[Mkguild] The Journeys Begin chapter 3

[joeschoder2 at charter.net]

Here's the third chapter.


The Journeys Begin
Chapter 3
By: Joseph Schoder Jr.


January 4, 707 CR – Midnight

The night sky was glittering with stars, the moon shone overhead, casting the ruins in an eerie half-light.  The winter air was crisp and frigid.  Not to say that this bothered the ruin’s lone occupant.  

The Dire Wolf’s ear flicked as she heard an owl in the distance, but she didn’t raise her head from her paws.  She was not interested in distant sounds, she was to keep strangers away from the Wolf Rider’s new home, something she was more than willing to do.  

In the frozen lands where she had been born she did not enjoy sitting outside their caves on guard duty, it was always too cold, even through her thick fur.  Of course she never shirked her duty, and it helped that Erurk would always bring his largest white bearskin cloak to cover them both.  They had killed the monster together as a right of passage.

On the nights when they had guard duty he would always speak to her, quietly, to pass the time. And even though she couldn’t truly understand everything he said, nor reply in kind, the sound of his voice always brought her happiness... She missed his voice, and his presence, and that happiness.

He would have liked it here, it was not cold as much as it was pleasantly cool.  She enjoyed being outside in their new home, she hoped they would be able to stay here.

The wind picked up and Keenscent surged to her feet, the sadness and loss she felt was pushed back as she picked up an increasingly strong scent on the breeze.

It was humanscent, a scent she hadn’t encountered until very recently when the one came who killed the old Alpha.  The female and the child had left earlier, and this did not smell like them anyway.  She quickly and carefully made her way through the debris to the opposite side of what had once been a mansion.  This was the side that had faced the rest of the town, there were still people living here, though no one was living within sight of the mansion.  Perhaps this was because they did not want to be reminded of what happened, or due to some fear of ghosts, or simply out of respect.  The wolf didn’t care about any of that, her only concern at the moment was that there were unfamiliar humans coming near her new home.  

Moving to peer around the half collapsed remains of a wall she saw three human pups, two male and a female.  They smelled of fear, anger, and from the female, determination.  Listening, she heard them speaking.

“I told you I’m not afraid!”

“Yeah, you said that already.”
“Now you have to prove it.”      

“Yeah, you have to go into the mansion and stay there till morning.”
“You’ll never be able to do it.”
	
“Yes I will!”
	
“The ghosts will get you before then.”
	
“There’s no ghosts!”
	
“Then prove it.”
“Yeah, prove it.”

In the past Keenscent would have circled around and taken the two males as they tried to get back to the town, then she could have hunted the female at her leisure.  But, Alpha Sasiv had said no killing, she was not sure what she could do, she had never had to not kill something.  The female was coming closer, in another few moments she would be around the wall and Keenscent would be visible.  She couldn’t let them come to her home, but she couldn’t kill them.  

Frustrated, she jumped out from behind the wall with a flurry of growling and snapping and lunged at them.

The two male pups fell down in their mad scramble to get away, they ran screaming back toward the town.  The wolf noticed that they had scent marked themselves as they ran.  She wondered how these creatures had survived so long if, when faced with a threat, their pups leave an easy to track scent trail while creating enough noise to attract every predator within earshot.  Oh well, it didn’t matter, she had done her duty, and without killing.

As she turned she suddenly realized that the female pup was still there.  Looking down the wolf saw that she was laying on the ground, fainted.  

This wouldn’t do.  To the wolf the night air was pleasantly cool, but Keenscent had been born in the glacial north of the giantdowns and pleasantly cool to her was still cold enough to kill the sleeping human child.

She would not go through all the trouble of not killing and then allow the child to die anyway.  The wolf nosed and pawed at the child, trying to wake her so she could run like the others, but she didn’t wake.  Letting out a weary, annoyed huff she laid down beside the child, curling her body around her.

The wolf had been laying by the child for perhaps a half-hour when her ears picked up a disturbing sound.  The wind had shifted as she waited, so the sound was her first warning.  It was the sound of voices, many voices all coming toward her.  After only a few minutes she could see the fire of torches coming from the town.

As the voices and the light came closer, Keenscent became increasingly nervous.  She knew very little about humans, but from what little she had seen of them, it seemed that for most killing came as easily as for some of the most violent Lutin tribes she had ever fought against. 

