They were off at dawn, munching hard disks of flat bread, twists of salty cheese, and a handful of galda seeds dug out of the leather saddlebags.
The horses, refreshed by the cold, clear water of the stream and the lush grass that grew on its banks, were filled with energy and strained at the reins, begging for speed.
Hornsbuck, his green eyes sparkling, looked at Mika and grinned. "Hheeaa!" he yelled, cutting his horse's flanks with the reins. The stallion lunged forward, his square, ugly head and neck stretched out before him, his forelegs reaching, grabbing, pounding the stony earth beneath them, sprinting away with great strides.
Lotus Blossom followed him instandy, her huge horse thundering into the lead within a few strides.
Mika's own steed twitched and trembled between his thighs. Suddenly, the roan bunched itself and sprang forward, seizing the bit between its teeth and taking control.
Taken by surprise, Mika was nearly jerked out of the saddle by the animal's burst of speed. He dropped the reins, now useless, and wrapped his arms around the roan's neck. The wind whipped around his head, bringing tears to his eyes. Tam and RedTail wheeled, thinking themselves pursued by some unsensed danger. Seeing nothing, they turned and raced after the horses; after a moment's hesitation, the princess followed.
Manes streaming, hair blowing, tails outstretched, horses, humans, and wolves streaked across the plains, hearts pounding, blood racing, muscles stretching in a glorious outburst of effort.
Hornsbuck roared exuberantly and beat on his stallion's flanks with the reins, urging him on to still greater speeds. Lotus Blossom screamed spiritedly, her pigtails flying, her horse still in the lead. Mika, entering into the spirit of the race, clucked into the roan's ear. The horse answered by plunging ahead, his great legs grabbing the earth and spitting it out beneath his hooves, leaving the rough gallop and entering the high, smooth, floating grace of the canter.
They drew up alongside Hornsbuck, paralleled him for a heartbeat, and then passed him by as though he were standing still. The stallion fought to overtake them but, burdened by Hornsbuck's greater weight, it proved an impossible task. Finally, the hooves of his horse beating a staccato rhythm, Mika drew abreast of Lotus Blossom and, despite her greatest efforts, passed her as well. Soon the pace slackened and then, with much blowing and snorting, the horses slowed and came to a halt.
"Cleared the cobwebs out of your skull, eh?" cried Hornsbuck. "Blew the stink of the city off us as well. By the Great She-Wolf, it's good to be back on the open plains!"
The sun was shining brighdy, touching every plant, every blade of grass, every stone with warmth. The birds were twittering, celebrating the joys of life, and the wolves were prancing happily even the princess. All were touched by the sheer glory of being alive. The only thing that bothered Mika, other than his hand and the ever-present misery of the curse over his head, was that they were still heading east into the morning sun, rather than north toward the forests of home. But Hornsbuck knew the prairies like the back of his hand and must know where they were heading, Mika reasoned.
They traveled for the rest of the day with only brief moments of rest. Mika could tell that the princess was having difficulty keeping up by the way she licked her footpads whenever they stopped. He knew that she still blamed him for her metamorphosis into a wolf, whether or not it was his fault; her cold, green and blue eyes fairly glittered with hatred.
In spite of that, Mika felt an odd respect for her. He wondered how he would react if someone were to turn him into a wolf. He felt the magic gem swing on its thin, gold chain beneath his doeskin tunic. Raising his hand to touch it, he wondered if it would be possible to change her back-it would be much more pleasant traveling with a beautiful woman than a wolf. He shook his head ruefully and lowered his hand, realizing that such a spell was beyond him and could only lead to a worse mess. ¦ " ¦
They speared a large land tortoise shortly before dark and roasted the succulent creature in its own shell with a handful of wild onions, salt, and cedar leaves to give it flavor.
