AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story is dedicated to all Rahne fans who lamented her
off-stage departure in "Mainstream".
All dialogue within asterisk marks represents wolf-speech.
9. THE IRON FOREST.
Rahne ran on all fours, still in wolf-form, through the trees. Behind her, she could still hear the knights pursuing her, hallooing to each other on horseback. In spite of all her efforts, she had not managed to shake them off.
"Come on, Rahne," she said to herself, or at least, the wolfish equivalent of those words. "Ya have to think o' something! There's got to be some way o' losin' them!"
Rational thought was generally harder in her wolf-form than it was when she was in her human form, but she still could manage it, with enough concentration. Outrunning them was out of the question. A wolf could outrun a human, perhaps, but not a horse, and the knights remained mounted; the forest had not grown thick enough as yet to force them to go on foot. And although she was well enough ahead of them still, they could clearly see her, so hiding was not yet a solution either. And as for fighting, she was outnumbered.
"The only thing to do is to keep on running," she thought. "Until I get a better idea."
They were beginning to narrow in on her, however. The distance between her and the knights was decreasing. In a few more minutes, they would overtake her, and then - .
She jumped over a fallen tree trunk that lay directly in her path, clearing it nimbly, then suddenly halted and sniffed the air. The trees around her had taken on a different smell, all of a sudden. The odor was no longer the familiar one of bark and leaves that all normal trees bore, but a metallic aroma. Their coloring and shape seemed different, as well; they were a dull grey rather than brown, and stood in strange angular shapes. She trotted over to the nearest tree and felt it with a forepaw. It felt like metal, rather than like tree bark.
She heard fresh cries behind her, and remembered her pursuers. She turned around, in time to see the knights halt just in front of the fallen tree. They reined in their horses, and sat there, not proceeding any further. All that they did was stare at her.
Rahne scarcely knew what to make of it. Why were the knights not drawing closer? There was nothing to stop them from so doing, after all; they could easily leap over the tree just as she had done. So why weren't they?
On second thought, she decided not to give it any more consideration for now. What was important was that they had halted, and now seemed powerless to continue pursuing her. It was time for her to take advantage of the situation. She turned and rushed off, deeper into the odd metallic forest.
* * *
"She has entered the Iron Forest!" cried the leader of the dark elf knights, a disgusted, frustrated look upon his face. "Now she is beyond our reach!"
"So what do we do now, Hrothmar?" asked another of the dark elves.
"The only thing that we can do," Hrothmar replied. "We must inform Heimir of what has transpired."
He snapped his fingers, and a globe of light formed before him. Heimir's face appeared in the middle of it. "Well, Hrothmar?" he asked. "How fares it with you?"
"It fares ill, my lord," said Hrothmar. "The young werewolf has fled into the Iron Forest. We cannot pursue her any further."
"Do not worry," said Heimir. "I have had words with Loki, and he has addressed this matter. If all has gone well, some of Utgard-Loki's folk should be on their way here now. Iron is not a problem for the frost giants, as it is for us."
"So they will take her?" asked Hrothmar eagerly.
Heimir nodded. "In the meantime, return to our camp," he said. "You will be needed for other matters."
Hrothmar nodded. "Then we are on our way, my lord," he said. He dispelled the globe, and turned to his followers.
"Well, what wait you here for?" he asked. "Let us be gone. Heimir wants us back in his camp."
The dark elves turned and rode away from the Iron Forest.
* * *
Now that she was no longer being pursued, Rahne could slow down, make her way more leisurely through the forest - though not without glancing back over her shoulder every now and then, to make certain that the chase had not been resumed.
However, she soon forgot - or almost forgot - about the knights, in her increasing bewilderment with this wood. Even given all the strange things that she had already beheld since first being sucked through the portal of Forge's machine, even after her own familiarity with strangeness in the form of her own mutant ability, and those of her fellow students at the Institute, she still found the notion of a forest made up of iron trees absolutely bizarre. Was it really possible? Trees made out of iron?
