Chapter 1: A New Day In Arfsdale

Hawl woke suddenly with a desperate gulp for air. He scrambled up in a frantic rush of panic before the fog of sleep receded from his mind. He panted heavily as he looked around his spacious room. The gentle light of early dawn politely creeping in through the open window by his bed on the floor.

With a sigh he flopped back down and placed a paw over his snout. Years had passed, and he wasn't a puppy anymore. Yet he still had nightmares about that fateful night… just nightmares… and even then, not always. Quickly forgotten as his mind returned to the here and now.

Hawl looked out the window and saw a red she-wolf doing some early morning work for the city. She carried the handle of a steel tanker in her mouth as she walked along the expensive cobblestone street. Stopping at each of the old cast iron street lamps where she would put the tanker down and then stand up on her hind legs so that she could grab it with both her front paws and lift it up again. That was the only way she would be tall enough to pour the oil into the waiting glass wells and refill the lamps so that they could be relit when night returned.

It seemed like an unpleasant job to Hawl. Having to stand on two legs that much was both uncomfortable and bad for the bones. The city planners could have designed lamps that were short enough to be refilled from a more normal quadrupedal stance, but instead they chose grandeur and aesthetics over practicality. Having street lamps at all was honestly an unnecessary waste, since Arfsdale was a wolf city. Almost all of the citizenry had excellent night vision. He supposed that it could be useful for other animals who came to visit, such as birds. But generally, visitors were few and far between.

Few animals wanted to be around wolves.

Feeling quite a bit better, Hawl yawned and stretched. His joints popping loudly before he shook himself off and wandered into the living room. The scent of grits, cheese, preserved meat, and sizzling butter greeted his nose. As well as the scent of the embers slowly dying in the wood stove and the ink of today's freshly pressed newspaper.

“Good morning Father.” Hawl said automatically as he took a spot beside the table.

The old gray wolf barely looked up from his newspaper, but gave his son a grunt of acknowledgement. “Morning. Did you sleep well?”

“Yes.” Hawl lied. Mostly out of a sense of politeness. Nightmares about drowning were hardly appropriate material for breakfast conversation.

The old wolf made a gruff chuffing sound, and continued to eat from his bowl of grits. He took little enjoyment from the breakfast he had made. If anything, eating was just another task that he was obligated to complete. At last he looked up from his breakfast, with bits of wet grain stuck in the fur on his chin. He glanced at Hawl. “Are you waiting for it to get cold? Serve yourself and eat, Son. Or are you wanting to insult my cooking?”

“Hm? Oh! Right.” Hawl pulled his attention away from the window, grabbed a bowl, and began ladling food into it. He added salt, butter, and cheese to taste. Then he grabbed a single perfectly measured square of preserved meat from the tin, and tossed it into the bowl. Once he was done, he moved the bowl to the edge of the short table made for his kind and dropped back down to all fours to eat.

His dad watched him while licking the grits off his face. Right before returning to his own breakfast he added. “Take another. If the empire sends you out on another hunt today, then you are going to need your strength.”

“Hm?” Hawl glanced up before he realized what he was talking about. “Thank you, but one ration is enough.”

His dad growled with a bit of annoyance. “Hawl. There is nothing wrong with having more than the bare minimum every now and again. You're a hunter for goodness sake. You could eat ten times the amount of meat that you do and still bring in excess.”

“Yes. And I know what it costs.” Hawl gave his father a stern look until the old wolf looked away. Then his tone softened. “I will be fine. I know what my body needs.”

The older wolf made a discontented sound. But thankfully did not push the issue. Instead he smiled after a bit and asked in a far more playful tone. “Speaking of needs. Have there been any she-wolves that have caught your fancy yet?”

Hawl nearly spat out his grits at the abrupt topic change. Still he couldn't help but crack a small smile even as he complained. “Father, please. Not this again.”

His dad was playfully exaggerating the harshness of his voice as he pounded the table with one paw. “I want grandchildren! And you're not getting any younger.”

“My job keeps me busy. I don't have time for-” Hawl protested weakly. But his dad would not hear it.

“Excuses!” he declared with a dramatic flourish of his nose. “You are handsome, accomplished, well off financially, respected in the community, able bodied, in the prime of your life, and you have a powerful Telling. I’d bet you eighty silver loops that half the she-wolves in Arfsdale would chew their own tail off for a chance at being your mate.”

The insides of Hawl's ears flushed red as his dad listed off his positive attributes. His immediate reaction was to try to deny or downplay it. “I am not that accomplished as far as hunters go. I still have plenty of room for improvement.”

“And so modest too.” His dad added with a teasing chuckle. “Surely your dry, humorless lack of a personality isn't that off putting? Surely you have attracted at least some positive female attention. Right?”

