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Stamo shook off the residual leavings of those words and actions they had done to protect themselves and their two furred companions. An echo of some few words which had but barely pierced through to him as they strove against the creature now came more clearly to the fore. ‘Did you hear?’ he asked as Mori and he strode quickly after White Paw.
Mori nodded his head, his long legs eating up the distance between them and the dog. ‘Someone remembers the old tales and ways, and called on him to come to their aid. Will he hear it on the wind or will it be lost, do you think?’
‘It matters not, I think,’ Stamo answered hurriedly. ‘Since he has sent us, we must step in as needed . . .’
An urgent voice rang out behind them. ‘What happened? I was almost certain that if it failed here it would try for the inn and the shape shifter?’ The two men stopped, waiting for Arato to catch up.
‘It was too weak to overcome us,’ Mori returned. ‘I think it will not go back toward the Inn, at least not at present. The fëar there are too little to nourish it as it needs. But I’m sure it has gone after Wenda now.’ He paused, his brow wrinkling. ‘You did not know, did you? Wenda has left the Inn, changed into her deer form and gone far into these woods. And the other woman, Maranwe, she has followed after. We were hoping to stand between them and the creature . . . to do away with the foul thing. But it would not stay to battle since the win was not assured for it.’
He looked into the thick darkness beneath the trees’ branches. ‘The two women can not stand against it. The creature will suck them dry.’ He pushed Stamo forward with his staff and motioned for Arato to come along. ‘We must find them, and soon.’
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