She thought for a moment about simply leaving the child there for them to find, she started to slink back into the shadows of the mansion, but stopped.  What if they killed her?  Some Lutin tribes would kill children if they showed any sign of weakness.

The wolf was torn, even if they didn’t kill her they would know that something was living there and they might find her home.

Keenscent moved swiftly back to the sleeping child and took her gently in her mouth as she would her own pup.  Even as she did, the humans came into view, a shout went up and Keenscent dashed toward the forest.

Darting in and out among the trees, Keenscent tried her best to keep her head steady and her jaw soft around the small girl in her mouth.  At the speed she was moving, she quickly left her pursuit and slowed to a trot to avoid harming the pup.  

The wolf had gone far enough that she could no longer hear the shouts of the hunters and had slowed to a walk, panting around the body in her mouth, when the girl finally woke up.

She looked down, seeing half her body being held in the great maw, surrounded by huge teeth as the wolf’s hot breath washed over her.  A look of pure terror flashed across her face, she took a whimpering breath and let out a piercing scream.

Keenscent dropped the child and cringed back.  Her ears, flattened to her skull, were still ringing.

The child stopped screaming as she hit the ground, forcing the air from her lungs.  She crawled to the base of a nearby tree and huddled there, crying.

The wolf started toward the crying child, trying to think of a way to let her know that she had to be quiet or she would bring the hunters to them.  But as she drew closer, the girl shrank against the tree and started crying louder.  

It was something that was almost completely against the wolf’s instincts, but also the only thing she could think of to convince the child that she meant no harm.

Keenscent took a submissive pose to the child, her tail between her legs, she lowered her head to the ground, slicked back her ears and crawled slowly to the screaming child. 

As she crept closer the child pushed herself against the tree, holding her hands in front of her as if to keep the wolf back.  Keenscent raised her head to lick at the outstretched hands.  As she did, the girl stopped screaming and, whimpering, looked confused at the wolf.

“You’re not going to hurt me?”

She reached out slowly and hesitantly put her hand on Keenscent’s head.

At that moment the shouts of the mob resumed as they again picked up the wolf’s trail.  Keenscent turned her head to look, seeing the glow of torches light up the night.  The wolf lay down next to the girl and nudged her with her head toward her back.

The girl was confused, “What is it, what do you want?  Who is out there?”

Keenscent pushed the girl more urgently until she was leaning against the wolf’s back, she seemed to get the idea then, “You want me to get on?”

The wolf nudged her again and the girl climbed slowly onto her back.  It was almost too late, even as she had gotten settled the yelling voices where breaking through the brush behind them.  Keenscent stood and dashed among the trees, painfully aware of the little girl’s grip on her mane, the wolf’s ears picking up one last faint shout as she ran, “It’s got Melanie!”

**************************


Once Keenscent could no longer hear the voices she slowed to a walk, her panting breath sending clouds of steam into the air.  After a moment the girl noticed they were no longer running and her grip loosened.  She shifted on the wolf’s back and Keenscent could tell she was looking around.

“Um, wolfie you’re going the wrong way, home is that way.”

Keenscent turned her head and saw the girl pointing off to the left.  “I need to go home, mommy will be worried, please?” 

Typically among Lutins, the females were the more peaceful.  If the girl was to live, her mother would be the best place to go.  Keenscent did not like the idea of running forever from these humans.

The wolf turned in the direction the girl had pointed and sped up to a trot.

After a few minutes they came out of the forest.  They had made a large circle around the mansion and were on the other side of the town, there were few lights visible from the houses, and Keenscent could see the most light coming from a large building near the center of town.  There seemed to be a group of women gathered as close to the open door as possible, trying to balance staying warm and watching for the hunters to return.

Upon seeing them, the girl pointed to a female at the center of the group, a mongoose with long, dark, yellowish brown fur, “There’s mommy, wolfie, over there.  Why are you stopping, she’s right there?”

Keenscent had indeed stopped, humans were frightening creatures, even more so these Keepers, especially now that she could no longer kill them even to defend herself.

At the girl’s insistence she started walking again, furtively toward the town, skirting the edge of the light as she circled around it.

She made it to the building next to the one the women were gathered around, hiding in the shadow under an overhang.  Suddenly one of the women who was looking around looked straight at the wolf.  Her mouth dropped open as if she were about to scream, but instead she yelled, “Wolf!”  

Everyone in the doorway turned simultaneously to where she had pointed.  The sound of metal rasping on leather reached the wolf’s ears as every one of the women drew a sword of some kind or other.

