The Third Way

Attacking it without a weapon was clearly hopeless, and even if she grabbed Hesht's knife from his belt the odds would still be stacked against her. She doubted that she could outrun it, and anyway she didn't want to abandon Hesht.

In the couple of seconds that were all that she had in which to make up her mind, she decided that her only hope was to spook the creature. Keeping eye contact, she ran towards it, shouting and waving her arms. She was prepared to dive to one side at the last moment if necessary, to avoid being gored.

For a moment she feared that it wasn't going to work, but then the boar evidently decided that this fierce creature approaching it would be too much trouble. It turned aside and left the path. The noise it made crashing through the undergrowth gradually died away.

She turned back to Hesht. "If tomorrow's leg really turns out to be harder than tonight's, then we'll have our work cut out," she said.

"B-b-b..." was all that Hesht managed, and she realised that he was in a state of shock. His face was very pale, he was shaking a little and his fist was clamped extremely tightly around the handle of the lantern. When she took his other hand in hers, she found that it felt very cold.

"Can you walk?" she asked him. "We need to get to that shelter, so we can try to get you warm. You said that it wasn't much further."

1. Hesht manages to get his feet moving, though in more of a shamble than a walk.
2. But Hesht seems frozen to the spot.

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