Hand of Fire (The Master of the Tane)

by Rath, Thomas

  She looked up, searching for another hold to clasp onto when something suddenly caught her eye. Not too far above and over to the right she saw what looked like a ledge. Her heart leaped and it was all she could do not to look down and call out to Dor. Taking a deep breath she calmed her excitement and emptied her mind of everything except getting to that outcropping. She pulled up and then shuffled to the side concentrating her strength that was quickly waning. The heat was getting to her now pulling her down like a drop of sweat. She wanted a drink but was only taunted by the water bags that hung at her side out of reach. She had to make it to the ledge first.

  The climb was long and arduous but finally, without knowing quite how she had done it, Tam pulled herself onto a shelf. It was like a broken path that stretched out to the right, hugging the wall, as it ran halfway around to the other side of the cavern and then abruptly ended. She lay on her back in an exhausted heap realizing that if she had not made it to the shelf she surely would have fallen soon from simple exhaustion brought on by the stifling heat. She knew that she was not out of danger yet but she smiled anyway knowing she had at least made it past the first obstacle.

  After a moment of rest she took a small swig of water and then peered back over the edge. The rising heat burned at her eyes. It was almost unbearable but she kept looking down trying to see where she had started from while at the same time hoping to catch a glimpse of Dor looking up. But all too quickly she had to give up—the heat was just too much. She rolled back over wanting to cry but was unable to bring up anymore tears. She was physically and emotionally worn out wanting nothing more, at that moment, than to close her eyes and sleep, but she knew that the heat would soon rob her of all her energy and that she had to compel herself to continue on. Groaning softly, she forced herself up and looked down the tiny walkway. She had hoped to find another tunnel when she reached the ledge but was greeted by nothing but more wall.

  Following the ledge to its opposite end she found nothing but another drop off. “So much for an easy way out,” she said looking up while preparing for the inevitable climb. She scanned the rock searching for the easiest route or possibly another ledge to work for. It would have to be a ledge-to-ledge climb or she knew she would never make it to the top. Her eyes continued up until she spotted what she thought was another small outcropping about fifty feet directly overhead. Wasting no time, she immediately went to work scaling the wall. Grabbing, sometimes the smallest little lump in the rock, she slowly forced her ascent. Her eyes remained focused and her mind was shut to anything other than reaching the next ledge. Her arms quickly fatigued and she could feel the energy being sapped out of her as sweat gathered around her fingers making them dangerously slippery. She had to be close.

  Sweat ran into her eyes stinging them out of focus as she felt herself begin to slip. Reaching up blindly, she grabbed in desperation for a better hold but there was nothing there. Just then her foot slipped. Tam’s mind had just enough time to register her impending death when her outstretched hand slapped onto the extending edge. She stopped with a sudden jerk sending a rushing chill through her body. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves she reached up with her other hand and caught hold of the outcropping and then pulled herself up and onto the ledge. Crawling away from the edge she collapsed at the entrance to a dark tunnel and her salvation leading back into the mountain. A slight smile creased her lips. I’m going to make it, she thought. Dor’s luck must have rubbed off.

  Suddenly, her skin prickled with the distinct feeling that she was not alone. She strained her ears and thought she could hear the slightest movement down the dark cavern but couldn’t place what it might be. She looked up just in time to see the club as it crashed down against her head and sent her into oblivion.

  CHAPTER NINE

  He darted through the woods making too much noise. The large wolf was behind him, tracking him, and he couldn’t quiet his steps. He could sense the evil thing as if it were playing with him, letting him gain a sense of escape before it closed its powerful jaws around his throat.

  Suddenly, he was running on the beach by the great waters. His feet felt heavy as they sank deeply, burying him to his knees. He tried frantically to get on top of the sand and run but every step he took sank him deeper. He could feel the hot breath against his neck and a splatter of drool dripped between his shoulders. Teeth closed about his throat as he still struggled in the sand to get away. His hands reached back grabbing the wolf by the head. The jaws began to close drawing a warm gush of blood that flowed down his chest and pooled on the ground in front of him. His body quaked with the sudden rush of fire shooting out of him; a howl shattered the air. He turned, expecting to find the huge wolf in flames, but instead his father withered on the ground in agony as the inferno engulfed his body.

