WolfHeart

by K. Allen Cross

  Scorpio snorted. "If this is Elrad's army, they are desperate."

  "The question is, why did they attack us?" Trelem asked. "We have no quarrel with elves. We've lived in peace for quite some time."

  "Maybe they thought the halshaken were hoarcs," Entaurus suggested.

  Tayan shook his head sadly. "Not likely.”

  Even farmers could tell a halshaken from a hoarc. He was still a High Lord of Elrad. He had killed his own people. Gripping his sword tightly, he choked, “This shouldn't have happened.”

  Hearing hoarc and halshaken used in the same sentence, the halshaken named Donatelo tapped Odif on the arm and asked for an explanation. As Odif explained it to him, Trelem called everyone together. They were all upset about the battle--Gloredaniel was in tears and Tayan looked like he was going to cry at any moment. Scorpio felt a bit jealous when Odif hugged him, but understood they were old friends. Zit just stared blankly at the bodies scattered about.

  With everyone gathered together, Tayan announced, "Gather wood for a pyre. These elves will be treated with respect. If any other elves attack us, we try to stop them first and, if possible, render them unconscious. We will do everything we can to keep from killing them."

  "And if we can't stop them?" Entaurus asked.

  "If there is no other way then we kill,” Trelem stated. Turning to Shilo, he asked, "Have you seen a village close by in your flights?"

  Shilo bobbed his head. "Yup, not too far ahead. Want me to go check it?"

  Tayan spoke up. "Not by yourself. Odif, Zit, go with him. Take no chances, see what you can find out and return to us. We'll be walking north once we're done here."

  Nudging Odif with an elbow, Shilo asked, "Hey, you going to fly with me?"

  Looking at him quizzically, she said, "I won't be able to help you in bird form."

  "Then just make yourself a pair of wings like mine," he said, flapping his briefly.

  Odif was about to say she couldn't do that, she could only assume the shap of animals found in nature. She then realized that Shilo's people all had wings. She hadnever thought of taking on the form of another people, but it could be done. With a human shape, she could cast her spells from the air or fight if need be.

  "I'll need to study you first. Remove your armor and tunic."

  "Ohh, this sounds fun!" he beamed and stripped to his waist. He twitched and asked her to scratch him in a particular spot as Odif concentrated in his musculature. She rubbed his barrel-like chest, asking him to flex his wing so she could tell which sets of muscles were used in flight. She found his sides were heavily endowed to provide thrust. On his back were two extra sets, as well as additlonal pectoral muscles at mid-ribs. Besides that, his shoulder blades were much longer, the bones providing pivot joints. The wings themselves were thick and had two elbow joints, but other than that they were essentially bird's wings.

  Once she had his physique memorized, she handed her staff to Amber and her shirt to Scorpio. Scorpio tried to stand in front of her to give her a bit of themodesty she seemed to lack as she closed her eyes and began the transformation. As he watched, she grew a bit shorter and wider, and two white oblong shapes sprouted from her back. Ripples of muscle appeared below her breasts as the oblong shapes blossomed into a beautiful set of white-feathered wings. Opening her eyes, she flapped her new acquisitions a couple times, curving them around her body to view them.

  "All right, now you look normal!" Shilo grinned.

  "Here goes," she announced nervously, and motioned everyone back. Pumping her wings in earnest, she sent small blasts of wind down and away as she lifted off her feet. Her face screwed up in concentration, she moved forward, hanging a few feet off the ground then slowly started to move away and climb skyward. Shilo took off much more gracefully with a fraction of the effort.

  Watching them, Zit cleared his throat. "I think I'll run.” He melted into the shape of a cougar and sprinted away.

  * * *

  At first, flying was hard work. When Odif was in bird form, flying seemed as natural as walking. Flying like this, she had to concentrate on every movement of her wings. Shilo stayed just above her, coaching her on when to pump her wings and when to set them to glide. He gave her brief instructions on how to turn and land as a collection of log huts appeared below them.

