“One of you’ll have to cut off your tooth.”
“Oh, that’s no problem. Us werewolves grow those back in no time.” Fred replied casually.
Oh. Well, that makes things a lot easier.
“Okay, well I'll need a tooth, and if you guys could move to another area that’d be great.”
I moved the torch further into the mine and spotted a woman hugging a small child.
“You have a lovely family, Fred. Keep them safe.”
Fred nodded, before returning into the mine.
“I’ll get some pliers.”
After a few howls of pain and a little struggling, I was left with a bloody tooth.
“Well, that’ll do for the bounty. Do you guys have anywhere else to go?”
Fred, now one tooth short, told me he knew a pack of wolves that held out not too far from here, and that they planned to ask them for refuge. He also invited me to come visit anytime I felt like it.
“You know what, I think I'll take you up on that offer. I don’t have anywhere else to go myself.” Besides, it’ll be nice to get some new scenery. I was getting bored of looking at the same buildings every day.
Fred asked me to help him pack for the journey, and seeing as I had nothing better to do while waiting, I decided to help him. Alice also came along to check out the mine.
-
I came to know the name of the wolf lady, Azael, and their cub, Anu. I felt it funny that the entire family had their names starting with a. Alice fit in like a puzzle piece.
Anu and Alice were quick friends, and the two mostly watched as us three adults packed down all the belongings the family had stashed away in the mine. You would not believe the amount of luggage these guys had! Luckily, werewolves have unnatural strength, and they could carry four times their body weight.
I, on the other hand, had the mo’or bag. A shame it was so small, else I'd stuffed everything into it. Due to its size, I could only fit the smaller items into it.
After we were done packing everything down, I remembered I still had to collect the bounty at the city. I told the family I'd meet them at the werewolf ‘town’ once I had cashed in the bounty, and with that we parted ways.
-
It took a lot longer than expected to reach the city. Being on that wagon and talking to Etariel made time fly by. I’d say we reached the city borders in about 20 minutes, but it’s hard to tell what with there being no clocks in this era and everything.
I semi-ran all the way to the Pureblood pub and didn’t even bother answering the guard. I was running out of time if I were to keep my promise of being back within the hour.
“Jerk.” I heard coming from the armored fool. I paid it no mind.
I saw Priest standing at the ready, almost as he was expecting me.
I handed him the wolf tooth, and he produced a decently sized pouch of gold. I didn’t want to be rude, so I decided to count it later. Besides, I was in a hurry.
When I was nearing the city border I spotted a carriage on its way out of the gates, which were closing for the night. My eyes went looking for any alternate route, and they landed on a guard tower. I’d probably be in big trouble for this, but what the hell.
I jumpkicked a knight standing guard at the entrance to the tower, and launched him straight through the stone wall of the city gates. I quickly got up and climbed the ladder skipping every other beam to save time. I had to reach that coach.
On the top of the tower there was an archer, which was too busy looking at his friend who was launched through the wall to notice me climbing up behind him. I pulled out my bowie and silently slit his throat before kicking his corpse down from the wall, and jumping down.
I did a professional parkour roll once I hit the grass and continued my sprint towards the coach. It was gathering speed, and I had about 2 seconds to reach it before it was driving faster than I could run.
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I made a jump for it.
I felt my hand touching something, and I clenched onto it.
Turns out that something was a leg, and they did not like me squeezing it, so they tried to kick me off.
I returned the favor by kicking them off the coach, and climbing aboard it, grabbing the reins. I could hear the angry voice of the merchant for a good minute before it was drowned out by the sound of hooves hitting the gravel road.
Hot damn, what a night.
-
I managed to reach the place i agreed to meet Fred at in around 10 minutes, thanks to the coach I stole.
When I arrived at the meeting place, I was greeted by the family of werewolves.
“So where did you get the coach?” Azael asked with a kind smile.
“Oh well you know, I stole it.”
Her expression didn’t change. “Well, I'm sure they won’t miss it.”
I got off the coach, and stretched out my hand at Fred, inviting him to a handshake.
The wolfman only laughed before giving me a hug instead. I was a little shocked at first but reciprocated it.
“So, where is the city I've heard so much about?” I asked Fred.
“Only ten minutes or so down this here path.” He told me, pointing to some tracks in the dirt.