She pawed at the ground, clearing the snow away from it and then sniffing it, to see if it might contain an answer to this mystery. But it felt like ordinary earth and soil, if cold and hard underfoot, and smelt like it as well. There was no sign of any life in it, burrowing and crawling things like earthworms or grubs or insects of any sort, but that could have been more due to the general wintry weather than to any unusual property of this place.
"Very strange," she thought to herself. "I dinna know what to make o' it."
She considered shifting back to her human form, but decided against it. She wasn't certain as to what she might find lurking about in this place, and if she did run into anything unpleasant, she would be better able to deal with it as a wolf than as a human teenager. Instead, she continued on forward, on all fours, though continuing to sniff the air every now and then.
It was some time later (just how long, she was not certain) that she picked up a fresh scent, coming some ways from her right. She sniffed at it intently. It smelled like a wolf, and a wolf drawing closer, at that. Rahne halted, wondering what to do now.
Would she be safe in her wolf form? Perhaps, but there were at least some wolves, she had heard and read, who were hostile towards outsiders, any wolf not part of their pack. For all that she knew, it might respond this way towards her. On the other hand, she was better prepared for running or fighting in her wolf body than in her human body, and in her present plight, it was more than likely that she would have to perform either of these activities. In the end, she decided to stay a wolf, and wait to see what happened.
She could hear now the sound of something approaching, through the undergrowth to her right. And then, a large grey wolf came into view, walking towards her. It halted, seeing her, and stared at her. And then, it spoke.
To be precise, Rahne was not certain that she could call it speaking. It was not quite speaking as a human would do. But it sounded like speech to her, at least, as she in her wolf's body understood it.
*Greetings, young one,* it said to her. *You are new to these parts.*
*Yes,* she replied, realizing only after she replied that she was speaking to him in the same way that he had done to her. *I suppose that I am. Do you live here?*
*Yes,* he replied. *The Iron Forest has long been my hunting grounds, and that of my folk. Ever since we were first birthed. But you - you are not of our family.*
Rahne shook her head. *No, I'm from - somewhere else.* She wasn't certain that it was a good idea, as yet, to let him know that she wasn't really a wolf but a human mutant who could become one - and as for telling him that she was from another world. Maybe later, once she'd gotten to know him better and could decide whether it was safe or not to tell him.
*We do not often receive wayfarers from far off, here in the Iron Forest,* said the wolf. *But whoever you are, you are welcome here. My name is Hrimhari.*
*My name's Rahne,* she replied. *Rahne Sinclair.*
*That is an odd name for a wolf to bear,* Hrimhari replied. *But then again, you said that you came from a distant land, and perhaps matters are different for your family there.*
*They certainly are,* she replied.
*So why did you leave your homeland, and come here?*, he asked her. *Surely you did not undertake such a journey lightly.*
*Well, it's difficult to explain,* said Rahne. She hesitated, uncertain as to what to say next. How could she tell him about Forge's invention, and the way in which it had so dramatically miscarried? *I was - separated from my homeland,* she began at last.
*Separated?*, he inquired. *How did that come about? Did two-legs kill your family there?*
*No,* she replied. *Actually, some of my family came with me. But - well, we got separated. I was being chased by some two-legs on horseback, and lost the others. They pursued me all the way here, but they wouldn't come into this forest. I don't know why.*
*Were they of the svart alfar, perchance?*, Hrimhari said. *If they were, that would explain much.*
*The svart alfar?*, asked Rahne. *What are they?*
*They are a family of the two-legs,* the wolf answered. *But of them, we know little, for they have never entered the Iron Forest before. They fear it.*
*Why?*, she asked.
*Iron is poison to the svart alfar,* he answered. *And this forest is filled with iron. It prevents them from passing beneath its eaves.*
*Yes, I had noticed that this wood was different from others that I've been in,* Rahne said. *Why is that?*
*We do not know,* Hrimhari replied. *None of my family know; nor, from what I can tell, do the two-legs. There are those among us who believe that our grandmother was responsible for it, but we have no proof for it.*
*Your grandmother?* Rahne asked. *How did she do that?*
*We do not know,* said Hrimhari. *We know little of her, indeed. She retreated to her den many seasons ago, more than we can count, and we have never dared disturb her there. She prefers her privacy, and we respect that. But - * He halted, and pricked up his ears, listening. *They are coming,* he said, a note of astonishment, and alarm, creeping into his voice.
