Mickey Reichert: Dragonrank master

Taziar's composure broke. "Wait!" he screamed. "There must be something I can do for you. Isn't there anything you need or want? Anything…"

The wolf shook its head so hard, its jowls slapped against its teeth. "So long as I remain tied here, I have no needs." It lowered its head. Its feet kneaded deeper into Taziar's legs, and its whiskers brushed his nose.

Seeking any opening, Taziar asked the logical question. "And if you weren't tied?"

The wolf drew back its head. Its expression went soft, and its red-hued eyes held a faraway look.

For an instant, Taziar felt almost sorry for the monster which threatened his life. He read deep sadness in the wolf's demeanor and another emotion, indescribable yet familiar.

"Freed," said the wolf, its booming voice softening. "I would slay a light elf named Allerum and his battle-crazed swordmaster, the ronin, Gaelinar. They killed my father."

Overwhelmed by memories, Taziar closed his eyes. He recalled the restlessness which had driven him from the day of his own father's death and inspired his insane love for challenges. He recalled how his quest for vengeance had drawn him from his home, everyone and everything he cared about, and eventually forced him to take a man's life. "I… understand." Hoping to gain the wolfs good will, he explained further. "I, too, had occasion to avenge my father's murder. The success was hollow. My father is still dead. But now I have to live with his slayer's blood on my conscience. And I realized this long before I killed him."

"But you killed him anyway," the wolf finished.

"I killed him for other reasons. Ilyrian was a cruel, unscrupulous worm. Left alive, he would have murdered others and broken a score of families…"

The wolf loosed a lungful of harsh laughter. "You ignorant little peon! The crimes this Ilyrian might have perpetrated are of no significance. By killing my father, Allerum and Gaelinar may have destroyed the fabric of the universe."

Taziar met the wolfs glaring eyes. There was no doubt in his mind that the wolf was telling the truth. "Explain."

"Shadow." The wolfs tone became conversational. "Think of our world as a glass rod with a force pulling the two ends in opposite directions. Call one power Law, the other Chaos."

Taziar nodded, looking interested. As long as the wolf talked, he remained alive and able to compose a plan of escape. "Go on."

"Imagine Law and Chaos in a constant struggle to own that bar. So long as they have equal strength, it remains undisturbed. But, if that balance becomes skewed, the glass rod, our world, falls to the ground and shatters. Can you picture it?"

Taziar nodded, though not fully certain of the analogy. He wriggled slightly beneath the wolf's paw and met instant resistance.

The black line of the wolf's mouth twitched upward at the corners, but its tone remained deadly serious. "My father was the strongest proponent on the side of Chaos. When Allerum and Gaelinar took his life, they obliterated him completely, body and soul. He exists on none of our nine worlds: not Asgard, not Hel, not Midgard. The balance has been tipped. The result, Shadow? If not put right soon, our worlds will suffer frill annihilation, too. All men, gods, and every manner of creature will die."

A vast silence followed the wolf's revelation. Taziar studied the beast's face for some evidence of deception. But the concern in the wolf's fiery eyes was undeniable. Its intonation and stance conveyed a wickedness beyond that of any man, but it betrayed no signs of falsehood. For all the impossibility of its implications, the wolf was telling what it believed to be the truth. Still, Taziar questioned. "And the solution?"

"Shadowman, it has become your destiny to fulfill my vengeance."

It seemed to Taziar that their conversation had come full circle. He studied the wolf's powerful jaws, the evil gleam in its eyes, and the tensely bunched muscles beneath its heavy coat of fur. He knew the beast could cause more than its share of deviltry on Midgard. Gritting his teeth, Taziar gathered his courage. "I don't believe in destiny," he said softly. "And I'd gladly let you eat me before I'd free you to kill innocents, Wolf." Taziar cringed, anticipating the beast's wrath.

But the wolf accepted Taziar's proclamation easily. "F‹?nmwulf," it corrected. "Or Fenrir or the Fenris Wolf." It hesitated, as if expecting Taziar to recognize its name. When it received no further reaction, it continued. "Your words are very brave and also very stupid. The destiny I spoke of has already been fulfilled. If you untie me, I admit I will kill; Gaelinar and Allerum will be the first to die. If I eat you, I remain here. The world is destroyed. All of creation dies, including Gaelinar and Allerum. In either case, you have caused my vengeance to be fulfilled. But which way results in the death of more innocents, Shadow?"

Taziar bit his lower lip, drenched in cold sweat. His eyes followed the slender line of Fenrir's fetter. Perhaps I'm wrong. Perhaps Fenriswulf is lying . Taziar's alternatives paraded before him. If the wolf is telling the truth and I don't free it, the world will end. If it has invented this story and I do allow it to escape, innocent people will die . Taziar frowned, presented with equally unsatisfying options. He had no odds to play. Despite the seeming impossibility of the wolf's claims, Taziar trusted his own ability to judge expressions. His survival as a con man had depended on it too many times for him to doubt now. It's being honest, at least partially. And it has promised to kill these men, Allerum and Gaelinar, first. Therefore, while those two live, the remainder of the world is safe from Fenrir. And I will see to it they survive as long as possible ! He spoke aloud. "These men who killed your father will be your first victims?''

"Man and elf," Fenrir amended. "I swear upon my father's honor. I will kill no one in Midgard before them." Its eyes narrowed suddenly. "Why?"

"No good reason." A sensation of pins and needles made Taziar's legs ache. "I've decided to free you. If I'm going to feel responsible for your wreaking havoc on the world, I just want to make certain the men who caused the trouble will die first. Now what do I have to do? That ribbon hardly seems strong enough to hold a wolf."

"It's magicked." Fenrir stepped off Taziar's legs and raised a forepaw. "It can't be snapped, but it can be untied. I don't have the necessary hands."

Taziar clambered to his feet and waited while the numbness in his legs faded. He peeled dried blood from the frayed skin and calluses on his fingertips.

Patiently, the Fenris Wolf waited while Taziar prepared.

At length, Taziar stooped by the wolf's ankle and seized the knot. The string lay limp in his hands, constructed of some material he had never seen before. Though smooth as a thread of silk, it felt tough and firm. Dirt coated the knot; it had assumed its present condition through centuries of remaining tied in the same position. It had cinched flush to the wolf's skin, disrupting the fur in a ring. Taziar sighed. In his days with the gang of rogues, one of the tricks he had performed to win food money from passersby consisted of freeing himself from tightly bound ropes. The talent had served him well in later years. But, despite long hours of practice with joints, locks, and links, Taziar knew this knot might defy even his expertise. Resigned, he set his broken fingernails to the fetter.

For a quarter of an hour, Taziar sweated and struggled with the time-stiffened knot amidst Fenrir's growled epithets and insults. He stood, stretched cramps from his legs, and studied his dilemma from a duferent perspective. It is a slip knot . Taziar dropped back to a crouch. Carefully, he worked his little finger behind the wolf's leg and along the edge of the fetter. The string pinched his flesh painfully against the beast's shank. He flexed his finger, and the bonds gave slightly. He tensed again, gaining just enough space to insert another digit. He removed both hands from the ribbon of fabric and pinned the knot to the ground with his foot. "Bring your leg up and forward, slowly now."