It was a cloudy day when Little Harold, after eating his breakfast, set off to the nearby forest to play. Due to the remote location of their little farmhouse, they had no neighbors. In other words, Little Harold had no friends. So, with his trusty wooden sword in hand, he skipped his way to the woods.

It was a somewhat dense forest. Meaning sunlight can be clearly seen from within. The songs of birds and the chirps of insects could be heard. It was quiet, yet noisy. It was lively, yet lonesome. It was harmonic, yet harrowing.

In the midst of the trees, little Harold held up his wooden sword."For the Empire!" He shouted and charged towards some wooden dummies that he had set up the days before. "Feel the savory taste of defeat!" Little Harold exclaimed. It was a line from his favourite bed time story, the Draconic war.

Little Harold have been practicing his *swordsmanship* everyday since Monica brought the toy wooden sword for him. " I want to be a Noble knight when I grow up." Little Harold had this thought engraved in his heart.

After a few sessions of charging at the dummies, he got tired. Slowly, he walked towards a tree, plopped down, leaned into it, and rested. While catching his breath, he heard a thud. "What was that?" He thought to himself. He peeked behind him. There, he saw an object."It looks like a little ball. No, a little fluffy ball." He thought.

He slowly and cautiously crawled his way towards the fluffy little object to get a better look of it. As he got closer, the object started moving. It was alive. Harold stopped at a safe distance and stood up. He took a sharp precise look at it. Then, he discovered that the little fluffy ball wasn't a ball at all. It was a fluffy little bird.

It's feathers were golden-brown. It's body was round. And it's beak was crooked. " Is it ok? It seems like if it fell down from it's nest. Poor little thing." Little Harold had a feeling of sympathy. He carefully picked up the little bird and checked it for injuries.

"You seem fine little bird." He said. "Chirp... Chirp...." The little bird seems to have regained it's consciousness. It stood up right on little Harold's palms and inspected the tall stranger. A few hops left and right, a few chrips high and low, the little bird showed a form of gratitude and flew onto Harold's left shoulder. This event startled him. "Woah little bird!" Excitement, awe and joy filled little Harold's mind. "So does this mean we are friends now?" He asked. "Chirp..... Chirp....." The little bird seems to reply.

Just then, there a snap of a branch nearby. The little bird flew away as soon as it heard the snap. "Aww..." Little Harold got sad, but he too heard the snap. So he sheeted his toy sword and walked towards where the noise came from.

After sneaking a few places, the snaps of branches got more consistent. A few more places closer, crunches of dried leaved also got into the mix. It was the sound of footsteps. And finally, little Harold could see where the sounds were coming from.

The sounds were found to be footsteps of a human. The footsteps of a boy infact. It was a boy similar to his age. Having crimson red hair compared to Little Harold's dark blonde. The boy seemed scared, as he had his arms wrapped around himself. His facial expression too was filled with fear and confusion.

"Is he lost?" Little Harold thought to himself. "I should examine him first before doing anything else." he concluded his thought and stalked the boy from a decent distance. After a few moments of stalking and careful examination, little Harold accepted the thought of the boy lost his way in the woods. He wanted to help him.

"Hello..." Little Harold called out. "Who is there!" the boy exclaimed with shock. He seems really scared. " Sh... sh... show yourself!" he exclaimed. "Calm your mind, I am here to help." Little Harold announced and showed himself from behind the cover of the trees. "Are you lost?" Little Harold asked. There was no response from the boy. His arms wrapping tighter still.

"He must be really scared" Little Harold thought and continued his efforts to soothe the boy. "It's ok. I am here to help you. I will help you find your way back home. Do not worry." Upon hearing Little Harold's words, the little boy, for a moment, showed a glimmer of hope. And finally, in a whispering tone, he replied. " O..... Ok.."

After a few moments of awkward silence, Little Harold continued. "My name is Harold. Harold Trehart." the boy gave a slight nod. "And your name is?" Little Harold resumed. "O... Oh.... My name?" the boy seemed startled by the question. "Yes. Your name." replied Little Harold. "M.. My name is..." the boy's sentence was interrupted by a distant loud noise. Both the young boys were shook from within their souls. The interruption was none other than the howls of the wolves.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Oh no. It's the mountain wolves!" Little Harold exclaimed. "Why are they here?" he thought yo himself. He have heard countless times from his father about them. But he knew only to the extent that wolves existed in the nearby Mountains. Not in the low land woods. His parents have always warned him for caution. But in all these years, he have never seen, encountered or even heard of them. "Why now? Of all times?". The boy sat down, covered his ears, and trembled in fear. Little Harold too was now in thoughts of worry. "What should I do?" He first looked at the path back home. Then he looked down at the immobilized boy. "I could run away, but I can't just leave him here."

"Hey. It's alright. Get up. Let's get out of here." Little Harold patted the boy on the back. The boy just shook his head and continued trembling. Little Harold wanted to leave, but his sense of responsibility stopped him from leaving the poor boy behind alone.

"Don't be scared. I w" Little Harold's words were cut short by the noise of bushes. The distant howls were now close growls. The wolves were here. The wolves have found them. "Get up! Stay behind me!" Harold, withought hesitation, unsheathed his toy sword and stood infront of the boy.

