Deena meets Inarr

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Issue #3 September 1998-5101

Tales From The Wolf Clan

by Jennifer Leigh Crandall

Deena Meets Inarr

Silently Deena ate a meal of berries from the bush beside her. It had been a foolish thing she had done, warning that old hunter of the ambush about to be sprung on him. Deena had no time to think, she had just shouted a warning. The battle had been fast and furious. When it was over the hunter had slain them all. Deena had been horrified at the speed and savagery of the Northman. He stood for a moment among the bodies of his fallen foemen, then he made up a travel pack from the spoils and handed it to her.

"Go northwest," he said. "Seek the Wolf Clan at Castle Krona, they keep no slaves. Tell Inarr that Silver the Hunter sent you. Do you understand my words?" Deena nodded and repeated his instructions. The hunter wished her well then vanished into the trees.

Deena had travelled northwest for a turning of the moon before she realized she was being pursued by manhunters. She had cowered in the branches of a tree one evening as they made camp beneath her. They had been paid to return a runaway slave who had killed her master. Deena knew the fate that awaited her if she were caught. She had slipped away as they slept. That was eight days past and she had been running steadily since. Suddenly she heard the sound of horses in the distance. The manhunters.

Sobbing as she ran, Deena fled through the forest. The branches tore at her clothes and flesh as she fled. Deena’s trail would be easy to follow. A hunting horn sounded somewhere behind her and Deena heard the baying of the hounds.

Panic seized her heart and Deena fled blindly through the trees. It was only a few moments before the three great hounds overtook her. "So close," she sobbed. She had almost reached Castle Krona, but she was not going to make it.

The huge hound leaped at the fleeing girl, but his jaws clanged shut on empty air. Deena screamed as she was swept through the air and into the waiting branches of the tree. A huge hand was clamped over her mouth and she stared into the bluest eyes she had ever seen. The man was of middle years and probably the biggest man she had ever seen. His yellow hair and beard were swept back in battle braids and the scars on his bare torso were like a map of the kingdom. Arms that were bigger than her legs hung from shoulders wider than an ox. He wore heavy leather boots and breeks and a hunting cloak lay across a branch. The big man set her gently on that branch then adjusted his weapons.

He was armed with a dagger as long as her arm in his left hand and a morning star in his right. With a wicked grin he dropped amid the snarling hounds. Within a heartbeat he stood alone among the bodies. He did not have long to wait. Five armed men rode up the trail toward him. Kicking aside the bodies of the hounds, he stepped into the trail.

"There is no hunting allowed in my forest," he said in a deep booming voice. "That will cost you three horses."

"You fool, those were my dogs, you will die for that," snarled the lead rider. " Where is the girl?"

"There is no girl here," answered the man. "I do not like manhunters. Leave your armour, your weapons, and your horses then go. Do this and I will let you live."

"I am Drem the Slayer," laughed the lead rider. "I tell you this so you will know the name of the man who kills you." He drew his sword and slid from the horse’s back. It was far too close for fighting mounted.

"Drem the Slayer," said the big man, "I have been sent to bring you to account for your past crimes. Surrender and you will face justice at the Thing. Refuse and you will die. I am Inarr and I have spoken."

As the big man finished speaking, two of the manhunters began to back away, regretting that they had already dismounted. Inarr of the Long Arm! No man would willingly face the chieftain of the Wolf Clan in battle. They had no chance to escape. Drem attacked as Inarr finished speaking.

Drem lunged with his sword, then looked astounded at the dagger in his chest. He should still have been well out of reach of that blade. His last thought was to marvel at the length of this man’s reach. As Drem fell the second man was brained with the morning star. Inarr dropped and rolled beneath the sword cut of the third man. He lashed out with his foot and the man’s leg was snapped at the knee. Inarr rolled to his feet and hurled the morning star at the fleeing back of the fourth man. The manhunter went down with a crushed skull. The fifth man had only fled less than a hundred paces before the giant leaped on him from behind. A quick twist of those huge arms and the man’s neck snapped. Inarr turned back to the tree where Deena was hiding in the trees. The last man had dragged himself onto the nearest horse and fled.

Inarr stood with his hands on his hips beneath her tree. "Come down woman," he said in a kindly voice. He seemed so relaxed now that Deena could hardly believe it. She slid slowly to the ground. "Are you that runaway slave that I have heard about?" Inarr asked.

Deena just nodded her head and began to back away. What would such a savage do to her? Deena felt the panic begin to rise in her breast again. Finally she blurted out, "Silver the Hunter sent me."

Inarr threw back his head and laughed. "Fear not Little One," he said, "the Wolf clan keeps no slaves. So you have met the Hunter, have you? Everyone who meets that Old Wolf has a tale to tell and I’ll wager that you are no different. Come, we will away to Castle Krona. After you have been clothed and fed I would hear that tale."

"First the Hunter, now this yellow haired giant," thought Deena as she followed his broad back through the forest. "Perhaps I will be safe among the Wolf Clan after all."

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