*Who are?* asked Rahne. But even as she spoke, she could hear the noise that Hrimhari had mentioned. Distant footsteps in the west, but drawing closer. And as they grew louder, the earth began to tremble underfoot.
*The jotnar,* said Hrimhari. *The largest of the two-legs. But they have not been here for many seasons. They would only come here -*
*I'm sorry,* said Rahne. *They must be after me. They've probably got something to do with the people who were chasing me earlier.*
*I cannot help but find this most strange,* commented Hrimhari. *Why are the two-legs pursuing you? They hunt our kind, yes, but generally they do not go to such trouble as they are doing now. It would seem almost as though they have singled you out for some particular attention.*
*I don't know any more than you do,* said Rahne. *But, the jotnar - they can enter this forest, can't they?*
*I fear so,* Hrimhari replied. *They have no problems with iron, as the svart alfar do. Which means that we must find somewhere to hide from them, before they reach this place. Follow me.*
He loped off between the trees. Rahne followed him, without another word. The thunderous footsteps were growing closer now, and the ground was trembling harder. Then, a loud bellow echoed through the woods.
*That's the jotnar, isn't it?*, Rahne asked. *They're that big?*
*Yes, they are,* said Hrimhari. *The other two-legs call them giants, and justly so. For they are indeed of great height; most of them can match the trees for tallness.*
*So how do we escape them?*, she continued. *I mean, if they're that big, won't they be able to catch up with us easily?*
*Great size is not always an advantage,* he answered. *You will see what I mean, soon enough.*
They raced through the woods, as the footfalls and bellows grew louder behind them. *This way,* called Hrimhari, darting towards a large clump of rocks to the right. *Follow me.*
They rounded the rocks, to find an opening in their side, leading down into what appeared to be a large burrow. It tunneled down into the earth. *In here,* said Hrimhari, gesturing to it with one forepaw.
Rahne lost no time in plunging into the burrow. Hrimhari proceeded to brush his great tail back and forth across their tracks, wiping the ground clean with them, then followed her in. *Stay here, and make no sound,* he instructed her. *Not until they are gone.*
Rahne lay down upon the earth, as he had told her. The footsteps drew closer now, and soon were so close that their source must be only yards away. She watched as one pair after another of great feet, clad in furry boots, thundered past, while rumbling voices called out to each other overhead, in something incomprehensible. Her eyes widened as she tried to calculate the sheer size of the owners of those feet. People just couldn't possibly be that big. Not even in an impossible world such as this one.
She scarcely dared breathe as the giants - for that was what they surely had to be - strode past her. At last, however, they were all gone, and their footsteps grew fainter and fainter, receding into the distance. Hrimhari pricked up his ears and listened intently, then nodded. *We are safe,* he said to her. *They are out of hearing range by now, I would judge.*
*I'm glad to hear that,* said Rahne. *So those two-legs were really giants?*
*Yes,* he said. *Do not fear, though. I believe that we are safe from them now.*
*That's a relief,* she said. *So is it safe to come out now?*
*Yes,* he said. *Follow me.*
He scrambled up out of the tunnel, and into the open air. Rahne was close behind him. They stood above ground, looking all about them, both sniffing the air warily.
*We should remain alert, in case they return,* Hrimhari said to her. *But for now, I believe that we should be on our way. So, tell me, where are the others of your family? Are they still alive?*
*I hope so,* Rahne replied. She wondered whether it was safe yet to tell him that her friends weren't wolves but "two-legs", and that she was really a "two-legs" herself that could merely turn into a wolf at will because she was a mutant. She didn't think that Hrimhari would be alarmed at her being a mutant - wolves were less likely to suffer from anti-mutant prejudice, after all - but he might have a less favorable view of humans, if he had been hunted by them in the past, as his words had implied. I'd better give him more time to get to know me first, she thought.
*Which direction did you enter the woods from?*, he asked her. *If I knew that, perhaps I could help you find your lost kinfolk.*
*Perhaps,* she said. *Though I don't even know where to start looking for them. I don't know where they are now, although I'm certain that they're not in these woods.*
*And what were they like?* Hrimhari inquired.