The wolves hunted on their own. Mika heard the snarls and clash of snappingjaws, a terrified bleat followed by the high, thin shriek of a dying antelope, and then the crunch of bones. A short time later, all three wolves returned to the fire to groom themselves. The princess casually licked a splash of blood off her leg. Feeling Mika's gaze upon her, she looked up and stared directly into his eyes, licking blood off her muzzle the whole while. It seemed to him that she licked very slowly, using her long, pink tongue to savor each and every tiny drop of blood.
He stared at her, spellbound. There was something almost obscene in the way she seemed to be enjoying the blood, something almost sensual in her hatred. He shivered and looked away, unable to meet her gaze. Her dewlaps twitched and she smiled in a wolven way, curling up next to the fire.
"Yon lady has a thing for you, boy," smirked Lotus Blossom, who had observed the exchange of looks. "Best beware, or she'll have you one fine day. Gobble you up whole, she will, saving the best bits for last." She did not elaborate on what she considered to be the best bits, nor did Mika ask, taking himself off quickly, cheeks burning brightly. Lotus Blossom's bawdy laughter followed him.
Mika touched his peeling face, his blistered nose, and his scorched-bald scalp.
In his misery, he had wandered into the circle of staked horses. He leaned against the roan and buried his face in the horse's side. If only things were as they had been. If only things were back to normal.
Then an idea came to him. Maybe he could straighten out some of the problems, make some changes! He looked down at himself, touched the turban. There was nothing he could do about the clothes, but he could do something about the turban. Plucking the silk wrapping from his head, he cast it into the darkness, then pulled the spell book from his pouch and began leafing through the pages by the light of the moon.
"Bigby's interposing hand… glimmer… glow… grow! Here it is!.. grow!" And in spite of his overwhelming depression, Mika began to get excited.
The roan swung its head toward Mika and nuzzled him affectionately. Mika patted the horse absent- mindedly as he memorized the words to the grow spell, repeating them over and over again to himself.
The necessary component for the spell was a bit of hair, and since Mika had none of his own, he tweaked some from the faithful roan. The horse switched its tail and stamped its hoof but remained at Mika's side, leaning against him slightly.
Mika snapped the book shut and, closing his eyes, recited the words to the spell.
It was working! Excitement coursed through Mika's body as he felt hair sprouting through his scalp! Then, he quirked his head to one side and looked down, puzzled. Something didn't feel right. In fact, something felt definitely wrong. Mika's entire body tingled. All over. Everywhere.
Mika looked at his hand, and his knees went weak. His hand was covered with hair! Dark, curly hair sprouted on the back of his hand, down each of his fingers, and even on his palm! He ripped the gaundet off his other hand and there, too, even the demon digits were sprouting hair. It grew longer and longer as he watched in horror and disbelief.
He felt the hair pushing through the skin on his arms, his legs, stomach, chest, back, and feet. It spilled over the top of his tunic and curled around the arm holes. It curled around his eyes and explored the openings of his nose and mouth. Hysteria rose within him as he realized that the hair was continuing to grow, getting longer and longer with every passing heartbeat. Soon, he would look like a giant walking ball of hair! And when would it stop?
It had to be the gem, Mika thought hysterically. Ever since the gem had been in his possession, spells had been going awry, overcompensating, intensifying, when he did not intend them to. Evidently even the mere proximity of the gem boosted the natural effect of a spell.
A frightened snort from the roan broke Mika's gloomy thoughts. He looked up at the animal and reeled back in shock. The horse was covered with hair as well! Its frightened eyes rolled in terror, and it shook its head up and down violently as though thinking it could shed the strange new burden.
Mike laid a hairy hand on the roan's dense coat and patted it, speaking soothing words through furry lips, spitting curls of hair out of his mouth.
At last, the horse grew calm; Mika slumped to the ground at its hairy hooves, wondering what to do.
Tam trotted up, having been off on business of his own, stopped short a few paces away, and began to growl.
"It's just me, Tam," Mika said with a sigh. "Just be glad you weren't here or you'd look like us, too."
Tam advanced warily, sniffing Mika and the roan carefully before being convinced that they were not monsters. Even then, he eyed them suspiciously and kept his distance, perhaps remembering his own strange experiences with Mika's spellcasting.
