The cool morning warmed as the hours went by. With the town’s celebration over merely the night before, the vendors had already reverted to their regular routine. Prices had become reasonable, as the mayor’s spending had given the traveling vendors enough of a cash infusion to lower them.

Axeton was able to purchase sturdier traveling clothes, boots, a sleeping roll, and rations, as well as a new bag to carry everything. Before his rebirth, he would have struggled with the weight, but as he stood in his room at the inn, he realized that he was carrying everything he could need, and barely felt it. The paladin placed his hand on the comfortable bed one more time before leaving, relishing in the convenience that he was unlikely to find on the road ahead.

Just as the sun was high in the sky, Axeton approached the Drunken Ogre, but couldn’t see Sigyn yet.

Odd that something so big could be so hard to find, he thought.

Tied up with ropes outside the tavern were two very large wolves, which kept eyeing Axeton as he sat on a bench, waiting for Sigyn. They became especially interested when he went inside for lunch, then came back out with a plate of leftover meatloaf. He loved dogs, and wasn’t sure when they had been fed, so he ordered extra for them. He placed the pewter plate on the ground, with the meat split neatly into two portions. Surprisingly, they took turns eating, respecting the pieces and only eating their share. The animals were gorgeous; medium-sized and silvery gray with clean white underbellies. Their light brown eyes betrayed sharp minds, when Axeton occasionally made eye contact. They never once growled at the man, which couldn’t be said for most of the mutts around the town Axeton had seen in the past few days.

Suddenly, the heads of both wolves launched into the air, looking down the street. Axeton’s eyes followed their gaze, which eventually pointed to Sigyn as she strolled down the road towards the trio. She grinned, waving at the paladin before stopping in front of the tavern.

“I thought we were going to meet up at noon,” Axeton said. “We have a long road ahead of us.”

Sigyn’s ears perked up. “Exactly!” she replied proudly. “I was getting us more stuff.”

“Stuff, huh?”

“Yeah!”

“Like…”

“I’ll show you,” Sigyn said, rolling a large pack off her shoulders and dropping it to the ground. She reached inside, pulling out two rolls of cloth, each about the size of a log for a fireplace.

“I knew you wouldn’t buy these things for yourself, even though Dimitri said you should with your share of the gold,” the firbolg began, as she unwrapped one of the packages.

Inside was a steel gauntlet, simple but brand new. Axeton looked at the piece of armor, the sun’s rays shining off the polished steel.

“Go ahead and try it on!” Sigyn squealed, giddy with excitement.

Axeton picked it off the cloth wrapping and gently sank his left hand into the metal fingers of the gauntlet. The end almost came to his elbow, and fit perfectly. The steel plates themselves were thicker than what he had been expecting when he first saw them, but the armor was well-made and it seemed like wearing it didn’t cause him to lose any dexterity in his fingers.

“How did you get my size so perfectly?” Axeton marveled, flickering his fingers in front of him.

Sigyn looked at the paladin with a sly look on her face.

“Remember that guy that was really drunk yesterday? The one that kept asking to arm wrestle you?” she asked.

“How could I forget him?” he answered. “He wouldn’t leave me alone…”

“That’s…because I asked him to,” Sigyn confessed. “He was actually the town blacksmith’s apprentice. I had him secretly measuring your hand and arm to make sure the gauntlet fit correctly. I saw you fight, you don’t use a shield and like to punch with your offhand. I figured this would give you a little more power behind your attacks.”

Stolen novel; please report.

“It will, thank you so much Sigyn,” he replied gratefully.

The big blue creature tried nonchalantly to brush off the praise and failed. “Pishaw,” he said, waving her hands. I can’t have you dying on me before we get to the real bad guys.”

Axeton pointed to the second roll. “Is this your armor?”

Sigyn shook her head. “Nope. I don’t need it. It’s for your soft bits.”

“My…soft bits?” Axeton asked, his eyebrow raised.

Sigyn picked the roll back up, unwrapped it, and let it unfurl. It appeared to be a leather vest, with embedded metal banding that ran in vertical strips along the front.

“This is too much…” Axeton began, his fingers running along the raised banding. “But that would explain why you’re low on funds now.”

