, and your pack will be plucked apart by crows and vultures. Maybe owls that will later hack you up in pelletform.”
He threw his head back andlaughed.
The attack came not from the front but thesides.
Be ready, Sindari warned me as four massive wolves rushed towardus.
Back to back,I replied, alreadyfiring.
The wolves zigzagged, trying to dodge my shots. They were fast, but not faster than Fezzik. All four of my first rounds thudded into the chest of one of the wolves rushing me. It yowled in pain as one of its legs gave way, and it tumbled to the side. The one beside it sprang for mythroat.
I fired at its chest even as I ducked. More of Fezzik’s rounds thudded into fur andflesh.
The wolf snarled instead of screaming, jaws snapping, but I squatted lower to avoid them. Its momentum took it over my head, and Sindari, even though he was fighting his own battle, facing two that had come at him from that side, found time to leap up and eviscerate the wolf as it passed over him. His great claws slashed into its belly. This time, the wolf screamed, its entrails fallingout.
In my peripheral vision, I saw the rest of the pack rushing in and spotted my mom with her back against a tree. She wrestled with Rocket’s leash even as she pointed her handgun at one of thewolves.
“I have to help Mom,” I shouted, warning Sindari that I was leaving hisback.
She fired at a wolf, the bullet taking it square between the eyes. But the magical creature shook his head as if it were armored and that barely hurt. He snarled and crouched tospring.
As I charged toward Mom, yelling to divert the pack’s attention, I yanked Chopper out. I couldn’t fire, not when that wolf was so close toher.
The crouching wolf saw me coming and switched his target, springing for me instead. His powerful muscles bunched and propelled him straight toward myhead.
Keeping my cool, I sidestepped quickly as I swept my longsword up, the blade flaring with blue light as if Chopper anticipated battle. The wolf saw the threat and twisted in the air, snapping at my head and trying to rake me with itsclaws.
Even as I dodged the attack, I lunged for an unprotected flank. Chopper found his side and cut in deeply. The wolf squealed and huge back paws kicked at my face. I glided out of the way, tearing my blade free as the claws flashed past, an inch from my eyes, the smell of his earthy pads hitting mynostrils.
Mom fired her Glock, and I knew another wolf was afterher.
With fear for her and fury at our enemies warring in my heart, I rapidly finished off my attacker as he hit the ground. Blood poured from his half-severed neck, but he twisted and lunged one more time, jaws snapping. Hatred roiled in his yellow eyes, as if we’d met before and he had a reason to detest me. To risk his life to kill me. Maybe hedid.
I shifted my grip on the hilt as those fangs darted closer, braced myself, and drove Chopper into his mouth. He saw the blade coming but was too committed to the attack and couldn’t dodge quickly enough. My blade pierced the vulnerable flesh of his throat and drovedeep.
But one of his paws whipped up reflexively, or in a last effort to get me, and caught me on the side of the head. Pain erupted, and I leaped back, yanking my sword from his throat. I landed in a fighting stance, ready for another attack, but the wolf crumpled, the hatred fading from his eyes as hecollapsed.
I whirled to help Mom with her fight, but Sindari sent a mental warning that made mehesitate.
The dragon is back.Right aboveus.
Shit.
I don’t think dragons dothat.
Nobody’s thatmagical.
With another wolf harrying my mom—she still had her back to the tree, but they knew her gun couldn’t hurt them—I didn’t have time to say anything else. I rushed at her assailant, my bloody blade raised, my heart hammering from the exertion of thefight.
I sensed the dragon swooping down from above, but I couldn’t do anything about it. Would he join in with the werewolves to finish me off? Or maybe he would stop them from killing me sohecould have thepleasure.
