The wolves surrounded the body. These were strange times, and definitely bad ones.  

Not that anyone was surprised. That big monster wolf, it was trouble. Every creature knew monsters were trouble, but most of the time monsters journeyed deep into the forest, hungry for the richer mana. The wolves pack knew their territory; stick to the periphery, and you were a predator. 

Go outside the forest, and you were prey.

Go deeper in the forest, and you died.

This giant wolf had come from inside and had howled for a hunt. Those that didn’t comply were killed, and it could kill a pack on its own without breaking a sweat. The wolves moved toward the mountain in fear.  Once they ate enough food to not starve and that abomination died, they would bolt. 

But as three wolves eyed the corpse that had fallen down, hunger triumphed fear. The human was stringy, but they were starving. 

“No, no, children, not now.”

Fear was back. Run. Run. Not monster-fear, that was learned.

This was older.

It had been a wolf.  No, the Wolf King had been a wolf, made strong and terrifying by magic but still wolf at its core, a howling pack animal.

This was pure fear in the rough shape of a wolf. That color of midnight just between blue and black, save its crimson eyes. If Wren had seen it, he would recognize it immediately, despite having shifted shapes from a fox to a wolf.

They ran as it chuckled and spoke in a singsong voice.

“Dear nephew, what to do?” The creature purred.

“When Last we met, I tricked you!

Forewarned you ambiguously 

So you would fight my enemy”

It strutted to the unconscious near-corpse 

“Congrats, nephew, you talked it through!

Huzzah, huzzah, how thrilled are you?”

The creature looked at him expectantly, and mocked confusion as it remained bleeding on the floor.  Then it gasped.

“Oh no, oh no, calamity!

A mentor died heroically?

To wound the beast, he rolled the dice!

to save his home, the sacrifice!

He hurt the beast, he took its tongue

A golden sword will pierce its lung.”

Wrath flashed across its face, pure hatred that warped its features. Each syllable was a low growl now, but as its eyes remembered slights long past mouth remained a grin.

“Is that not strange? I only see

What will happen with certainty.

And you always die a hero 

and assist the one who wields a blade.

It doesn’t matter where or when you fight

you will perish giving aid.”

The near corpse on the floor continued to bleed out.  The shallow, fleeting breaths became shorter and shorter, the heartbeats weaker and weaker, until they both stopped.

Death is a strange thing. Though many have tried, no can quite pinpoint the point between life and death. Was the body on the floor dead? It did not think, its bones were not where they should be, its heart and lungs were stopped, and if any man, woman or child looked at it they would pronounce it dead. If a story had a hero healed at this point, theologians would probably name it a miracle, but probably ask the author to change the text so that the hero was saved on his last rasping breath.  In addition to adding a sense of dramatic flair, it would avoid nasty questions about the border between undeath and life.

Then the creature’s claw reformed,

into hand and knife

it cut across its wispy wrists,

and gave a drop of life.

“A figure from our hero’s past

Alive, by demon’s blood,

Who would I be, to let cruel fate

Snip beauty in the bud.”

___

“A drop of blood?  Oh, that’s my granddaughter alright. Little Dai always said I spoiled her, bless his soul. I told them all to lay low for a little bit as I tried to figure out exactly what happened to him, but my little cherub is impatient, isn’t she? Sent me this poor little snap, you’re so young! I’ll just take a peek at your memories, see how we can fix you up…”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“Oh, my granddaughter is such an intelligent rascal. Ah well, she was always my pride and joy. You guessed right dearie, so let old grandpa cover a few loose holes for you. Half the town and several wolves saw you fly off in the distance but only a few saw you land. Now you landed in the.. river. After hitting a tree. I know; instead of breaking every bone in your body except for the one’s in your ear, I’ll take those away and add a few deeper scratches for tree branches! Perfect, I don’t even have to remove any memories!  Just a little haziness there, a scrap of cloth here, and it’ll be perfect! Every townsperson will say “there’s no way he survived!”

Right, if I just let him float down the river he should die for sure.  Can’t plausibly remain conscious and magically float and flow down the most dangerous river in our little road without raising a few eyebrows. It’s been years since I had this much fun, now I have to spend all day fixing bugs. It’s near though, only need to crunch for another year! Let’s see…

Oh! I should teach my cherub a lesson. I told her not to mess with mortals, and little Norahc will get to teach humans! The boy needs more things to do! I won’t have any grandchild of mine spend all his time trying to fool around with mortal women. Being a teacher will turn him around!”

