Two men stood working on a road, filling holes with gravel. They were bickering about the best way to cook a turnip, when one of them spotted a figure cresting the hill towards the village. He waved a friendly hello across the distance, but the man approaching them had his hands full and couldn’t return the gesture. He trudged closer, carrying a heavy silver pelt under one arm, and a staff in the other hand. He was draped in a portion of the pelt, and the closer he got, the easier it was to see that it was fresh. Crusty dried blood ran down his bare chest from his shoulders, and his long black hair was stuck down by the fowl fluids coating the inside of the skin.

"Been on a hunt there" the friendly looking man said, blocking his nose.

"It seems I have" Murphy responded, admiring his haul.

"Put up a fight did it?" The second man joined. He looked Murphy up and down, and pointed at the leaves wrapping his gut. "You look like the hells lad."

"You should see the other guy" Murphy laughed, then he looked at the pelt under his arm. "Oh, there he is."

The men laughed. One of them clapped him on the shoulder, and he had to try not to wince at the sting. His entire body felt like it was on fire. His journey through the woods had taken six days in total, and he never bothered sleeping on the last night. It took him several hours to skin the wolf, even with his O'jin’s help. He used aspect sharpened and hardened stone as a knife, the crude butchering had resulted in various patches of pelt and a small chunk of wolf meat. They left for the final stretch after a meal of the tough meat, and found the road in the early morning light.

"Got a medicine man back at the village. He's a tanner too" the friendly man said, pointing at the gory pelt.

"That's a man I wouldn't mind seeing right now."

The friendly man gestured to his wheelbarrow. "Jump in. You look pretty banged up, I'll have Poddy here take you back to town."

The other man frowned. "Why do I gotta do it?"

"I didn't take no apprentice to keep up the heavy lifting" the friendly man laughed. "The names Harred by the by, and this is Podrick. Tell Barberos I sent you along, that boy owes me a few favours."

"I'm Murphy" he responded. "And this is Uundah" he said, holding out his staff.

The men shot each other a strange look. "That's nice" Podrick said. "Let's go then, I want to be back before lunch."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Murphy" Harred said, scowling at his apprentice. "If you're still in town tonight, come round to the inn. You look like you have a story I'd like to hear."

Murphy smiled, and laid his pelt over the gravel in the barrow. "I might just do that" he said, as he nestled comfortably into the bloody fur.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

He didn’t even mind the bumps on his ride, he was just relieved to be off of his feet. The temptation to fall asleep was strong, though he forced himself to stay conscious so as to not offend his carrier. He made small talk with Podrick, and learned a little about the village. It was only small, being wheeled past the first houses told him that much. Podrick was paid by the empire to maintain the road near his village. He told Murphy about the connecting road that linked all of the major holds in the local empire. Hammond was a major hold, though the village of Hillcrest was only a simple road town. Most often the travellers of the connecting road would pass right through Hillcrest, so they were always happy for a visitor.

Barberos was tending to his garden when they arrived. Once he saw Murphy he urged them inside and laid him out on the kitchen table. The whole operation seemed pretty chopped together, but he didn’t expect much more from such a small town. Barberos was a young man, about the same age as Murphy. He had messy copper curls and a thick red beard, making Murphy a little jealous. He was sure his stubble had returned by now, but he didn’t expect to be able to grow out his wizard's chin-tail for some time yet. The medicine man was surprised when he peeled back the leaf bandage. "Not a whole lot needs doin'" he said, examining the wound. Murphy was about to brag on Uundah’s behalf, but the O'jin warned him against it. They had decided earlier that it was probably for the best to keep Uundah a secret for now. The Blood Rain had told him nobody would care about his Warlock nature with Uundah around, but his interaction with Taymon had taught him otherwise. The prejudice was just as alive and well on this side of the world.

"I had some training when I was little" he lied.

"Compliments to your master". He pulled a cloth bandage from a cabinet. "There's a bath out back. I'll leave some spare clothes at the door for you, then we can chat about your pelt". He handed Murphy the bandage with a smile, and gestured at a door at the back of the room. Murphy thanked him, and hobbled with Uundah to the bathroom.

The plumbing was simple. Everything connected to a tank outside, and the mechanism for hot water involved heating a smaller tank inside with an open flame, rather than a rune system. It took him some time to figure it out, and he had to wait a while for it to heat up. When it was done, he settled in without hesitation. He had to change the water twice, since it filled with muck and blood so quickly, but eventually he was able to lay back and relax. Uundah joined him in his rodent form, making sure to enjoy a bath he didn’t actually need. Every time he transformed he was completely clean, since he had to recreate the materials. They rested like that for as long as it took for the water to lose its heat, and he managed a quick nap in that time.

The cloth bandage was a welcome sensation across his wound, and the clean clothes were like a long awaited embrace, especially the shirt. He never tended properly to the slash on his back, but after the bleeding had stopped he didn’t really see the necessity, plus he wanted to have a cool scar. Barberos was admiring the pelt when he found him in another room. The village wasn't very grand, he noticed from the outside that the dual tradesman had the largest home. Walking through the place he understood why. The man was set up to process any part of an animal, and a peek through a window showed he also had a small forge tucked away outside. He found his host in what he assumed was the tanning room. The intense smell aided that opinion.

Barberos had the various pieces of wolf stretched out on tanning racks, and was looking over the metallic flecks of fur.

"This really is something" he said, running his hand through a clean patch.

"Took some doing to get, that's for true."

He looked at Murphy curiously. "You’re not from round here are you?"

"Pretty far out actually. I'm on a delivery" Murphy admitted.

"So how'd you end up in my hut with that" Barberos said suspiciously, pointing at Murphy’s gut.

Murphy thought about his response, making sure not to think too long. "Dangerous woods you have out here."

The man studied him for a moment longer, then sighed and shook his head. "Not wrong there. You're the second in a week to stop off thanks to those beasts. Been an exciting few days for ol' Hillcrest."

That gave Murphy pause. His curiosity was struck. With a heavy beating heart, he asked "The second you say, what happened to the other one?"

"Got in a tangle with sometin' real fierce, burned half the poor bastards face right off."

Murphy held back a twisted smirk. He felt his palms grow sweaty and his throat go dry. He didn't want to mess this up, so he chose his lie carefully. "Don't suppose he told you his name? I got separated from my companion, you see."

Barberos pursed his lips in contemplation. Something about the Warlock must have had him feeling trusting, since his response was an honest one. "Don't know if the name Taymon of Lardishear means much to you, but I hope it helps" he said with a smile.