Zara the Wolf Read Free Page B

sword and waited. Although there was plenty of
meat for us both, I guess he didn't want to share it with a slave. That was
fair. I didn't want to share it with warriors who had killed my father and
mother. He slowed as he approached, smiling as he surveyed the meat and the
hides.
    "I should thank you for all this, slave."
    Now came the real test of my ability and my special sword.
    "No, Nibi. You should curse me. If I hadn’t killed the
wolf, you would probably have survived on roots and rats to become a cowardly
Ojaza warrior. Now you are going to die."
    "Ehwee is providing me clothing and food for killing
you." He laughed, pointing to the heavier clothing he was wearing.
    "I guess she thought you a better archer than you
are," I said, because she knew he couldn't kill me with a sword. I quieted
my mind to where neither fear nor wants existed, just the encounter to come. I
was at peace with whatever the future held.
    When it came, his attack was a vicious strike to my wounded
side. I blocked it, catching it in my guard, but the force slammed my blade
into my shoulder. The pain caused spots to dance in front of my eyes. He slid
the sword out of my guard and thrust toward my ribs. I blocked it with the
guard covering my hand, driving it past my ribs, but I felt skin tear as it scraped
my stomach. Too close to do anything but draw his arm back for an attack to my
chest and neck, I stepped closer and slid my dagger into his armpit. He
screamed, and his sword dropped to the ground as his arm went dead. As he stood
staring wide-eyed at me, my sword sliced through his neck, spinning him to the
ground.
    In a trance, I pulled out the arrow and used pieces torn
from my pants to bandage both wounds. Then I undressed Nibi and dressed in his
clothes, cut off a thigh from the wolf, collected the two hides, and started
back to my cave. I don't remember the trip back or what happened next. When I
woke and could think again, I found myself wrapped in the wolves' furs. I had apparently
made a fire or two and had cooked some of the meat. But an animal of some kind
had finished the rest down to the bone, which lay several steps away. My wounds
looked like I had cauterized them. They looked ugly and raw but not infected. I
needed water. My lips felt like bark. I collected everything and made my way
back to the spot where Nibi and I had fought. It took the entire day, as I had
to stop and rest frequently and had to go out of my way to find running water.
When I arrived, there were still small scavengers cleaning up, but everything
else remained the same. Ants and bugs roamed Nibi by the thousands, and he was
unrecognizable. I put an arrow through a dog that refused to leave, cut off a
leg, skinned it, and roasted it over a fire I made a hundred steps from Nibi
and the wolves’ remains. I slept by the fire, content with knowing the smell of
wolf from the skins and the fire would keep me relatively safe—except
from humans. I woke as the sky turned grey and explored the area. Around noon,
I found a fast moving river that looked to end in the valley below. I made
several trips back and forth to get Nibi and cleanup the area. After stripping
him, I sent him and his weapons into the river and watched as he bounced over
and around boulders until he was out of sight. Reluctantly, I also sent his
clothing after him. Ehwee would know I killed him but couldn't say anything
without admitting she violated the tribes code by giving Nibi food and
clothing—no one would care she wanted me dead. Then I had to decide what
I was going to do next. I couldn't return to the tribe until the next full
moon, but I had several hands-of-days lead if I wanted to escape now. I decided
I wasn’t fit to enter civilization right now. How fast could I travel in my
current condition? What would the reaction be to a woman wandering in a wolf
skin, wounded, and carrying Indian weapons? They could mistake me for a runaway
warrior and hang me on the spot. They hated the mountain