Nyala turned on her heel, following the much faster Kieran ahead. She couldn't hope to compete with a wolf in a short sprint, not with four legs against two. True, a human's longer legs made up for some of the disparity but not all. Wolves were dangerous mainly because they hunted in a manner similar to humans. They harried their prey, drove them in circles, using superior endurance to weaken their prey before moving in- not to kill... but to wound and wait some more.

Following the two wolves, Nyala picked her path, ducking beneath branches and leaping over uneven terrain with the ease of one long accustomed to such maneuvering. She had moved so since she was a wee bairn, freshly weaned from the tit. If one did not learn to move swiftly and easily in the forest one did not survive. Even those that foraged for berries and nuts had the skill.