  "Me first," he told her. Before she could say it would be safer together, he turned over on his back and dropped straight down.

  Sure she would end up falling if she tried that, Odif opted to tuck her wings in and dive after him. She spread them again as the treetops came closer and found that her downward speed was a bit more than she had planned on. Below her, Shilo shot down the street not more than a few feet off the ground. At the end of the street, he pulled up sharply to miss a long hut that looked like a meeting hall.

  Odif was falling fast. Her wings tried to pin themselves against her back; straining muscles, she cupped them, letting the outer portions grip the air. Shewas becoming horizontal, but not fast enough as she passed over the last trees and into the village.

  Her impulse was to grab her wings and use her arms to help pull them out flat. At the moment, she had them out in front of her for balance; andshe knew bending back would send her into a spin, and she'd hit the ground for sure. As she dropped below the rooftops, the street came up to meet her. With a hard pull on aching muscles, she grunted in effort and caught more air in wings that were trying to tear themselves off her back.

  She leveled out a scant knee-level distance from the rough gravel racing by underneath that would rip her skin to shreds if she hlt it at thls speed. Blasting out a breath of relief that she wasn't going to be ground into paste, she looked up and saw the meeting hut racing at her.

  Odif's heart was in her throat; she had no idea how to save herself! To move her wings at all this close to the ground would send her in a wild tumble, but if she didn't do something she was going to hit the log wall at full tilt. Either way was death. A cry escaped her as she worked to angle her wings to gain some altitude. A quick idea flashed through her mind to slap her hands on the ground to help her get higher. The ground was just far enough below her, however, that she knew she would not make contact unless she dropped another foot, erasing the small gain she had just made. As the imposing wall raced at her, she kept trying to climb as she braced herself for the impact.

  Suddenly, arms wrapped around her just below her shoulders.

  "Up!" Shilo yelled as he hauled her vertical. All Odif could do was keep her wings set as they closed the last few yards to the wall. Climbing quickly with Shilo's help, she bent her knees back as the edge of the roof passed below her.

  As they banked together, she realized she was clinging tightly to the arms around her.

  "Can you land without splattering yourself?" he chuckled.

  Her breath was coming back to her. "Yes," she said weakly.

  She caught the air as he let go. She flew slower as she descended again into the street, this time pulling herself vertical to stumble into a jog as she landed. Her heart was racing from exertion and fear. Her legs were rubbery but held her up. She had never been so glad to be standing on her own two feet.

  Landing beside her, Shilo waved a finger at her in a “no-no” gesture.

  "You should practice a while before trying that. You could get yourself killed."

  "I didn't mean to do it," she said as she looked around. "Did we scare everyone inside?"

  "I didn't see anyone before you tried to ram that building," he told her. "You look in the ones on the left, I'll get the right. If you sense anyone just holler, don't go in."

  Starting their search, they went down the street, looking into every hut. By the time they reached the end, Zit had arrived. He stayed in cat form, sniffing for evidence as he went along. The only thing they found was a large red stain in the road where blood had been spilled. Noting this, they searched inside every hut for clues asto where the villagers had gone. Odif found traces of magic, but very faint, nothing powerf
ul enough to make the entire population flee in panic or force them to send their men to attack. Zit changed into elven form so he could tell them what he had found.

  Standing in the deserted street together, the trio attempted to puzzle out the mystery.

  "It happened early this morning, whatever it was," Zit told them.

  "How do you know that?" Shilo asked.

  "The bedding in almost every hut was on the floor," Odif explained.

  "That's abnormal?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

  "For most people, yes."

  Zit nodded down the street. "They left in a panic. Whoever was hurt in the street was taken with them."

  Odif agreed. "Yes, we saw no pyres, and there is no body."

  "Maybe they were still alive," Shilo said with a shrug.

  Odif shook her head sadly. "There is enough blood there for two elves. Whoever it was, was bleeding very badly. If they were alive this morning, they aren't now."

