D & D - Red Sands by Paul B. Thompson, Tonya R. Carter Page A

said. He quietly backed away from the panther to his friends to get the wine. Tearing a wide strip from the bottom of his clerical toga, he edged back toward the panther.
    "Dear friend," he said calmly, "be at peace and it will soon be over." Uramettu laid her head on the sand and closed her eyes. Her loud panting quieted.
    Tamakh examined the wound. "It missed the bone," he announced. "It should heal cleanly enough." He soaked the bandage in dark red wine and dabbed at the drying blood. Uramettu never flinched until he took hold of the arrow and, with one quick jerk, removed it. Then she raised her head and howled, a heart-chilling cry. Tamakh swiftly wrapped the injury and splashed more wine on the bandage.
    Uramettu began to quiver. Her arms and legs elongated. The thick, powerful body flattened into a slim torso. A keening screech erupted from Uramettu's throat as the bones of her skull spread apart. The heavy black coat of fur metamorphosed into ebon skin. Tamakh drew a blanket around Uramettu's canted, feminine shoulders.
    "My sister," she said weakly. Jadira came to her. "My sister, a band of men on horseback is trailing us."
    "Bershak. The headdress tells all," said Jadira.
    "I seized one to identify, but his comrade put an arrow in me. I bit off the shaft and ran, away from our camp."
    you're very brave," said Marix.
    "Why would these nomads be tracking us?" asked Tamakh. He fixed on Nabul. "Did you rob any of them?"
    "How would I know?" said the thief, shrugging. "They all look alike to me."
    "Bershak were present at the Well of Hearts. They must have heard Marix's story about our escape and the seal of Prince Lydon," Jadira said.
    "So?" questioned Tamakh.
    "So, the Bershak see an opportunity to make an easy
    fortune. They capture us, sell us to the Faziris, and go off rich men."
    "Base cowards," Marix said. "We will deal with them!" Out came his scimitar.
    "Hold your blade," said Jadira. "The Bershak are many, and they are armed with bows."
    "How many did you see?" Tamakh asked Uramettu.
    The Fedushite licked her lips and said, "Two less than a score, short the one I felled."
    "Too many to fight. How far off were they?"
    "Less than a quarter-league."
    Jadira said, "I see their plot. They seek to shadow us until we lead them to the hidden seal, then they will sweep over us like locusts. Now, unless they know Uramettu is a shape-shifter, they won't relate the attack of a wild panther to us."
    "Which means?" said Nabul.
    "Which means we're safe enough for a time."
    "I don't like it," Marix said darkly. "Brigands dogging our heels."
    Uramettu raised herself gingerly to her feet. "I say we steal up on them as they sleep and slay them."
    "They'll have watchmen," Jadira reminded her. "The Bershak are masters of man-hunting, sharp-eyed and keen-eared."
    "I say we take them," Marix insisted.
    "It is they who will take us!" Nabul replied.
    "Be still, will you? The brigands will hear your declarations in their own camp," said Tamakh. "Consider this: if we feign ignorance, the Bershak may not close with us till we reach the Kaipur plain."
    His wise counsel won out, and it was agreed that they would go on as before. Marix and Jadira supported Uramettu back to the donkeys. They put her on the back of
    the steadiest beast. It rolled its eyes and pawed the ground, but gradually settled down as Uramettu stroked its neck and spoke gentle words in its ear.
    The dry wind, steady as breath, uncovered all sorts of strange rock formations. Three days and two nights out ofjulli, the companions camped at the base of a sculpted pile of red sandstone. The low, angular table formation swept up to a high, sharp point. Nabul and Tamakh pegged the donkeys to the rocks and joined the others on the lee side of the rock.
    "That filthy wind cuts like a knife," said Marix.
    "I could do with a fire," complained Nabul.
    "I have a flint, but no kindling," said Jadira. Uramettu shivered beside her. She was feverish from her wound.
    Tamakh rose without a