To call this a path would be stretching the term, but I didn’t comment on it.
We all got back up on the coach, and Anu sat on a barrel with Alice in his lap. I gave the pair a little smile, before whipping the reins and getting the horses moving again.
“So, you know these people?” I asked Fred.
“Barely. One of my brothers, Gabriel, is the alpha of the pack, as far as I've heard. We werewolves don’t value our siblings too highly, and I'd say it's been about 15 years since I saw him.”
Well, isn’t that lovely? I’m invited to a big family reunion.
I felt a little peckish, so I handed Fred the reins while I went looking for grub in the coach’s various containers. After looking for a while I found a bag labeled ‘Cocoa joy’ inside a chest. I was guessing this is the predecessor of chocolate?
I asked the three werewolves if they wanted to share, but they all told me it was poisonous to them. Oh well, more for me.
-
Sometime later, we saw a big wooden wall in the distance. “So, this is the place?” I asked Fred. He nodded and brought the coach to a halt. “I’ll explain the situation. Stay here, we don’t want to spook them.” He told me, before getting off the coach.
“Humans aren’t usually allowed into pack territory.” Azael told me.
Judging by how the ‘Purebloods’ treated them, I understand why they don’t trust us humans.
A few moments later I saw Fred returning with two wolves behind him. “These wolves are werewolves who have changed their form into that of their inner wolf.” He told me. “They are only here to inspect our goods.”
I nodded at Fred.
After a few minutes of the pair scrounging around back, one of the wolves suddenly changed form into that of a werewoman. They weren’t wearing any clothing, so I averted my eyes.
“Hey, look at me when I'm talking to you, human.” I heard them exclaim.
I tried to hide my flustered face, but kept my eyes trained on the woman.
“Which city are you from?”
Even though I'd spent two days in that city It occurred to me that I'd never once heard its name.
“The one closest to here, I guess.” I told the woman.
“Do you know of the gang known as the Purebloods?” She asked.
“Yeah, I know of them. Real nasty folks.”
“You got that right.” the woman answered, putting one paw on the carriage.
“You’re cleared for entry, human. Don’t try anything.” She said before giving the wagon two taps.
I nodded, and whipped the reins lightly so the horses didn’t go too fast.
When the coach was inside the city walls, I was directed toward a Stall. There were multiple werewolves there, all guiding me into the stall.
When the carriage was safely inside, I tipped my hat at the hard-working people and left the coach in their care. I didn’t need any of the wares inside after all.
Once we stepped foot outside the stall, I saw Fred being embraced by another werewolf. I’m guessing that’s Gabriel?
“Fred! It’s so good to see you!” he exclaimed and gave his brother a pat on the back.
“You’ve certainly grown since I last saw you, brother.” Fred answered.
“And who’s this little guy?” Gabriel asked, kneeling to pat Anu’s head.
“I’m Anu, nice to meet you uncle!” The little man said.
“And you must be the missus, I'm guessing. It’s an honor!” Gabriel bowed before her.
“Please let's skip the formalities. I’m Azael, nice to meet you, Gabriel.” She said with a smile.
“And who might you be?” Gabriel asked me with one hand outstretched.
I took it. “Faron.”
“Gabriel! Pleased to meet a human who isn’t intent on killing every person in my pack, Haha. All jokes aside, if you try anything, I'll personally see to it you’re hanged.” His grip got tighter.
“Uh-huh, gotcha boss.” I removed my hand from his clutches.
“So, where do I sleep?”
-
Since I was close with Fred, having basically saved his life from bounty hunters, I was granted my own cabin in the village, right next to Fred’s. They even gave Alice her own little bed, along with a water and food bowl.
I decided it was high time I updated my journal a bit.
-
Mythical creatures:
Dwarves. These guys are almost like regular people, only with a temper. They are also quite small, around 1 meter tall.
Werewolves. I’ve yet to encounter them, but they sound dangerous.
Werewolves. They look about the same as normal people, but they have many wolf-like traits. Most notably, their ears and tails. They can also transform into a wolf, albeit slightly larger than normal.
-
Points of interest:
Wolf village. This place is in the middle of the woods, not far from the mountain of Pillan. The alpha of the pack, Gabriel, is a kind man at heart and strong too when he needs to be.
-
With that, I closed my journal and snuggled into bed. A new day awaited tomorrow.