November 28th

As I walked away from the monster, the darkness lifted around me. I cautiously followed the timid and fearful whines back to the cave. I lit a tinderbox before entering the cave, at which point I saw another pup. This one was so small, so frail compared to its mother, it must have been born less than three months ago. I once again pulled out my knife and held it above the creature’s head. It wailed pitifully, unaware of what was about to happen, just seeking the comfort of its mother. A cold wind blew into the cave and the pup shivered, crawling forward towards the heat of the flame.

At once, I changed my mind, I am not quite sure why, and I sheathed my knife and scooped up the pup. I carried it out of the cave and placed it in my rucksack. It fit easily, for it was no bigger than a cat, and we had already emptied most of the pack, which had contained the rope we were using as well as a few other useful items. Griffin and I then retrieved the markers we had placed throughout the area and lashed them together with sticks to make a rudimentary sledge to pull across the ground. The markers we had used had been specifically chosen for this, as they had a slight curve at one end, but we were not able to make a big enough platform with just the metal markers, as the beast was too big. After we made the sledge, we dragged the monster onto it with much difficulty and then Griffin hoisted the dead pup onto the sledge as well, while I shouldered my pack.

We then departed towards the manor, dragging the wolf monster behind us, but it took quite a while due to the decreased vision and the weight of the beast. It had taken perhaps an hour and a half to reach that point, it took well over four hours to return. Once we reached the clearing, we unloaded the sledge, dismantled it, and drove the metal bars into the ground around the monster. We then tied down the beast so that if it did regain use of its limbs, it would not be able to move.

After that, I revealed to Griffin the second pup that I had found. I told him that it was young enough to not attack us and he almost immediately saw where I was going with this. I wanted to raise it and train it so that I would have such a powerful beast as an asset. He agreed that the potential use we could get vastly outweighed the current relatively low risk. After all, it was so small and so weak, that if we could not properly train it by the time it had reached the size of its sibling, we could easily kill it.

We then returned to the manor with the pup where I then had to explain to Maryanne that I wanted to keep it. She agreed very quickly with little convincing though, likely do to the pitiful state of the creature.

I have set up a bed for the pup made up of ragged furs and old scraps of cloth. I put it in my bedroom to enforce connection between me and it. I then fed it some scraps of meat, which it quickly ate as if it were starving. I am wondering if this pup is so small due to malnutrition. Wolves typically do not give birth to pups in the early fall, so this one must be older than it seems. I have a hypothesis that I wish to test. I think that the mother grew to such size due to the amount of food present in its diet. The monster is very new to this area, which means that it must have been driven out of its habitat by some external factor, perhaps it exhausted its food supply, or began to be noticed by a town or city. It then travelled deep into the mountains in an effort to protect its pups, but the town that I live in is very small and there was not ample food. Then the food that it was able to get went towards the stronger pup, making it get bigger and stronger while the weaker one only grew weaker and its growth fell off, or even ceased altogether. There must be something bypassing the natural size inhibitors of animals which is what allows the wolf to grow to be so big, if I feed the pup enough, it should be able to return to a healthy size within a matter of months, which will also help train it to obey me as I would be the source of its food.

I must admit I am shocked by how quickly I found that monster, although I suppose it does make some sense. The size of this valley is not incredibly large. There is considerable distance between the town and my manor, but by that I only mean about a mile or two. I have not travelled throughout much of the valley in some time, not since I was perhaps eighteen years of age. I have much preferred to stay at home than to wander idly in the town. My section of the valley is enclosed on three sides by tall mountains so once I explore it, that’s all. While the area contained within that section is quite large, it is still easy enough to track beasts given enough time. I suppose I just got lucky.

November 29th

I started off today by feeding the pup. I noticed almost immediately that it has developed habits for peeing and pooping. I spent much of the morning trying to get it accustomed to the manor, meaning that I was carrying it around, letting it smell things and poke around. When I was close to the door, it whined, seeking to go outside. I let it out but after it finished its business, it returned to the inside of the house, wanting to get out of the cold. Maryanne set out some toys for the pup in the living room and I went on my way with Griffin to the clearing.

When we got to the clearing, we saw that the wolf was still there, restrained in the ropes. When we approached it, the shadows began to appear in our vision. I covered up its unnerving eyes with a length of fabric and the darkness disappeared, so I suppose it must only be able to do that when it can see you. One thing that I wanted to get to the bottom of was what caused the clanking of chains as it walked. We examined the paws of both the mother and the dead pup, and eventually we noticed that if we even touch the claws, it can make the sound. It does not do it all the time though, I think it is something that the monster is able to control, as no sound came from the dead pup.