___

“Nor, why are you disturbing me? What’s in the bag?” Neither of them was particularly fond of visiting family unless they had to, so the centaur wasn’t surprised by the terse greeting.

“Grandpa asked a favor.” Nor replied.  

“If it was for me, you would have said that. What’s in the bag?”

Nor, walked up to the river and hoisted the bag carefully off his shoulder. It wasn’t terribly heavy, but she was right. If something happened, it would be on his shoulders.

He laid the bag over the river and yanked it away, revealing a body. Despite the flow of the river it stayed in place, gently rotating in place.

“You sired a child and Grandpa had to clean up after your mess? Every time we meet I believe I have understood the depths of your hedonism, yet you continue to impress. ”

“First of all, in case self imposed isolation has ruined your memory, I couldn’t have sired a kid without breaking the promise each of us made to Grandpa. We still have a year to go! Or did you lose all track of time during your experiments? No, it’s our favorite cousin. He’s one of her...”

“Disgusting little pet projects?” Thea finished.

The water shifted, the magical control Eidothea had laid on it breaking as she took control of a nearby eagle. It’s talons and beak were both deadly sharp and harder than unenchanted metal, Nor was sure, but he was still impressed that it had managed to eke out a living in the Woods. Most birds died sleeping to the litany of dangers that laid in every tree.

Unfortunately for the bird, there was nothing that could fight Thea’s possession this far from the Wood’s Heart. Within a second she had taken control, and she shifted the water to once more bring the boy’s body to a standstill.

The bird swooped down, its eyes scanning the boy thoroughly. Nor sighed. Even though he wasn’t surprised, he still wished his siblings respected him more. He remembered when Thea was fresh to the world, when he helped her discover her magic. When magic outside of combat got the respect it deserved. Now she only bothered to bring a body to greet him when he mentioned that their cousin was involved.

Thea formed letters long lost to humans in the foam, two short lines.

Capacity

1st Stage Magic Rat

Competencies

None

Observations

None

“My conception for humans doesn’t show much.” she muttered.

It wasn’t quite a question, but Nor answered anyway.  His hands flew, etching a longer description in the dirt.

Ancestry

Teeth

Ailments

Light wounds: Reason [Estimated] Grandfather wants his involvement a secret. Allows Eidothea to say she healed his wounds.

Interactions with self

None

Interactions with others

Met Apate. 

Estimated Opinion of Self

None

Estimated Opinion of others

Apate: Fear. Reason: Apate

Information

[Source Grandfather]

Blood and Mental insights, fairly strong wounds, interest of Apate. Conversation Read: Grandpa likes him.

Characteristics that Grandfather likes

Risk-taking, learning, self-sacrifice.

Subjects that interest Apate

Anti-God Combat

Reason for Apate interest unknown. Presumed nonmagical.

Recent disturbances in Forest

Early-stage Monster wolf and multiple mundane wolf packs exited the northern border. Reason Unknown.

Conclusions

Engaged in conflict in defense of hometown. Took a risk against wolves which led to present injuries. 

“That seems… excessive. Is this how you've been spending your time? Instead of trying to avenge like the rest of us, you’re spending time conceptualizing on humans?”

The question wasn’t harsh for once, but inquisitive.  There was an answer she was hoping for, her face as easy to read as a picture book.

“Why not both? I told you, conceptualization is the strongest magic.” Nor evenly replied.

Thea grinned at that, and for the first time in a long, long time Nor sensed respect in her voice.

“Know your enemy, isn’t it? It’s not on your list, but you have the same thought as to why Apate is interested, don’t you?”

“Conceptualizations work best when they only reflect certainties, you know this. Thea, hear me out. Grandpa wants me to teach this kid, and while none of us know what Apate is planning it probably won’t make this poor sod happy. Thanks to Apate, he’s outside the scope of our promise. Let’s teach him for a month, and in return he’ll help us out in a year. If we both teach him, he’ll be strong enough to give us a headstart when things start shaking up again.”

Nor breathed in. It had been a long time since he had made a pact, but the words came quick as the river.

“A month of help, a year to wait. 

Each one request, to guide his fate.

Eidothea, I make this deal. 

Will your word become its seal?”

“I give my word.

The deal is made.

For mortal favor,

I give aid.”