“Aaoooww,” howled a raspy, mocking voice out of the dark. “Aaeeeiiiihh!”
But inside my head the horrible howls became words like the Legwalkers spoke, only whispery and irresistible.
“Follow me, little one, and you shall learn who you are!”
Chapter 11
Leaves rustled. Something moved, and then the shadow of a shape bounded off into the swamp.
I leaped after it, the moonlight flooding my body with energy. I ran like the wind, and all living creatures scuttled out of my path.
The strange, shadowy creature drew me on, but I never caught more than glimpses of it. The beast loped on all fours and had a hunched, hulking appearance. Its head looked large and misshapen—like nothing I’d ever seen before.
“Aeeiighh!” it howled. But inside my head it sounded like “Follow me! Follow me and find the truth!”
Deep into the swamp we went, deeper than I had ever been. Wisps of steam rose from murky pools and dead trees made crippled shapes against the night sky.
My hunger grew, clawing at my belly, but it never occurred to me to stop. I couldn’t stop. Running fed the hunger and the swifter I ran, the stronger I became.
Heat rose off me in waves so hot I warmed the wind. And the wind itself began to speak to me, whispering its admiration. “Little one,” I heard. “Run little one, run to us. Come, little one!”
Whatever was happening to me, it made me strong, stronger than I’d ever been. I cleared a pool of muddy water in a single bound. This was the way I was meant to be—swift as the wind, more powerful than the strongest wolf.
Suddenly a tree in my path changed shape and I shied away, startled. Something flashed red eyes at me. I glimpsed a sharp-fanged grin, and then it was gone. That was no tree. Or was it? I swept the woods with my magical eyes but there was nothing there.
“Little one,” sighed the wind. “Come to us!”
My pace faltered again as I realized those voices were not the wind at all. From everywhere the whispering voices came at me, howling softly, menacingly, pulling me deeper into the wettest, most dangerous part of the swamp.
“Follow,” the voices urged me. “Follow deep into the swamp. Follow and find the truth!”
The air around me grew heavy with the smell of rotting things and stagnant water.
I began to see flickering red eyes, glowing for an instant, then gone. Twisted shapes loomed up out of the muck and when I looked, they disappeared. There were strange night creatures all around me and I couldn’t see them!
But they could see me.
Ragged shreds of laughter caught at my ears.
It was an evil, mocking sound.
As it filled the night I realized I was running right into the thick of them.
But I couldn’t stop.
Chapter 12
“Heeeeeeee-heeeee-heeee! Look at what happened to poor little Gruff! Haaaaaa-haaaaa!”
The laughter came from all sides. I was surrounded.
Strange, monstrous forms flickered around the edges of my vision. But when I tried to focus on them, they turned back into shadows. Baring my teeth, I snarled at them to keep away from me.
I splashed into a mud pool, spattering myself with horrible-smelling muck. The mud sucked at my feet. I lifted one foot and felt the other sink deeper. I couldn’t get free!
As I struggled, the mud pulled me in slowly. Suddenly I could smell all the other creatures of the swamp that had stumbled there and were imprisoned in the mud forever.
I panicked, struggling wildly. All around me the laughter grew louder, mocking my terror.
“What’s wrong, little Gruff?” said a cruel voice in my head. “What are you afraid of?”
Red glowing eyes watched me from the darkness. The night creatures were creeping closer and closer as my useless struggles drove me deeper into the ooze.
I growled threateningly, trying to force them back.
But the red glowing eyes came closer.
I felt a cold touch on the hairs of my belly. Mud! I was still sinking. I forced myself to be calm. I knew how to get out of this if I would just think. But the night rustled with hunched shapes and whispery shadows. Cruel red eyes stared at me, cackling with evil pleasure.
I sank another inch. Think! I closed my eyes and pictured myself getting free. It was almost too late.
I took a deep breath and heaved myself over onto my side. With a loud POP! an arm and a leg came free. I rolled over, pulling with all my might. The rest of me popped free! The mud pool sighed and subsided.
As I lay there panting, the red-eyed night creatures crept closer, closer. They weren’t laughing now. They whispered to one another, making a sound like tree limbs grating together in a gusty wind.
The moon slid behind a cloud and hid them. For a few moments they were just humped black shapes against the night. Except for those red eyes glowing like hot coals. Red eyes in the night, staring at me.
The hairs stood up along my back. I jumped to my feet and tried to run away. But wherever I turned, the monstrous shapes were there.
Closer they came, closer and closer.
Their breath stank worse than the swamp mud that covered me. The strange, shadowy creatures smelled of death.
A snarl started deep in my throat and I bared my sharp-fanged teeth.
The moon sailed out from behind a cloud and suddenly I could see them! I sucked in my breath. They were werewolves!
Horrible creatures with matted hair and snarling faces. Part wolf, part human, and one hundred percent monster. Monsters so ugly and terrible it made my belly churn with sickness. Their long, pointed fangs glistened in the moonlight. Between patches of straggly hair their skin was like half-rotted bark. Their gnarled feet and hands were tipped with long yellow claws.
But their eyes were worse than anything. Those hot red
