protect him from evil. Ki couldnât share the manâs faith. At the moment, he didnât feel protected at all. He felt naked, alone, and quite vulnerable. He had brought all of his samurai training to bear, but at the moment that training seemed next to useless. Being alert to sound and movement was no help at all. There was sound and movement all around him. A light breeze swept down the valley and whispered through the wheat. A million stalks and leaves rattled and brushed against their brothers. The field rippled and swayed like the waves of the sea. To Ki, though, it looked more like the bristling fur on the back of some ponderous beast...
He quickly swept the image aside, and brought all his senses to bear. A trained samurai could reach into a clamor of sound and movement and gingerly pluck out the ones that concerned him, those that presented a danger or told him something he needed to know. Now, though, that very ability seemed to be working against him. There was too much sound, too much motion. He wished his prey were a man instead of a beast. If it wereâ
Suddenly it struck him, and Ki nearly laughed out loud in spite of his danger. The ghost of his old teacher seemed to wag an admonishing finger in his face. It was foolish to blame the animal for not being a man. The samurai adapted himself to his enemy, learned to think like that enemy, learned to fight him on his own terms, with his own weapons.
Instantly, Ki dropped to the ground, let his hands and knees feel the still-warm soil of the wheatfield. The sounds and smells were entirely different here. He was part of the wolfâs world now. He was a beast on four legs in a dark forest of slender and brittle trees.
He knelt in silence for a long moment, moved cautiously ahead, then stopped again to listen and sniff the air. There was the smell of the earth, and the dry, musty odor of wheat. And, gradually playing upon his senses, something else ...
Ki came suddenly alert. The smell was stronger nowâdark, musky, and alien. He moved again, then stopped and listened. It was still there. The thing was close. Too close! He went to his belly and swept his eyes in a wide half-circle, straining to find his enemy in the dark. He could sense it, but couldnât pin it down. It was fast, as elusive as smokeâahead of him now, moving steadily to the left. He could almost hear it, padding swiftly through the thick rows of wheat, not twenty yards away.
Faster, then faster still. It had abandoned all efforts at caution, and with a sudden chill, Ki understood why. It no longer needed to stalk its prey ... it knew exactly where it was!
And in that instant, Ki knew the creatureâs path was all wrongâhe had assumed the thing was stalking him, and this was not true at all ...
âGustolfâlook out!â Ki sprang to his feet, and saw the old man far off to the leftâfifty, sixty yards away. Gustolf saw the beast too, and froze in his tracks. The creature was a quick gray blur, bounding straight for him like the wind. The high wheat parted and went flat in its path. Ki set his legs, stretched the Colt in both hands. He squeezed off three quick shots, then broke into a run, knowing heâd never get there in time. The wolf would take Gustolf, tear out his throat as if he were a man made of straw ...
The beast leaped, came clear out of the field with a snarl in its throat. Ki fired again and knew heâd missed. Gustolf screamed and went down. Ki jumped into the flattened clearing, pistol at the ready. The wolf saw him, raised its dark muzzle from Gustolfâs chest, bared its teeth, and sprang straight for him. Ki jerked his body aside. Terrible jaws snapped at the air past his shoulder, and Ki felt the thingâs breath on his cheek ...
Then the creature was goneâonly a crushed tangle of wheat showed where it had disappeared into the night. Ki came to his feet, crouching above Gustolf. He listened a moment, then turned
He quickly swept the image aside, and brought all his senses to bear. A trained samurai could reach into a clamor of sound and movement and gingerly pluck out the ones that concerned him, those that presented a danger or told him something he needed to know. Now, though, that very ability seemed to be working against him. There was too much sound, too much motion. He wished his prey were a man instead of a beast. If it wereâ
Suddenly it struck him, and Ki nearly laughed out loud in spite of his danger. The ghost of his old teacher seemed to wag an admonishing finger in his face. It was foolish to blame the animal for not being a man. The samurai adapted himself to his enemy, learned to think like that enemy, learned to fight him on his own terms, with his own weapons.
Instantly, Ki dropped to the ground, let his hands and knees feel the still-warm soil of the wheatfield. The sounds and smells were entirely different here. He was part of the wolfâs world now. He was a beast on four legs in a dark forest of slender and brittle trees.
He knelt in silence for a long moment, moved cautiously ahead, then stopped again to listen and sniff the air. There was the smell of the earth, and the dry, musty odor of wheat. And, gradually playing upon his senses, something else ...
Ki came suddenly alert. The smell was stronger nowâdark, musky, and alien. He moved again, then stopped and listened. It was still there. The thing was close. Too close! He went to his belly and swept his eyes in a wide half-circle, straining to find his enemy in the dark. He could sense it, but couldnât pin it down. It was fast, as elusive as smokeâahead of him now, moving steadily to the left. He could almost hear it, padding swiftly through the thick rows of wheat, not twenty yards away.
Faster, then faster still. It had abandoned all efforts at caution, and with a sudden chill, Ki understood why. It no longer needed to stalk its prey ... it knew exactly where it was!
And in that instant, Ki knew the creatureâs path was all wrongâhe had assumed the thing was stalking him, and this was not true at all ...
âGustolfâlook out!â Ki sprang to his feet, and saw the old man far off to the leftâfifty, sixty yards away. Gustolf saw the beast too, and froze in his tracks. The creature was a quick gray blur, bounding straight for him like the wind. The high wheat parted and went flat in its path. Ki set his legs, stretched the Colt in both hands. He squeezed off three quick shots, then broke into a run, knowing heâd never get there in time. The wolf would take Gustolf, tear out his throat as if he were a man made of straw ...
The beast leaped, came clear out of the field with a snarl in its throat. Ki fired again and knew heâd missed. Gustolf screamed and went down. Ki jumped into the flattened clearing, pistol at the ready. The wolf saw him, raised its dark muzzle from Gustolfâs chest, bared its teeth, and sprang straight for him. Ki jerked his body aside. Terrible jaws snapped at the air past his shoulder, and Ki felt the thingâs breath on his cheek ...
Then the creature was goneâonly a crushed tangle of wheat showed where it had disappeared into the night. Ki came to his feet, crouching above Gustolf. He listened a moment, then turned
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