Hawl pressed his lips into a thin line as he pretended that the wall was actually really interesting. But his dad didn't get the hint and kept searching him for something. At last he sighed and relented. “There is… one wolf. Reea? She's another hunter who I have worked with a few times. She has been trying to flirt with me for a while now. But I don't think like her back.”

Hawl expected his dad to pressure him into giving Reea a shot. But his discomfort with the idea must have been pretty apparent because his dad just shrugged. “It doesn't have to be her if she isn't right for you. Just… try to be a little bit more open about finding someone to start a family with.”

The old wolf sighed, as he suddenly looked several seasons older. “It is what your mother would have wanted.” he said with quiet reverence.

Hawl's tail curled in closer to his body and he stiffened for just a second. Then he relaxed with a long sigh of his own. “I know.”

The two of them ate in silence for a while. Each one lost in their own thoughts. Some time after they had both finished, the older of the two broke the reverence with a nostalgic smile. “Do you remember when you were really little, and your mom would sing at you when you were being rowdy?”

Hawl tried to recall. Then he smiled faintly. “Yeah. I remember.”

His dad laughed as he remembered something, “Back before we were mates we would go for night walks and howl together. And one night a band of four watch folk just came running up to us from our village."

He had to fight against his own cackling to get it out. “We thought we were in trouble for some reason. But no. They heard your mom and thought she was dying.” He laughed until he was wheezing. “They thought we were attacked by a beast or something.”

Hawl did not laugh with him, though that wasn't exactly surprising. Hawl rarely laughed. Not genuinely at least.

It took the old wolf a long time to calm down enough to breathe normally. Then he rested his head on the table with a huge smile on his face. Though his voice was thick with bittersweet nostalgia. “Snakes take me. I loved that wolf with all my heart, but she had an awful howling voice.”

“Hm.” Hawl hummed in polite acknowledgement.

The older wolf was so lost in his own memories that he did not notice the way his son had stiffened up over the course of the conversation. Though to be fair, Hawl was unreasonably good at masking his emotions. So he would be hard pressed to spot it even if he was paying attention.

The topic of Hawl's mother was hardly a neglected topic between them. But it wasn't exactly resolved either.

There was a time, after the flood, when the two would fight each other viciously and argue long into the night. In that time of grieving, they both had said deeply hurtful things to each other that they would later come to regret.

It took them far too long to mend the rifts between them. They had to rebuild their entire relationship from the scraps of what survived. Because the aftermath of the disaster had changed them both so much that they practically didn't recognize each other.

But that was then, and this was now.

“I should be going soon. I have to leave early if I want to visit city hall before work.” Hawl said with an exhale.

The old wolf looked confused, and also saddened that his son was leaving. “What’re you going to city hall for?”

Hawl extended his front legs out and stretched as he explained. “The senatorial election is ending in six days. If my job sends me out of town again then this will likely be my last chance to vote before the Arfsdale representative is elected to parliament.”

“Oh.” The old wolf said awkwardly. He never had much of an ear for politics, and preferred to avoid the subject as much as possible. After a second he asked. “Need any help getting your uniform on before you go?”

Hawl was already heading back into his room as he called back. “I've got it, thank you.”

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Before opening his closet Hawl first retrieved a small jar and went to the mirror. He stood up on his hind legs to free up his front paws, and then opened the little tin. Inside was a damp brown moss-like substance that he carefully applied to specific stripes of fur that ran across his face, right shoulder, and left flank.

Hawl waited for the substance to dry completely before brushing it out. Then he inspected himself in the mirror to make sure that none of the dye had bled out of the lines.

Normally a patterned dye job like his would take hours to set. But he was only touching it up to keep the color vibrant. Blue runic stripes against gray fur. Perhaps it was a bit tacky, but he liked it. Besides, he had been maintaining this exact pattern for so long that it was practically a part of his identity at this point.

Once he was certain that the dye had set and wouldn’t rub off on anything, he moved on to the closet. Clothing was a luxury item that Hawl usually didn’t bother with. It was expensive, difficult to put on or take off, hard to swim in, and could be really stuffy. Paint and dye was his preferred medium of fashion. But he still owned a jacket or two for formal occasions. He even owned a pair of pants that he wore once and then never again.

Of course he also owned a hunters uniform. The dull green and yellow vest was a point of pride for many in his line of work. Hawl slipped it on and tightened it around his body with practiced motions. Then he checked himself in the mirror one last time. He would have liked to spend a few minutes brushing his fur to get it looking halfway decent, but he didn’t have time.

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As Hawl headed out the door he had time to say one last goodbye to his dad before he was cantering down the cobblestone streets. Arfsdale was one of the largest wolf cities in the world. It had a rich history and was a cultural hub of their species. Some of the buildings were as tall as six stories! Which was astonishing to Hawl. He couldn't imagine anyone other than a bird wanting to live that far off the ground.

