Michael tracked Sonny in wolf shape, which meant I spent a lot of time chasing after him through the forest. Then, when we came to a clearing at the base of a mountain chain, Michael changed back into human form.
"He's up there" Michael said, "and I think he's caught our scent already. Be ready for him."
Sure enough, Sonny, who they made out to be a lunatic, was pretty crafty. We found ourselves going through narrow little passages with seemingly limitless places for ambush. Michael was frowning the whole time, muttering about how Sonny could basically drop onto us at any moment. It was only a few minutes later when it happened.
Michael said later he was pretty sure Sonny would "take the cow first" and attack me instead of him, and he was right. The enormous wolf fell on me from above, and I think it was sheer luck that I managed to get ahold of it before it ripped my throat out. Then I was stuck, lying on my back with a snarling over sized wolf trying to get to my throat while I tried just I keep ahold of him and eventually, to try find something vital in that neck.
Michael came to my rescue. as he later put it, knocking Sonny off me and giving me a chance to draw my weapon. Only then, ready to slay the beast, I had to wait. The two wolves rolled around in a huge ball, each trying to tear each others throats out, and keeping me other'seing a clear angle at the larger one I thought wait, Sonny.
I ended up waiting until Sonny pinned Michael on his back, and then brought the blade across, knowing that the odds were against taking his head off, but having little choice since a sure kill shot was impossible unless I was willing to risk impaling both brothers.
It worked. Although I didn't sever the spine, my blade struck an artery and the beast's windpipe, showering blood everywhere and leaving me to face a dying wolf, stumbling about. The next blow ended it, leaving Michael and I gasping and catching our breath over Sonny's corpse.
A day later, I traipsed back into town in a tattered and shredded tunic. I don't really think anyone believed I'd slain the beast, since I didn't bring back his body, but I wasnt about to take Sonny's human corpse from Connie, who was already talking about cleaning him up before his mother saw him.
I spent nearly a month in Signar, and found it to be a really nice town. Down on the coast, the sun was hot, but higher up on the cliffs surrounding it and in the mountains beyond, the weather was pleasant enough and the people were nice, especially after the killings stopped.
About a week after Sonny's death, Connie even came to visit me, which was strange but not totally unpleasant. The wolf girl was strange and dark in nature, but she was fascinated by me, a human woman who fought like a man and didn't live under a mans authority. She didn't quite get the whole military thing, but then again, neither did I really. Following orders was something I could do, but it wasn't an easy thing, and eventually, I suppose became a problem, but I don't want to get ahead of myself.
When Connie left, I found myself a little sad, thinking I'd never see her again, but she had her life and I had mine. Although I was only a few years older than she was, I thought of her as a child and saw myself as an adult. I knew she was bright, but I had no clue how smart she really was or how different things would be when our paths crossed again years later.
The rest of my time in Signar was pretty uneventful. I patrolled, did odd jobs around the fort, and on several occasions went down to the tavern with some of the soldiers, but it was a tiny town, with no real entertainment, save for a weekly dart tournament. The only productive thing I did really was working on a bow, and while I ended up trashing the thing, I did learn a lot about what wouldn't work.
When the Commander said I was to ship out the next morning, I was ready. As pleasant as Signar was, I was young and bored.
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