We did notice, however, that some of the claws on the front legs were incredibly sharp. Looking at my armor again, I can see where the claws dug into the metal on my gauntlets. I decided to detach a couple of the claws from the pup to make a trophy necklace, and after I carefully wrapped them up, I put them in my pocket.

The fur of the beast is very warm. Even the dead pup has retained some of the warmth from when it was once alive. The fur was much thicker than that of the pup at the manor, so that would explain why that pup is so cold, it is not developed enough to protect it from weather. Griffin and I quickly skinned it and stored the fur so we could use it later.

Now the question remains, what do we do with the mother? It is a liability, so I suppose we should dispose of it. There is not much more that I can learn about it, so I suppose I should keep the claws and fur, which I could use in the future, and I can cure and/or cook the meat and either eat it or use it as bait. If I want to feed the pup enough to make it big and strong quickly, I might run out of food for the winter, unless I use this as another source of food. I will not make the pup it the flesh, that is too barbaric, but I have read some fascinating recipes for wolf meat before, that could be fun to try. I will store most of the meat to use as bait. I can turn it into jerky which will last much longer.

I will do that then return to the manor, there is not much else I can do.

December 3rd

It has been four days since my last entry. Nothing really happened, I just stayed at the manor to bond with the pup most of the time. I decided that she is going to need a name, so I named her Shadow because of her mother’s ability to make shadows in my vision and because her fur is black mixed with very dark brown highlights. Speaking of fur, her fur is looking much better. I brushed her, cleaned her up, and gave her a collar. I have been feeding her a lot, especially as rewards for tricks, and she has already gained a few pounds. I set up wooden blocks and began teaching her to knock the blocks over when given a command word. It will take a while before she learns how to do that though, but she is slowly learning to listen to me. Griffin has also been here, bonding with the pup. He seems to really enjoy the pup. I think he may have had a dog at one point in the past. He has been playing with Shadow for hours each day. It serves three purposes: emotional bonding, training fighting instincts, and strengthening her.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

I also have finished with the mother. We have been curing the pelts, which is hard due to the size, but it should pay off. The fur, once properly cleaned, is incredibly soft and light. Isabella has been fixated on Shadow’s coat.

December 8th

Nothing is really changing now. Griffin and I have gotten into a routine of curing the pelts and training Shadow. Shadow easily eats as much as I do at each meal yet she is only a fifth of the size. We also feed her at every meal that we eat, so it is about the same as an entire extra person eating with us. I have set up cabinets inside the walls of the hallway to my laboratory for extra storage. Shadow has a habit of poking around, so anything dangerous, like my snake venom collection, has been moved down there so she doesn’t come into contact with it. I also gave her one of the bones from the octopus monster and she was absolutely delighted. We are settling down for the winter snow, which will arrive in a couple weeks and can last well into February, with a peak in January. We will be confined to the manor for much of that, as the snow can reach as high as eight feet or more. Although, it does melt rather quickly. We have been preparing for it. I got quite a supply of books from Archibold and have gotten a lot more food to compensate for Shadow’s appetite.

December 12th

The pelts have finished curing. I am slipping into my old habit of not writing in my journal. When nothing of note happens, it makes it hard for me to, well, make note of anything. Shadow has gotten bigger, she maybe weighs close to 30 pounds now. Her training is going well. She has learned most of the basic commands like sit, roll ever, and fetch, and she has even gotten good at knocking over the stacked blocks. I trained her to obey the command word “Destroy” for that. She is having problems with Stay, though. Whenever I walk away after giving the command, she runs after me. My plan is working, she is becoming very attached to me.

December 14th

The books that I got from Archibold were interesting. I read about a Snow Fox Queen. It seems rather similar to the fire fox that I found, only with cold instead of heat. It is said that wherever she goes, she is followed by ice and snow. Winter snowstorms have been attributed to her presence. When she descends from the mountain peaks, snowstorms quickly follow, and disappear just as quickly when she returns to her home atop the mountains. It was a very interesting tale because while it is connected to the fire fox, the effects on the environment are much more profound. If such a creature does exist, it would likely be impossible to capture, as the snowstorms she brings are supposedly very severe.

December 15th

Griffin and I talked at length about the past. It stemmed from asking him why he has spent so much time playing with Shadow, to which he told me that he used to have a dog. I questioned him about it and after some hesitation, he told me that his family had a dog. It all makes sense to me now. The violent reaction to the octopus monster, the perpetual cold look in his eyes, the revolver that he gave to me.