  Zit's eye's brightened. "Yes! They took him with them. With that pool, there has to be a blood trail. They left in a hurry, so I doubt they stopped to bind the wound until they were clear of the village. If we cannot find them then at least we will know which way they went."

  Odif knew what he was thinking. "A wolf has the best nose and will not attract attention. I'll fly over you with Shilo and--"

  "Whoa, whoa!" Shilo interrupted, shaking his hands at her. Pointing at Zit, he said, "You follow the trail," then turned his finger to Odif. "You go back and tell the others--and try not to run into anything. Those people are probably scared enough without you dropping out of the sky on them! I'll fly on ahead and let you know if I find anything. Me and Zit will be back before nightfall, whatever we find."

  Odif knew he was right, but the way he said it irritated her. She watched as Zit took on the form of a gray wolf then trotted down the street with his nose to the ground. She was about to take off when Shilo put a hand gently on her shoulder.

  "Hey, be careful. You look real cute like that, so don't go banging yourself up," he said with a grin.

  Behind his attempt at humor, she saw concern in his eyes. "I will. Keep yourself and Zit out of trouble."

  "I try," he said with a gleam in his eye. He then jumped into the air and was off with barely a flap of his wings.

  Odif did a little better at this takeoff. Running down the street, she began to pump her wings. More used to the new muscles, she lifted off with much less effort than the first time. Climbing just above the treetops, she headed back towards the others.

  * * *

  Zit padded along through the overgrown fields, following the faint vapors wafting up from the ground. He had left the road; and even though the blood trail had ended, he still smelled elves. He had also picked up the scent of hoarcs. The blood trail had gone off the road, as did that of the hoarcs.

  Whenever he shifted into an animal, his intellegence also made the shift. Being in canine form, he was not able to reason what this information meant, he just kept following the trail. He saw a large winged shape pass overhead. He knew the shape of his friend. His friend was beckoning him to follow faster.

  Breaking into a loping run, Zit chased after him, still aware of the scents he was following. His friend flew low and landed up ahead. Zit ran to him then sat by him, licking his nose to help cool himself a bit. The wolf would not understand words, but the elf could. Thinking of the elf, Zit changed.

  Once he had completed the transformation, he got up from all fours and told Shilo, "I smelled hoarcs. Either they have the elves or were chasing them."

  "They got em." Shilo grimaced. "The women are roped together, and there is a wagon loaded with children towards the rear. One black knight, a wizard and around a hundred hoarcs. I don't think we can free them by ourselves."

  "Maybe we can slow them down until we get the others here," Zit suggested.

  Scratching his head, Shilo frowned at him. "This is getting weirder all the time. If hoarcs were chasing them, why did the men attack us?"

  Zit's face turned grim. He recognized these tactics. "The same thing was done near the Great Lake during the War of Tears. They probably came in before dawn and dragged them out of bed. They forced the men to attack us by threatening to kill their families. The bloodstains we found are most likely from an unlucky woman who was used to show they meant business. It is a cruel but very effective way to get people to fight for you."

  "And we are to think Elrad is responsible," Shilo concluded. "What will they do with the women and children now?"

  "Slavery. That is, unless we charge in there. Then they'll start killing innocents hoping we will either back off or spend our energy trying to save those we can. Meanwhile, the leaders will disappear."

  Shilo's fists clenched. When it came to fighting, he had always been one to jump right in and start whipping on someone. This was not combat, it was lowdown and cowardly, hiding behind defenseless people. "And if we go for the leaders then all those elves will die."

  Zit nodded. "Did they see you?"

  "Nope. So, how do we kill that slime?"

  "We don't, not yet. Go tell Trelem, I'll shadow them. We have to get those women and children away from them somehow. Once they settle in for the night, I'll come find you. Set camp near an oak tree." Zit knelt down and shifted back into wolf form.

  "Good luck, buddy." Shilo bent down and scratched behind his ear.

