65: Wolves

Here is the Parable of the Wolf. There was once a young woman who lived in a village on the edge of the forest. One day, while gathering berries in the forest, she heard a pitiful whimpering. Curious, she cautiously approached and found an injured wolf cub lying on the ground. Despite the animal’s fearsome reputation, she couldn't bear to leave it there to suffer, so she tended to its wounds and nursed it back to health.

As the days passed, the wolf grew stronger, and the woman became more fond of the creature. She would often visit it in the forest and bring it food. But as the wolf regained its strength and grew older, it also began to show its true nature. It became more aggressive and unpredictable, sometimes snapping at the woman when she tried to pet it and snarling at anyone who came near.

One day, as the woman was walking in the forest with the wolf by her side, she heard a rustling in the bushes. Before she could react, the wolf lunged, its instincts taking over. The rustling was caused by a girl picking berries, and the woman watched in horror as the wolf attacked her. I think we all know what that parable is about.

We were all feeling a bit better by the morning, except Meiny, probably. I offered to make breakfast, but everyone was keen to forage for their own food or eat their rations. We realised that we hadn’t brought any fodder for Buttercup, and Meiny called us city-idiots, which was probably deserved, but we picked some grass for the mule and made a sort of feeding bag for him.

I understood that this sort of environment was perfect for finding the herbs which would work for a potion I had in mind, which according to one of the library books, is capable of regenerating lost limbs. So I kept my eyes open for that during the day, and I managed to find a decent patch of the stuff.

The trek was the same as the previous day, raining and miserable. Kurtis kept whining that his cloak wasn’t up to the job and that he was wet and cold. Towards the end of the day we noticed a shadow looming on the horizon that might have been our imaginations, but could have been the tower.

Everyone was asking me what we should be doing, and which way we should be going, and where we should be camping. It was starting to get annoying. I didn’t really have any more idea of what lay ahead of us, or how we should deal with it, than anyone else.

Kurtis was getting on well with Meiny, as we walked along. I wasn’t paying much attention to them, but I think Kurtis was telling him all about what a great bloke he was and all the cool things he had done, and Meiny was lapping it up. I think Kurtis was especially enjoying that he was making himself look better than Meiny’s better-looking brother. Otto was smothering himself in mud and plants so that the people in the tower wouldn’t see him.

We made camp early so we could get some hot food in before the bats came out. Meiny showed us how we could make a fire inside a tent and still let the smoke out, and Kurtis decided he would spend the night in Meiny’s tent because it was the warmest. The rest of us stayed in mine, while Buttercup stayed on his own in Konrad’s.

Erhardt was on watch, and I tried to get to sleep but we had to listen to Kurtis and Meiny partying in the other tent. Kurtis decided that he would share his bottle of brandy with Meiny as long as Meiny listened to how great he was. I think he even offered him a job on one of his farm. Then he had to start singing, again. And then Konrad had to show off that he had a better voice than Kurtis. It was the worst camping trip ever.

But I did eventually get to sleep and woke up to Konrad telling us there were wolves around. I looked out the tent and could see five large, skinny ones circling around us, sniffing us out, and waiting for a good moment to attack. I could see Schnitzel had got wind of the wolves and he was looking nervous, and Buttercup was getting skittish, too.

Kurtis was still a bit drunk, I think, and seemed to be looking forward to fighting something and went to get his shield from Buttercup’s tent. Erhardt wounded the first wolf with a dart, and if there was any doubt as to whether they would attack us, there wasn’t now, and they came in for the kill.

Otto put Schnitzel on the ground next to him, and told him it was ‘show time.’ I’ve no idea what that means, something to do with the opera maybe, but it was fairly obvious to me that Schnitzel wasn’t up for a fight against the big dogs. I offered to look after him for Otto, but Otto insisted they would be fighting side by side. I wished them luck, anyway, and Otto said they didn’t need luck as they had Shallya. I didn’t want to break it to him that Shallya has nothing against wolves.

