The pool was small, with no fresh water flowing in and no visible overflow. Its surface was still.
Across the pool, White Deer lay down beside the man.
Seated at the water's edge, the man raised a hand to wipe his nose. He frowned at the glaring red on his fingertip, muttered that it really would not work, then took a ghastly white Bone Whistle from inside his clothes and blew it.
The sound was quiet, hoarse and off-key, like a dull blade scraping bone.
Black Snake realized he had briefly gone dazed. Sensing something wrong, he suppressed his urge to attack and prepared to flee. There was no need to risk injury in a fight.
Suddenly, several sets of vibrations rushed toward him from different directions, accompanied by a thick stench of decay.
For a moment, he could not tell what they were.
He instantly locked onto the nearest vibrations, whipped his head around, and lunged with his jaws wide!
He caught it.
Black Snake recognized the thing in his jaws as a dog.
But it felt more like biting into a rotting corpse, its flesh slick and sticky. Yet beneath its skin came the warmth and pulse of a living creature. Its skin was ulcerated, patches of fur missing. It showed no reaction to being bitten, still kicking and struggling with all four paws.
At the same time, he felt bites all over his body. Mad dogs of every size, their skin and fur festering, hurled themselves at him!
He violently shook his head and flung the stinking mad dog away.
He twisted frantically to wrench himself free of their jaws, then turned and bit another. From the corner of his eye, he saw the dog he had just thrown stagger back to its feet...
He tore away