I woke up early the next morning and got breakfast ready. Shadow, the traitor, had slept with Lin instead of her usual spot on my chest. I still had a few eggs left in the kitchen so made them along with a few of the usual pieces of fruit. I brought the food into Lin’s room where she was already sitting up in bed petting a satisfied Shadow. She looked much better today and not as pale.

“Good morning.” I said while placing a plate of food in front of her. “How are you feeling today?” I asked, checking the bandage on her arm. “Thanks….you.” she said looking down at the plate. She jerked when I lifted the blanket to check the bandage on her leg. I had to cut the leg of her pants off to expose the injury. I tried to be as professional as possible while checking her wound but luckily there didn’t appear to be any infection. I smiled reassuringly as I put the covers back over her leg. “You seem to be healing fine but you should still try and stay off of it as much as possible.” I couldn’t tell if she fully understood me or not but seemed to relax and started eating.

I had made Shadow a plate as well and she eagerly dug in. When they were done, I removed the plates and got down to business. “Where are the others?” I asked, looking her in the eye. She hesitated and then started speaking in her own language which I couldn’t understand a word of. I thought for a minute and then pulled out my cell phone and brought up the pictures I had taken of the city.

“Does anything in these pictures look familiar?” I asked, showing her the phone. Lin had a shocked look on her face as I scrolled through some of the pictures. Then she pointed to one and I stopped to see what it was. “Others.” she said pointing to a picture that showed the area around the bell tower. I nodded as I studied the picture as well. “Don’t worry, I’ll find them. You stay here and I’ll be back in no time.” I replied, trying to use gestures to get my point across.

Lin tried getting out of bed, but I stopped her and gently pushed her back down. “You stay here. You’re in no shape to rescue anyone.” I said, somewhat sternly. Lin frowned but seemed to understand. “Shadow, you stay with her.” I wasn’t sure if the cat would listen or not but left to put my gear on. I hadn’t ventured to the bell tower yet as it was definitely in the wolf’s territory.

I hadn’t explored much past the shops nearest to the docks as the number of wolves and other large creatures seemed to increase the farther east I ventured. I had caught glimpses of large boars with multiple tusks that were bigger than the wolves and a huge fur covered creature that might have been some type of bear. Who knew what other creatures might be prowling the streets of the abandoned city. In other words, I wasn’t looking forward to the trip.

I wasn’t sure how Lin and her brother made it into the wealthy section of the city, but I decided to follow my normal route to get into the city proper. Once in the area of the shops I started to be more vigilant and slowed my pace. I followed one of the larger streets that headed toward the city’s center and the bell tower, sticking to the shadows on the sides of the street.

I stopped every so often to listen but didn’t hear any signs of trouble yet. After several more blocks, I could see the bell tower rising above the buildings in the distance. Suddenly, growling from a nearby alley caused me to stop in my tracks. The sound was coming from an alley across the street from me and as I looked a dark shape jumped out into the street and the growling increased.

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When I heard the growling I thought for sure a wolf had found me, but what jumped out into the street was only half the size of a jungle wolf. The creature had short, black fur and two thin tails that whipped around behind it, but the most striking thing was the six stubby legs. There was no Earth equivalent but looking at the wide mouth and sharp, dagger like teeth, it was definitely a predator. I pointed my spear at it with shaky hands, having no idea what it might be capable of.

The creature charged at me in a flash, and I followed my instincts by jumping to the side. I barely managed to evade the beast and quickly realized it was much faster than the wolves. It spring boarded off the wall and kept attacking. I back pedaled to keep away from it while jabbing my spear. The creature ignored my spear thrusts and tried to bite my legs so I kicked it as hard as I could which sent it flying.

The creature was solid muscle and it felt like I was kicking a brick wall. It regained its footing and growled some more. I didn’t think I hurt it much, but it was staying put for now. I started backing away, hoping it had enough but then it started charging again. This time I met its charge and lunged forward with the spear. The spear plunged into its neck and I staggered as the creature’s momentum was stopped. Blood sprayed out of the wound and I yanked the spear loose while backing away from the pool of blood.

I didn’t have time to rest as I heard a howl close by. I ran up the street and ducked into a dark alley as wolves descended on the corpse of the creature. I stayed still for a time and carefully made my way down the alley and to the next street where I continued toward my destination. I wanted to get the field guide out and look up the creature but needed to keep moving.

The body should have attracted most of the wolves in the area so hopefully the way to the bell tower would be clear. As I neared the bell tower, I couldn’t help but notice the shops in this area were larger and fancier than what I had seen before. I really wanted to stop and look in a few of them but I couldn’t let my loot lust take over.

As I reached the square that contained the bell tower I slowly peeked around the corner and surveyed the area. At first glance I couldn’t see any monsters or signs of Lin’s friends. I waited for several minutes then started walking around the square looking for any signs of a struggle. The area was overgrown the same as everywhere else with debris littering the ground which made it difficult to find anything. I was no boy scout or tracker so didn’t really know what I was even looking for and just hoped I would know it when I saw it.

I swore as I finished going around the square without finding anything. I contemplated expanding my search to the surrounding streets but then glanced at the tower itself. I narrowed my eyes as it looked like someone had barricaded the entrance. When I approached I could tell it had been done recently and was relieved that my search was over. The rubble making up the barricade had claw marks and gouges in it but had somehow held.

Now the problem was how was I going to get inside without destroying the barricade. I surveyed the exterior of the tower but there was only one entrance. I did spot windows on the second floor, but I couldn’t reach them. The chances of me finding a ladder in the area were slim to none. I looked around the area again and decided I would just need to make my own ladder.

I had noticed a relatively intact wagon on one of the streets so pulled it underneath one of the windows. I then stacked a few crates up until I could just reach the window frame. I was trying to hurry since the noise I was making was sure to attract unwanted attention. One of the crates broke under me but with a grunt I somehow managed to pull myself up and flopped inside. I sat still for a while, breathing heavily but didn’t hear anything. With a sigh of relief, I picked myself off the floor and started exploring the tower. With any luck Lin’s friends would still be alive. Getting safely back to the mansion was another thing altogether but one problem at a time.