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He smiled inwardly, feeling a smug sense of possession. Dion, his Dion,
had held off the worlags herself. She had faced her fear and proved him
right in the face of the other weapons masters. It had not mattered how well
she sparred in the fighting rings; she was from a different county, and they
wanted proof of her heart. Well, she had given it. He stroked the loose hair
from her cheeks. A year ago, Dion had made him swear on the seventh
moon, he remembered. Swear to believe in her as she believed in him. To
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Storm Runner-Wolfwalker 03-Harper, Tara K
trust her strength as she did his. He wrapped the bandages around her
forearms, then gathered her to him, crushing her against his chest so that the
rough cloth of his tunic caught on the gemstone that studded his chest.
Perhaps, he realized, it was the first time he truly believed in their bargain.
Dion clung to him, reaching up to touch the tiny bump of the gem in his
own chest. She rubbed her fingers over it, letting the sense of the stone seep
through the cloth.
You tempted the luck of the moons, Dion, he whispered roughly. You
know that.
I know.
To run in front of a band of worlags&
She shrugged, her expression changing to a wince at the movement. I had
little choice.
Why didn t you use the Gray Ones?
I did, she answered slowly. But the boy was more terrified of them than
of the danger he was running into.
Terrified of the Gray Ones? Like that other refugee?
She nodded. The Gray Ones tried to turn him, send him back towards me,
but he panicked when he saw them. He bolted right into the worlags path.
By the time I reached him, the worlags were close enough they could see us
both.
Aranur stared at her. Scared of a wolf& This is like one of the old legends,
when the wolves used to be predators of people, not partners. How could
the boy have such fear?
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Storm Runner-Wolfwalker 03-Harper, Tara K
Easy, Dion said grimly. Raiders. The word was enough to make
Aranur s face turn to stone, but, knowing that the anger behind it was not
directed at her, Dion went on, I think it is because of the rumors of
wolfwalkers in the hands of the slavers. Remember? We heard those rumors
a year ago, and then again last month. I did not believe them I don t think
anyone here did, but now&
You think it might be true, he finished for her.
She gestured toward the river, her swathed forearms bulky over her jerkin.
What if the raiders really are working with the wolfwalkers? It does not
have to be because the wolfwalkers want to. The raiders could beat them,
torture them, and the Gray Ones would track anyone, follow any trail, to
keep the pain of the partners from their minds. The wolfwalkers could stay
mind-linked, reading the trail from a base while the Gray Ones ran the
forest and tracked the refugees to their deaths.
A wolf would never harm a human, he said flatly.
If it was a choice of tracking a human for me or letting a raider burn my
skin, which do you think Hishn would do?
Aranur regarded her grimly. I guess that does not require an answer.
She touched his arm. With so many wolves in Ariye, they could know
where we are at all times, too. The graysong is strong lately. Even from the
across the river, the echoes are loud. Hishn nudged her hand, and she
stroked the gray beast s head.
A mental trail, Aranur said softly.
She nodded. That is how I knew there was a pack on the west side of the
Phye. And how they must know we are here now.
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Storm Runner-Wolfwalker 03-Harper, Tara K
And will they know about the crossing we are building under the falls?
She met his eyes steadily. They will know that you go to the place often.
Your movements are part of the packsong you cannot hide them. But
what little I picked up from the Gray Ones across the river& She
shrugged. The raiders do not suspect enough to ask questions about it, and
the wolves do not volunteer the knowledge at least, she added, shooting
a quick question to the gray creature at her side, not as far as Hishn
knows. She jerked her head south, downstream. The raiders know only
about the crossings south of the Sky Bridge and north of the Slot. What we
build at the falls is hidden from their minds.
For several minutes, Mjau had been picking her way through the worlags
bodies, peering reluctantly beneath the casings for the signs of human skin.
At last she abandoned her task and clambered up on the pile of boulders. As
she hoisted herself up, she froze for an instant. Hey! she called, startled.
The boy he s up here!
In front of her, huddled against the rise in the boulder, crouched the child.
He stared at the thin gray-haired woman, his eyes wide. In his hands, he
clutched a knife. Dion s knife, Mjau noted. She stared at him for a long
moment. Here, boy, she said quietly, reaching out.
But the bony child lunged suddenly, sliding past her grip and down the side
of the boulder.
Hey! she shouted.
She got a brief glimpse of his white face turned toward her, then he landed
in a staggering tangle among the worlags. He bolted.
Stop him! she cried out.
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Storm Runner-Wolfwalker 03-Harper, Tara K
Aranur, looking up at Mjau s shout, left Dion in a lunge, cursing himself at
her sharp cry of pain. His long legs caught up with the boy in seconds. But
the child turned suddenly, and the knife in his hands swiped across Aranur s
reach. Instinctively, Aranur flowed with the movement. He twisted the
blade from the boy s hands almost without thinking, sweeping it free. The
child screamed, his fingers wrenched. But it was in frustration, not pain,
that he cried out. Flinging himself at the man, the boy fought hysterically,
screaming that some woman the Siker, he called her would get him;
she would get them all. Frantically, Aranur wrapped his arms around the
thin body and locked the boy in place, keeping his head back from the boy s
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