Hogfather - Keep Up

Now they were lower she could see the hunters clearly. They were large dogs. Their quarry was indistinct, dodging among snowdrifts, keeping to the cover of snow-laden bushes—

A drift exploded. Something big and long and blue-black rose through the flying snow like a sounding whale.

“It’s a pig!”

A BOAR. THEY DRIVE IT TOWARD THE CLIFF. THEY’RE DESPERATE NOW.

She could hear the panting of the creature. The dogs made no sound at all. Blood streamed onto the snow from the wounds they had already managed to inflict.

“This…boar,” said Susan. “…It’s…”

YES.

“They want to kill the Hogf—”

NOT KILL. HE KNOWS HOW TO DIE. OH, YES…IN THIS SHAPE, HE KNOWS HOW TO DIE. HE’S HAD A LOT OF EXPERIENCE. NO, THEY WANT TO TAKE AWAY HIS REAL LIFE, TAKE AWAY HIS SOUL, TAKE AWAY EVERYTHING. THEY MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO BRING HIM DOWN.

“Well, stop them!”

YOU MUST. THIS IS A HUMAN THING.

The dogs moved oddly. They weren’t running but flowing, crossing the snow faster than the mere movement of their legs would suggest.

“They don’t look like real dogs…”

NO.

“What can I do?”

Death nodded his head toward the boar. Binky was keeping level with it now, barely a few feet away.

***

Hogfather - p334-335