“I had a wife, a daughter, and two sons. One day when I returned from work, I came home to find the door ajar, and when I looked in I could see the bodies. The blood splashed on the walls and pooling on the floor. I saw a monster in there, devouring my dog. And then what I saw next horrified me. I could see the marks on its body, the desperate attacks from my sons and dog as they tried to fight it off. Broken chairs, bent and shattered knives, pieces of debris littered all over the room. And as I watched, those wounds began to heal. As the monster ate the flesh of my dog, each bite caused it to regenerate the damage that my sons had done to it. It was then that I noticed my daughter lying on her side under the coffee table between me and the monster. She was petrified in fear and clutching a wound on her side. She saw me and cried out then her eyes widened in fear as the monster turned towards her. It extended one of its limbs toward her then a large spike shot out and impaled her, killing her instantly. I yelled and began attacking it, but it also began attacking me. I desperately grappled with it, intent on killing it, but it had the upper hand. Finally it managed to wrap some of its numerous tentacles around my neck. As I was slowly suffocating, I managed to reach into the drawer and pull out a flintlock. It wrapped its arms around mine, trying to prevent me from firing at it, but I was able to twist my arm and just barely land a shot into the head. After that, it fell back and, in pure rage, I ripped its head apart with my bare hands.

“After that I didn’t know what to do. My family had all been killed by the monster. I looked around at the carnage and then decided I couldn’t stay there. I set out into the world with no more than the clothes on my back and the sword at my hip. I found a way to get by doing odd jobs and being muscle for hire. One day I was tasked with defending a convoy from marauders along a mountain road. It was a small convoy, and they could only afford two mercenaries. When we were up there marching along the edge of a cliff, we were attacked by a griffin. It killed the other mercenary but I was able to kill it. When we reached the bottom and delivered the goods, people took notice of me. I abandoned my old name and took the name Griffin. From that point onward, I became a monster hunter. I made it my job to kill any and all monsters before they could harm humans.”

Griffin’s tale was quite sad. I would never have imagined such a thing happening to him, but now he makes more sense to me. I was even wondering why he would be willing to stay here for so long, but if I am providing him with a place to stay and a warm meal, why wouldn’t he stay? Especially during the winter, when the snowfall would prevent him from leaving the valley. How many people’s lives have been ruined by monsters? How many families torn apart?

December 18th

The snowstorms are finally setting in. The snow stacked so high up that I was once again able to use the second floor windows to exit outside. It is positively freezing out here. The wind blows with malicious howls whenever I leave the manor. Lake Eleanor has frozen over, not that I was able to find it, the snow piled atop the ice was just as deep as everywhere else. Today I hiked to the place where we had found the wolf monster and climbed the slope. It was very slow, and my hands were shaky by the time I reached a large outcropping. I brushed the snow off of it and sat there for a while before I pulled out the spyglass I had brought with me and peered through it. I was looking for anything that might stand out in the landscape. I didn’t see anything, though, so after some time I climbed back down and returned home. It will be another month and a half before the snow begins to melt. There is quite a lot that I should be doing in the meantime. I can fix equipment and clean it up so it looks better. I cannot believe that in three months, I have not yet added mirrors to my laboratory yet. I planned to place mirrors in the corners to reflect light into the middle of the room.

Oh! I forgot to mention that I found a weird seed up there. I took it home and it is now stored in a drawer for spring.

December 20th

The past two days I have been spending equal time upgrading and renovating parts of my laboratory and the manor. I added hooks into the ceiling to hold tools and lamps. There is not much to talk about, we slip into a pattern of the same routine over and over without change each winter. The only difference now is that instead of daydreaming about finding new species of small critters, I imagine all the different monsters I may one day find. I keep imagining capturing writhing masses of flesh and bone, feathery piles, or any number of other monstrosities. Who knows what may happen in the future. I cannot wait for the snow to thaw, as soon as the change in weather begins to herald the coming of spring, I will be right out there in the forest looking for monsters.

December 21st

I sought Griffin’s knowledge on the places he has found monsters and something rather shocking came up. He said that the valley I call home has the highest presence of monsters he has ever seen with one exception: the area surrounding the Aegean Sea. I found it rather odd that he suggested this valley has an abnormally high volume of an already abnormal class of creature. What about this area drives monsters towards here? Where do the monsters come from? Maybe in the future I should travel to other hot zones in the world to see if there is anything in common.

December 25th

We celebrated Christmas today. We did not do anything else really.

January 1st

It is the new year. The start of 1843. I am growing restless, waiting for the snow to melt. That is strange, last year I was content to stay within the confines of my home, even my room, for months, but now after little more than two weeks I grow weary of the wait. Well, I must admit I am still rather happy, it is just a vague fatigue. I have more than enough to occupy me, between the work I am doing around the manor and playing with or training Shadow.