  “NOOOO!”

  Thane’s eyes shot open as the last echo of his voice reverberated off the surrounding walls. He tried to get up but his body was unresponsive. Flickering light danced above him flashing strange shapes on the ceiling that caused his head to spin and his stomach to reel. He closed his eyes trying to settle himself and remembered the blood that had been spilling onto his chest. Quickly putting his hand to his neck he felt for the spurting blood but sighed with relief when he found none.

  Just dreaming, he thought.

  Just then the head of a large wolf appeared above him stealing the color from his face and the breath from his lungs. Thane tried desperately to free himself from the fur blanket that wrapped around him like a cocoon and escape certain death but his limbs were like boulders and he couldn’t get them to move fast enough.

  The wolf stood over him with its tongue hanging out and its jowls curled up as if in a smile. Thane continued fighting his blanket and finally got his body to respond enough to back him up right into a wall. His head hit solid rock with a sickening thud adding sudden bursts of light to the dancing figures above before they were all shut away by the blackness that overtook them all.

  The trees swept past him as he sprinted through the woods chasing something that he couldn’t see. He couldn’t quite remember what it was but he felt an urgency to catch it and destroy it. His feet stepped lightly over the foliage that covered the ground, passing over it without the slightest whisper of sound. He could hear his prey crashing through the undergrowth just ahead, making it an easy catch. Thane stopped and steadied his bow not needing to see his quarry to know its location and take it down with an arrow. He readied to fire but then stopped. He had a better idea.

  Dropping his bow he continued the chase, still silent in his own passing. Tree limbs whipped past as he darted through the woods feeling a strange elation in the chase while closing on his victim with every step. A line of drool slip through his lips as the anticipation of the kill overcame him in a sudden rush. The strong scent of fear pressed against his nostrils making them flare with its sweet smell. He thought to crouch but suddenly noticed he was already running on all fours. Not giving it a second thought, he increased his speed until he brought his prey into view. It was a small troll. Drool poured unchecked down his chin with the sudden prospect of warm blood running into his mouth, the anticipation of raw meat making his stomach growl.

  The small troll ran wildly, whimpering as it went, knowing its fate was sealed. Thane’s feet left the ground as he sprang into the air and landed on the troll’s back. The troll let out a horrific scream that was quickly cut short by Thane’s teeth as they ripped into its throat. The sweet taste of blood gushed freely down his chin as the troll gave up its last struggle for life.

  Thane’s head reared back in delight as his voice shattered the air with a deafening howl. It was guttural and foreign but he ignored it, the ecstasy of the hunt still pumping wildly through his veins. Gazing back at his prey he prepared to rip into its midsection, eager now to feed, when his stomach suddenly heaved at the horrid sight that greeted him. He quickly jumped up and moved away stricken by what he found laying on the ground at his feet. The taste of blood
that had been so sweet only moments before now turned to bile in his mouth and his stomach retched again and again.

  A noise to his left tore his gaze from the grizzly sight and he turned just in time to see PocMar burst from the trees. Thane watched in horror as he fell upon the dead body digging his teeth into the corpse’s midsection and tearing away at the flesh. Thane tried desperately to move towards the body and stop him but his stomach was heaving so violently now in massive convulsions that it left him almost completely paralyzed. PocMar continued his carnage while Thane watched in torment, horrified by what he had done. Tears filled his eyes.

  “My good friend,” he muttered, “please forgive me.”

  PocMar suddenly raised his head, revealing a blood soaked face, and laughed. “You’re right Thane, he is good.” He grinned wickedly before ripping once again into Dor’s mangled remains.

