Read Enchanter's End Game for Free Online Page A

danger.
    The old man's nocturnal roamings were as silent as smoke, but they did not pass unnoticed. Early one morning, before the sun rose and while the trees were still hazy and half obscured by ground fog, several shadowy shapes drifted among the dark trunks and stopped not far away. Garion, who had just risen and was preparing to stir up the fire, froze half bent over. As he slowly straightened, he could feel eyes on him, and his skin prickled peculiarly. Perhaps ten feet away stood a huge, dark gray wolf. The wolf's expression was serious, and its eyes were as yellow as sunlight. There was an unspoken question in those golden eyes, and Garion realized that he understood that question.
    "One wonders why you are doing that?"
    "Doing what?" Garion asked politely, responding automatically in the language of wolves.
    "Going about in that peculiar form."
    "It's necessary to do it."
    "Ah." With exquisite courtesy the wolf did not pursue the matter further. "One is curious to know if you don't find it somewhat restricting," he noted however.
    "It's not as bad as it looks - once one gets used to it."
    The wolf looked unconvinced. He sat down on his haunches. "One has seen the other one several times in the past few darknesses," he said in the manner of wolves, "and one is curious to know why you and he have come into our range."
    Garion knew instinctively that his answer to that question was going to be very important. "We are going from one place to another," he replied carefully. "It is not our intention to seek dens or mates in your range or to hunt the creatures that are yours." He could not have explained how he knew what to say.
    The wolf seemed satisfied with his response. "One would be pleased if you would present our esteem to the one with fur like frost," he said formally. "One has noted that he is worthy of great respect."
    "One would be pleased to give him your words," Garion responded, a bit surprised at how easily the elaborate phrasing came to him.
    The wolf lifted his head and sniffed at the air. "It is time for us to hunt," he said. "May you find what you seek."
    "May your hunt be successful," Garion returned.
    The wolf turned and padded back into the fog, followed by his companions.
    "On the whole, you handled that rather well, Garion," Belgarath said from the deep shadows of a nearby thicket.
    Garion jumped, a bit startled. "I didn't know you were there," he said.
    "You should have," the old man replied, stepping out of the shadows.
    "How did he know?" Garion asked. "That I'm a wolf sometimes, I mean?"
    "It shows. A wolf is very alert to that sort of thing."
    Silk came out from under the tree where he had been sleeping. The little man's step was wary, but his nose twitched with curiosity. "What was that all about?" he asked.
    "The wolves wanted to know what we were doing in their territory," Belgarath replied. "They were investigating to see if they were going to have to fight us."
    "Fight?" Garion was startled.
    "It's customary when a strange wolf enters the hunting range of another pack. Wolves prefer not to fight - it's a waste of energy - but they will, if the situation demands it."
    "What happened?" Silk asked. "Why did they just go away like that?"
    "Garion convinced them that we were just passing through."
    "That was clever of him."
    "Why don't you stir up the fire, Garion?" Belgarath suggested. "Let's have some breakfast and move on. It's still a long way to Mallorea, and we don't want to run out of good weather."
    Later that same day, they rode down into a valley where a collection of log houses and tents stood beside a fair-sized stream at the edge of a meadow.
    "Fur traders," Silk explained to Garion, pointing at the rough settlement. "'There are places like this on just about every major stream in this part of the forest." The little man's pointed nose began to twitch, and his eyes grew bright. "A lot of buying and selling goes on in these little towns."
    "Never mind," Belgarath told him pointedly.