Mike continued to ponder solutions as his and his horse's hair grew and grew. Hair remover was his first thought, but then he would be no better off than before, and the horse would look damned funny. At last he decided on the only feasible solution, a heal spell.
Heal spells were cure-alls, capable of returning a person to health after the worst of wounds. But it was a higher-level spell than Mika was usually capable of performing. With his dubious record of late, he was most unwilling to attempt the spell. Only the Great She-Wolf knew what the result would be if he got it wrong, he thought. Still, it was the only solution he could think of… and with the aid of the gem, perhaps it would work.
Wrapping his arms around the horse's hairy neck, he pulled his dangling forelock out of his eyes, opened the spellbook, and studied the spell. It was a fairly short one, and to the point. Closing the book, he held onto the horse's neck with one hand and gripped the gem in the other. Closing his eyes, he began to chant.
The roan whickered and moved nervously beneath his hand. Mika twitched his shoulders and stifled an impulse to scratch. It felt awful! Even worse than when the hair had been growing! The spell was working, though-the hair was reversing itself, drawing back through the same pores it had sprouted from. It itched. It tickled. It was almost unbearable. The roan looked as though it were being consumed by vast numbers of wriggling snakes.
The curls shrank back from Mika's nose, let loose their hold on his tunic, and shriveled back into his palms and the soles of his feet. All over his body he could feel the hair retreating, except on top of his head, where it remained at a decent Wolf Nomad length.
When all was done, he and the roan were returned to normal. The roan looked at Mika, blew hard, and pawed at the ground; Mika wondered if his horse would like him as well as it had before. He sighed deeply, relieved that it was all over. His hair had been restored, even if his hand hadn't, and the last signs of the terrible burns he sustained had disappeared as well.
Tam got to his feet and gave Mika an enigmatic look as the two of them walked back to camp. Mika wrapped himself in his cloak and sighed wearily, wondering if he wouldn't have been better off being a tree-cutter or a hunter. Then, relaxing on his bedroll, he fell into a deep and exhausted sleep.
The days following passed in much the same way as the first, except that Mika attempted to keep as much space as possible between himself and Lotus Blossom. It didn't always work; one night Lotus Blossom pinched him on the bottom and winked at him suggestively as he knelt to serve himself some food. She did not pursue the matter, but Mika lost his appetite completely.
Several nights later, as they camped beside a low outcropping of gray rock, the only object of note on the vast empty prairie, Mika brought up the subject of their destination.
"Why, we're going to Exag, Mika. That's the plan. I know you're anxious to confront that demon again, so I'm plotting a course that will take us directly to him," answered Hornsbuck. "It can be dangerous, three alone riding open like this, but I knew that you would welcome the challenge should anyone be foolish enough to try us."
"Hornsbuck, I thought we were going home first," Mika said in near desperation. "Back to the clan. I–I'm out of everything. All my ungents and potions and healing herbs, they're all gone. I need more! We need to go back to the Far Fringe! What if something happened? What if one of us got hurt? I wouldn't be able to do anything. We could die!"
"Blossom, just listen to what the lad is saying," roared Hornsbuck. "Why, I didn't know you worried about us so. I'm touched, I really am. And for that reason alone, I won't take us home. I can't let you put our welfare above your own good. No, lad, we're heading straight for Exag, with no stops on the way!"
"Hornsbuck, what about the Phantom Forest?" Lotus Blossom asked slowly, twirling the end of her braid between thick fingers. "Be it not somewhere close? The boy could certainly refill his herb supply there. And I myself wouldn't mind hoisting a few flagons of their fine barberry wine, just to be polite, of course. Then we'll be on our way in no time."
Hornsbuck pondered the question while Mika strove to remember what little he knew about the Phantom Forest. As far as he knew, it was only a legend and not a real place.
"What's she talking about, Hornsbuck?" Mika asked as the big nomad combed his beard with his fingers, always a sign of deep thought.
