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Rafe, half drawing his sword, shot her a sharp look. What?
The Gray Ones
They are hunting?
Dion shot him an agonized look. Us!
Rafe grabbed his pack and slung it on. Where do we go? Which way?
Dion was already racing ahead, her mind split between her own images and
those of the wolf. Here, she cried. This way. They were upwind the
wind was in their faces. Hurry!
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They ran in earnest. When the trail dipped awkwardly into a muddy seep,
Dion was already jumping the shallow puddle, her feet landing solidly on
the rock that cut into the other side. From there, to the stones along the path,
and then back into the dust, her bootprints soft and smudged among the
older tracks in the path. They circled a ravine and ran now with the wind at
their backs. Hishn, Dion sent urgently, Call them. Tell them to pass us by.
Your scent is strong in their noses. Your taste is on the ground. Hishn s
reply was unhappy. They cannot let you go.
They must. They cannot hunt a wolfwalker.
They will be punished.
Dion threw a glance over her shoulder. The wolves had not yet reached the
ravine where she and Rafe turned. With luck, they could keep ahead by
speed, if not by guile. We can free them, she sent desperately. Tell them that.
Hishn s voice grew dim, and in her mental howl, she passed on the images
that Dion sent. Freedom& The three Gray Ones behind them howled so
loudly that Dion s ears rang. Rafe, she gasped, through here On her
heels, Rafe had to slow, then whirl back so that his soft boots did not dig
into the soil.
She froze, and Rafe went motionless. She could almost sense the wolves
from across the draw herself. Would they listen? She and Rafe were
crossways in the wind to them. Their scent would be lost in a moment.
Where are they? Rafe asked under his breath.
Dion pointed silently across the gully. Something howled. Rafe stiffened.
They will find us anyway, he whispered.
Wolfwalker&
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Storm Runner-Wolfwalker 03-Harper, Tara K
Hishn where are they? They were close they were there they must be.
But she could not see them.
Quiet, the wolf snapped.
Dion clamped her hand on Rafe s arm.
Wait.
Dion held her breath. The wolves howled. Dion did not have to listen
through Hishn s ears any longer; the song of the pack was loud enough to
raise the hair on the back of her neck. Rafe scrunched his shoulders further
into the shrubbery. Not fifty meters away, on the other side of the draw, the
gray shadows passed, howling, racing by. The raiders who followed were
breathing hard, running after a lean figure on a long lead. A wolfwalker&
Hishn, tell them we follow them that we are coming.
No! The gray wolf s voice was adamant. Go back. They must follow your
trail. Loop back and lose them in your tracks like a wounded deer when it
knows it is hunted. The Gray One growled in Dion s mind, and the image
was drowned out by an echoing howl of the wolves to her left. Gods they
were already coming around the draw.
Dion scrambled to her feet. Come on, she barked at Rafe. Run.
They sprinted, one hand out to ward off the branches that whipped in their
faces. They circled the gully, sliding down a patch of loose humus with
little regard for the tracks they left behind. The wolves knew where they
were anyway. This way, Dion cried out, reaching the trail and running
along it again in the direction they had originally taken.
No this way. Rafe turned and would have sprinted north.
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Storm Runner-Wolfwalker 03-Harper, Tara K
Rafe I know the wolves. They will miss us, but we have to help them do
it. Circle she whipped the words out so that we lead our tracks back to
the draw again.
He hesitated.
There s no time, she snapped. Come on.
He nodded curtly, and sprinted after her.
She could not see the raiders or the wolves. Hishn, she called. We are
halfway along the draw.
The gray wolf howled, and the answering chorus across the gully, to the
south, was frightening. Dion pulled up.
Here, she said sharply. She stepped under a fern, the moss at its base
compressing, then springing back when her weight was gone. From fern to
fern, she stepped carefully into the forest, letting only her legs touch the
plants and her feet brush the ferns aside to clear her path. Some of these
were old ferns. The oils of her hands would have browned the leaves, and
their path would have been as obvious as if they had painted their way
along.
Rafe followed suit, crouching as the wolves howled again. Over there
He pointed. The dip is big enough for both of us.
She nodded, changing direction.
Wolfwalker&
Hishn, I hear you. I hear them all. Dropping to her knees, she pressed her
body into the soil, rolling under the ferns as far as possible so that their
leaves broke up the shape of her body. Seconds later, Rafe pressed down
beside her. Their breathing was harsh, and they fought to control their
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Storm Runner-Wolfwalker 03-Harper, Tara K
lungs. Shadows, shapes, swept through in the forest, and they relaxed
against the earth. The cool dampness seeped into Dion s leggings, and
something wriggled against her thigh. She dared not move. Spiders from
the ferns dropped onto Rafe s shoulder, and she reassured him with her eyes
they were not the bright green of the deadly Chao, but the duller tone of
one of the harmless insect-eaters.
The gray wolves howled. Dion arched her back involuntarily, the sound
filling her ears and bringing a snarl to her lips. Rafe clamped his hand on
her forearm, holding her down. Moon-worms&
The Gray Ones raced forward. The raiders followed, cursing. They hauled
on the lines tethering the wolfwalker to them, and the man stumbled, going
to his knees. One of the raiders backhanded him, and the wolves milled
suddenly, snarling at the raiders, who laughed, holding the wolfwalker by
his arm and yanking him to his feet. Dion could not catch what they said.
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