  Thane’s eyes shot open as his stomach spasmed, puckering his mouth with a small taste of vomit. “Dor!” he gasped, sitting up. His eyes darted about searching for his friend but he quickly realized he wasn’t in the forest. He was surrounded by stone walls that arched overhead into a rock ceiling. He was in a cave. But how did he get there? His gaze fell upon a fire dancing brightly next to him. The memory of his dream still churned in his stomach and his mouth felt dry. His head ached and was starting to spin so he laid back down grimacing in pain as the back of his skull touched the hard ground. The throbbing forced his memory back to the giant wolf and cracking his head on the wall. The wolf! Was this the wolf’s lair? Had it drag him back here to eat at its leisure?

  Thane sat up again, fighting the nausea and dizziness that threatened to force him back into unconsciousness. He quickly determined he was alone and suddenly wondered if the wolf had not been a dream too. But how then did he hurt his head? “PocMar,” he whispered as it suddenly all came flooding back. The fight in the village, the consuming fire that seemed to jump right out of him, his father, and finally, PocMar and his friends beating him and leaving him on the mountain to die. “And Dor,” he whispered. Thane’s heart sank as he remembered his friend’s face and the fear that had gripped Dor’s eyes when he offered to help with his wounds. All had deserted him. All were gone.

  The fire cracked, interrupting his thoughts, bringing him back to his immediate condition and the questions that surrounded where he was and how he’d gotten there. He quickly checked to see if he had sustained any major injuries and was relieved to find himself in fairly good condition save a few bumps and bruises which he accredited to the beating he had taken from PocMar and his gang. In the process of his examination, he also realized that he was completely naked, covered only by the animal furs on top of him and those underneath.

  He scanned the cave again and discovered it was littered with furs that almost covered the floor completely except for an area just around the fire and another near the entrance, which must have extended to a curving passageway since he was unable to see the outside. The cave itself extended out in a circular fashion allowing enough space for quite a few people but, at the same time, was small enough for the firelight to reach out and touch all of the surrounding walls and their contents. To his left were a number of leather boxes stacked neatly on top of one another and leaning up against what appeared to be cooking utensils. Along the wall from there was a large pile of wood extended back into a cubbyhole, some thin branches perfect for making arrows, a small stack of furs, a couple of barrels and then, finally, to his immediate right he happily found his clothes.

  He dressed hastily and then got up slowly still trying to work some life back into his limbs. His stomach ached from hunger and he wondered how long it had been since the last time he had eaten. Feeling the need, he began searching the cave for any food that might lend itself to dulling the empty pain in his gut. Rummaging through the leather chests he was able to find some onions and a few carrots on which he quickly gorged himself. His stomach immediately began cramping from the reintroduction of food at such a quick rate and Thane felt that shortly it would all be coming back up. Regardless, he had to get out of there.

  He staggered for the entrance holding his stomach as if it would help keep the food inside, but was stopped just short of the entrance by the appearance of a large, white wolf similar to the ones that attacked his village. Thane jumped back with amazing quickness pulling his dagger as he did so and then crouched, preparing for what might be his last battle.

  “So, it wasn’t a dream after all,” he muttered waiting for it to spring.

  The wolf watched Thane for a moment as if merely amused and then sat down lazily in front of the cave’s entrance and began licking its paws. Thane’s body ached from his rigid stance, begging for relief, but he had no intentions of relaxing. He felt certain that the moment he let down his guard the wolf would attack.

  Minutes passed but nothing happened. Thane’s stomach knotted in a mass of cramps and his limbs were beginning to shake from the strain. He was weak from lack of food and sick now from trying to replenish his energies too quickly with onions. His head was beginning to spin and he felt he might lose consciousness. If I go unconscious, I’m sure to be a dead man, he thought as he used all of his strength to force back the darkness that threatened to overcome him.

