“Good Lord!” he wailed.
Topher moaned. He shook his head and opened his eyes. Something wet and pungent lay next to him. A wolf’s snout! The rest of it lay out in a great mound of muscle and nappy fur. It opened its eyes. They were dark and yellow and run through with red veins. A deep growl rumbled from its chest. Its foul breath blew Topher’s hair back from his forehead. He scrambled back, trying to ignore the pain in his skull, and was relieved to find that he had been able to hold on to his mace.
The beast gathered its legs beneath its body and launched itself with a growl. Topher shut his eyes and swung blindly before him, swung as hard as he could. He connected, heard the wolf yelp, and his shoulder popped, and pain flared through his arm. The beast flew past him and crashed into a
