An unpleasant jog (Solo)

[Dante Arsanis]

The sleigh rocked violently as one of its skis clipped a rock hidden beneath the snow surface. The left end rose slightly and hung in the air for a good second before meeting the white again with a soft but menacing thud. This threw the lone sleigh-wolf slightly off balance and the animal put forth all of its strength to keep both itself and cargo on the track. Muscles bulged beneath the thick, gray fur, droplets of saliva bursting from its maw, sizzling in freezing air. The moment was tense, for the track was slightly sloping to the right, and on the right...

...nothing but 20 feet of clear air, then more snow. Well, mostly snow, and quite a bit of what was hidden beneath its surface. And quite certainly, some serious and rather painful tumbling.

Eyes bulging, the animal fought for control, yet even its savage strength wasn't enough to steer the slaigh: rather small, one-man sleigh; but carrying with provisions and personal effects. Right end of the sleigh slid across snow and a patch of underlying ice, dangerously close to the edge. The animal might have handled the problem easily some time ago, but the efforts have obviously exhausted it: its fur was a mess of fast-freezing sweat, its eyes manic, its jaws foaming. Yet, as it often happens, sometimes all that is needed is a little push.

A javelin came whistling through the air. Its aim was true, its owner strong, yet they didn't count on one thing: the sleigh getting out of control. Instead of driving into the wolf's mid-spine the heavy weapon clipped the uper left end of the sleigh, disappearing into the bundle of furs with a heavy thud. Now, while humans run they often look over their shoulder to assess the situation, for humans rely mostly on their eyes and ears. A wolf doesn't need to turn: it 'knows' what is happening behind it... and mostly doesn't want to have anything to do with it. The javelin came far too close for this particular wolf's liking, sensation of near-death experience pumping nearly-exhausted reserves of adrenaline into its organism.

In a sudden burst of speed and energy, the animal sprang forward even faster. The sleigh rocked violently but slid back on the the track, dragged by sheer momentum of the charge. A curse sailed in from behind, indicating that the pursuer wasn't overly happy with this turn of events. This only spurred the animal to maintain its current speed, until... until...

Until it collapsed from exhaustion? Its pursuers were riding small, sturdy hill horses. The wolf was barely big enough to drag the sleigh, let alone outrun such a determined pursuit. That it was alive so far was a miracle. Lay of the land was all very fine, but it had to find a shelter, something it couldn't do while strapped to the sleigh... and to get an even remote chance of freeing itself from the harness it would have to stop. Which was unfortunate, for stopping wasn't an option in any case. It had ten, maybe twenty seconds before getting ran over, or ran through by spear or javelin.

And yet, in the special part of its wolf brain that was very human, it was calculating, running diagnostics against ideas. Man or wolf alone could never hope to match up to, or thwart such a determined, well set pursuit, but human and wolf working together... maybe. Mere seconds after the javelin had hit the sleigh wolf and human made a desperate, last-straw decision.