The Sworn Knight by Robert Ryan (novels to read txt) 📕

shaded his eyes from the rising sun. “Will shenot try all the harder to flee from us, then?”

Savanest grinned. “But of course, yet what does thatmatter?” He pointed to the were-hound that sat on its haunches near the men,its head tilted and its ears pricked, listening.

“We have the means to find her anywhere, now. But we stillmust be quick.”

Gently, Savanest touched the were-stone about his neck andpulsed magic into it. He felt a moment of uncertainty about what he was doing,but then he pushed it aside. Necessity demanded the action he would take.

“Men,” he said. “You have served me well. And I know youhave more yet to give. Are you ready to serve your king and realm?”

The captain saluted. “I’m ready, my lord!”

There were shouts from the soldiers as well, but not all ofthem.

Savanest infused more magic into the stone, and he sent itout like ripples in a pond to all the other stones.

“Are you ready, men?” he asked again.

This time there was a roar of approval. But the hound thathad once been a man began to growl. No one paid it any heed.

Again, Savanest sent a pulse of magic through the stone.Rarely had he ever held such power. His strength was growing day by day.Whether it was enhanced by the Morleth Stone or the controlling were-stone thathe wore about his own neck, he did not know. But he liked it.

“Let the world tremble!” he cried out. “For we are coming!”

“We are coming!” the men shouted back. They stamped theirboots and clapped their hands. Some lifted high their heads and unleashed aprimal sound that contained no words but spoke of their eagerness.

Savanest surveyed them. They were almost a pack of wolvespreparing to set out on a hunt, and he laughed. But he concentrated once more.

One last pulse of magic he sent through the stone about hisneck and into the others. One last invocation of power, and the change wouldbegin and nothing could stop it.

The captain screamed first. He drew his sword, but onlylooked at it in bewilderment. Then he screamed again and cast the blade aside.He had no use for it anymore.

Or perhaps it was because his fingers grew together, and fursprouted down his arms. He screamed again, though maybe it was a howl.

Rolling to the ground, the captain moaned and frothed at themouth. But his mouth disappeared as a snout grew. Wicked teeth gleamed as thelips were pulled back, and the eyes darkened to deep pits of animalistichatred.

He knew what had been done to him, at least that part of himthat retained human thought and emotion, but that did not matter. He must obeythe stone he wore.

But still he thrashed on the ground. Fur sprouted everywhereover his skin, and his body changed, stretching and altering shape. The clotheshe wore split, and he bit and chewed at the leather belt that his sword sheathhung from. With a snarl, he bit through it, and then snapped at the boots thathung in tatters around his lengthened paws.

The captain was soon gone, and a were-hound rose to allfours in his place.

Savanest looked around. Of the soldiers that had faced himbefore, he now saw his new servants. Or at least the beginnings of what theywould be. Many had stayed mostly human, but all showed some sign of the change.They waked on two legs, yet snouts had grown on some. On others, tufted earsstood out. Some had the round shoulders of bears, while the bristled skin andtusks of boars stood out on others.

With the last of his magic, Savanest infused the stones theywore with a final surge of power. This would give them endurance and speed torun. Then he drew on the magic to sustain himself so that he could keep up withthem.

He looked at the tracker hound that had watched all this andwhimpered. Was he glad now to have companions?

With a surge of thought through the stone, he told the houndwhat he wanted, and it leaped to the chase. The hunt was on now in earnest, andFerla would learn even greater fear.

21. A Debt Repaid

The elù-drak approached, and Menendil held his sword ina trembling grip. He had heard the legends, and just before he had heard Caludreth’swarning. Do not look into her eyes.

But he could not help himself. Like water that must rundownhill, his gaze met her own against his will.

And she smiled at him. She was beautiful. She was everythinghe had ever desired. In her arms…

He looked away, and there was a hiss from the creature. Shewas not as beautiful now, and the lips that once held promises were pulled backto reveal gleaming teeth, but it was no smile.

“Back!” he cried, and he waved his sword threateningly. Allhis wits and skill with a blade seemed to have deserted him, but at least he wasavoiding that deadly gaze.

“Come to me,” she whispered, and stepped closer.

He would rather have fled, but he knew that if he did so shewould be on his back quicker than thought, teeth biting and hands ripping.

“Come to me,” she implored again, and there was a note ofdisappointment in her voice. Perhaps she sensed that having nearly succumbed toher once, but resisting, he would not easily fall victim to her lure a secondtime.

Nor would he. He strengthened his will. If he were to diehere, at least it would be fighting and not as a slave to her.

The fighting would come soon, for she spoke no more andstalked toward him. Her every move was grace, and the wings behind her flared alittle at each step. She almost floated toward him, part walking and partflying.

He saw the wicked spurs at the elbow joints of her wings,and he concentrated on these, shifting his gaze from one to the other so as notto look into her eyes.

It was the spurs that were his greatest danger. Almost, hefancied, he could see the deadly poison they contained glisten on theirsurface. One scratch from those and he would be finished.

She came at him in a rush. With a snarl and flaring wingsshe attacked, but he was ready