garbage!
The link was gone. There was no way to reach her mind again unless Mika used the gem, but at the moment he did not want to take his hand off her ankle. The harpy began trying to shake him loose, flying up and down in erratic patterns. Mika held on tight. She tried to strike at him with her wings, but she lost altitude, dipping perilously close to the tree- tops. She tried to pry his hands loose, but he held on for dear life-his dear life. But his body was tired, and hanging on grew more and more difficult with every passing heartbeat.
The harpy, sensing his exhaustion, looped in the air and spiraled, trailing Mika behind like a strange banner. At the last moment she gave a great jerk, and he felt his grip loosen… and then slip away.
The great feathered creature flew down alongside the screaming man as he plummeted through the air. As she came level with him she plucked the shining gem that she had so admired off his neck and then flew away, back to her aerie, leaving the human to his destiny.
Hornsbuck and Lotus Blossom and the wolves watched and listened helplessly from many miles distant as Mika, a tiny speck in their eyes, fell through the air screaming.
They found Mika around mid-day, caught in the upper branches of a towering pine tree. There did not appear to be anything wrong with him other than extreme exhaustion and a multitude of bruises. He later explained to his companions that as he drew near the pine, the demon hand shot out of its own accord, seized a branch, and broke his fall. The magic gem was gone and Mika had acquired another demon finger, but that did not seem to trouble him greatly, for even though he seemed too exhausted to speak, he wore a huge, contented srnile on his face.
CHAPTER 29
With Lufa's help, a guide was arranged who showed them the way through the Yatil Mountains and across the western border of the Caliphate of Ekbir. Fortunately, their horses had been recovered, and the grateful Exagians made certain that Mika's group left with heavily laden supply bags.
Neither Mika nor Hornsbuck nor Lotus Blossom had any interest in encountering any of Ekbir's large army, and they did their best to maintain a low profile as the princess's time for birthing drew near.
They wintered in the thick of the Udgru Forest, enduring the cold of Fireseek and the brisk, damp winds of Readying and finally, the soft sweet breezes and gentle days of Coldeven, the land renewed itself and life was born, in a continuing affirmation of hope.
Two cublings were born unto the princess, easily and without much pain, for which Mika was eternally grateful. One was male, the other female, and both appeared to be entirely wolf. And yet… and yet there was that niggling doubt, for the female had blue eyes and the male green, and their limbs seemed slightly longer than was seemly for ones so young. Their pelts, while dense and sleek, felt more like hair than fur. Mika looked into the princess's eyes and wondered.
One bright morning in the month of Planting, Mika, Hornsbuck, Lotus Blossom, RedTail, Tam, and the princess and the two pups, who frolicked at her heels, stood on the shores of the Dramidj Ocean and looked across the blue waters draped with heavy mists toward the distant island that still, even now, held the answer to their lives.
There was still much to be done. The princess had a throne to claim and a kingdom to rule, as well as the problem of how to regain her human form.
Hornsbuck was committed by the code of the Wolf Nomads to see the mission through to its conclusion, no matter what was required, and RedTail would follow him to the ends of the Oerth.
Lotus Blossom was determined to follow Hornsbuck and prevent him from throwing his life away in the name of that stupid Wolf Nomad code of honor.
Tam was determined to follow the princess and the man to whom he owed his allegiance, hoping that their purposes-and their paths-did not differ.
And Mika… ah, Mika. Mika was determined to go to the island and find the magic blue and red gems that would return his hand to normal, restore the princess to her human form, and remove the curse that was slowly tainting his manhood. And, when that was accomplished, he hoped that the princess would finally show her gratitude for all that he had done in a most womanly fashion. After all… what would she have done without him?
EPILOGUE
The Demon Maelfesh was happy. He had been amused for a time, which was a very unusual occurrence. Why, he had actually laughed aloud several times! He couldn't even remember the last time he had laughed-maybe it was the time he had roasted that fat demi-demon over the volcano. He had screamed for several centuries before the demon finally died. That had been fun, but it had also been several eons ago.
He had forgotten how humorous humans could be with their silly machinations, always trying to affect the outcome of their short lives.
It was too bad that the gem had been lost; it had provided quite a nice mirror onto the life of the human. He didn't suppose there would be much to interest him in the harpy's cave. Still, one could never tell.
The demon was so pleased that he snapped his fingers and sent down a shower of flaming meteors that fell on some thatched cottages belonging to a village of poor peasants on the outskirts of Yecha, setting the buildings ablaze.
Yes, humans were definitely fun. Maelfesh made a mental note to look in on them more often. After all, even a demon deserved a good laugh every eon or so.
But demon Maelfesh was also angry. Very angry, and the more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He realized that the human Mika, that miserable excuse for a Wolf Nomad, had escaped his clutches. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more certain he was that he had been tricked. Maelfesh did not like being tricked. It made him angry, and when he was angry whole worlds trembled!
The demon scanned the Oerth searching for the man, Mika, knowing that he was alive somewhere, knowing that he would find him. When he did, the Wolf Nomad would remember the curse of the demon hand as belonging to the good old days.
