1

“Wolves?! Is this some kinda joke?”

“Course not! Scary, big fangs, look like dogs—”

“I know what they are kid…Listen, did that other guy put you up to this?”

“What other guy?”

“The tall one? Sword on his back? Weird ears? Came by asking about some wolves?”

Ellis and Marybeth looked excitedly at each other.

“Tall guy!? When did you see him?”

“He came by a few hours ago, asking everyone if we’d seen or heard about some wolves out in the fields.”

“What did you tell him?”

“Hmph! The same thing I’m tellin’ you! There ain’t no stinkin’ wolves!”

“…What about coyotes?”

“You want me to strangle ya!?”

Ellis jumped away as the man reached out to grab him.

“We’re sorry to bother you sir,” Marybeth added with a sugary tone. “We’re just helping that man get some information. He’s our…uncle.”

“Uncle?”

She nodded.

“He’s teaching us how to track animals and to hunt. So, we’re just…excited to find something to hunt, is all.”

“You best not be wanting to hunt no wolves, that’s for sure.” The watchman then paused for a moment. “You kids better go find that uncle of yer’s before nightfall.”

“Why? Are we not allowed out past dark?”

“No…it’s just…we don’t want no more kid’s getting lost is all.”

“Lost?”

The watchman seemed reluctant to answer. Marybeth stepped in and flashed him an innocent stare.

“Who was it that got lost, sir?” she asked sweetly.

“Coupla field kids…at first. Thought they mighta been gettin’ into something dangerous. But we lost a burgher’s kid a couple nights back and, well, you can’t be too careful is all.”

“Of course,” she added sympathetically. “Say, do you happen to know where our uncle went? We’d very much like to get back to him.”

“I think I seen him head back out toward the fields a little while ago.”

“Thanks, mister!”

“Remember what I said! Get somewhere indoors before dark!”

“We will!”

Ellis and Marybeth took off jogging down the main road toward the western gate.

“It could’ve been hours ago Ellis, how are we gonna catch up to him? If he gets the wolves first—”

“It ain’t wolves Mary, they said so.”

“Well, it don’t matter what it is if Telhari gets to it first! Then it’ll all be for nothing.”

“I know Mary! We just gotta beat him to it.”

“Well, we can’t do it on foot.”

“No…No we can’t.”

Ellis stopped in his tracks.

The two were only a couple of yards from the gate; and a few yards beyond that was the main road that led into the field lands. About ten feet from Ellis stood a parked cart filled with goods. Tied to the cart was a work horse.

“Ellis…no!”

Despite her warning, he started making his way over to the cart. Marybeth ran up to him and whispered in his ear.

“What are you doing! They’ll throw you in jail for stealing! Or worse!”

“Don’t worry Mary, we’ll give it back! We have to beat him. You said so!”

“Yeah but—”

Ellis turned, grabbed her shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes.

“Mary, we risked our lives to get here. All alone! You an’ me!”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

She blinked at him.

“An’ we did it! Are we gonna let it all go to waste ‘cause of some stupid horse?”

She shook her head.

“Alright then. You distract the guy and I’ll untie the horse.”

With that, he turned and jogged off behind the cart, leaving Mary alone on the street.

“But what am I supposed to…”

She looked around sheepishly before heading over to the owner of the cart.

“Erm…excuse me…sir?”

“Sir?! Ain’t never been no sir.” The man turned to see Marybeth looking innocently at him, her hands clasped tightly behind her back. “Well, my little lady, how can I help you?”

“I was wondering…” Mary paused. She could see the straps tying the horse to the carriage start to wiggle back and forth as Ellis began working. “I was wondering if you’ve seen my uncle around? I lost him a while ago in the market and I haven’t been able to find him since.”

“Yer Uncle? Well, what’s he look like, maybe I seen him?”

“He’s uh...tall…” She paused again and looked over at the horse.

One strap untied.

“He carries a sword with him too…” she continued.

“Is he a militia man? Does he work for the governor?”

“No, no. He also has uh… big, pointy ears.”

“…Pointy ears?”

Behind the man’s back, Marybeth saw Ellis’ head pop up. A cheeky grin was plastered across his face— the last strap was untied. Ellis poised himself atop the cart, ready to make his move.

“There he is!” she suddenly shouted. “Over there!”

“What?” The man turned away from the cart to face where Marybeth had pointed. “I don’t see— Oi!”

The instant he turned, Marybeth bolted to the cart and climbed on top. The old man had caught her motion out of the corner of his eye, but he wasn’t quick enough to grab her. Together, she and Ellis jumped onto the back of the horse. Startled, it reared back and bucked wildly, but somehow, they both managed to hang on.

