Free Hunter's War (Legend of the Wild Hunter Book 4) by Garry Spoor

wolves?”
    Looking over at Tullner, she could see the dilemma in the young soldier’s face. On one hand, he wanted to confirm his suspicions; on the other hand, he was still afraid of her. What did he see last night? What did she do to bring about this change in him? Was it just the wolves or was it something else? There was a moment last night when she almost lost it, when the darkness crept in on her and she almost let herself go. It was the hunt, when she smelled the gulrik, when she caught the scent of her prey. In that brief moment, she was alive. Had he not shown up when he did, what would have happened? Would she have lost herself to her feral side completely?
    “You don’t really want to know, do you?” she asked with a grin.
    Hesitating, he looked at her, but he couldn’t make eye contact for fear of what he might see. Tullner was a simple country boy who lived a simple country life. His knowledge of the world pretty much ended at the borders of Sprigtree. She knew, because she lived the same life back in Riverport. He didn’t want to know anything which might shake his foundation or question his belief system. She was sure, if he had his way, he would go back to his fields in Sprigtree as ignorant as when he was forced to leave them.
    “Yeah, you’re probably right, I don’t really think I do,” he finally replied.
    “Ma’am.”
    Turning, she saw two more riders joined them at the end of the line. The one who spoke was a slim young man with short blonde hair and a long narrow face. He had a red splotch on the side of his neck, whether it was some rash or an unfortunate birthmark, she didn’t know. The other young soldier was pale with black hair and dark drooping eyes, giving him the appearance of a man half asleep.
    “Is there a problem?” she asked
    “No, ma’am,” the blonde haired soldier quickly replied. He appeared a little nervous, and seemed to be looking everywhere but at her. “It’s just that… well… we heard what Corporal Tullner told the Sergeant and, well, we were wondering if it was true.”
    “I’m not sure,” she said, turning to look over at Tullner. “I didn’t hear what Corporal Tullner told the Sergeant.”
    “I didn’t say anything which wasn’t true,” Tullner replied a little too quickly.
    She turned back to the blonde haired boy.
    “What exactly did you want to know, Private…?”
    “Sandson, ma’am. Private William Sandson, and this is Private Dion Essoris, and over there, that’s Private Rayan Nasom.” He said, pointing to a third soldier who she hadn’t noticed before. He was a lot shorter than the others with shocking red hair and green eyes which were hidden behind a pair of ill-fitting glasses.
    “What exactly did you want to know about, Private Sandson?” she asked.
    He didn’t immediately answer her, and instead he looked over at the other two young men. There was a non-verbal exchange between them before Sandson would say anything. It appeared they elected him as their spokesman.
    “It’s about the… gulrik… ma’am. Did you really kill all three of them?”
    Did she kill all three of them? There were three dead gulrik in the end, but everything happened so quickly, she wasn’t sure. She remembered seeing Tullner run toward the lone gulrik, but gulrik never travel alone. That’s when the others appeared. They rose up out of the grass all around him. She remembered drawing her Lann, and felt the presence of the wolves in the area who she called out to, but beyond that, the rest was a blur.
    “She sure did,” Tullner answered for her. “I only saw the one. I didn’t see any of the others. Before I knew it, I’m being attacked by two of them. If she hadn’t stepped in, I wouldn’t be here now.”
    He said nothing about the wolves. Did he tell Sergeant Wargner about them, or did he conveniently leave them out of that story as well?
    The three young soldiers spoke quietly together, although it was a rather animated discussion. She