Haarn maintained eye contact with the wolf and turned his body to keep the creature before him. The druid's throat worked, but growls came forth instead of words.

You are called Stonefur?

The wolf closed his jaws and took a step back. Muscles coiled and quivered beneath the sleek fur.

You speak, the wolf said.

Yes.

Excited confusion rippled through the growls of the other wolves. They strode forward from the shadows, five on either side of Stonefur.

Are you wolf-man? Stonefur asked.

No.

Haarn wondered if the wolves had encountered a lycanthrope at some point. It would have been the only way Stonefur would have known about the existence of werecreatures.

You know me, Haarn continued. Open your nose. Breathe me.

The druid spread his empty hands at his sides and the wolf approached with caution but stayed well out of arm's reach. Feral gleams ignited in the yellow-green eyes as they flicked back and forth between Haarn and Druz.

Not wolf-man, Stonefur said. Know you. You lifekeeper. Protector of lands.

Yes. Haarn remained still.

Not afraid of Stonefur?

No.

The wolf snapped his jaws, and for a heartbeat, a lightning flash made the fangs look blue while the wolf's eyes turned orange.

Stupid human.

I respect Stonefur's pack, Haarn growled.

The wolf preened, drawing his wedge-shaped head high and unfurling his tail like a flag in the wind.

Stonefur great killer, said the wolf. Stonefur kill many humans. Eat humans. Feed pack good.

I know.

The wolf paced in a semicircle before Haarn.

Why you here, lifekeeper? You search for Stonefur?

Haarn didn't break eye contact. Yes.

What want?

You can't keep killing humans.

Haarn noted the crafty set to the wolf's eyes as he paced. Stonefur knew how the meeting was going to go. Perhaps conversation with prospective prey wasn't the wolf's usual method of operation, but Stonefur was intelligent.

The other wolves milled around, their attention shifting from Haarn to Druz.

Stonefur kill humans if want, the wolf declared. Humans more challenging than other food. Fun to kill. Human young feed many wolves. Only one kill.

Killing humans stops, Haarn said.

Not stop. The wolf stood still. Stonefur say when stop. Not lifekeeper. Lifekeeper be friends with humans if want. Not Stonefur. Not Stonefur's pack.

I will stop you.

Stonefur growled and even the druid's spell couldn't translate. The wolf's teeth flashed and snapped as the first raindrops swirled into the mix of whipping winds.

The rain stung Haarn where it struck him, and spread an icy chill over his exposed skin. The stones in the clearing would become slick with the precipitation.

How lifekeeper stop? Stonefur challenged.

Without hesitation, Haarn drew the long-bladed dagger at his hip.

You kill Stonefur?

Yes. Haarn kept his voice as cold and unflinching as the storm rain.

The other wolves moved in closer, growling threats and baring their fangs.

Stonefur snapped at the other wolves, then ran at them and smashed against them to halt them. The female bearing pups fought with Stonefur, but the bigger wolf snapped his jaws and bit into the bitch's ear. Blood streaked the fur as the wolf bitch turned and trotted back.

The lead wolf slunk back toward Haarn and growled, Stonefur save lifekeeper.

No, Haarn said. You saved your pack.

Lifekeeper not kill all pack. Not strong enough.

I didn't come alone, Haarn said.

Haarn whistled between his teeth. Broadfoot shambled through the forest line farther down the mountain. The bear pushed up from all fours and stood on his two back feet, towering even amid the trees that surrounded him. The bear growled and the sound rolled in with the thunder.

Stonefur resumed pacing, changing his course so that his new path crossed between the druid and the bear, holding both of them back.

You can't stop me, said the wolf.

I will, Haarn promised. You have a choice to make.

What choice? The wolf glared with baleful eyes.

Whether you die or whether your whole pack dies.

Stonefur turned his muzzle toward the pack. They shifted in nervous anticipation.

Lifekeepers powerful, a male wolf said.

Haarn knew the males would probably be no problem. Their whole lives had been about following the male. If they saw Haarn as more powerful than Stonefur, they wouldn't take part in the coming battle. The wolf bitches would be different.

Lifekeepers don't kill furfolk, a wolf bitch said. Humans kill furfolk.

Stonefur has taught you to kill humans, Haarn said. This can't be allowed.

Humans kill furfolk, the wolf bitch repeated. Lifekeepers battle humans.

Killing humans will bring more humans, Haarn said. Hunters have already gathered to track you down.

Let them come, Stonefur said. Humans not hunt as good as Stonefur. Stonefur kill humans better.

Many wolves have already been killed while the hunters have been searching for you, Haarn said.

Stonefur tossed his head. The wolf bitches spread out and crept closer to the druid and the woman.

You do humans' work, lifekeeper? Stonefur challenged. You come to slay furfolk as well?

Haarn returned the wolf's gaze full measure. I came to kill you.

Why? Stonefur's tongue lolled out in disdain.

To keep the humans from hunting wolves. If I give them your head, they will stop hunting.

Maybe they only tell you that.

If the humans continue to hunt, Haarn said, then I will kill them.

Tossing his muzzle into the sky, Stonefur said, These our lands, lifekeeper. Our place here before humans. Before elves and dwarves.

No, Haarn disagreed. The gods made all.

Some places were made for furfolk. Some places made for scalefolk. Some places made for featherfolk. I take places back that belong to me. I hunt where I want, what I want, just like humans.

The humans will grow afraid of you and your pack, Haarn replied. More wolves will die. I can't allow that.

You side with the humans, lifekeeper? The wolf's voice held a taunting lilt.

Anger touched Haarn then. I side with the balance that Silvanus struck when Toril was made. A druid of the Emerald Enclave can do nothing else.

You choose to kill furfolk, Stonefur accused. Your god not choose that path. That humans' way.

Haarn called to mind words that his father had told him when he first started teaching Haarn the druidic ways: Sometimes a tree must be sacrificed so that the forest may prosper.

The wolf threw back his great head and howled at the storm clouds above. Stonefur not your sacrifice, lifekeeper.

Not my sacrifice, Stonefur. I serve Silvanus, and if my path is true, I will be made triumphant.

Strength brings triumphs, lifekeeper. The wolf stood erect and expanded his chest, making himself look larger and more threatening. I will suck the marrow from your bones.

"What's going on?" Druz asked above the storm.

Thunder split the air around them, and the lightning came so close to the mountaintop that Haarn felt the heat. For an instant, everything was rendered in two-dimensional black and white.

"I'm trying to save the others," Haarn said.

Druz turned on him, raising her voice. "You can't save them all."

Haarn met her gaze. "I won't kill any more here than I have to. Neither will you."

She started to reply, but the wolf interrupted them with his growls.

Leave, lifekeeper. Take your bitch with you and live.

Haarn didn't bother to correct the wolf's assumption. He faced the great animal and said, No.

Stonefur growled, Then you die!

This is between you and me, Haarn said. The others need not die. He prayed that would not happen.

They will not die, Stonefur growled.

If they stand with you, Haarn swept the other wolves with his gaze, they will die tonight, or on another night. I will finish what I start, and-Silvanus guide me-I will not falter once I have begun.