"Maybe we should turn east again, " suggested Stador uneasily.
"I don't think so," Roble said, looking at Morlock. "You know what I'm thinking?"
Morlock grunted. "My enemy's enemy …"
"…is a fine distraction for my enemy," Roble finished.
"If you guys are planning on doing something," Naeli pointed out, "we need to know what it is."
"Look," Roble said, "suppose we go down there, drive off the spiderfolk-"
"That may be too much to hope for," Morlock observed. "If they're alone, they may stand and fight and we should be prepared to flee. But if others are coming, and they know it, they'll likely retreat and attack together in force."
"But by then," Roble said, nodding concessively to Morlock, "we'll be gone. And if there are any spiderfolk on our trail, when they come this far, they'll become occupied by that wolf-thing down there. And if it's gone by the time they return, they'll have a split traiclass="underline" ours and the wolf's."
"Werewolf's," Morlock said.
"Oh? I wondered how it could stand to be in the fire."
"Why do you have to run around killing things all the time?" Thend shouted at Morlock.
This was hardly fair, but Morlock took the question seriously. After a moment's thought he said, "I suppose I'd rather see them dead than you."
"But-" Thend noticed his mother glaring at him and he shut up.
Naeli turned to Roble and Morlock. "All right, if we're going to do this thing let's have some sort of plan. We'll all go into the valley, but Thend, Bann, Fasra, and I will hold back; you two and Stador will attack the spider folk and their snake-leopards. The rest of us will intervene only if necessary to help you escape. Agreed?"
Stador looked flattered to have his life put at risk, Bann annoyed that his wasn't. Roble said, "Right!" and Morlock nodded indifferently.
They ran together down into the valley; but at a certain point Naeli gestured, and Stador, Roble, and Morlock ran on alone.
"What's so special about them?" Fasra muttered, angry at being left behind.
"They're expendable," Naeli said dryly. Bann laughed at this, and even Fasra smiled, but Thend didn't think it was funny. His uncle Roble was the closest thing he'd ever had to a father. If Thend wanted any one thing in life it was to be more like Roble: handsome, fearless, never at a loss for words or actions. Should someone like that be thrown away just so that someone like Thend could live a little while longer? Thend couldn't see why.
Thend's feelings about Stador were mixed, but Morlock was another matter. If he wanted to lay down his life for Thend's sake, that was his business.
The crooked man ran, just as he walked, with an odd loping stride. He clapped Roble on the shoulder and said something to him, then veered off straight toward the fire while Roble and Stador swung to the right and rushed the spiderfolk there.
Morlock's monochrome sword glittered in his hand as he plunged into the line of snake-leopards and spiderfolk, kicking and stabbing. The snakeleopards yowled with dismay and the spiderfolk leapt aside: they had been intent on the werewolf hiding in the fire. Morlock ran straight to the border of the flames, where a stunted tree had partly collapsed into sullen embers. Morlock scooped up a fistful of live coals and scattered them among the spiderfolk nearest him.
Thend had been appalled the first time he saw Morlock reach into a campfire for a handful of coals that he proceeded to juggle for their somewhat-horrified amusement. Even though he understood that fire didn't affect the crooked man the way it affected other people, it was still hard to watch.
The spiderfolk screamed; one of them fell to the earth with a gooey sort of thump that was sickening to hear. The others retreated a ways, gathering their clouds of snake-leopards about them with wordlike hisses. Roble and Stador fell back and stood beside Morlock.
"Looks like they're going to stand and fight," Roble observed.
Morlock shrugged and waited.
The snake-leopards spread out in two wings, one of them charging straight toward each of the two groups.
"Get back with the others," Morlock snapped, and stepped into the fire beside the werewolf.
Roble and Stador ran back and joined their family. They formed themselves in a ragged line with blades drawn, waiting for the snake-leopards to mass and attack. Thend held his sword grip with both hands to keep from trembling, and he was glad to see he wasn't the only one doing that.
The snake-leopards massed together, but their attack never arrived. As they leapt toward the quivering line of blades, there came from behind the screaming hiss of the spiderfolk. Morlock and the werewolf were attacking them with fire, Morlock hurling fistfuls of live coals and the werewolf kicking up a steady stream of sparks and burning grass with its back legs.
The snake-leopards went back to protect their spidery masters, and the whole group fled south and west over the ridge.
Morlock and the werewolf stepped out of the fire on different sides. They said a few things to each other that Thend didn't catch. Then the werewolf stood there, a black smoldering wolf-shape with fire-red eyes, as Morlock turned and walked away.
"So you speak Wolf, too, Morlock?" Naeli said as the crooked man rejoined the group. Thend admired her nerve in being able to talk to him. But then, there was something of the monster in Naeli too. (And in himself? He was her son. But he didn't like to think about that.)
"Not really," Morlock said. "My sister knows more. I think he offered me part of his kill." Morlock gestured behind him at the fallen dragon. "I'm not sure if he was just boasting. He says he killed it last night while it was sleeping, and the spiderfolk took its rider: that would be your friend, I think," he said, glancing at Thend, who flinched.
To cover up his fear Thend said, "I'm surprised you didn't take any. I bet dragon meat is mighty tasty."
"Dragons think so," replied that horrible old man and turned away.
They went on out of the valley, north and east.
The march went on and on. During one of their rare and brief halts the adults were discussing whether they should find a place to sleep for the night. Morlock didn't think it was safe to strike the lights they would need to travel after dark, but Naeli argued it was still more dangerous to settle in a place where their enemies might come upon them. But they were well toward the eastern side of the pass now, nearer the Khroi than the spiderfolk, and Morlock was saying it was a good risk to stop and rest.
Thend stared away into the eastern sky, still hot and red with sunset.' There was a cloud of strange birds over there. It was as if their eyes were reflecting the sun, even though they were facing toward the night-dark western sky. After a while, as they got bigger and Thend was more sure that the evening light wasn't playing tricks with his own eyes, he pointed at them and asked, "What kind of birds are those?"
Morlock glanced over and swore, "Sustainer!"
"They're sustainer birds?" Stador asked, not understanding.
"It is the dragon cavalry of a Khroic horde," said Morlock, in something nearer his ordinary speaking voice. "My friends, I have led you astray. We must part company here. I will do my best to draw them away from you. Bear north as straight as you can and God Sustainer be with you."
"But they can't have seen us yet," Roble protested. "Let's take cover and talk it over."
"We have no time to debate," Morlock said. "If we can see them, they have seen us. It was my fault we didn't turn west after we left the werewolf. Save yourselves and go!" He shouldered his pack and ran off eastward, toward the dragons.
Roble turned away from the fiery eastern sky, his dark face twisted with a dark emotion. "Let's go, then," he said, "and save ourselves." He said it like a curse.