Razhak then I will see what happens.”
“You have a lot of confidence in your own ability, don’t you?” She sounded envious.
“I’ve done this sort of thing before.”
“And that’s the secret, isn’t it? To confidence, I mean. How do you do it the first time though?”
“You fumble your way through and you do your best to appear to know what you are doing.”
“Is that what you did?”
“For the most part. I was also trained to do this. It helps. A lot.”
“An order of monks who are trained to kill. It sounds more exciting than praying for the souls of the dead.”
“I won’t argue about that.”
“But you could?”
He shrugged. Somewhere in the distance a howl rang out. It was eerily loud. It sounded like a wolf but it was not. There was something oddly human about its tones. Petra had frozen on the spot. Her face was pale and devoid of colour. Her knife was in her hands but she looked as if she wanted to dive into the nearest bush.
“It seems like Massimo’s pets are getting ready to hunt,” she said. Her voice sounded shaky, as if she was having some difficulty forcing the words out. She swallowed and waited for him to say something. He just listened.
“They are still a long way off. The sound carries a fair distance in these valleys.”
“They are going to be looking for us soon.”
“They are going to be looking for me. You can still run.” She looked embarrassed.
“I don’t want to be on my own in these mountains with the Wolves running free.”
“We’re heading towards an army.”
“I can be as sneaky as you. I have hunted these hills since I was a little girl. And I want to be there when you kill Razhak. I want to see him pay for what he did to Tam.”
“I am not sure that is a good idea.”
“You think I am not up for it?”
“I’ve seen people who have had to deal with possessed relatives before. It’s not pleasant. They sometimes forget what has happened and demons can be very persuasive.”
“It won’t happen to me.”
“I wish I was as certain of anything, as you are of everything.”
“You are getting old, Guardian.”
“I know it.” They moved on.
Below them the valley was visible in the early evening gloom. Smoke rose from campfires around which sat a number of men. A tower loomed on the opposite ridge overlooking the other side of the valley. A silvery dome topped the roof. It has the ancient look of most lunar fortifications in the area. The moondogs had been in this land a long time before the Sun worshippers came. It had been theirs once, just as the dying wolf-man had claimed.
The tower’s age in no way detracted from its aura of strength. The position was very defensible, the only approach up the line of the ridge, a narrow road along which not many troops could advance at a time. Anyone coming up the road would be visible to defenders from a long way off. Anyone standing on the battlements would have a clear view of the surrounding land.
Kormak was glad that Petra had the native wit not to stand. He had left his horse back down the path a ways, and crawled forward to take a look. He did not want to be silhouetted against the brow of the ridge if anyone glanced in their direction.
“There are several hundred men down there, and most likely Wolves in the tower. They are not all out hunting us,” Petra said. “Massimo must want to keep a guard close to him.”
“Maybe he does not trust Razhak,” Kormak said. “I can’t say I would blame him.”
“You think he took possession of one of the Wolves?”
“It would not do him much good.”
“How so?”
“The wolf-man is already possessed. It has a spirit of Shadow bound within its form. It would fight possession by Razhak and even if he snatched the body, he would have none of its powers. They would go with the Shadow Spirit.”
“He might have powers of his own.”
“He most certainly does. He is a life drinker.”
“And that does not scare you?”
“My amulets will protect me.”
“I wish I had one.”
“I need all the ones I have.”
“I wasn’t asking. I was just saying.” She was very touchy and, of course, she had been asking. As they watched the gate of the tower opened and a pack of monstrous shapes emerged howling. They raced down the path and joined a group of riders. All of them departed from the