Arfsdale had once been the capital of their government. Perhaps that was why they had such laughably grandiose government buildings? Their city hall was a massive old stone cathedral type building that was lavishly decorated with all kinds of art and riches. It was the kind of building that was fit for an empire.

Hawl always felt several sizes smaller whenever he stepped inside one of these old buildings. The newer structures were technically taller, but they had multiple stories. This building was technically all one room. But it was full of so many plaster and wooden dividing walls that it legitimately felt like someone tore the roof off a sensible single story building and then stuffed it inside a much larger space.

Even with modern engineering and architects it would be exceedingly difficult to build something like this. Which meant that the whole thing was probably constructed with the help of one or more animals with Tellings.

There were a few small packs of wolves milling about, waiting in lines and following the trails of bureaucracy. Many of them were here to vote. Though the lines were practically non-existent this early. The biggest crowds always happened right as the polls opened up, and then again right before they closed. Hence why the scent of ink was so heavy in the air, along with the mechanical sounds of a printing press being worked by diligent bureaucrats. They were printing new blank ballots in preparation for the final day rush on the voting booth. Hawl approached one of those booths, and glanced at a sign beside it that had a list of almost a dozen names alongside the political parties they represented. Though everyone who knew anything about politics knew that only two of those candidates actually had a chance at winning. Aherer for the Packitarian Party, and Chuse for the Coalitionists.

The clerk on duty gave him a smile and a tail wag that was very obviously fake, or at the very least exaggerated for the sake of customer service. “Good morning sir. How can I help you today?” She asked.

“I would like to cast my vote for senator.” Hawl explained.

“Certainly.” almost instantly she nudged a ballet over the counter to him with her nose, followed by a pencil.

“Thanks.” Hawl said as he awkwardly grabbed the pencil with his paw and began filling the ballot out. Normally he preferred to write by mouth with the writing implement held between his teeth. But he wasn't about to do that in this case. Who knew how many wolves had held that pencil before him?

It didn't take him much time at all to fill out the card, including his proof of citizenship, and soon he was nudging it back to the desk clerk. She looked it over then smiled. “Thank you sir.” With a practiced motion she slid the ballot off the counter with her nose. It should have fallen onto the floor, but instead she somehow managed to aim it through a thin slot in a ballot collection box placed just off to the side.

Hawl was impressed. And took a moment to regard the clerk. She was just a bit smaller than him, with cream fur and large overlapping brown spots. She smelled nice too, that was important. He checked the space behind him and saw that the line was empty. So he wouldn't be holding anyone up if he talked with her for a bit. After a second of thought he took a deep breath, and decided to make an attempt.

“Hello. My name is Hawl. Could I get your name?” He asked, his voice casual.

She looked at him with a bit of uncertainty as he went off of the script she had in her head. But she didn't hesitate to respond. “Pleased to meet you, Hawl. I am Ariea. Is there anything else I could help you with?”

Hawl took in a breath and then made his move. “I am looking to court a partner, and I think that you are rather attractive. Would you like to go out with me at some point so that we could get to know each other?”

Ariea blinked and gave him an unconscious head tilt. She had largely been running on autopilot up until this point so his proposal really threw her for a loop. He watched her look him up and down. Really appraising him for the first time. Her eyes lingered on his hunters uniform the longest. Though what exactly that meant to her was unreadable. Hawl could only hope that she had positive thoughts about hunters.

After an entire minute of agonizing silence she finally found her answer. He could tell what it was before she said it, just from her apologetic posture alone. “That's very sweet. but I'm not looking for that right now. Sorry.”

Hawl nodded crisply. “I understand. Thank you for your time.”

Ariea seemed relieved that he had taken her rejection so gracefully. But Hawl wasn't about to push the issue or argue his merits. True, as he was walking away he did wonder why she turned him down. It really could be any number of things. Maybe she already had someone she was interested in, maybe he wasn't her type, maybe she was overwhelmed and didn't have time for dating. Or maybe…

Hawl had already left the building and was walking towards the barracks when he realized something. Over the course of that entire interaction, he had not displayed any emotion in his voice, face, or body language.

Hawl cringed internally. It seemed that his dad was right. He really did have the personality of gravel.

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The hunters barracks was a large complex of buildings. Each one was tailor made to fulfill a different purpose such as housing, training, governance, record keeping, and diplomatic relations. There was even a dedicated mail station where birds and runners alike could deliver messages, packages, and requests from all over the world. If there was ever a place to put streetlights, it would be here.

Hawl clocked in and was directed to a briefing room where his team would be waiting. Management shuffled teams around to best match the needs of whatever assignment they were on. But they also liked to repeat pairings whenever possible. So Hawl generally had a pretty good idea of who to expect.

He heard familiar voices engaged in conversation as he approached the open door. But they dropped their idle banter when they noticed him.

