Malicade lowered his sword, placing it back in its scabbard.

A very large wolf stood perched atop the log, teeth no longer bared now that the weapon was gone.

Malicade bowed his head lightly to it, as was custom in his village. It was against both the law and moral code to take up arms against one, seeing as how they’re the most direct descendants to Lycaon. He simply had to let nature run its course now. Should it kill him, at least he would die a noble death. Should it ignore him and let him live, it is to be considered a sign of good fortune, which he felt he desperately needed after what had transpired earlier.

It was a rather impressive specimen. A glossy fur coat covered its body, patches of black and white sprinkled throughout, blending perfectly in with the light brown which made up the majority of fur. Deep emerald green eyes looked back at Malicade, watching his every move, appearing to study him as he did it.

“Beautiful.” He whispered, throwing his sword onto the ground.

The beast watched it fall away harmlessly, head tilted slightly in curiosity.

Understanding it was in no danger, the wolf jumped down from its position on the fallen tree, landing quietly onto the ground in front of Malicade, eyes still focused on him.

Now that it was no longer in a position raised above him, Malicade was able to judge the size of the animal. It was massive, not nearly as big as Lycaon, but still managed to dwarf any other wolf he’d ever seen. On all fours it stood up to shoulder height, its ears reaching the level of Malicade’s chin. It was easily longer than he was tall, at least one and a half times he estimated.

Malicade outstretched his hand to it. The wolf took a step back, studying his hand closely for anything that might harm it.

“It’s okay.” He said. “I’m not gonna hurt you.”

Its ears perked up at the sound of his voice, seeming to recognize his tone as friendly. Stepping towards him once again, powerful muscles rippled all throughout its body as it walked.

It sniffed his hand suspiciously, before licking it twice and rubbing its face against it.

A big grin quickly overtook Malicade’s entire face and he couldn’t help but laugh. He bent down and ran his fingers all through the fur on its head, scratching behind its ears and under the chin. Malicade had heard a few stories about events like this happening, although they were few and far between. They all said the same thing, the animals loved being scratched behind the ears, and so far they were correct. The wolf for its part seemed to be enjoying every second of it, licking Malicade’s hand and even face occasionally while he petted it.

“I’m gonna guess you can’t talk.” He said to it, getting no response in return other than a wagging tail. “Guess that means you don’t have a name either.”

He stood back up, stretching his back and letting the blood flow throughout his legs properly. The wolf just looked up at him.

Why’d you stop? It seemed to say.

He patted its head once more. Early morning rays from the sun caught his eye.

It was time to head home.

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Malicade took his shirt out from under Reculan’s head, putting it back on and throwing his satchel over his shoulder. He strapped his sword to his belt, pulling it snuggly to his waist.

Much to his surprise the wolf was standing over Reculan, sniffing him curiously.

“That’s my friend.” Malicade said to it.

It looked at him, tilting its head.

“He got hurt pretty bad… and I can't help but blame myself for it.”

He got no response, just a curious look and tail wag.

Malicade sighed deeply, bending down to pick up Reculan once more.

“Sorry buddy, but we have to go now.” He said to the wolf.

He grunted slightly as he picked up his friend. As he was positioning Reculan the wolf leaned back onto its hind legs, pawing at Reculan before landing back down on all four legs and shaking its head back, looking at its own.

The action puzzled Malicade, who had never heard of this kind of behavior before.

Seeing he obviously didn’t understand the message, the wolf repeated it. Pawing at Reculan before looking at its back.

Malicade’s brow furrowed.

The wolf repeated the action once more, and again. Waiting for Malicade to understand what it felt was an obvious message. Finally fed up with giving hints, the wolf carefully grabbed onto Reculan’s arm with its mouth.

“Hey!” Malicade shouted.

The wolf continued carefully pulling Reculan’s arm down and away from Malicade’s shoulders with its mouth. Uncertain on what to do, and not wanting his friend to have his arm ripped off, he made little resistance against the animal. More of Reculan’s weight was getting pulled from his shoulder, until eventually the unconscious body fell from its spot. Panickingly, Malicade reached out behind him trying to grab the body before it hit the ground, but the wolf released Reculan’s arm and spun around underneath where he was falling and his body landed onto its back. Its knees buckled under the initial impact but it quickly steadied itself and stood upright again. Malicade took a step back in shock, completely caught off guard by what just transpired.

The wolf just simply stood there now, panting happily, watching Malicade.

“Did you… want to carry him?” He asked, unsure of how to react.

He could’ve sworn he saw the wolf nod.

“Well um… thank you.” He said almost as a question.

The sun was well on its way up now, the shadows it created becoming shorter as it climbed higher into the sky. The songs of early morning birds echoing throughout the forest.

Malicade checked on his friend's wound, making sure his fall onto the wolf’s back hadn’t reopened it. Satisfied that it was fine, he adjusted his body so that his arms and legs swung over either side of the wolf’s back so that he stayed balanced as they walked. He draped the blanket over him so that only his head was visible. He admired his handiwork for a moment, making sure there wasn’t anything he’d missed.

Satisfied his job was taken care of, Malicade began heading North once more. His new companion followed happily along behind him. Malicade looked back, making sure Reculan wasn’t going to fall. The wolf met his gaze and Malicade smiled.

“Come on buddy, it’s time we got back home.”

They walked for around thirty minutes before Malicade finally spotted something he recognized.

It was a small stream running through a small dip in the forest floor. The stream originated from a rock outcropping that extended from one of the sloping hills that led down to the dip. This was a commonly used hunting spot for his people, but considering there wouldn’t be another hunt for six days that fact meant little to Malicade in his present situation.

He cupped his hands underneath the source of the water and drank a few mouthfuls, his wolf companion drank from the small puddle at the base of the outcropping.

It would be roughly another hour before they got home, the stream was roughly the same distance as the field in which he’d begun the buck hunt the previous day.

His wolf was showing no sign of exhaustion from carrying Reculan yet. Malicade removed the blanket that covered him, the sun had been out long enough and the temperature was beginning to rapidly increase.

“No point in either of them overheating.” He thought.

The wolf, having drunk its fill, looked up at him as if to say it was ready to continue. He scratched its head appreciatively, which it seemed more than happy to let him do.

“Do you want me to carry him for a bit?” He asked the wolf.

It twitched its head to the side and snapped at a bug, which Malicade just took as a no.

“At least now I know where we’re at.”

They’d been gone a little over a day now and he knew many members of the village would be worryingly awaiting their return.

“This way.” He said to the wolf, setting off in the direction of home.