“You may not realize it, but armor is an investment,” Sigyn chided. “You may be able to heal yourself a little, but the glory you use for that may run out at a bad time, or you need it for something else. A little gold here will save your life in the long run.”

Axeton wondered for a moment, she was right. Sigyn was from a race of people who thrived in combat; she would know what works versus what doesn’t.

“You’re right. But at least let me pay for meals once in a while, to pay you back,” Axeton said.

The firbolg waved it off. “Don’t worry about it. You’ll make up for it by dog-sitting.”

“‘Dog-sitting’?” the paladin asked cautiously, as his eyes went from the armor to the two large wolves that had been watching them the whole time.

“Oh yeah,” Sigyn answered. I see you’ve already met my buddies. They were the only ones available for sale in town, but I just love them so much. They’ll keep an eye out for us on the road, plus they’re just so damned fluffy!”

Axeton looked back up at Sigyn, hooking a thumb back to the dogs. “Do they have names?”

“Mouse and Marshmallow,” Sigyn replied, reading a small piece of paper she just pulled out of her pocket. “I got them late yesterday evening, I tied them up here because a lot of locals don’t like wolves, and in hopes that someone coming out of the tavern will feed them.”

“I see,” Axeton mused. “What’s a marshmallow?”

“No idea,” Sigyn shrugged. “The trainer is someone from Morwell, said he used to train hunting dogs for nobles. I guess it’s some kind of rich person's food?”

Axeton nodded. “What else do they do? Other than eat tavern food and keep an eye out?”

“They don’t trust me enough to play fetch yet, so that’s out,” Sigyn began. “The trainer said they can ‘spot trouble from a mile away’ and are housebroken, but that’s about it. I assume they can fight, they’re pretty big.”

“Indeed they are,” Axeton said, as he began strapping on the chest armor. “I’m sure they’ll be great to have on the road. They’ll keep us from being ambushed.”

“Yup, we just feed them and let them know we’re in charge,” Sigyn pointed out knowingly.

“Both of us? They’re your dogs,” Axeton replied. He didn’t mind them, but also didn’t want to assume ownership over such expensive and majestic animals. He had wanted a dog growing up, but his mother was allergic. At least, she said she was. Axeton had a lingering thought that she just didn’t want to clean up after one.

“I paid for them,” she said, as she pointed towards herself, then to Axeton. “But we need to establish a pack hierarchy. If they think you’re beneath them, they won’t listen to a word you say, in combat or out.”

I didn’t realize having pets was so complicated, Axeton thought. But she seems to know what she’s talking about.

Axeton pointed to the pewter plate on the ground, which had been thoroughly licked clean. “I gave them my leftovers,” he noted to Sigyn, as she put her backpack onto her shoulders again, then fastened it with a few leather chest straps. She looked down at the plate.

“Good, they probably won’t attack you then,” she said.

“They seem like good dogs…if they wanted to attack, they would have done so already,” Axeton thought out loud. He had been standing near them, well within the range of their ropes that bound them to the bench he had been sitting on.

“Hmmmm…” Sigyn hummed as she appraised the pair of wolves again, walking towards them. “They were probably raised in captivity. Ready to go?”

Axeton tapped Glainne’s hilt with his knuckle. “Ready when you are,” he answered with confidence.

The firbolg untied the wolves, careful not to damage the rope, as she knew how valuable rope could be during travels. Each wolf accepted their newfound freedom by rolling their heads and shaking themselves off, which sent dust flying into the street. Sigyn snapped her fingers, and the wolves tilted their heads while looking up at her. She slowly walked backwards, her eyes still locked onto the pair until she stopped, turned around, and started sprinting down the road, a mischievous grin on her face. The wolves, who had been watching very intently, couldn’t control their excitement, and their tails whipped back and forth until Sigyn turned around and ran. Once she did, they barked and ran after her. Axeton gave chase, which he felt was surprisingly easy even with his new armor on, as the four of them left a cloud of dust on the main road out of Ostiphas.

Axeton’s mind calmed as he ran, the adrenaline waking up his muscles, trying to keep up with Sigyn and the wolves as they raced towards Grenfield.

END OF PART ONE