“Is that Hawl I smell?” Wouf exclaimed before he was even in line of sight. Then once he did enter the room the big brown and black wolf dropped into a play bow with his tail wagging excitedly. “There he is!”. Wouf grinned as he went up to Hawl and gave him a little tussling.

Hawl just endured the larger wolf's enthusiasm. “Good morning Wouf.”

Reea looked up from the book she was reading and smiled. She was a rusty red color and was about the same size as Hawl, if a bit more lithe. She stretched and sat up in a way that looked far too sensual and off puttingly rehearsed. “What about me?” she asked with an exaggerated pout. “Aren't you going to say hi to me too?”

Hawl groaned internally. He was pretty sure she was specifically requesting to go on the same missions as him at this point. He kept his annoyance to himself though. “Good morning Reea.” he said in an emotionless deadpan.

The she-wolf abandoned her book on the floor so that she could rub up against Hawl. He almost wanted to growl at her to get her to back off, but that would seem rude. Especially after he tolerated it from Wouf. Though to be fair, Wouf was being playful and friendly while she was being flirtatious.

Was that enough of a distinction to warrant differing treatment? Did it even matter? Reea would probably call him rude regardless, and get offended over any amount of pushback. So did that mean that he should just go ahead and growl at her?

Hawl spent too much time analyzing the situation and completely missed his chance to react. Which was probably for the best. Reea returned to go pick up her book and pack it away in one of her vest pockets.

Wouf returned to his spot as well. Cheerfully oblivious to the tension between the other two. “You are on this case too, hu?” Wouf smiled and wagged his tail with genuine amusement as he watched Hawl take his spot on one of the wicker rugs that the canines used as chairs. ”I'm surprised that I got here before you. Normally you get here first and just stare at the wall for a whole hour before I arrive.”

“That is an exaggeration.” Hawl asserted dryly. His denial would probably have more teeth if he wasn't currently staring straight ahead at the wall.

Wouf snorted goodnaturedly. “Come on. Tell us why you're late.”

Hawl turned to look at him but before he had a chance to say it Wouf corrected himself. “Yeah I know you're still early. But you're not as early as you usually are. So tell us what happened!” The big shaggy black wolf wiggled a bit with anticipation. He was convinced there was a story to be had here.

Hawl gave the older animal a put upon sigh. “Fine. If you must know. I had to run an errand before heading here and ended up asking someone out on a date.”

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“What? No way! Really?” Wouf gaped at him. Hawl did not like how surprised and delighted he looked.

Reea was similarly taken aback, but she also looked almost proud of him in a very demeaning way that hurt more because she was being completely genuine for once. Of course it only lasted a second before she pulled her act together and ‘reacted’ with an exaggerated whine and big round puppy eyes. “You asked someone out?” her voice wobbled with forced emotion and she layered it on thick with an expression of deeply hurt betrayal. She looked and sounded like she was on the verge of tears. “Who?”

Hawl looked away. He knew that she was putting on an act or at the very least playing it up for show, but it still hurt to see someone appear to be that upset. He cleared his throat and spoke with only a slight bit of hesitation. “It doesn’t matter. She turned me down.”

Wouf laughed and gave Hawl a playful nudge. “You're fine. I’m just glad to know you actually like girls. I was starting to worry about you.”

Hawl made an annoyed chuffing sound as his whole body stiffened. Normally he didn’t mind Wouf’s teasing and physicality. But every time he touched him, Reea would see it as an invitation to do the same. That, and he honestly couldn’t say he was in the best mood right now. It was not like he had his heart broken or anything, but being flatly rejected like that still sucked.

“Don’t worry Hawl.” Reea said in a silky tone. “I am sure the one for you is out there somewhere.” She not so subtly fluttered her eyes at him and took on a painfully suggestive tone. “Why, for all we know your soulmate could be in this very room.”

Hawl rolled his eyes then continued to stare straight ahead. “I do not think me and Wouf are really compatible as a couple.” His comment was met with a tense silence as the other two hunters just exchanged awkward glances with each other.

“That was a joke.” Hawl clarified with a sigh.

Reea looked dumbfounded and Wouf broke out into a nervous laugh that very quickly turned genuine. “You can't do that to me bud. Snakes, I thought you were serious. You have to at least smile or something next time.”

“Do we know how big our next hunting pack is yet?” Hawl asked, wanting to change the subject.

“We are just waiting on Mauor. I’m not sure if you’ve worked with her yet, she transferred in from the moors last winter.” Wouf explained.

“She?” Reea asked with a sour look on her face.

Wouf pretended not to notice and continued to talk to Hawl. “She’s a real stick in the mud. So I am sure the two of you will get along just fine.”

“Hmph.” Reea flicked her nose in the air and sniffed imperiously. “I bet I am going to find her insufferable.”

“Hehe, yeah.” Wouf chuckled with amused agreement before he turned back to Hawl and nudged him. “Hey. Maybe at some point during the hunt you can ask her out.”

