Thomas Covenant - 02b - Gilden Fire by Stephen Donaldson Read Free Book Online Page B

it. If the Ranyhyn could manage the jump, the company would gain precious time.
     
    But when the wolves burst out of the woods, they broke into hard howls of triumph. In a few strides, Korik saw his danger: the ravine appeared to be too wide even for the Ranyhyn. For an instant, he hesitated. In his long years, he had heard the shrieking of horses far too often. He knew how the Ranyhyn would scream if they shattered their bones against the opposite wall of the ravine. But their nightsight was better than his: he could not make this decision for them. He silenced his fears, shouted to his comrades:
      Let the Ranyhyn choose! They will not err! But ward Lord Hyrim!
    Then Runnik reached the ravine. His mount gathered itself, seemed for an instant to shrink, to coil in on its strength   and sprang. Already it was too late for the rest of the riders to stop; but Korik kept his eyes on Runnik, watched the leading Ranyhyn so that he would have an instant’s warning of his fate   an instant in which to try to save himself for the sake of the mission. For the first time since the night when he had assumed his Vow, he left the Lords to their own fortunes. He expected Hyrim to fall. As old Brabha started into his own jump, the Lord wailed as if he were plunging from a precipice.
     
    Then the Ranyhyn carrying Runnik touched down safely on the far side of the ravine. Beside him, Tull and another Bloodguard also landed with ground to spare, followed by Cerrin, Shetra, Korik, Hyrim, and Sill in a line together. Lord Hyrim flopped forward and back as if his mount were bucking: his wail was broken off. But he did not lose his seat. Amid the wild yowling frustration of the wolves, the rest of the Bloodguard jumped the ravine. The Ranyhyn sprinted across the glade with clear ground at their heels.
     
    Behind them, the wolves rushed on, caught in the grip of a dementing passion. They piled into the dry watercourse, careless of what happened to them, and scrambled furiously up the far side. But Korik was confident of escape now. The company had almost reached the edge of the glade when the first wolf clawed its way out of the ravine. Korik leaned forward to say a word of praise in Brabha’s backbent ears.
     
    Out of the corner of his eye he saw Lord Hyrim tumble like a lifeless sack to the ground.
     
    Korik shouted to the company. Immediately, the leaders peeled around to return to Hyrim as fast as possible. But Pren, the rearmost Bloodguard, saw Hyrim’s fall in time to leap down from his own mount. In a few steps, he reached the motionless Lord. While Korik and the others were turning, Pren reported that Hyrim was unconscious   stunned either by his fall or by the jolt of the jump over the ravine.
     
    Wheeling Brabha, Korik gauged the distances. The wolves surged out of the ravine in great numbers now: they howled rabidly toward the men on the ground. The company would barely have time to snatch up Hyrim and take defensive positions around him before the pack struck.
     
    But as Korik pulled his comrades into formation, Lord Shetra ordered him back. She had a plan of her own. Driving her mount straight for Hyrim, she called to Pren, “His staff! Hold it upright!”
     
    Pren obeyed swiftly. He caught up Hyrim’s staff from the grass, gripped it with one metalshod end planted on the ground between him and the charging wolves.
     
    As he did this, Shetra swung her Ranyhyn until she was running parallel to the line of the charge. When she flashed behind Pren, she cried, “Melenkurion abatha!” and dealt Hyrim’s staff a hammering blow with her own.
     
    A silent concussion shook the air: the ground seemed to heave momentarily under the hooves of the Ranyhyn. From Hyrim’s staff a plane of power spread out on both sides, came like a wall between the wolves and the company across the whole eastern face of the glade. Seen through this barrier, the scrambling wolves appeared distorted, mad, wronged.
     
    Then they smashed into the