The Hunter Read Online Free

with a clang, turning the blade aside and striking the ledge at the last moment.
    Something in the young eyes held him, spoke to him in a language beyond speech. He could not kill the pup. Braldt was filled
     with confusion that he did not understand. How could he allow a lupebeast pup to live? It was unthinkable. And yet there was
     something about the eyes…
    Braldt cocked his head to one side and studied the pup, and it cocked its head and stared back. It might have been a trick
     of the light, but it seemed that the pup’s eyes glinted with humor and one corner of its lips tilted up with the hint of a
     grin so familiar that it nearly stopped Braldt’s heart.
    Artallo! Could it be? It was said that lupebeasts were dishonored warriors born again. But Artallo had never dishonored himself
     or his rank. Could it be that the spirit of his friend had somehow found its way into this small creature’s body?
    Braldt turned his back on the animal, his thoughts raging inside his head. He raised his dagger once but lowered it immediately,
     knowing that he would be unable to kill the creature. Disgust and anger pulsed within him as he crossed to the carcass and
     withdrew his sword, wiping the gore from the blade on the beast’s flanks. Only then did he take note of the heavy dugs and
     realize that he had slain a nursing female. He wondered briefly what the cubs had eaten while the shebeast had been away from
     the lair, for she had been gone for more than six moonsets. But the thought vanished when he saw that the pup had crawled
     down from the ledge and was sitting at his feet staring up at him expectantly.
    Braldt was shaken, his mind filled with conflicting thoughts. A silent voice urged him to take the pup and return with it,
     but another voice argued that the pup was a dangerous enemy and commanded him to kill it immediately.
    Braldt turned from the pup’s bright eyes and staggeredtoward the entrance, scarcely aware of the blood running down his legs or the numerous other wounds that he had sustained.
     The cool night air licked at his skin, bringing with it the clean scent of water, and he hurried forward, unthinking.
    Suddenly the light was blotted from view and a great weight struck him full in the chest carrying him backward into the cave,
     toppling him from his feet. He struck the ground heavily, the air forced from his lungs, and rolled to the side, more from
     habit and training than from cogent thought. Only when he heard the deep, rumbling growl did he realize that he had been attacked
     by a second lupebeast.
    Braldt reacted swiftly, bringing up his hands and seizing the beast’s neck, desperately attempting to keep its jaws from finding
     his own throat. The hot stink of its breath came full upon his face, all but gagging him with its foulness. Thick, clotted
     growls of fury came from the creature’s jaws and ropes of foamy drool looped across his face and neck. Flinging himself to
     one side, Braldt sought to throw the animal from himself in order to reach his sword, but the animal found its footing and
     dove forward, jaws snapping, seizing his upper shoulder in its teeth.
    Braldt felt the teeth sink through the heavy muscles and scrape the very bone itself. The pain was akin to being immersed
     in fire. Now the lupebeast was scrambling for a foothold and jerking him backward like some recalcitrant bit of dead meat.
     Braldt all but fainted from the pain. Darkness swept over him and explosions of red cartwheeled before his eyes as the taste
     of coppery bile filled his throat. Each time the beast tugged at his arm, the darkness came closer.
    The pain had him now, totally engulfing his mind from his body in a way that he did not understand. While his body was being
     mauled by the beast, his mind dealt with the problem. At least one, if not both, of the great curved incisors had penetrated
     his shoulder, as well as both rows of teeth at the front of the jaw. Those teeth pointed inward and back, which