Reea shot the larger wolf a nasty death glare as he innocently averted his eyes from her.

Hawl sighed. “I appreciate your interest Wouf, but maybe some other time. I’m still licking my pride from being rejected by the girl at the voting booth.”

“Oh, no kidding.” Wouf’s ears perked up with renewed interest as he realized what Hawl’s errand was. “Who’d you vote for?”

Hawl gave his coworker a side eye. “Chuse.” The moment the name left his mouth he knew that he probably should have kept that to himself.

Wouf looked like Hawl had smacked him on the nose. “What!? That prissy golden boy? Why?!” He was so offended and genuinely surprised. Despite the fact that they had argued about this exact subject in the past. It was astonishing how quickly the big wolf always seemed to forget Hawl’s political leanings.

“Because I prefer his policies.” Hawl stated curtly. He was already in a bad mood, and didn’t feel like justifying himself.

Wouf scoffed. “Policies!? What policies? You know he is going to gut the hunters program, right?”

“Oh here we go again.” Reea grumbled before pulling her book back out and flipping it open with her nose. She was perfectly content to let the boys have at it while she checked out from the conversation.

If Hawl was a smarter animal then he wouldn’t let himself get suckered into another argument, but… Dammit. He had his opinions, and Wouf made it so difficult to just let the matter rest. “That’s just fear mongering and you know it. Chuse has barely mentioned the hunters program. What he has said is that our budget is going to increase slightly less from last year's increase, but we are still getting more money than ever. How is that ‘gutting’ us?”

“Not everything is about money, Hawl.” Wouf sneered. “Chuse has made it perfectly clear that he is willing to suck up to the other animals. He's just going to let them continue to sentence less and less of their criminals to predation.”

Hawl scoffed. “What is he supposed to do? Demand they condemn more animals? Violent crimes have been falling across the world, including with wolves, that's a good thing.”

“I don't expect Chuse to do anything. He's complacent and happy to let our empire continue to rot.” Wouf grumbled bitterly before perking up. “That's why I'm voting for Aherer. Sure she is a bit of a radical, but I trust her when she says that she'll put pressure on our neighbors to keep predation sentences as they are.”

“I think she would as well.” Hawl agreed “Which is exactly why I think it would be a disaster if she won! There is no way the animal kingdoms are going to allow us to infringe on their sovereignty by dictating how they handle their law breakers.”

“Who cares what the other animals think of us?” Wouf asked bitterly. “We can, and quite literally do, eat them for breakfast.”

Hawl inhaled sharply as his stomach twisted in knots.

Even Reea, who was generally disinterested in their little spats, looked up from her book with a wrinkled nose. “Yikes.”

Wouf’s ears flattened as he nervously backpedaled. “I didn't mean it like… What I mean to say is that we are strong. We should throw our weight around a bit more.”

“Wouf.” Hawl's voice took on a dangerous edge to it. He was already in a bad mood to start with, but now he was getting properly angry. “Our entire way of life is dependent on mutual cooperation with the prey species. We fight their wars, we hunt down their criminals, and we buy their dead. In return, our species enjoys a greater quality of life than we have ever known.”

Wouf showed his neck as a deferential gesture. Hawl thought he was going to concede the point but he was just toning the hostility down a notch. “I understand that. But with all due respect, I'm not advocating we dismantle civilization and go back to the dark ages here.”

The big wolf sighed and slumped back down on his mat. He suddenly looked very tired. “But at the same time, we have to do something. Because despite what you say, we have known better.”

Wouf gave Hawl a stern look. “The price of meat has been rising with each passing year. That might not mean much to us because we are hunters. But what about the common folk? What about the poor and desperate? The strays living on the street.”

His voice cracked at that last one and he had to give himself an irritated moment to breathe before continuing. “Our population is growing. While the hunters program brings in the same or less meat than it always has. You may be right. We may be okay for now. But what about our children? What about our children's children?”

Hawl hesitated. He hated to admit it but he saw what the bigger wolf was getting at. It would be easier to argue with him if he was just your average disingenuous Packitarian zealot. Rather than someone who actually genuinely cared.

Hawl sighed and laid down on his own mat. It seemed as if Wouf’s exhaustion was contagious. He was still in a bad mood. But he couldn't really be angry anymore. “We will just have to cross that bridge when we get to it. But you have to admit, the growing population is kinda our own fault. No one is forcing us to have puppies.”

Wouf gave Hawl a weird look and Hawl returned it with a very deliberate but uncomfortably mechanical smile.

The big reddish black canine smirked back and seemed to regain a bit of his energy. “Was that a joke?”

“Well, I am smiling. As you requested.” Hawl pointed out, as he maintained the expression.

That time Wouf did laugh. “Two jokes in one day? Who are you and what have you done with Hawl?”

