T Lain - Plague of Ice

“Foolish hound!” Savanak roared. “Do you think your cheap magic trick impresses me?”

Sonja, now capable only of wolf language, snarled back.

“This is no trick. I command the forces of nature, the same forces that hate you and that you despise. My challenge stands.” She cast a glance at Savanak’s wolf minions, standing attentively on the sidelines. “They accept it, so you must as well.”

“You are beneath me, runt human.” He spat out the last word with particular venom.

“Prove it,” said Sonja. “Do it without your breath weapon.”

“And you without your degenerate spells.”

“So let it be,” said Sonja, “for the leadership of your pack. Your pack may not intervene—”

“Neither may yours.” Savanak pointed with his muzzle at Regdar, Hennet, and Lidda.

Unable to speak Common in this form, she turned to the others and pointed as a bird dog might to an area farther away. The wolves ringed this exposed area, marking off something like a crude arena.

“I think she’s telling us to back off,” said Lidda. “She wants to fight this creature alone.”

Regdar protested vehemently. “Sonja, don’t do this! It’s almost twice your size. Fighting together, as a group, we can beat this monster. You don’t have to do it alone.”

The wolf that was Sonja shook her head and turned her back on them. Reluctantly they slipped back. The wolves parted to let them through and closed the line behind them. Several wolves broke ranks and settled into the snow next to them, silently and calmly staring at them, almost daring them to interfere with this battle over honor.

Sonja stalked the makeshift arena, eyeing her larger adversary. “If you should violate our agreements,” she reminded the winter wolf, “know that you risk bringing your pack down on your head.”

“Quiet yourself and fight,” said Savanak. He lunged at her with all his weight. The wolf was fast but not as maneuverable as the smaller Sonja, who nimbly dodged the attack and raced off to await the next assault. She hoped she could tire Savanak enough to gain an advantage, but it was a risky endeavor. She was tired from the long march with the wolves, and even now she was beginning to pant. Fortunately she knew enough about the winter wolves of the Endless Glacier to improvise tactics.

Winter wolves were usually barding natural pack animals, individually powerful but usually banding against more powerful foes. The few remaining mammoths still wandering the icy tundra were hunted mercilessly by winter wolves, less for food than for the challenge of bringing down the largest animal of the far north. Soon, Sonja knew, there would be none left, and humans wouldn’t be to blame. Fortunately, this winter wolf was on its own, and they were less adept at fighting alone.

Growling softly, the winter wolf kept its ground. Its otherworldly, blue eyes glowed in the cold, taunting her from across the snowy arena. It bared its teeth ever so slightly, and froth started to spill from its mouth.

“Keep the lines around us,” said Sonja, casting a sidelong glance at the wolves surrounding their arena, and Savanak snarled in agreement. She charged straight toward Savanak but swerved to the right at the last second, giving the winter wolf tempting access to her undefended flank. The wolf took the bait, snapping at her as she passed. Sonja was faster and evaded his jaws and used the opportunity to make her own attack. She jumped against Savanak’s white flank and slashed her claws into his flesh. Her teeth cut into the wolf’s back. But the larger wolf whirled, shaking her off before her fangs could cause real damage. Sonja swiftly withdrew to the sidelines. Dark, red blood trickled down Savanak’s white fur. He twisted back his head in frustration. The wound was placed just so that Savanak couldn’t lick it.

Sonja had drawn first blood, and she could hear Lidda’s excited cry, but Sonja was disappointed. She’d hoped to bite the wolf’s spine, paralyzing it and ending the match quickly. Savanak was now wounded, angry and twice as dangerous. Saliva dripped from his pointed teeth. Sonja snarled at him from the sidelines, luring him forward, praying Savanak would commit a reckless act.

She hadn’t lied when she said she’d killed winter wolves. Her parents waged guerilla wars against them on the stark tundra, separating them from their packs and slaying them without mercy. The young Sonja occasionally participated in these campaigns, and once or twice she was even allowed to make the death blow. But to tackle a winter wolf in battle alone? Her parents were stronger druids than Sonja was now, and a winter wolf was a difficult kill to make even for them.

Savanak thrust forward toward Sonja, tearing up the snowy ground as he went. He anticipated Sonja’s dodge and met her with all his weight. But he hit an icy patch and his speed was so great that even the sure-footed beast of the tundra could not stop himself. Sonja lowered herself to the ground to snap at the tall wolf’s legs as he skidded past, hoping to sever a tendon or cripple a joint. Instead, Savanak’s massive paw caught her hard in the face. Sonja tumbled away, and the winter wolf plowed through the pack members lining the sides.

“Keep the lines,” Sonja barked to the surrounding wolves.

The winter wolf bounded back into the arena and the ring closed again.

All the while, Sonja planned. If she couldn’t best the wolf in strength, she thought, she must find another way. She knew winter wolves were hotheaded. Perhaps she could drive him to a reckless rage. A blow made in anger might be a careless blow. Sonja and Savanak kept to opposite ends of the arena, staring at each other across the snow, waiting for the other to charge.

She taunted Savanak in his own language: “What troubles you, Savanak? Can the mighty wolf not defeat the runt human? You are not a fit ruler for this wolf pack. The winter wolves of the Endless Glacier were mighty, noble foes. You are a short-furred lapdog next to them!”

“Human bitch!” Savanak roared. “I could shatter your skull with my jaws.”

“Step forward and prove it!”

Sonja raced toward the middle of the arena, and Savanak sprang forward to meet her. The winter wolf swatted at her with its huge paw and caught the side of her neck. She landed on all fours and sprang again, but Savanak was ready for her. He caught the ruff of her neck in his teeth and bit into the loose flesh. The powerful creature swung his head, throwing Sonja, who seemed no heavier now than a child’s doll, through the air. She landed hard in a splatter of blood.

Lidda shrieked from behind the ring of wolves, but Sonja barely heard it.

The wolf approached her slowly, not cautiously but brazenly, lording its power over her. Sonja turned her head to face it, and from her supine position she gave a defiant snarl. Savanak took a slow, deliberate step forward, jaws positioned to snap her neck. He closed in and Sonja could feel his frigid breath.

At the last second, Sonja pulled away and sprang into air, sailing clear over Savanak. Drawing on her last reserves of strength, she became a whirlwind of fur and teeth. She kicked up large amounts of snow until one entire side of the cleared space was lost in a white cloud.

Savanak reared and scanned for her through the haze. Even the enhanced senses of a winter wolf could not find her now.

“Do you think you can hide from me?” he asked with a soft growl before plunging headfirst into the snow. But he could not gauge the other side properly, and once again he disturbed the lines of the arena. Crouching in the settling snow, Sonja was reassured by the growls of warning that drove Savanak back into the arena. The pack would enforce the terms of the challenge. Alone, perhaps she could not defeat this winter wolf, but with help…