  The minutes stretched out and it was quickly becoming too much for him to remain standing. Giving in to his exhaustion, he watched the wolf closely as he finally eased himself back to the ground with his feet curled under him ready to spring should the wolf decide to attack. But it didn’t move. It had finished cleaning its paws and now just sat contentedly watching him.

  Thane couldn’t help but notice what an extraordinarily beautiful creature it was. Its coat was completely white without a single blemish, unlike those that had raided the village. Its eyes were the clearest blue giving them the appearance of being almost white and held within them a spark of great intelligence that was difficult to discount. Peering into those eyes, he almost felt as if the giant wolf could talk to him. Thane’s eyes broke from his stare and fell upon its open mouth and the rows of razor-sharp teeth. He shuddered and unconsciously put his hand to his throat at the thought of how those teeth might rip into someone’s flesh and tear it to shreds without the least bit of effort. Its body was lean and Thane automatically judged it to possess extreme agility and tremendous quickness.

  The terrible thought suddenly broke through his racing mind that should the wolf choose to, he would not be fast enough to keep it from shredding him into tiny pieces. Why hadn’t it attacked? Why was it just sitting there watching him?

  Thane’s gaze moved back to the wolf’s face and he found himself staring into its eyes once again. Soon, he felt himself begin to relax. His body slowly released its tension and he found himself beginning to feel almost comfortable with the animal. It continued to sit motionless peering back into his green eyes with a look that was almost inviting. Gradually, Thane felt like he was being drawn in by the wolf’s stare. It was as if its gaze were pulling at his soul, inviting him to let go and be one with it. At first he resisted, pulling back with some effort while at the same time trying to release the stare that appeared to now be locked in between them. But an unseen force seemed to have grasped hold of his mind as if pulling his very thoughts out of his skull. Thane felt he was losing ground; that control was being taken away. He tried to resist but it was too late. He was no longer himself and his mind was now a rush of jumbled thoughts that made no sense.

  Suddenly, the wolf was gone and Thane found he was staring at an image of himself. His senses sharpened incredibly to the point that he could distinctively smell every scent in the cave as if each one was the only smell around him. His ears where aware of every movement including the slightest shifting being made behind the chests and somehow he knew they came from a small mouse trying to hide.

  He focused on the image sitting before him and he suddenly realized that the room had turned itself around and he was looking at the back wall where he should have been sitting.
But he was sitting there, or at least his image was. But how can that be? Then, like a wall of rock crashing down, it hit him. It wasn’t an image that he was looking at but was, in fact, him. His thoughts had become part of the wolf’s. He could now sense the instinctive desires and needs of the animal. The urge to hunt and track and kill were strong but just as fierce was a concern for a hairless two-legged one and a desire to protect him. Thane thought at first that the concern he was feeling was for him but he quickly realized that the scent was different than his own. He could smell himself! Taking another quick sniff he decided that he needed a bath. He also found the he could differentiate his own scent from the memory of the other who smelled strangely like an animal skin.

  Without warning, his mind was abruptly flooded with flashes of memories that were not his own but that were quickly becoming his. The smell of wet and cold stuck to his nose and the sounds of the wind were all around. With the wind came the sent of something foreign mixed with the scent of blood. It wasn’t the stench of the large ones but more like the odor of the hairless two-legged one when he was without his animal skin covering. He remembered running and following a scent that became stronger as he went until, at last, he found its source prostrate in the snow. It was him. He saw two large hands reach down and pick him up and then he felt a sudden warm feeling as someone stroked his head.

  The smell of the hairless two-legged one was beginning to increase and the sights, sounds, and smells of memories were quickly shut out. Thane could hear the shuffling of feet coming up the passageway to the cave and he wanted to tense up to defend himself but instead was washed over with a feeling of joy by the approach of this newcomer. His scent was familiar. It was the scent of animal hides.

  Thane’s mind whipped back with the speed of a flying arrow and suddenly he found himself staring back at the wolf again. His senses felt fuzzy for a moment but sharpened quickly when what appeared to be a small troll appeared in the doorway.