Hawl dropped his fake smile. Though surprisingly, the corners of his mouth remained slightly upturned.

He was just starting to feel a bit better when Wouf decided that he was ready to get back into the discussion. “Our fault or not, sooner or later we are going to have to address the crisis.”

And there was the alarmist propaganda that the Packies were known for…

“It's not a crisis.” Hawl groaned. “It's a concern for the future. It will only become a problem if we don't do anything about it between now and then.”

Wouf sat back up, his tail raised like a flag. “Exactly! Which is why you should have voted for Aherer. She's the only one who is even talking about it! Let alone trying to find a solution.”

“Her ‘solution’ is to antagonize the other animals and try to force them to change their laws to benefit us at the cost of their own folk.” Hawl growled. “No government in the world is going to just accept that.”

“They will if we give them no choice. We are already widely feared, we could easily turn that to our advantage and threaten them into submission.” Wouf explained with a level of callous disregard that was so at odds with the caring compassion he showed just moments earlier.

Hawl had to fight against the urge to show his fangs as he growled. “That could just as easily start a war.”

Wouf shrugged dismissively. “That's true. But then, it might be good for us if we got into another war. We'd get enough meat to fill the belly of every wolf in the empire, and at the same time it would also solve our population problem.”

Reea looked up from her book. Not because she was paying attention to what Wouf had said, but because she was confused at the way Hawl was now openly flashing his teeth in a threatening snarl.

Neither of the two were used to seeing half of this amount of emotion from Hawl.

“Look, I'm not saying that we should try to start a war.” He insisted. “I'm just saying that we shouldn't be so afraid of it either. We're wolves after all. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger. And all that.”

“Wait, why are we talking about war?” Reea asked, to no response.

“I know the Idiom Wouf.” Hawl snapped “But that which kills you just kills you. And wolves will die if it comes to war.”

“Not all of us.” Wouf protested. “We're the biggest and strongest animals in the kingdoms. No one beats us in a land war.”

“No, we're not.” Reea corrected him “What about bears and serpents?”

“Well… Fine, the bears probably beat us.” He agreed begrudgingly. “But they have never left their caves, so they might as well not exist as far as the wider world is concerned. And everyone knows that snakes aren't real.”

“Snakes are real.” a soft but assertive voice declared. “My aunt met one once.”

Attention shifted from the heated argument to the newly arriving she-wolf in the doorway. Her fur was an off white color, with the exception of a single splotch of black under her left eye. It looked like a natural marking, but the smell of dye was unmistakable.

“Hello Mauor!” Wouf chimed, with his tail wagging happily behind him. All tension from the arguing dropped so fast that Hawl was left confused and off balance.

Mauor sniffed around the room with interest as her tail lazily swished from side to side. “Hello. Wouf was it?”

Hawl's fur was only just starting to flatten as he put his teeth away. He glared daggers at Wouf’s back, but bit his tongue. Their conversation wasn't over… But they both took the opportunity to let it rest for at least a little while.

“Hey.” Reea called out with an imperious sniff. “You can't just claim you know someone who has met a snake and then move on as if it were nothing. Go on. Tell us the details or else I'm going to assume you're a dirty liar.”

Mauor took a seat between Reea and Hawl. Prompting an unwelcoming glare from Reea. But Mauor didn't pick up on the look. “Like I said, it wasn't me that met the snake. It was my aunt Rouah.”

Mauor’s tail started to wag with excitement. Then her voice took on a more theatrical quality. As the white wolf began her tale.

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It was a cold winter night like any other. When aunt Rouah heard a tapping on her door. Rouah lived alone after her partner died, but she was not afraid of strangers in the night. So she opened her door to see what was tapping. And that is when she saw it.

A tail…

A tail so long that it could have encircled ten wolves at once. Coiled in on itself like a neatly spun bundle of rope. The tail had no fur or feathers, instead, it had scales like a fish.

This creature had no legs, no shoulders, and no hips. All that could be seen was more and more of that large long tail which was far too thick.

Poor Rouah yelped in fear and surprise! She thought she was looking at a wild beast at first. But then the strange animal spoke.

“Pleassse let me in.” It asked, in a quiet hissing voice. “For I am cold and hungry. Would you let me ssstay a while? Lessst I catch my death in the sssnow?”

Only after the thing spoke could she locate its head, nestled within its dark red coils. It had two black eyes, and a huge round jaw that housed a thin, slender, forked tongue. As well as four oversized fangs that smelled of acrid alchemists venom.

Should the creature be so inclined, it could have swallowed her up in one bite. But it just waited. Its bodiless tail shifting past itself while its head stayed perfectly fixed in place. It was waiting for her answer.

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“What did she say to it?” Wouf asked eagerly. He was completely enraptured by the story, like a puppy staring at a ball.

Hawl shushed him. But not too harshly. He had to admit that he was also curious as to where this was going.

