The saw ripped into the trunk of the tree. One of the pines that had been ravaged by the late winter freeze; the dry wood easy to cut when the sap was running in every other tree. Thorn took long strokes making the most of the long flexible blade. It took only a little time for what was left of the tree trunk to fall to the wet forest floor. Quinn knew not to get Thorn's way while he was cutting. It had only taken getting hit once by the blade for him to learn and he had know to say away from where the tree was going to fall simply by watching. The dog now knew how to predict where the tree would fall and where he could sit to be close to Thorn while he cut. Thorn paused and sharpened the saw blade that he had just used before switching to another for bucking the fallen tree. The peace of the forest was broken only by the soft rasp of the file on the teeth of the saw. The wind stirred slightly bringing a smell to Quinn's nose. He lifted his head and looked up the slope. Thorn caught a different smell than the dog.
"Yeah, boy I think the first rain storm of the year will be tonight," Thorn said barely taking his focus off the work at hand. Quinn rose his head and lowered his tail, his lips slightly curls and his attention all up the slope. It was a warning stance that Thorn knew all to well. Thorn rose, picked up his ax and slung his bow and arrows over his shoulder. He moved up the slope silently, Quinn at his side, the ax ready for defense. Soon they heard the sound of what ever it was that was approaching. The feet fell on the loss forest liter in a heavy, ragged pattern; as if what ever it was was stumbling down the hill. It was so far from any rhythm Thorn could not tell if the creature had two legs or four... or any other number of legs for that matter. It was not until he caught a glimpse of a human figure coming down through the trees. Thorn moved up toward the figure not letting it see him. It seemed to be running from something. He could see her now. She was nude and covered in mud and dirt. The few places where Thorn could see her skin it was blue and looked stiff. She must be half frozen. Something sprung up in Thorn that he had not felt in year.
"Hello stranger," Thorn said. The women jumped but seemed not to be able to judge the direction from which the voice had come. She started to fall, Thorn dropped his ax and rushed up the hill and caught her. Her skin was cold to the touch and felt almost brittle. He flung his bow and arrows to the ground and pulled his cloak from around his neck to wrap the woman's cold body. "It is okay, you will be okay."
"They are coming. I must run. They are here." The woman's voice was weak and seemed as if it might shatter. Thorn gently set her down on the slope. Here eyes slid closed and consciousness left her. Thorn wrapped her tightly in as many cloths as he had. He could not understand how she was still alive. He was so focused on tending the human he did not hear Quinn's growls or the silence of the rest of the forest.
Quinn's jowls curled back and his nose wrinkled into a snarl. His hackles raised and his tail tucked tight between his legs. All of the wolf in him came out in that stance. He could smell the putrid creatures that were approaching. He could smell the beasts that should not be. What he smell was like rancid lard floating on soured milk. Quinn wanted to run and hide but he need to protect his pack. He needed to protect Thorn.
Thorn's slowness to take in Quinn's behavior was matched only by his quickness to response once he realized that he was in danger. He picked up his bow, strung it, and had an arrow notched in a single motion. He cursed himself for having dropped his ax down the slope.
"What is it boy? What is coming?" Thorn said trying to take comfort in the sound of a voice, even his own. It was then that he first heard the creatures that were coming. They were big and from the sound of their foot falls they ran on four legs but would rise up from time to time to run on their hind legs. Their odd gate was punctuated by the sound of thick heavy metal hitting together, and the heavy rasping of the creatures breath. It created a strange and terrible sound, like nothing Thorn had ever heard in the forest. They moved quickly and Thorn started to catch glimpsed of them through the trees. He drew the arrow to his cheek and took aim following the creatures movement among the trees. It was as if something took over his mind. He was not longer really in control simple doing what he had to do.
Thorn caught glimpses of a thick armored tail, then of hands that carried long clubs made out of metal that seemed to have been taken from the earth in that form. The armor that covered every past of the creature seemed to be made of the same metal. As if a mountain had formed of solid iron and these creatures had been cut from its base. Finally Thorn caught site of an eye. It was a sick red marble swirled with black and a small black spot in the middle that reminded Thorn of looking into the yawning depths of one of the ancient mine shafts in the high mountains. Thorn fixed his focus on that spot and when the arrow left his finger it found its mark.
The creature snarled and stumbled as the heavy shaft of the arrow sunk deep into it head. The creature reached up and snapped the end off the arrow with a hand that had an odd resemblance to a human hand. As he did so he snarled widely and another shaft sunk into the back of the creatures throat. The beast stood up on its hind legs. A third arrow found a notch in the armor on its chest. Finally the creature toppled over backwards and it started a slide slowly down the slope.
Thorn's attention then transfered to the other creature. It was maneuvering differently now, not letting Thorn get a bead on it its eyes. He looked for other gaps in the beast armor but could find none that it exposing. Thorn loosed an arrow that simply glanced off the heavy metal plates.
"The damn things learn quickly. Quinn, ax!" The sound of the charging beast threatened to drown out Thorn's command, but Quinn responded quickly. Thorn loosed another useless arrow, dropped his bow and took the ax from Quinn's mouth. Thorn started to move across the slope towards where the beats had circled to to avoid Thorn's arrows. The heavy ax felt good in his hand and he charged his opponent hoping the ax would be enough. He knew what he would have to do. Let it get close until it reared up to use the clubs in its hands and then he would have to sink the head of the ax into its chest or throat or anywhere he could.
Right when Thorn expected the beast to rise up it did not. Instead it dropped down and one of the clubs swung out threatening to shader Thorn's knee. He jumped up and spun to avoid the heavy metal club. He thought quickly while he was in in the air and he noticed a small gap in the shoulder of the armor that appeared when the beast swung its club. The ax came down like lightning and found the gap. Thorn felt the bone under snap like a stick. The club in that hand fell to the ground as Thorn gently landed behind the beast. The beast had to move on its hind legs now that it could not use one of its arms. It turned slowly to face Thorn again. Thorn did not bother letting the creature get close enough to use its club again. He lifted his ax above his head and let it fly. The head of the ax sunk deep into the beats massive chest in the opening that must have been over the beast heart. It fell forward with the crash of heavy armor.
Thorn rolled the beast over. For the first time he noticed that it was a human, or had been at one point. It was a human as much as a beaver was a rodent. It had been human maybe thirty or forty generations past. Thorn pulled his ax free from the beats chest as if he were pulling it free of a log. Quinn barked and Thorn's attention was drawn back to the woman who was freezing to death.
Thorn moved quickly back over to the women and threw her over his shoulder. He bent and picked up his bow and ax and had Quinn carry the arrows. They covered the ground back to the cabin quickly and Thorn wrapped the woman in all the furs that he had, stoked the fire high. He thought about tending her wound and cleaning her off, but decided that the priority was to get her warm, then worry about the infections that were surly forming in those wounds. He watch her as slowly color came back to her skin and she began to warm over the hours. When her skin lost its rigidity Thorn uncovered a part of the woman at a time and cleaned and tended her deep cuts.
"Where did you come from? What happened to you?" Quinn watched the whole process; half his attention on Thorn and the other half on what was going on outside the cabin.
