Chapter Thirteen
The next thing he remembered was something warm nudging him, encouriging him to move. He opened his eyes to find the dog beside him.
2 He reached for the water skin but found it drained. He managed to raise himself, but fire shot through his body. The smell of rotting flesh reached his nose, and somewhere, vaguely, he realized it was his own.
3 All the dog's kills were gone. "Damn!" thought Nameless Fox, "How long have I been here? I've got to move. If I don't I'm finished!"
4 He managed to gather his weapons, dug a hole with his sword, and bury them. He would not leave weapons for bandits to find.
5 Using the pole from his throwing spear as a staff, he started out. Though it was in the wrong direction he had to go to the spring first. He wuld not get far without water.
6 With every step he took he was in pain, and the dog walked at his side, whimpering. He fell once on the way to the spring, and managed to pull himself up.
7 At the spring he filled his water skin and rested, then started off. He fell again, and laid for some time. When he started to rise he pulled himself up on the dog and fell across his back.
8 Trying to right himself, he flung his leg over the dog's back, and threw his arms around his neck.
9 With effortless ease, the dog rose up and trotted off in the direction they had been going. At first Nameless Fox was bewildered, and, frightened. But then he realized they were covering ground three times as fast as he could travel.
10 He patted the dog on the throat. "Good boy!" he whispered, "Good boy! Keep goin'!"
11 They travelled most of that afternoon, and into the evening, when Nameless Fox knew he couldn't hold on any longer. There were trees nearby. "Stop, boy," he cried, "Stop! I've got to rest. Stop!"
12 The dog slowed down and came to a stop by some trees. Nameless Fox wondered how he would get down, then the dog simply laid down, and he rolled off.
13 He managed to take a good long drink, then darkness came over him. He awoke to the sound of fierce growling and heavy feet pounding the ground.
14 He rolled over and looked up. His own dog was standing before him, and ahead of him were three others....a great male, a full grown female, and a young female.
15 The great male had his head down, his mouth open, and was making a deep rumbling sound as it approached Nameless Fox's dog. Nameless Fox's dog answered with the same posture, but as the other male grew closer, he leapt up flashing his great claws, and emitting a deafening roar.
16 The great male broke, staggered back in fright, then he, too, made this roaring, threatening leap. But Nameless Fox's dog did not retreat; he charged again.
17 Though the other male outweighed him, it must have realized that something was strange here, his brother was not merely protecting prey, he had every intention of fighting! And the other dog did not seem to be in the mood.
18 He backed off, sat down, and began to groom himself. The older female did likewise, but the younger one was curious. 19 She crept forward, wiggling from side to side and Nameless Fox's dog watched her with threatening eyes.
20 She came close enough to sniff Nameless Fox's feet, looked at him curiously, then backed off and began to groom herself. 21 The dog came over, laid by Nameless Fox, and nudged him. When Nameless Fox did not respond, he nudged him again, and emitted a soft, low whine.
22 "Good idea, Big Fellow!" agreed Nameless Fox, "we had better get out of here!"
23 He had to fight to make his legs work, but he managed to pull himself onto the dog's back and right himself. The dog rose, but so did the other male. For some reason, he didn't seem to like what he saw, but a deafening roar from Big Fellow made him back off.
24 Big Fellow backed away also, spun and headed down the trail with Nameless Fox hanging on for dear life!
25 After a while the dog slowed down into his usual slow, steady gate. A few times Nameless Fox thought he saw the other dogs following him, but he wasn't sure.
26 By high sun Nameless Fox had to rest again, but he couldn't believe how much ground they had covered. The dog had carried him all this time, and was not even winded! He even seemed anxious to travel on!
27 Nameless Fox tried to recognize his surroundings, but his mind seemed fogged. He was near to home, he was sure of that. 28 At the rate they were going, they should reach the village before nightfall if he was right on where they were.
29 The dog came over to him, and obviously wanted to move on. Nameless Fox mounted, extremely grateful that the dog had learned this trick of lying down.
30 They had journeyed about an hour when they came to a fork in the road. The dog went left, and Nameless Fox suddenly realized it was the wrong way! "No, boy, no!" he screamed, "This is the wrong trail! It'll take us back down into the wilderness! The other way, boy!"
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