In Silence Waiting Read Online Free Page A

giving them vivid pictures of select individuals, Merk the most prominent among them.
    When evening comes, I curl under the wagon. Keeping my sense stretched all day with only my feet in contact with the ground has exhausted me. I barely notice the accusing looks or the bitter smell of hatred that radiates from the humans. I fall quickly asleep.

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    Sometime after dark, the lir rouse from their slumber. I wake with them, my sense embedded in their awareness. They can no longer separate out my mental presence.
    The lir approach the camp and spread out, no longer in visual range of one another. The pack mind keeps them synchronized. The leader now presents my images of Merk and those who follow him to the pack mind. I add my experience of their scents and stretch my sense further to locate those individuals within the camp. I must divert the pack away from easier victims if I am to rid myself of Merk and his ilk.
    Two lir move ahead and both watchmen fall silently, their necks efficiently crushed in powerful jaws. Lir don’t kill their victims quickly. My influence has altered their tactics.
    I smell one of the lir moving towards my physical self. Alarm makes it hard to focus. The pack mind begins responding to my fear, hesitating in their approach. I take advantage of the discovery, pushing fear upon them in small doses to direct them. I feed them images of carnage along with strategic doses of fear, guiding their progress through the camp to precise points of attack.
    With another tendril of my consciousness, I try to give Mariss a mental shake. Her conscious mind sparks to life and I try something I’ve never done before. Mimicking the methods of the alpha male, I send images of the pack to her. She may not understand, but I must try.
    I smell Merk through the senses of one lir now. I withdraw from Mariss, hoping she understood my warning, and focus on the well-positioned predator. Merk and the man with the rasping voice are talking in hushed voices, unaware of the deadly creature closing in.
    Merk turns when screams ring out through the camp. The noise startles me and my momentary distraction leaves the lir open to make its own decisions. The predator lunges from under a wagon and swipes out with its foreleg, the large inside claw ripping out tendons and muscle in the back of the rasping man’s leg.
    I ease my sense away from the other lir while they drag their victims from the camp. The lir near Merk is starting to drag its victim away. Diving into it with the full force of my ability, I bombard the animal with images of slaughter and feasting, reestablishing Merk as the central victim. For a few seconds, it resists, still dragging its writhing victim.
    A shot rings out and blinding agony staggers me. I add my hatred to the flood of pain rage that surges through the lir, directed at the man who just shot it. Offering mental fortitude to the animal, I ride with it as it lunges at Merk. He stares, frozen in shock, the guns trigger still depressed, and belatedly staggers back. The lir’s powerful jaws close on Merk’s face, teeth crushing through bone with immense force.
    A rush of victory pumps through me, but there is more to do. I reestablish contact with the pack mind, feeding them images of guns and dying lir. My sense batters them, driving them back with their kills.
    I hear a low growl and smell blood in the warm breath blowing in my face. Most of my sense narrows to the threatening lir and I see myself through its eyes. It is the alpha male. I share its satisfaction at having found the imposter even as my fear surges through the link and sends the rest of the pack into full retreat.
    This one does not run. Reaching under the wagon, the lir hooks its long claw into my thigh and drags me out. I feel burning pain as I watch the predator inflict it from behind his eyes. I howl in agony. The lir growls, excitement rising in response to my cry, saliva dripping off long canines. I watch through its eyes, afraid to return