Rahne mentally uttered a mild Gaelic curse as she realized that now she would have to face the question of what to tell him about her friends. There could be no more stalling. She'd have to tell him something, now. After a brief period of wrestling with the problem, she finally decided that there was only one thing for it. She would have to tell him the truth.
*Actually, they were two-legs,* she said.
Hrimhari stared at her. *You run with the two-legs?*, he asked her, in an absolutely baffled tone of voice. *But - why would you do that? The two- legs fear us and hunt us. Or at least, they hunt our kind, though seldom have they dared venture within the Iron Forest. Why would you make them your family?*
*Because, actually, I'm one of them myself,* she replied. *Here, I'll show you.* And with that, she shifted back briefly into her human form, and then back into her wolf form. *See?*
Hrimhari stared at her all the more astonishedly, although with no trace of fear or panic in his eyes. *I had heard of such things,* he said. *Two-legs who can take on our shape, through magical arts. Are you one of them?*
*Well, kind of,* she replied. *But for me, it isn't magic. I'm a mutant. I was born this way, and can turn into a wolf and back again whenever I want to.*
*And those others in your family,* Hrimhari continued, *do they also share this gift?*
*No,* said Rahne. *They've got their own gifts, but they can't turn into wolves. I'm the only one with that ability.*
*This is most strange,* said Hrimhari. *It will take some time for me to know quite what to make of this. But, no matter. If you and your family are being hunted by the svart alfar and the jotnar, then you are indeed in grave peril. You will need all the help that you can find, to escape them.*
*So can you help?* asked Rahne. *And will you?*
*You and your tale are most strange to me,* he said. *But, yes, I will. Even if you are of the two-legs by birth, the fact that you can assume our form makes you enough one of my kind that I cannot turn aside from or abandon you. Now, come, tell me more of your missing kinfolk, and how you were parted from them. Then I can decide in what manner I may assist you in your search for them.*
*Well, there were four of us,* Rahne began. *Amara, Sam, and Jamie. And we....*
All dialogue within asterisk marks represents wolf-speech.
9. THE IRON FOREST.
Rahne ran on all fours, still in wolf-form, through the trees. Behind her, she could still hear the knights pursuing her, hallooing to each other on horseback. In spite of all her efforts, she had not managed to shake them off.
"Come on, Rahne," she said to herself, or at least, the wolfish equivalent of those words. "Ya have to think o' something! There's got to be some way o' losin' them!"
Rational thought was generally harder in her wolf-form than it was when she was in her human form, but she still could manage it, with enough concentration. Outrunning them was out of the question. A wolf could outrun a human, perhaps, but not a horse, and the knights remained mounted; the forest had not grown thick enough as yet to force them to go on foot. And although she was well enough ahead of them still, they could clearly see her, so hiding was not yet a solution either. And as for fighting, she was outnumbered.
"The only thing to do is to keep on running," she thought. "Until I get a better idea."
They were beginning to narrow in on her, however. The distance between her and the knights was decreasing. In a few more minutes, they would overtake her, and then - .
She jumped over a fallen tree trunk that lay directly in her path, clearing it nimbly, then suddenly halted and sniffed the air. The trees around her had taken on a different smell, all of a sudden. The odor was no longer the familiar one of bark and leaves that all normal trees bore, but a metallic aroma. Their coloring and shape seemed different, as well; they were a dull grey rather than brown, and stood in strange angular shapes. She trotted over to the nearest tree and felt it with a forepaw. It felt like metal, rather than like tree bark.
She heard fresh cries behind her, and remembered her pursuers. She turned around, in time to see the knights halt just in front of the fallen tree. They reined in their horses, and sat there, not proceeding any further. All that they did was stare at her.
Rahne scarcely knew what to make of it. Why were the knights not drawing closer? There was nothing to stop them from so doing, after all; they could easily leap over the tree just as she had done. So why weren't they?
On second thought, she decided not to give it any more consideration for now. What was important was that they had halted, and now seemed powerless to continue pursuing her. It was time for her to take advantage of the situation. She turned and rushed off, deeper into the odd metallic forest.
