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An awful terror took Dahra then The coyote wouldn’t just kill her; it would eat her It would eat her alive, and she would watch it happen until blood loss deprived her of consciousness She knew She had heard the stories; she had seen the bloody, ed into the so-called hospital to await salvation at Lana’s hands

She began to pray Oh, God, save me Oh, God, hear me and save me

Then, aloud, she said, "Kill me first Kill me before youbefore"

Oh, God, don’t let him

The coyote closed to within two feet His nostrils were filling with the scent of her; hisin anticipation

"No," she whispered "No, God, no"

The coyote froze Its ears swiveled to the right It hunched low, and now Dahra could hear it, too, a slow crashing of underbrush and fallen leaves

"Help! Help!" she cried, having no idea who or whatthat whatever it was, the coyote didn’t like it

The coyotesound came closer, and with a furious, frustrated whine the coyote trotted away

"Help me!" Dahra cried

At first she couldn’tin the shadows It looked like a person, but built on too thick a scale, with outlines all blurred and indistinct Then she recognized him and almost fainted with relief

"Orc!"

Orc easily climbed the incline up to the road, then squatted beside her

"Dahra? What are you doing here?"

"Praying for you to show up," she gasped

Orc couldn’t make much of a smile; it was only the human part of his mouth that could do that "You prayed to God? Like in the Bible?"

Dahra was about to say she would happily have prayed to any and all gods and the devil, too, but she stopped herself and instead said, "Yes, Orc Just like in the Bible"

"And he sent e chest swelled "He sentis twisted Can you help o see Lana?"

"Lake first, if you don’t e to deliver I have to talk to Astrid"

Orc nodded "Be sure and tell her God saved you He brought me here, just to save you Maybe then Astrid willAnyway, I can carry you"

He lifted her up like she was a doll He had always terrified her He was as strange as if he was from another planet