Even Reea seemed interested. Then again, she did like a good story didn't she?

Mauor smiled warmly as her tail wagged. She seemed pleased with herself for presenting a good first impression.

“If you knew my aunt Rouah, then you wouldn't need me to say.” Mauor joked, before continuing the story.

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Aunt Rouah was the sweetest wolf on the moors. She was always willing to help a creature in need, be they animal or beast. So when that serpent came to her asking for help, she barely gave it a moment's thought before opening her door to the animal.

“Come in.” she said. “Rest your paws by the fire. I will go fetch what I have in the cupboards.”

Without so much as a thank you, the snake slithered into her humble home. Its incredible size quickly turning her modest cottage into a cramped hovel with respect to available space.

Aunt Rouah had to squeeze past the thing and climb over it to reach the kitchen.

“What is it that you eat?” she asked, not wanting to poison her guest.

The creature stirred, and answered her from the other room. It's voice purring with a dark satisfaction. “Flesssh. Sssame asss you.”

Now, my aunt was not a particularly wealthy wolf. She had some money saved, but she couldn't afford to just throw it away on strangers.

But she told the snake that she would feed it, and she intended to keep that promise. So she grabbed her entire ration tin and brought it into the living room, where the snake was basking in the heat of the fireplace.

“Here you go.” She said, as she opened the tin and offered the meat to the snake.

The snake looked at it. And in an instant, it lunged forward and snapped the entire tin into its mouth. “More.” it demanded in a low hiss.

“I do not have any more.” Rouah explained.

The snake just stared at her. Before it finally said. “You ssstill have the meat on your bonesss.”

“And on my bones it will stay!” My aunt snapped back. “I ask nothing of my kindness, except that you show me the same respect in return.”

The snake smiled its sparse toothed grin and bowed its head. “Well sssaid little wolf. Ressst asssured that I will repay every kindnesss, asss isss required by my idiom. What goesss around, comesss around.”

My aunt tried to ask many more questions after that, but the great serpent wiggled its way out of every one. It was frightfully intelligent and unwilling to share any secrets about itself or its species.

It slept by the fireplace and hogged all of the heat for itself. It's massive tail blocking the warmth and making the rest of the house feel bitter cold.

Aunt Rouah said that it was the longest night in her life. She didn't sleep a wink or leave her room until the sun came up. And when she finally found the courage to face the snake again, the huge red animal was nowhere to be seen!

Apparently it had slipped away without her notice. Without ever saying goodbye or thank you. It left no tracks in the snow, so it was almost like it vanished into thin air.

Aunt Rouah began to wonder if she had somehow dreamt the whole thing. Until warmer weather came and she found the gift which the snake had left her.

A pair of golden pucks. Buried under the snow on her doorstep.

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Hawl's eyebrows rose, and Reea made a strangled sound. Wouf was dancing in place he was so excited. “Two pucks!?” he exclaimed in disbelief. “Why would a mythical creature even have that much money?”

“They often hoard big piles of treasure in story books.” Reea mused aloud. “But I always thought that was just a literary trope.”

Hawl liked a good snake tale, same as anyone, but he wanted to reign in the wild speculation a little. “If snakes do exist then they wouldn't be the mythical creatures we make them out to be. They'd just be another kind of animal. Same as the rest of us.”

Mauor shrugged. “I suppose that's fair. But still, the way my aunt described it-”

She didn't get a chance to finish her thought.

“Alright animals. Enough socializing.” A gruff voice interrupted her.

A three legged wolf with heavily graying brown fur and a missing eye entered the room. Despite his missing limb, he walked quickly and with purpose.

Without wasting any time, he took his spot in front of the heavily used corkboard. Because of his injury he couldn't stand on his hind legs. Which limited his ability to pull off complex object manipulations. So instead of pinning the case files on the cork board he just tossed them unceremoniously onto the floor.

Hawl and Mauor stood to attention as soon as the hunt commander showed up. Wouf and Reea took a bit longer to settle into a more serious and professional stance. But soon enough all four of them had fallen in line and were awaiting orders.

The huntsman exhaled a quick puff of air out his nose, but made no comment on their discipline. An old veteran like him had surely seen far worse and far better.

“None of you are rookies, so we can skip the preamble. Let's get down to what actually matters, yeah?” the hunt commander grumbled before he started barking orders. “Your quarry is a gang of rabbits that have been ambushing travelers near the village of Westberrow. The warrens have issued a predation notice on the entire group and called us in to help out. I hope you all said goodbye to your loved ones, because you four are being sent out before sunrise tomorrow. Understood?”

“Yes, hunt commander.” All four hunters said in unison.

Then Wouf asked an important question. “Does our quarry have any Tellings we should know about?”