One giant wolf showed itself from within the bushes. Little Harold stances himself facing it. The giant wolf slowly paced towards them. It was growling. It's fangs were showing. It's mouth dripping with saliva. It stopped for a while and stared at the two boys. Harold felt as if his soul was slowly leaving his body. The boy behind him, feeling worse, began to cry.

The wolf let out a long haunting howl. The boys couldn't help but cover their ears due to the noise being far too great. A couple more howls could now be heard nearby. And to Harold's biggest fear, more and more wolves seemed to arrive at the scene. The initial giant wolf was straight in front of them. Three more wolves now joined it up and surrounded the boys. Behind them was the only safe cover, a giant tree.

Harold slowly backed the boy up. "Stay close" he said. The wolves started to get close. Harold swung his toy sword. "Get back!" he yelled. The wolf at the left side tried to pounce onto them. "I said stay back!" Harold's swing hit the wolf's snout. It hopped back in pain and growled. The three other wolves also pouncing closer in turn. Harold, dispite his best efforts, won't be able to fend off the wolves forever. His arms were getting numb. His chest in pain due to the many hard breaths. He slowly backed up. And now his back is now touching with the tree already. He had no more ground left to retreat."Stay back". At this point, they were basically stuck to the tree. All hope seemed lost.

A sudden whistle came about. It was an arrow. It passed straight ahead of Harold and landed upon the head of the wolf on the right. Blood splattered across Harold's face. With shock and awe the wolves along with Harold, looked towrds the direction from which the shot came from. A contingent of horsemen were seen to be galloping towards them from amidst the trees. The wolves growled in anger. They were now outnumbered. Another whistle of an arrow was heard. Another wolf dropped dead.

The horsemen galloping closer, and another loss for the pack, the giant wolf howled a retreat. The two remaining wolves disappeared into the undergrowth. "Hyah!" the voices from the horsemen could now be heard. "You three, chase those wolves. The rest, secure the area!" The leader of the Horsemen gave the orders. The three horsemen, as ordered, passed the boys, and chased after the retreating wolves. The leader, upon reaching them, stopped his steed and hastily dismounted. " Your grace, are you alright?"

"Your grace? Who is he talking to?" Harold thought. And there, the stuttering voice of the boy behind him came with a reply. " I... I am fine A.. Adrien..."

The man took off his helmet. He was old. His complexion was frail and so was his hair, grey as the Southern Wool.The man took off his helmet. He was old. His complexion was frail and so was his hair, as grey as the Southern Wool. His right eye had a battle scar. Half his face was shrouded with a bushy beard. "Adrien..." Harold remarked the old man's name.

The old man, after checking up the boy, turned to Harold. "Who might you be young man?" His voice was graspy and shaky. "Me?" Harold was confused for a moment. The old man gave no verbal reply, but just a stern nod." I am Harold Trehart. Son of Boran Trehart." Harold answered.

"Son of Boran, you have practically saved the life of this young lord. The task that we have almost failed to do, if it wasn't for your bravery." The old man continued. "And for this, you have my utmost gratitude." The old man bowed. The rest of the horsemen following suit.

"T... Thank you. Ha.. Harold." the stuttering voice from behind was heard again.

"T.. to continue my answer. M... My name is V... Valen. Valen Dawnfindl."

"Dawnfindl? I've heard of that name before." little Harold thought to himself.

"Indeed. This young boy is none other than the son of Lord Benedict Dawnfindl." The old man followed up Valen's stuttering sentence."And I am Adrien. Adrien Curtis of the Imperial Guard."

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance." Harold, with a respectful manner, replied to Adrien.

The Dawnfindl family is of noble origins within the Delen Empire. And they are currently the overseers of the Bridgewatch Dutchy which includes Isonville. And the Imperial Guard regiment also are of noble origins. They comprise of the top few selected warriors, hand picked by the Emperor himself, who are assigned to protect the high ranking nobles, which includes the Dawnfindl family.

After a few moments, the three riders returned. It was stated that the wolves would no longer be a threat to them or any other citizens of the Empire. Adrien and the Imperial Guard contingent, then took the boys and rode back to their campsite. Soon after, they escorted little Harold back to his home.

The matter was that Lord Benedict ordered Adrien to take Valen out for a camping trip in the woods for leisure. And in Valen's misfortune, he walked a little too far off from the campsite that he got lost. Harold couldn't blame the guards either since they were said to have been busy preparing and securing the campsite. But they all admitted that they lacked caution. And they rushed in search for Valen upon the immediate notice of him going missing.

Upon arrival back home, Boran was unhappy to know of the situation that his son had gotten into.Things could've gone the other way around and he could've died. But still, as a father, he can't help but be proud of his son's selfless yet courageous actions.

After a few days have passed in the humble village of Isonville, Little Harold's honourable actions have already been well spread.

One morning, a knock was heard on the doors of the Trehart farm house. Harold went to open the door. It was Valen, escorted by Adrien.

" H.. Hello Harold." Valen greeted.

"Welcome back, Valen." Little Harold replied. And like that, little Harold got his first friends.