Shadow Mountain This Trecherous Safety

There was a sickening moment of stillness, then a weak stirring came just before the questioning voice ached forth.

Ki-valuk?

It sounded like a name, but Hanze couldn't be sure. The dizzy syllables could've just as easily been some innocuous foreign language. I don't understand you, he replied, flicking an ear back in mild annoyance. It would be harder to help him if he couldn't understand what the wolf was saying. There was also the possibility that the fall had just knocked him silly.

Tsk, he tutted irritably over the dazed wolf.

Stay still, he urged with a press of his nose against the wolf's flank. You fell down the mountain. Hanze began to scour his body for injuries, but he smelled no blood and saw no wounds — not on this side of his body, anyway. Still, that didn't mean something wasn't broken. Can you move your legs? He gently nudged one of the wolf's hind paws, testing its sensitivity.