"It be a place of much magic," Hornsbuck replied at length. "There are Wolf Nomads there, though of a different sort than us. But all things considered, they still be nomads and will be helpful to those in need. Aye, woman, it is a good thought. We'll head for the Phantom Forest, but then it's off to Exag."
Hornsbuck corrected their course slighdy so that they were traveling southeasterly. Two days later they entered the forest.
At first, there was nothing to be seen but open prairie. Then, miragelike, the forest appeared, almost seeming to float above the ground like a vision induced by heat. It drifted before them, insubstantial and wraithlike, until the very moment that they entered the forest and actually rode between the massive trunks, inhaling the rich scent of the tall evergreens.
They trod upon the crackling roanwood leaves and breathed the spicy cinnamon aroma. Leaves cascaded down from high above, each leaf as large as Mika's head, twirling red and bronze and yellow torches of color as they spiralled down through the broad beams of dusty sunlight that broke between the branches. And even though it was not his own forest, nor his clan, Mika's heart was light and he felt as though he were home.
Mika assumed that, phantom or not, this forest must be part of the larger Burneal Forest, which stretched for more than a thousand miles across the northern frontier, separating and creating a barrier between Greyhawk and the mysterious Lands of Black Ice.
"Have you ever been north of the forest?" Mika asked Hornsbuck the first night, as they lounged contentedly around the roaring fire, having eaten their fill of a plump roansbuck doe.
"You mean into the Black Lands?" asked Hornsbuck as he and Lotus Blossom guzzled their nightly allotment of ale. "Aye, we've been there, RedTail an' me. It was back a while, back before that last time I met up with you in the Howling Hills. Remember that time, Blossom?"
Lotus Blossom chuckled at the memory, uttering a deep belch in lieu of conversation.
"I don't imagine much has changed," Hornsbuck continued, not at all put off by his companion's behavior. "Strange place-the ice is black instead of white. Kind of blue-black actually. Gives you a real strange feeling."
"What were you doing there?" asked Mika.
"Oh, we were following someone. Nomad by the name of Klarg who stole the shaman's spell book and all his records and notes. Some sort of nonsense about thinking he could use the spells to work magic on the ice. Said he would raise an army of ice golems and come back and take over the village. All because of some woman the chief wouldn't let him marry. Woman! Pahh! They'll get you in trouble every time!"
Lotus Blossom elbowed Hornsbuck in the chest so hard that he lost his breath. He wheezed for a number of heartbeats until he was able to breath again. Lotus Blossom, ignoring his discomfort and the fact that she had caused it, emptied her horn without spilling a drop of the precious ale.
"Well, the whole clan was angry at him, all except the girl, and… and, well nobody listened to her," gasped Hornsbuck, holding his chest with one hand, his face still pale and pinched. "The clan council decided to have him brought back, make him an example for the young ones."
"Did you find him?" Mika asked casually, hoping that the poor fellow had escaped.
"Aye," said Hornsbuck. "But an ice dragon ate him afore we could lay hands on him. Never saw a dragon so big. The thing must have been ten or even twelve times my height. And big! Why, I bet it was as big as Jayne's! All blackish blue it was, not white like most ice dragons. Its teeth were jagged and splintered like ice shards, and its scales sparkled like oil on a pond.
"Saw it get him, I did," continued Hornsbuck. "Sort of played with him, batted him around like a cat with a mouse. You know how they do it; almost let him get away, then caught him again. It ate him one limb at a time. The poor fellow was still screaming when it bit his head off. I thought about shooting him, putting him out of his misery, but I was out of bow range."
"Oh," said Mika in a small voice, unable to rid himself of the awful vision.
"Serves him right," Lotus Blossom said sanctimoniously, belching a second time. Hornsbuck laughed as though she had told an amusing tale, and they soon lapsed into a conversation of their own, punctuated with giggles and furtive snickerings. Mika stared at; his gauntleted hand and wondered if there were any hope for him at all.