The partial moon had nearly reached its zenith before they tracked the scent to its source. The stag loomed large before them, full-grown, immense, powerful and wise. Its wide, sharp-tipped rack of antlers, capable of disemboweling an incautious wolf, were silhouetted against the night sky.
The stag pranced lightly, shaking its head up and down, snorting its contempt, brandishing its horns in their faces. Its dark eyes reflected no fear, only hatred, as it faced the ancient enemy.
The stag picked his ground carefully, a high knoll that rose improbably inside a tall circle of sablewood trees. The grassy mound was twined with intermeshing circles of mushrooms, their earthy redolence filling the air as the stag crushed them underfoot with its sharp hooves.
Mika lowered his head and slunk forward, circling the stag and forcing it to turn to keep him in sight. He felt his dewlaps twitch as he drew his lips back in a snarling grin, exposing his long, sharp canines. He inhaled the thick muskiness of the stag through mouth and nostrils, drawing it across his tongue, tasting the essence of it. He salivated and felt the thick moisture roll off his tongue.
The grass was cool and slick beneath his paws, and he circled steadily, rushing in, in false feints, forcing the stag to respond, to thunder down from its knoll, waving its antlers in Mika's face.
Mika leaped aside with ease, feeling the strength of his new body and the power in his legs. He dodged in under the great tines and nipped at the soft underbelly, causing the stag to swing its hindquarters downhill. Instantly, Mika leaped up, high on the stag's neck, behind the threatening horns, and slashed down with his teeth. The stag bellowed, more in anger than pain, and whirled about to menace the wolf that was no longer there.
Mika, bold with daring, dashed forward and ripped at the fat belly again, sinking his teeth into the smooth hide and using his weight to pull down, opening the wound. Letting go, he dropped to the ground and rolled, rising to his feet unharmed.
Mika and TamTur worked the stag between them, inflicting small wounds that bled, till the proud animal stood with its head bowed, its hide streaming with dark blood, and its breath coming in wheezing gasps. They allowed it no chance to rest.
Now, the element of fun vanished, the wolves filled with deadly intent. The salty iron tang of blood tainted the air and coated the wolves' tongues, acting as a powerful stimulant. A primitive compulsion thrummed in Mika's brain, entreating, urging, demanding blood.
Messages, all unspoken, but yet heard and obeyed, flooded into Mika's subconscious, telling him what to do. He darted, he feinted, he baited, he bit.
Then, the moment was at hand, the moment when all the right elements came together. Tam leaped, flinging himself directly at the stag, and sank his teeth into the fleshy lips, curling his body up into a tight ball to present no target for the plunging horns and slashing hooves.
The stag bellowed in pain, shaking its head from side to side and up and down in an attempt to dislodge the wolf. Tam clung ever tighter, using his weight to inflict as much damage and pain as possible.
The stag screamed, a high-pitched strangled sound, and lifted its head high, trying to shake Tam loose. Mika, who had been waiting for just such a moment, flung himself upward, seized the stag's throat between his jaws, and bit down with all his strength.
The stag shrieked, blood burbling thickly in its throat, even as it flowed into Mika's. Mika clung until he felt the great beast shudder and stumble off balance. Only then did he release his hold.
The stag foundered, its knees buckling beneath it as the blood poured from its mangled mouth and spurted from the ruptured arteries in thick gouts. It attempted to rise and failed.
Tam and Mika were on the stag before it crashed to the ground, ripping, slashing, tearing into the still-living flesh.
They ate their fill of the sweet, hot meat, wrenching off great chunks and gulping them down whole till their sides bulged and they could hold no more.
They lapped the thick, salty blood and lay swollen and sated in the middle of the bloody carnage.
Mika was exhausted but filled with a sense of satisfaction. He and Tam looked at each other, and Mika felt love swell in his breast for the creature who was now his brother in truth. He knew that they were truly kin after this night, their bond greater than any shared by wolf and man. Tam looked into his eyes and laughed, tongue lolling, as though to say, "You see what you have missed all these years?" And Mika could not but agree.
They were cleaning the blood off their pelts when they heard the first yapping hyena howl. They leaped to their feet and listened carefully, pinpointing both the direction and the distance.
Taking hold of the stag, they began to drag it back toward camp, hoping that they could reach it in time, knowing that there were too many of the dangerous enemy to fight them off.
They were better than halfway back when Mika felt the peculiar tingling which he now recognized as the onset of the end of the spell. He sat down on his haunches and waited, realizing that it might be easier to carry the stag in his human form, and glad that he was on the ground and not in mid-air.
The transformation was less traumatic than the first time, since he now knew what to expect. He shivered and rubbed his hands over his arms as the cold night air raised bumps on his chilled flesh.
Tam stared at him with amusement and perhaps just a touch of pity.
"All right, all right," said Mika, "but at least I can carry the damn thing instead of dragging it in my teeth. So be quiet and let's get out of here!"
He heaved the stag to his shoulder, staggering under the great weight. Blood dripped down his chest and back, no longer raising the same emotions it had evoked when he was still a wolf.
Mika also regretted loss of the ease with which he had traversed the forest earlier, trudging along heavily over ground he had covered so effortlessly only a short time before.
They reached the spot where he had left his clothes and he changed into them quickly, also retrieving the precious book. The howls of the hyenas had faded into the distance and he wondered if they had perhaps found some other prey.
Shouldering the stag once more, he and Tam made their way back to the spruce. He paused outside, inhaling the cold night air, more than a little reluctant to enter, to rejoin the race of man, to let go of what he had been privileged to share with Tam if only for a short time.
Tam pawed his leg. Placing the stag on the ground, Mika pushed aside the branches of the spruce and entered.
Chapter 18
Hornsbuck and Redtail greeted the arrival of the stag with much happiness. RedTail gobbled the numerous scraps greedily as Mika and Hornsbuck butchered the animal quickly and efficiently at the edge of the stream.
"By the Great She Wolf, you look as though you've bathed in the blood," Hornsbuck said with a laugh. "You'd best wash off. Anyone seeing you would think you'd rolled in the thing before you brought it back." Mika just smiled and did as he was told.
Hornsbuck could not understand Mika's refusal to partake of the stag, but lost no time in worrying about it, stuffing himself with great quantities of meat, barely waiting for it to sear over the tiny flame before he choked it down.
"Now that we have meat, can we leave?" Mika asked.
"Aye, we'll leave tomorrow," said Hornsbuck.
"And the gnolls…" began Mika.
"They'll never find us. You'll see!" said Hornsbuck, and then there was no more talking as he addressed himself to his food in a serious fashion that precluded speech.
RedTail slobbered and growled over a leg bone, bits of flesh and gristle dotting his thick red pelt, and Mika could not help but observe that man and beast bore a strong resemblance to each other.
Tam and Mika lay down together and tried to ignore the sounds of crunching and slurping.