One of the wolves careened into Buttercups tent, trying to get at the animal. It ripped at the canvas but managed to get caught up in it, while Buttercup was terrified, trying to break free.

Kurtis came to my side and said he was there to protect me. I wondered why he wasn’t protecting his new best mate, Meiny, but I didn’t say anything. Then a wolf lunged at him and he managed to bat it away with his shield. Then he complained that I wasn’t helping. I’m not sure what he thought I would be able to do to help. Perhaps he only came to my side so he could complain and be annoying. Otto backed towards us, so we could all protect each other, but Schnitzel, not surprisingly, bolted, legging it into the marsh. Otto apologised and ran after his dog.

One of the wolves charged at Meiny who managed to protect himself with his frying pan. And another went for Erhardt and took a decent chunk out of him. In retaliation, Erhardt managed to destroy two of the creatures with a single blast of magic. Konrad ran to Buttercup’s tent to protect him and stabbed the wolf while it was extracting itself from the tent. Meanwhile Schnitzel was legging it deeper into the marshes and Otto followed desperately. Say what you like about Otto, and we do, but he loves Schnitzel like his only son.

Seeing Erhardt in difficulty I said the prayer of the martyrs on his behalf. Then, one of the wolves lunged at Meiny from out of the darkness, biting into his throat and shredding it. Kurtis charged the wolf and killed it, but it was too late. Meiny grabbed Kurtis’ arms and looked at him as his life ebbed away. Kurtis desperately called for me to help but there was nothing I could do.

We managed to clear up the remaining wolves. Konrad killed  the one that was harassing Buttercup and Erhardt used his magic on another. Meanwhile, Otto followed Schnitzel’s whimpers and found him struggling in a pond. He was paddling away but beginning to run out of energy and struggling to stay afloat. Otto waded into the pool and grabbed him and put him into his jacket to warm him up.

Exhausted by the fight, and still wet through, we collapsed back into the tents, for some sleep. The fire in Meiny’s tent was still burning and though Otto had felt guilty for leaving the fight to find Schnitzel, the warmth was too tempting and he fell asleep in Meiny’s tent leaving his body out in the rain.

In the morning Otto noticed all Meiny’s stuff in his tent. He was obviously well prepared, and so as Meiny would not be needing them, he took his socks, his oat cakes, his shovel, his bedroll, and some of his other equipment. Waste not want not. It’s what he would have wanted, probably. We also took Meiny’s tent as Buttercups had been ripped up by the wolf.

We tried to bury Meiny’s body but any hole we dug just kept filling up with water. In the end we threw him into a pond and weighed him down with rocks. I said a few words, but they weren’t very good. I didn’t know the bloke. And Kurtis left his brandy next to the pool.

I’m not sure why Otto was stealing all the dead guide’s stuff. I think it was to make some sort of meaning from his death. You could see he blamed himself. He thought that running off into the marsh to rescue Schnitzel and not being there for the fight had caused Meiny’s death. I don’t think that’s true.

I don’t think there was anything we could have done, except hire a better guide for the job, and that was Kurtis’ fault. He couldn’t stand having the better-looking older brother around (the story of his life, I suppose) and so hired the less prepared younger one, to make himself feel bigger.

Needless to say, the day’s travel was even grimmer than the previous one. The rain didn’t let up. No one wanted to talk much. Towards dusk, though, we could see the outline of the tower very clearly beyond some trees, less than a day away, now. But, by the treeline there were seven figures observing us. One pale and slender, the other six sort of hunched and deformed.

Erhardt tried to walk his shadow towards them to get a closer look, but that was instantly dispelled. That made him uneasy, I think. He wasn’t used to having his magic dominated by another wizard like that. And whoever dispelled it, greeted Ehrhardt with a sinister ‘Good evening.’

Although it was getting dark, we decided that we would rather face them now, than worry about them all night. And so we walked calmly towards them hoping we might be able to settle this peacefully. But as we approached, we noticed that there were figures on all sides of us. The wolves from the previous night, were up and about again, despite now being dead. They were circling us and herding us towards the pale man like the most obedient Nordlander Bamses. That was when we realised we were out of our depth.