* * *
"She has entered the Iron Forest!" cried the leader of the dark elf knights, a disgusted, frustrated look upon his face. "Now she is beyond our reach!"
"So what do we do now, Hrothmar?" asked another of the dark elves.
"The only thing that we can do," Hrothmar replied. "We must inform Heimir of what has transpired."
He snapped his fingers, and a globe of light formed before him. Heimir's face appeared in the middle of it. "Well, Hrothmar?" he asked. "How fares it with you?"
"It fares ill, my lord," said Hrothmar. "The young werewolf has fled into the Iron Forest. We cannot pursue her any further."
"Do not worry," said Heimir. "I have had words with Loki, and he has addressed this matter. If all has gone well, some of Utgard-Loki's folk should be on their way here now. Iron is not a problem for the frost giants, as it is for us."
"So they will take her?" asked Hrothmar eagerly.
Heimir nodded. "In the meantime, return to our camp," he said. "You will be needed for other matters."
Hrothmar nodded. "Then we are on our way, my lord," he said. He dispelled the globe, and turned to his followers.
"Well, what wait you here for?" he asked. "Let us be gone. Heimir wants us back in his camp."
The dark elves turned and rode away from the Iron Forest.
* * *
Now that she was no longer being pursued, Rahne could slow down, make her way more leisurely through the forest - though not without glancing back over her shoulder every now and then, to make certain that the chase had not been resumed.
However, she soon forgot - or almost forgot - about the knights, in her increasing bewilderment with this wood. Even given all the strange things that she had already beheld since first being sucked through the portal of Forge's machine, even after her own familiarity with strangeness in the form of her own mutant ability, and those of her fellow students at the Institute, she still found the notion of a forest made up of iron trees absolutely bizarre. Was it really possible? Trees made out of iron?
She pawed at the ground, clearing the snow away from it and then sniffing it, to see if it might contain an answer to this mystery. But it felt like ordinary earth and soil, if cold and hard underfoot, and smelt like it as well. There was no sign of any life in it, burrowing and crawling things like earthworms or grubs or insects of any sort, but that could have been more due to the general wintry weather than to any unusual property of this place.
"Very strange," she thought to herself. "I dinna know what to make o' it."
She considered shifting back to her human form, but decided against it. She wasn't certain as to what she might find lurking about in this place, and if she did run into anything unpleasant, she would be better able to deal with it as a wolf than as a human teenager. Instead, she continued on forward, on all fours, though continuing to sniff the air every now and then.
It was some time later (just how long, she was not certain) that she picked up a fresh scent, coming some ways from her right. She sniffed at it intently. It smelled like a wolf, and a wolf drawing closer, at that. Rahne halted, wondering what to do now.
Would she be safe in her wolf form? Perhaps, but there were at least some wolves, she had heard and read, who were hostile towards outsiders, any wolf not part of their pack. For all that she knew, it might respond this way towards her. On the other hand, she was better prepared for running or fighting in her wolf body than in her human body, and in her present plight, it was more than likely that she would have to perform either of these activities. In the end, she decided to stay a wolf, and wait to see what happened.
She could hear now the sound of something approaching, through the undergrowth to her right. And then, a large grey wolf came into view, walking towards her. It halted, seeing her, and stared at her. And then, it spoke.
To be precise, Rahne was not certain that she could call it speaking. It was not quite speaking as a human would do. But it sounded like speech to her, at least, as she in her wolf's body understood it.
*Greetings, young one,* it said to her. *You are new to these parts.*
*Yes,* she replied, realizing only after she replied that she was speaking to him in the same way that he had done to her. *I suppose that I am. Do you live here?*
*Yes,* he replied. *The Iron Forest has long been my hunting grounds, and that of my folk. Ever since we were first birthed. But you - you are not of our family.*
Rahne shook her head. *No, I'm from - somewhere else.* She wasn't certain that it was a good idea, as yet, to let him know that she wasn't really a wolf but a human mutant who could become one - and as for telling him that she was from another world. Maybe later, once she'd gotten to know him better and could decide whether it was safe or not to tell him.