Keenscent backed up, preparing to run from the unexpected threat, when the girl slid off her back and moved in front of the wolf with her arms out.

The mongoose moved closer and, crouching, extended her hand.  She spoke softly, fearfully, “Melanie, I want you to walk toward me, slowly.  Come on, Melanie, just come toward me.”

Melanie shook her head, “No mommy, she saved me.  It was scary at first but she’s really nice, please don’t hurt her mommy please!”

She didn’t understand everything that was being said, but the women didn’t seem to want to attack the little girl, so Keenscent gently pushed the girl toward them with her nose and turned to run back to the forest.  The girl’s voice, and the small hand on her tail, stopped her, “Wait wolfie, please don’t go!” 

Her mother hissed, “Melanie!  Let go of its tail, that’s a wild animal!”

Keenscent turned, she may not have understood the child’s words, but she understood the feeling behind them very well.  Had she been able, she would have spoken those same words back at the Keep when Erurk lay dieing on the cold stone.

She opened her mouth, a collective gasp went up from the women as they raised their swords, and she licked the girl’s cheek.  She would not leave, she nuzzled the girl as she hugged the huge wolf.

Suddenly she noticed that the mother was standing right in front of her, expecting a blow she flinched back.

“Easy, it’s alright... just stay calm, I won’t hurt you.”

Seeing that her hands were empty, Keenscent moved back to Melanie’s side, and even went so far as to allow the mongoose to reach up and pat her head. 

After that, everyone slowly moved closer to her, they seemed to delight in patting and stroking her fur.
 
**************************

Gregory, owner of the local inn, was nearly going out of his mind with worry.  The two boys had come running back to town telling about the monster in the mansion and, after some urging, that Melanie was still there.

He had seen the huge wolf run into the forest with something in its mouth.  Then when the shout went out that it had his only child, his heart nearly stopped.

Then the hunters at the front had said that they had seen her riding the wolf.  He didn’t know what to think.  They had followed the trail in a circle around the town, and then it turned inward, heading directly into town.

As they entered the town a most unusual sight greeted him.  The women who had stayed behind at his inn were all gathered around the huge wolf, and were feeding it scraps of meat from his kitchen!

**************************

Ashley had heard a commotion from the town and so went to investigate.  She found a group of people gathered around the inn.  

As she approached she could hear an argument going on, she could make out a few sentences, “It kidnapped Melanie, it is a wild animal, how could you think of keeping it here!?”  She recognized the voice as Gregory, a strange white and black striped horse morph, who had never bothered to look through the Keep’s library to find the name of his species.  As he spoke there was a murmur of consent from the crowd.

“In case you didn’t notice, our daughter is here, it brought her back, it saved her.”  That one was Mary, the yellow mongoose morph.  More murmuring from the crowd followed her statement.

“Stop talking about her like a thing!  She’s a she not a it.  An’ if you hurt her papa I’ll never forgive you!”  Some scattered laughter followed that one.

Ashley got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as she realized what they must be talking about.  She moved through the crowd to the center.

Melanie was standing with her fists on her hips, being as imperious as a ten year old could be.  Right behind her was the Dire, Keenscent. 

The wolf looked up at her, over Melanie’s head, giving her a helpless ‘It’s not my fault’ look.

Ashley walked forward till she was standing before the wolf, she could feel the eyes of the town on her, and hear them wondering about her in hushed conversations.

“I’m not gonna let you hurt her either.”  Melanie’s voice held absolute conviction.  

Smiling, Ashley knelt down and whispered, “I’m not going to hurt her, and I’m very glad you don’t want to hurt her.  Can you help me make sure nobody hurts her friends either?”

“She has friends?”

“Yep, lots of friends, can you help me?”

Melanie nodded with certainty, “Uh-huh!” 

Ashley smiled again as she stood up and patted Melanie’s head.  She looked at Keenscent and held out her hand to the wolf.  “Can you go back home for now?”

Keenscent looked down at Melanie and then back up at Ashley.  “Melanie will still be here tomorrow.”

Melanie put her hand on the wolf’s neck, “Promise you’ll come back.”

The wolf licked her face and ran off toward the mansion.

“Ashley, you knew it was here?”  The speaker was Nathan, a feline morph, and the best archer and tracker in town.

Ashley sighed, “I think we need to call a town meeting together.”