Send a spelling or grammar correction to: Tracy Johnson
This is a first draft of a story set in the world of Greyhawk.
It is based on a home campaign so some of the people, places and things
may be different. Any helpful comments or suggestions are very welcome.
Thanks
Jason Zavoda
"Welp! Half-breed!" the snow-haired woman spat at Gentian.
She ran her dark blade down the mercenaries sword. The silver metal
seemed to scream as the black edge scraped to the hilt.
The words were cut off with a grunt as Gentian lunged forward
and rammed her shoulder into the woman's chest. The chain shirt clashed
like a set of chimes, the crystal links ringing sharply but falling
silent in an instant. The magic armor spread the force of the blow
from link to link protecting the wearer from any damage.
"Down half-breed!" the woman slammed the hilt of her sword
into Gentian's head, denting the steel cap that the mercenary wore,
and knocking her to one knee. The black-metal blade rose up for another
stroke as a hurtling body sent both women tumbling from their feet.
Impaled on the topspike of Welf's halberd, the huge wolf, one of
the woman's consorts, was lifted and driven backward. Welf pulled his
weapon free leaving the wolf tangled with the snow haired woman. As he
stood over Gentian's body, the half-elven warrior rolled back and
struggled to her feet.
The howl from a dying worg rose above the noise of the fight.
>From the corner of his eye Welf caught sight of the bloodied tiger-beast
where Kassar should have been. His head turned to watch the creature tear
apart a worg with tooth and claw, then throw the mangled body into the
pack.
The worgs attacked in a rush and pulled Kassar down, but Welf
didn't see what happened next. His attention was torn away. He jerked his
head back toward the dark-skinned woman as something tried to pull the
halberd from his grasp. The big wolf had changed into a man taller and
broader than Welf himself and had both hands on the haft below the blade.
"Hey!" Welf exclaimed. The man was stronger than a bull, stronger
than Welf. "I know, " he muttered between clenched teeth, "take it."
As the man pulled, Welf let the halberd go. He fell back and
crashed into the snow-haired woman behind him. The spike atop the polearm
went through a link in the crystal chain. Her shriek was filled more with
outrage than with pain. A small trickle of blood ran beneath he armor and
down her leg.
Gentian threw her metal cap at the man. He'd dropped the halberd
and tried to block it, but the cap smacked him above the eye. The point of
Gentian's blade slid low beneath his ribs and along his side. She yanked
the blade back, the enchanted metal sliced through him in a spray of
blood.
The haft of the halberd slammed up between the big man's legs.
Welf grimaced in empathy, though he had not hesitated to put all his
strength into the blow, but Gentian saw only the opportunity to strike
again. Her blade swept back and left a deep, bleeding cut. She used a
backhand blow to lay open the man's arm from wrist to shoulder.
He grabbed the wound trying to press the raw edges together and
howled. Twisting to one side, he ducked beneath Gentian's sword and he
changed. His flesh seemed to shift like liquid, his human form disappeared
as if it were made of smoke and a strong wind scattered it in a hundred
fading tendrils. He was a wolf again, running on three legs up the hill.
"Your blade saved you." growled the woman. She changed herself
as her companion had done. Quick as a deer she flew across the ground,
up the road and past the bigger wolf. She disappeared into the darkness of
the wood and only then, once she was safely hidden, did she call
for the survivors of the pack to join her.
* * *
(To Be Continued...)