  * * *

  The sun was dipping below the horizon when Trelem led the group into the elven village to get ready for the coming battle. The huts allowed the wizards to prepare spells for later use. The large oak at the one end of the street was needed for the druid rituals and to prepare acorns, bark and leaves for the fight. Mother Freida, Sister Amber and the two knights knelt together, praying for the safe return of the captives and for victory over the forces of evil. The swords and shields of the slainelves the halshaken now had and were sharpening their blades.

  Zit returned after dark, stepping out of the oak tree to greet Odif, who still bore her wings. They all went to the meeting hall to discuss what to do.

  Jo-Jo the wizardcast a protection spell around the large room to ensure no prying eyes or ears could know their plans. Clearing away the tables and chairs, they gathered around Zit in the middle of the room as he made a simple sketch of the hoarc camp on the dirt floor. He explained the layout as he drew.

  "In the center--here--are the women, they're still tied together. In a triangle around them are three fires, hoarcs around each. Just in front about twenty feet away is the knight and at least one wizard in a tent, with hoarc guards. In the back are the children--the wagon looks to be covered with a wooden cage. I saw ten hoarcs around them. The perimeter has four sets of three guards, and the nearest oaks are here, fifty feet to the left, and here, just behind the children, thirty feet away.” Zit sat back and looked up at Trelem. "Any direct attack we can come up with will not stop them from killing the women and children if they choose to."

  The halshaken shaman gave a snap of his long jaws to indicate he had something to say.

  "We must not let the presence of innocents stop us from destroying what we must," he hissed.

  "Agreed," Scorpio told him, "but we have to save all of them we possibly can."

  "What are the women wearing?" Gloredaniel asked.

  "Peasant clothes--dresses, blouses and skirts, nothing unusual." Zit told her.

  Nodding, she said, "What if Jo-Jo teleports in amon the women and protects them while I do the same with the children. Entaurus and Thlad will still be able to fight their wizards. If we all rush in, the confusion will give us the upper hand."

  "How are we all going to get there?" Glier asked. "Maybe four wizards and two druids can show up by popping in. The rest of us have to walk it."

  "I can fly in with Odif," Shilo offered, "That's two more."

  "Hoarcs also see well at night, better than most of us," Tayan pointed out. "We go in there tonight, and we will not have surprise on our side."
>
  "In the daytime with hoarc swords at the women's throats, we have no chance at all," Scorpio argued. "Halshaken are cold-blooded, the hoarcs will not see them coming."

  Odif shook her head. "No, Tayan is right. We have to go in the daytime. Look at setup of their camp--they're expecting trouble. Their placement will allow them to fight us and kill the captives--that is, if we could get enough people there to do any good."

  "We are not giving up on those people!" Scorpio said firmly. "There has to be a way to get enough of us in there to at least escape with the elves. We can go back and kill the hoarcs later."

  "Zitalenarius, which way are they heading?" Trelem asked.

  Zit was pleased that someone could pronounce his name. "They're following a streambed, heading for the river. By how fast they are traveling, I'd say they make it before noon tomorrow. If we can catch them crossing, maybe we can divide them up."

  "We can wait on the river bottom and drag them under," the shaman suggested.

  "That will make a few hoarcs disappear." Shilo snorted. "What about all the others?"

  "No, not the hoarcs...the women!" Tayan said thoughtfully. Looking around at the others, he said, "I think I have an idea that will work. Jo-Jo, Gloredaniel, Entaurus, Zit, Odif, Shilo and Thlad, you can get yourselves to the river. Can any of you take someone else with you?"

  Jo-Jo nodded. "I can carry one other person with me."

  "So can I," Thlad added.

  "I'll fly someone," Shilo offered.

  Raising his arms up, Trelem stopped them. "I can transport everyone with Odif's help. Tayan, tell us what it is you have in mind."

  "It will be risky, but I think we can get the elves away from them," Tayan told them. "We'll have to go tonight, when the ravens won't be watching. A large part of our success will depend upon the halshaken here. The timing will have to be perfect. Here's my plan..."

  * * *