*We do not often receive wayfarers from far off, here in the Iron Forest,* said the wolf. *But whoever you are, you are welcome here. My name is Hrimhari.*
*My name's Rahne,* she replied. *Rahne Sinclair.*
*That is an odd name for a wolf to bear,* Hrimhari replied. *But then again, you said that you came from a distant land, and perhaps matters are different for your family there.*
*They certainly are,* she replied.
*So why did you leave your homeland, and come here?*, he asked her. *Surely you did not undertake such a journey lightly.*
*Well, it's difficult to explain,* said Rahne. She hesitated, uncertain as to what to say next. How could she tell him about Forge's invention, and the way in which it had so dramatically miscarried? *I was - separated from my homeland,* she began at last.
*Separated?*, he inquired. *How did that come about? Did two-legs kill your family there?*
*No,* she replied. *Actually, some of my family came with me. But - well, we got separated. I was being chased by some two-legs on horseback, and lost the others. They pursued me all the way here, but they wouldn't come into this forest. I don't know why.*
*Were they of the svart alfar, perchance?*, Hrimhari said. *If they were, that would explain much.*
*The svart alfar?*, asked Rahne. *What are they?*
*They are a family of the two-legs,* the wolf answered. *But of them, we know little, for they have never entered the Iron Forest before. They fear it.*
*Why?*, she asked.
*Iron is poison to the svart alfar,* he answered. *And this forest is filled with iron. It prevents them from passing beneath its eaves.*
*Yes, I had noticed that this wood was different from others that I've been in,* Rahne said. *Why is that?*
*We do not know,* Hrimhari replied. *None of my family know; nor, from what I can tell, do the two-legs. There are those among us who believe that our grandmother was responsible for it, but we have no proof for it.*
*Your grandmother?* Rahne asked. *How did she do that?*
*We do not know,* said Hrimhari. *We know little of her, indeed. She retreated to her den many seasons ago, more than we can count, and we have never dared disturb her there. She prefers her privacy, and we respect that. But - * He halted, and pricked up his ears, listening. *They are coming,* he said, a note of astonishment, and alarm, creeping into his voice.
*Who are?* asked Rahne. But even as she spoke, she could hear the noise that Hrimhari had mentioned. Distant footsteps in the west, but drawing closer. And as they grew louder, the earth began to tremble underfoot.
*The jotnar,* said Hrimhari. *The largest of the two-legs. But they have not been here for many seasons. They would only come here -*
*I'm sorry,* said Rahne. *They must be after me. They've probably got something to do with the people who were chasing me earlier.*
*I cannot help but find this most strange,* commented Hrimhari. *Why are the two-legs pursuing you? They hunt our kind, yes, but generally they do not go to such trouble as they are doing now. It would seem almost as though they have singled you out for some particular attention.*
*I don't know any more than you do,* said Rahne. *But, the jotnar - they can enter this forest, can't they?*
*I fear so,* Hrimhari replied. *They have no problems with iron, as the svart alfar do. Which means that we must find somewhere to hide from them, before they reach this place. Follow me.*
He loped off between the trees. Rahne followed him, without another word. The thunderous footsteps were growing closer now, and the ground was trembling harder. Then, a loud bellow echoed through the woods.
*That's the jotnar, isn't it?*, Rahne asked. *They're that big?*
*Yes, they are,* said Hrimhari. *The other two-legs call them giants, and justly so. For they are indeed of great height; most of them can match the trees for tallness.*
*So how do we escape them?*, she continued. *I mean, if they're that big, won't they be able to catch up with us easily?*
*Great size is not always an advantage,* he answered. *You will see what I mean, soon enough.*
They raced through the woods, as the footfalls and bellows grew louder behind them. *This way,* called Hrimhari, darting towards a large clump of rocks to the right. *Follow me.*
They rounded the rocks, to find an opening in their side, leading down into what appeared to be a large burrow. It tunneled down into the earth. *In here,* said Hrimhari, gesturing to it with one forepaw.