And so we approached the pale man. His minions reeked of rotting flesh like the ghouls we had met under the cemetery, and they were missing parts of their bodies and faces. This was the pale man I had seen in my vision, but there was no sign of his companion. He looked sort of wrong, and uncanny, and shifting, it’s hard to describe, but he was not of this world, somehow.

Konrad told him it would be find if he let us past, but he answered in a sibilant voice that although we could go past, that was not to be our fate. Konrad asked what our fate was, and he replied that he had a task for us. We thought about fighting our way through. Things were getting a bit tense, and the wolves were sniffing around and so I offered to have Schnitzel in my backpack, and mindful of the previous evening, Otto put him in there.

The pale man said that there was no need for this, as we were already weak and had been defeated by the elements.  He explained that he was above this world, but he needed us to come back when we were stronger and face his master. He said his name was Tamsus and that his master intended to gather his minions and march on Altdorf. He said he would delay him if we would come back again and face him with more forces. I had the vague recollection of reading the name Tamsus somehow connected to the von Carstein Sylvanian uprising, so decided he must be one of those undead counts, or something.

Konrad decided that we should leave. I’m not sure why I did the next thing. Certainly, in the short time I had known him, Konrad had proved to be an astute judge and a wise head, and I think I knew, at the time, that he was right that we should go. But, after my vision, I was convinced Shallya had led me here for a reason, and I had not enjoyed any of the trek, or my leadership of the group, and it seemed that all this would be in vain if we simply just turned around and headed back to Altdorf.

In any case, the pale man had been haunting my dreams, and I felt that he would continue to do so if I did not deal with him now. But at the same time, I think I knew I was being unreasonable. I think I knew it would not end well. I think I was just trying to prove that I was capable of standing up for myself.

So, I walked up to the pale man and demanded he let us past. He looked at me with disdain, and the undead creatures attempted to grab us. Erhardt cast some magic, but it was dispelled, again. And the pale man plucked Schnitzel from my backpack and fondled him menacingly. ‘If I can defeat you so easily,’ he said, ‘imagine what my master could do.’ Otto was getting very worried now, as the pale man toyed with the dog sticking its long nail towards its eyes. Then, despite our protestations, he plucked one of Schnitzel’s eyes out.

And so, of course, we agreed to leave, and promised to come back stronger with an army that could challenge the pale man’s master, whatever that might be. Otto was distraught about Schnitzel. And just as he had been upset that his actions had caused Meiny’s death, I think I was at fault, now, for Schnitzel’s injury. I’m not sure why I tried to stand up to the pale man when I knew it was futile.

The journey back passed quickly. Although it was just as tedious and just as wet and cold, I think we were in a bit of a daze. My instinct was to avoid Dullen but we agreed we should have the decency to inform Ralfy, Meiny’s brother, that he had perished. So while the rest of them stayed at the Mill, I went with Erhardt to see Ralfy. I had two gold crowns on me, and I thought I would give them to him as some sort of compensation. But somehow two crowns didn’t seem like enough for someone’s life, so I borrowed a couple more off of Erhardt.

It looked like Meiny and Ralfy shared a shed in the woods. We knocked on the door and when Ralfy emerged I tried to explain as best I could what had happened and how sorry we were. I’m not sure I made a great job of it, and Ralfy got extremely angry. He punched me a few times, which hurt, but then he drew his dagger. I thought about offering him the four crowns but decided against it.

Then, who do you think emerged from the shed? I have noticed that a number of coincidences have followed me in my life, and I try to think of them as simply Shallya working in mysterious ways. But these coincidences also seem to act on Kurtis, and the others in our group. I am not sure what it is about our lives that sometimes make it seem as if the world is revolving around us, and other people are just bit part players.

And so, Solvej came out of the shed and asked what all the racket was about. When she saw Ralfy attacking me, though, she drew her own dagger, and stabbed him in the neck. And as we stood in shock watching the life blood pump from Ralfy’s gaping wound, Erhardt asked for his two crowns back.