The old hunt commander shook his head. “We have not been informed one way or the other. So you will have to check with the local law enforcement for more details when you get there. Your contact is one officer, Lupp’il’tom’cotty’naper. Obviously we don't expect you to memorize the whole name, so take a paper copy of his file with you. He will fill you in on the details of your hunt and point you in the right direction. Any more questions?”

Again, they answered in unison. “No, hunt commander.”

The gruff old wolf almost smiled. “Good. You have a maximum time limit of one month to get this done, but I expect it to take slightly over a week including travel time.”

He pawed at the thin stack of papers that he was supposed to pin up on the wall. “Look through the details of the hunt request if you like. Though if you ask me, all you really need is the contact file. Now before I go, who do you want me to put down as your pack leader?”

Mauor took a step forward. “I volunteer for-”

“Not you.” The hunt commander interrupted. “No offense ma'am. You may be a vet where you come from. But you're still a rookie as far as this city is concerned. You'll have to prove yourself off a few more hunts before I'll let you feed that ambition of yours.”

Mauor seemed to deflate a little as she stepped back into line. But the older wolf gave her a toothy smile. “Hey, don't be getting discouraged now. There's nothing wrong with striving for greatness. You just gotta be patient. Keep chasing that fire, it'll take you places.”

Mauor brightened up as the hunt captain looked to the other three.

“Pass.” Reea said with disinterest.

“I'll take the lead.” Wouf offered, but Reea spoke up. “Nope. I vote for Hawl.”

Wouf seemed taken aback, and maybe a bit hurt. “What? Why? He hasn't even volunteered yet.”

“I volunteer.” Hawl casually inserted into the conversation. Just to clear that bit up.

The big black wolf turned to Mauor, hoping that she might vote for him and make it a tie at least. But she just looked at Reea with a questioning head tilt.

Reea leaned in conspiratorially and explained. “Wouf has good leadership skills, but he really can't handle talking with other animals. Last time he was my pack leader, we were sent out to this pig village ya? And he got about half a minute into the discussion with our contact before he started drooling.”

The inside of Wouf’s ears flushed red with embarrassment, as he whined. “I couldn't help it! You saw how fat and juicy she looked. Not only that, but she was even wearing wreaths of spices and herbs. Like the kind you cook with! If you ask me I think she was doing it on purpose to try to make us look bad.”

“The use of spices as body decoration is fairly common within pig culture. They do it regardless of if we are around or not because they enjoy the smell.” Hawl explained flatly.

Reea nodded to Mauor, who nodded back with a look of understanding before turning to the three legged wolf. “I also vote for Hawl.”

Wouf deflated at his defeat, but he did not want to fight back for fear of suffering more embarrassment.

The hunt commander nodded to himself. “Very well. It seems you've come to an agreement. This hunt is your responsibility Hawl. I trust that you will make the empire proud. Now if you don't mind, I have other packs to assemble.”

He walked to the door and barked “Dismissed!” Before disappearing as quickly as he arrived.

Reea was the first of the four hunters to relax, and she took the opportunity to walk past Mauor and cuddle up to Hawl. “Well? What orders do you have for me, oh glorious leader?”

Hawl scrunched up his face a bit as he leaned away from her. She wasn't deterred. If anything, his rejection encouraged her even more.

Hawl took a few steps forward, partly to get away from Reea, and partly so that he could address the whole pack. “Alright wolves. Let's set a fast pace and get this done as soon as possible.”

He gave the papers a quick once over before packing them away in one of his uniform pockets. “We'll pick up some basic supplies at the lodge. Just keep your loads light. We can always resupply as we go.”

Reea blinked “Wait. Are you wanting us to go right now?”

Hawl returned her gaze with dispassionate stoicism. “Is there a reason not to?”

Reea and Wouf exchanged glances. Wouf was the one to explain. “I for one could use an hour or two to get my affairs in order before we leave. Say goodbye to my girlfriend and stuff.”

“Honestly, same.” Reea agreed. “I need to get someone to watch over my pet tarantula while I'm gone.”

Mauor shrugged. “My affairs are in order. So I'm fine either way.”

Hawl closed his eyes. Then nodded once. “Verywell. I suppose I'll get our supplies sorted out while you are gone. Let's meet at the north eastern gate in two hours.”

“Need any help?” Mauor offered. But before Hawl could answer, Reea interjected for him. “I'm sure he can handle it. So why don't you come with me instead? I could use the company.”

Hawl narrowed his eyes. He didn't really trust Reea to be alone with new wolves. But Mauor was female, so it was probably fine… Probably.

“Oh. Okay?” The white wolf said with a confused head tilt. She wasn't used to the group dynamic yet.

The other three hunters exited the little briefing room. Leaving Hawl alone.

Finally he felt himself relax all the way. It wouldn't last long though. He had business to attend to and responsibilities to uphold. Somewhere in the back of his mind he felt the subtle change of pressure that came with being on a time limited mission.

The hunt had begun.