I feel you, Mate. I tend to agonise over the same paragraph, rewriting it over and over again until I eventually get the shits and walk away. But I keep coming back to it, and eventually it breaks free. Well, except for the waffle below. For the life of me, I just couldn't get this one to keep going...
I only saw his eyes open for a second. They were blue, almost as pale as mine. And the glimmer of relief that flashed in them before he let his head fall to the ice prickled my skin.
Pacing from side to side along the bank, I tried to get his attention with a series of short barks. But he just lay there in the failing purple light of dusk, not moving. He was at least two hundred yards away, across ice that was not strong enough to support my weight, let alone his. I could hear it cracking angrily from where I stood. If I didn’t help him, he was going to fall through into the freezing lake below.
Gingerly, I paced out onto the ice, spreading my paws as wide as I possibly could. The creaking protests beneath me got louder and louder with every step, forcing me to lay down to spread my one hundred twenty pound load. The cracks dulled as I slid myself across the icy surface, but they didn’t disappear entirely. Regardless, I slithered toward the injured stranger. I couldn’t just leave him there.
As I got closer, maybe fifty yards out, I could see the handle of a dagger protruding from his back. His thick, grey fur was matted with blood, and the ice too had turned crimson in front of his snout. I barked again, trying to get his attention. He flinched at the sound, but his eyes remained closed.
The smell of blood was thick in the air as I reached his unconscious body. I could see that he had sustained a number of stab wounds, all deep and angry. I nuzzled his snout and licked at his face, causing him to stir.
Please, his deep voice echoed weakly in my mind. I need your help…
Can you move? I telepathically queried.
His eyes half opened, boring directly into my own. They were filled with defeat. I…no…I’m sorry…I can’t go any farther…
Shit! I thought, suddenly becoming aware that whoever had attacked him might well be looking to finish him off. He was a big, powerful werewolf, easily twice my size. If they had done this to him, I had no chance.
There was nothing else for it. I grabbed him by the scruff of the neck with my teeth and began dragging him back to the shore. Despite his weight, he slipped easily on the frozen surface. We made good progress, sliding head to head across the crackling ice. I was almost in a backwards run, heaving on the tough folds of skin and fur around his neck. He tried to help between groans and spluttering bouts of coughing, but his paws ended up flailing uselessly behind him.
My hindquarters crashed painfully into the bank, causing me to tumble backwards. I kept hold of my burden, hoping that our momentum would carry him off the ice. For the most part it did. I dragged him up the slope the last few feet, his own paws finally managing to find some useful purchase in the snow-covered earth.
I transformed into my human form, instantly gasping at the freezing assault of the wind gusting across my naked flesh. Already shivering uncontrollably, I reached for the dagger sticking out of his back. I pressed my left palm firmly to his back, right beside the wound, and pushed in hard as I withdrew the blade with my other hand.
His tortured squeal chilled me to the bone.
I kept pressure on the wound, the warmth of his sticky blood seeping out from between my fingers. Our bodies trembled in unison, mine from the cold, his from painful sobs. It was heartbreaking.
When the bleeding stopped, I silently spoke to him through my touch. I need to call another of our wardens to help get you back to my post.
No! his voice boomed in my mind.
You’re too big, I soothed. I can’t get you over the ridge on my own.
They’ll hear you. He transformed into his human form, laying face down in the snow. His muscular back and broad shoulders split with four deep knife wounds. “If you help me,” he gasped, “I can walk.”
“I don’t think…”
“Help me up!” he ordered, his tone deep and commanding.
The perfect metaphor for my own writer's block as it turns out. But in reality, I left his stabbed ass for dead by the lake, and went home for a hot chocolate.