the edge of the camp, looking about. Then it shook its head, vigorously, as though to rid himself of some clinging parasite. It rose up a bit, and then sank down again. For such a large animal, seemingly agile, and sinuous, it had seemed momentarily unsteady.
I did not understand this.
“Kill it!” cried Tuza.
“It is a beautiful beast, do not harm it,” said the leader.
“It is recovering,” said one of the leader’s men.
“How much did you give it?” asked the leader of one of his men.
“Enough to hold a sleen until morning,” said the fellow.
“I think not this sleen,” said the leader.
“It is a wondrous and mighty beast,” said the fellow who had been addressed as Aeson.
The muzzle of that broad head then lay upon the leaves.
Its eyes were half closed.
“Let it alone,” said the leader.
“Look at the nostrils,” whispered Aeson.
“Yes,” said the leader.
“It is taking scent,” said Genak.
I then saw the round eyes of the beast open widely. A low sound, a growl of sorts came from that monstrous form.
“It has taken scent,” said a fellow.
The long, pointed ears of the beast then lay back against the sides of its head.
“Kill it!” begged Tuza.
Suddenly Tula and Mila, who were with me, withdrew from my side, backing away. I did not understand this. I suddenly found myself alone, no one within several feet of me.
“Is it hunting?” asked the fellow who had asked this before.
“It is, now,” said the leader.
I saw the eyes of the beast fasten upon me. It crouched down. “No!” I said.
“Do not move!” said the leader to me.
“She was a runaway!” screamed Tuza. “Kill her, before the beast goes mad in the camp.”
“Remain perfectly still,” said the leader to me.
The beast now crouched down, eyeing me, just a few feet from me. It began to growl. It scratched dirt, deeply furrowing it. Clearly it was becoming excited. Its tail began to lash.
“It is going to attack,” said a man.
“Do not move,” said the leader. “Remain perfectly still.”
Suddenly the beast, with a spattering of dirt behind it, rushed forward and I screamed and felt that broad snout thrusting against me, excitedly, prodding and rubbing. I put my hands before my eyes, and the snout, pushing here and there, explored me. My tunic was ripped on the side. There was saliva from its jaws on my thigh, and under the softness of its jaw’s fur, the jaws rubbing against me, I felt the curved knives of fangs.
The beast then, as though satisfied, circled me twice, and then crouched down, eyeing me, clearly ready to spring.
“Do not move,” the leader cautioned me. Then he turned to Aeson. “The beast is impatient,” he said. “Free and bring the guests from our camp. Hurry!” The leader then turned again to me. “The sleen is uncertain what to do,” he said. “This is dangerous, very dangerous. The use master is not present. It is he who must restrain the beast. Only he will know the signals. Only he can handle the leash with impunity.”
“In the wild,” said a fellow, “when the hunt is done, the sleen attacks, kills, and feeds.”
“The use master is being fetched,” said a man.
“How much time is there?” asked a fellow.
“I do not know,” said the leader. Then he said to me, “Do not move.”
Then the sleen turned about, and faced the edge of the camp, the direction from which he had emerged from the forest, put back his head, and howled.
“It is announcing the end of the hunt?” said a fellow.
“No,” said the leader. “That is not in the training.”
“What then?” asked a man.
“It does not understand the absence of the use master,” said the leader. “It has not encountered this situation before. It does not know what to do. It is puzzled, and frustrated.”
“The hunt is done,” said a man.
“It always feeds at the end of the hunt,” said a fellow.
“Blood will tip the scale,” said a man.
“How long does she have?” asked Genak.
“It depends on the animal,” said the leader.
The beast had turned away from me. It could not see me. Was this not my opportunity? Would there be another? I turned about, and fled toward the river. I heard a scrambling in the dirt behind me, and stopped suddenly, almost falling, for the beast was now before me, between me and the river, head down, snarling.
“It is going to feed!” I heard.
Someone screamed, perhaps Tula.
“Back away, slowly,” called the leader, soothingly. “Return to where the sleen found you, where you were before, exactly. I recommend