“Come on, go! This way!”

Ellis kicked the sides of the horse and tugged the reins. At once, the creature snorted and galloped off down the road.

“OI! GET BACK HERE WITH MY HORSE!”

People on the street began to stir, but no one noticed in time to stop them. Soon, the two had passed through the western gate and were headed toward the fieldlands.

The man stomped his foot and cursed out loud. A woman then came rushing out from inside the nearest building.

“What is it! What’s happened!?”

“Argh…Some bastard kids stole our horse and ran off!”

“What!? ‘Oose kids? Was it them Darley boys again?! I’ll wring their little necks…”

“No, it wasn’t them. A boy and a girl…says they was lookin’ for their uncle.”

“Their uncle? How do you lose your uncle?”

“I don’t know…But we better find him! That bastard owes us a new horse!”

“Alright, well what’s his name?”

“…”

“You did get a name, didn’t you?”

“No…but they says he is a tall fella, with a sword and pointy— OH!”

“A pointy what!?”

“I just remembered!”

“Well spit it out already!”

“That fella from before— the wolf hunter!”

2

As the sun sank lower in the sky, the warm glow of the afternoon descended on the hillside. Telhari scanned the terrain amidst the fading light until he saw it. Then, he jogged up the hill to a patch of flowers; they grew several feet tall, with small golden petals fanning out from a green center. He could smell a faint pungent odor.

Excellent.

He pulled out a knife, bent down, and began cutting several of the leaves— collecting them neatly together inside a cloth. He was careful to try and slice them as cleanly as possible to avoid the dripping oil. He finished clipping the first bunch and moved to the other side. But as he bent down, something strange made him pause.

Someone else has been here.

Looking at this cluster of flowers, the leaves had already been stripped— and not by a wild animal. These were clean cuts made down to the stem, just as Telhari was doing. Though, the cuts were not fresh, perhaps made several days ago or longer. Curious, Telhari began to examine the area more closely.

As he moved from patch to patch along the flowery hillside, he began to see a pattern. Someone had been coming here and clipping the leaves regularly for some time. Certain patches had even been picked clean. On the ground, Telhari could make out faded tracks. In such an arid climate with dry soil, it is harder to leave behind footprints. Unless, of course, they were made when the ground was wet.

Forming a path, leading from one cleanly picked patch of flowers directly into the forest, was a trail of boot prints. These prints had been made just after a rain fall, and then quickly dried the next morning.

Someone was out here that night…Someone else who knows what’s in that cave.

Telhari stood up from examining the ground. He tied together the cloth containing the leaves and found two rocks— one flat and one round. He placed the cloth bag onto the flat rock and began to crush the leaves. As he did so, the odor of the substance became stronger, and he could see the bag grow dark as the plant’s oil soaked into it. He rummaged through his pack until he found the small glass vial he had purchased in the market earlier that day. Carefully, he squeezed the oil into the vial.

Telhari placed the vial down and fished out a few more ingredients. He had never made this concoction before, but he had memorized a similar formula, along with countless others. The key ingredient was, of course, the oil he had gathered from the leaves. However, there were a few other ingredients needed to make the medicine more potent and to mitigate its adverse effects. As an Elfkin, his body was inherently resistant to many things that would normally harm a human. However, having never hunted this particular creature before, Telhari felt it better to be careful, rather than careless.

“Hmmm…”

He frowned as he lined up the ingredients next to each other. He had managed to find nearly everything he had wanted, all except for one ingredient; an herb that was very well known to his people but known by very few in the human world. Instead, he had found a plant of a similar kind with which to use. Though, he was uncertain whether or not it would work. Determined to see it through, he continued to grind up the ingredients and mix them in with the oil. A musty brown, lumpy liquid was the result.

Not the most appetizing, but there was still one final ingredient to be added.

Telhari gripped the vial in his fist and firmly planted his feet. He spoke to himself in a tone that seemed to echo within itself; subtle, yet powerful words that pulled the air and stirred the spirits of the earth…

He exhaled.

Telhari then opened his hand once more. The liquid had changed from a violent and unruly slop into a smooth pool of amber. He swirled the tincture, brought it to his lips and drank the entire vial. Telhari then turned his attention to the forest ahead. In a swift and decisive motion, he drew the blade from his back. It felt good to hold it again— an extension of himself.

He felt balanced.

Complete.

Armed and prepared, Telhari crossed under the shadow of the mountain and disappeared into the forest.