Rahne lost no time in plunging into the burrow. Hrimhari proceeded to brush his great tail back and forth across their tracks, wiping the ground clean with them, then followed her in. *Stay here, and make no sound,* he instructed her. *Not until they are gone.*
Rahne lay down upon the earth, as he had told her. The footsteps drew closer now, and soon were so close that their source must be only yards away. She watched as one pair after another of great feet, clad in furry boots, thundered past, while rumbling voices called out to each other overhead, in something incomprehensible. Her eyes widened as she tried to calculate the sheer size of the owners of those feet. People just couldn't possibly be that big. Not even in an impossible world such as this one.
She scarcely dared breathe as the giants - for that was what they surely had to be - strode past her. At last, however, they were all gone, and their footsteps grew fainter and fainter, receding into the distance. Hrimhari pricked up his ears and listened intently, then nodded. *We are safe,* he said to her. *They are out of hearing range by now, I would judge.*
*I'm glad to hear that,* said Rahne. *So those two-legs were really giants?*
*Yes,* he said. *Do not fear, though. I believe that we are safe from them now.*
*That's a relief,* she said. *So is it safe to come out now?*
*Yes,* he said. *Follow me.*
He scrambled up out of the tunnel, and into the open air. Rahne was close behind him. They stood above ground, looking all about them, both sniffing the air warily.
*We should remain alert, in case they return,* Hrimhari said to her. *But for now, I believe that we should be on our way. So, tell me, where are the others of your family? Are they still alive?*
*I hope so,* Rahne replied. She wondered whether it was safe yet to tell him that her friends weren't wolves but "two-legs", and that she was really a "two-legs" herself that could merely turn into a wolf at will because she was a mutant. She didn't think that Hrimhari would be alarmed at her being a mutant - wolves were less likely to suffer from anti-mutant prejudice, after all - but he might have a less favorable view of humans, if he had been hunted by them in the past, as his words had implied. I'd better give him more time to get to know me first, she thought.
*Which direction did you enter the woods from?*, he asked her. *If I knew that, perhaps I could help you find your lost kinfolk.*
*Perhaps,* she said. *Though I don't even know where to start looking for them. I don't know where they are now, although I'm certain that they're not in these woods.*
*And what were they like?* Hrimhari inquired.
Rahne mentally uttered a mild Gaelic curse as she realized that now she would have to face the question of what to tell him about her friends. There could be no more stalling. She'd have to tell him something, now. After a brief period of wrestling with the problem, she finally decided that there was only one thing for it. She would have to tell him the truth.
*Actually, they were two-legs,* she said.
Hrimhari stared at her. *You run with the two-legs?*, he asked her, in an absolutely baffled tone of voice. *But - why would you do that? The two- legs fear us and hunt us. Or at least, they hunt our kind, though seldom have they dared venture within the Iron Forest. Why would you make them your family?*
*Because, actually, I'm one of them myself,* she replied. *Here, I'll show you.* And with that, she shifted back briefly into her human form, and then back into her wolf form. *See?*
Hrimhari stared at her all the more astonishedly, although with no trace of fear or panic in his eyes. *I had heard of such things,* he said. *Two-legs who can take on our shape, through magical arts. Are you one of them?*
*Well, kind of,* she replied. *But for me, it isn't magic. I'm a mutant. I was born this way, and can turn into a wolf and back again whenever I want to.*
*And those others in your family,* Hrimhari continued, *do they also share this gift?*
*No,* said Rahne. *They've got their own gifts, but they can't turn into wolves. I'm the only one with that ability.*
*This is most strange,* said Hrimhari. *It will take some time for me to know quite what to make of this. But, no matter. If you and your family are being hunted by the svart alfar and the jotnar, then you are indeed in grave peril. You will need all the help that you can find, to escape them.*
*So can you help?* asked Rahne. *And will you?*
*You and your tale are most strange to me,* he said. *But, yes, I will. Even if you are of the two-legs by birth, the fact that you can assume our form makes you enough one of my kind that I cannot turn aside from or abandon you. Now, come, tell me more of your missing kinfolk, and how you were parted from them. Then I can decide in what manner I may assist you in your search for them.*
*Well, there were four of us,* Rahne began. *Amara, Sam, and Jamie. And we....*