Night of Wolves

Read Night of Wolves for Free Online Page B

Book: Read Night of Wolves for Free Online
Authors: David Dalglish
Tags: Fantasy, Epic, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Sword & Sorcery
fate is better than what I would have given.”
    “It is worse,” said Yellowscar. He pressed his stomach flat against the ground. “A group of humans ventured into the Wedge, led by two terrible men, one with a sword of fire, the other a shield of light. We killed many before they could retreat, but we lost six of our own.”
    Redclaw felt anger flare through his veins. He’d led an assault on two hundred orcs and lost twelve, yet Yellowscar and the rest of his scouts lost half that to a mere party of humans?
    “They will know we are coming,” Redclaw growled, his voice deep and dangerously quiet. “They will send for men from the towers, armed with metal skin and cowardly bows. You let Rotfur’s bloodlust go unchecked. I said watch, and see if the waters are safe to cross. You fail me, Yellowscar.”
    “I know,” Yellowscar said, his snout pressed to the dirt.
    Redclaw grabbed him by the neck and hoisted him to his feet.
    “Wolf does not kill wolf,” he said, staring into Yellowscar’s eyes. “You will pay back your mistakes. When the men come down the river, you will be ready, and you will be the one at the front of the attack.”
    “I understand, pack leader.”
    Redclaw dropped him and ordered him away. His rage still beat through his veins, and he knew his vow might be tested should the young scout remain in his sight. Fearful for his plan, he looked back at his pups. They deserved far better a home than the Wedge. Beyond the Gihon there was plentiful game, creatures they saw rarely. Deer, with meat so soft. Rabbits, which squealed when biting into their tender flesh. Streams, with water clean and light on the tongue…
    “We will escape your prison,” Redclaw growled to the west, imagining the legion of humans that would quake with fear at the sound of his howl. His words were a promise, a vow to which he had sworn his entire life. “We will escape your blades. It is we, the wolves, who will feast.”

 
     
     
     
     
    4

     
     
    D espite the respect his men showed him, despite the importance lauded on him by the nearby villages, Sir Robert Godley knew his position was an insult, the best King Marcus Baedan could think of for one of his station.
    “The seer says this winter will be a harsh one,” said one of his lieutenants and closest friends, a slender man named Daniel Coldmine.
    “Who, that old crone in Dunbree?” asked Robert, staring out the window of the great tower overlooking the Gihon. “She also said I’d fall for a lovely lass come my fortieth birthday, but she’d only betray me. Been a decade past that, and still no lass.”
    “Maybe she meant King Baedan,” Daniel said, joining him at the window, a smug grin on his face. Robert chuckled. Perhaps Daniel was right. He looked down at his portly body, remembering a time when it had been all muscle, his heavy fingers calloused from the daily wear of his sword’s hilt. But that had been before the disastrous defeat at the hands of the elves years before. They’d chased their kind out of Mordan for good, but at the southern bridge leading to Ker, the elves had sent their greatest to make their stand. The magic they’d wielded was immense, godlike powers he still saw in his nightmares. Boulders of ice the size of houses had crashed through his ranks, and fire had rained from the sky, each piece of burning hail bigger than his fist.
    “Baedan’s no lass,” Robert said. “He’s just a spineless bigot, Karak curse his name.”
    Daniel pointed to where smoke burned in the far distance inside the Wedge.
    “A hunting party, perhaps?” he asked. “Orcs? Or have the hyena-men finally learned how to make fire?”
    “No matter,” said Robert. “It’s too far away. I won’t lead what few men I have in a hopeless chase of distant smoke.”
    “There was a time when we would have ridden across those dead plains on a hundred horses,” Daniel said, a wistful look coming over his face. “The damned creatures feared the very sight of

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