It was several months before I was able to return to Zayanya. I knocked on her door, and once again had to wait most of the day for her to show up. Once again, Stormwatcher came inside with me while the rest of the pack waited outside.
“I swear, Stormwatcher, next time I’m only going to come here in the evening.” He smiled a wolf smile, and we both settled down to wait. Zayanya showed up around dusk, looking unsurprised to see me. She beckoned me to follow him further into the house.
“I had almost thought you weren’t coming back,” she said as she led me into a room that had no furniture.
“I... had some issues to deal with.” Sagais had said that most people weren’t very accepting of werecreatures, and that I should be wary of those I told of it. Zayanya simply raised an eyebrow at me.
“Take care to keep those potions safe,” she commented. Taking the portal stone from me, she contemplated it for a few minutes. “You should go get the rest of your pack, this is where I’ll open the portal for you.”
“Don’t you need to prepare the spell, with a ritual or something?”
She chuckled at me. “Nay, child. ‘Tis a simple spell, the stone is merely for the length in which it will cross... and a test of your dedication and intentions. Sagais would not have let you take the stone if you had shown a likeness to the black hearts of your kin.”
“Did I pass?” I asked softly. She turned and raised her eyebrow at me.
“He spent many months with you, didn’t he? Teaching you how to control something that can take others years. He could have killed you outright, or kept you to replace the one you killed, instead of one of your wolves.” She turned back to the center of the room and started chanting, so I quickly left to get the rest of the pack.
“Come on guys, she’s making the portal now.” They followed me back to the house and through the door, past the assistant at the desk. His eyes widened as every wolf came in the door – I think he hadn’t known how many there were. We filed into the room just as Zayanya finished casting the spell, the circle shimmering open in the middle of the room.
“This portal will take you across the desert and put you near the Coldwood.” I nodded, then turned to my wolves.
“Go, I will follow last.” They filed, in ones and twos, into the portal and disappeared. “Thank you Zayanya,” I smiled at her. “I don’t know how I can repay you...”
She smiled back. “Find your home, whether it be with Drizzt Do’Urden or not.” I nodded and moved toward the portal, grabbing the Stone of Sages so that I could return it as Sagais had bid.
Then I stepped into the portal, never looking back.
- - - - - - - - - -
As I stepped out of the portal and looked around, I surmised that this wasn’t the Coldwood. I had never been to the Coldwood, and Zayanya didn’t tell me about it, but it was still a forest. The place I now stood was barren and dry, a literal desert. The sun was about to set, which was thankful, because the heat was almost unbearable. The wolves had to be in constant motion so that they wouldn’t burn their pads on the sandy ground littered with rocks that had spent all day being heated up by the sun. There were some ruins nearby and I swiftly ushered everyone towards them, inside the outer wall where ground had been partially shaded. We gathered in a circle to discuss.
“This isn’t the Coldwood, it’s a desert,” I remarked. “We should stay the night and tomorrow we can go... wherever it is we need to go.”
‘Providing you can find us on those maps of yours, you mean?’ Lightfoot said worriedly. ‘What if you can’t?’
“Then maybe I can scry the direction the edge of the desert is in.”
‘Maybe you should do that first,’ remarked Stormwatcher. ‘To look for landmarks that might be on the map.’
I pulled out the largest map I had. “Look. Here’s the Coldwood. The closest way to get to the desert is almost due east. It says there’s a city here, called Hlaungadath, that has to be somewhere in the vicinity. Zayanya’s portal couldn’t have been so wrong as to land us on the other side of the desert.”
Lightfoot sniffed the map, as if to smell out where we were. ‘So in the morning we will set out for this city. Are you sure, Shadow, after what happened in the last city?’
I sighed. “No, I’m not sure. But we don’t have a choice, Lightfoot. I’m not well off for supplies, and I doubt you’ll find much prey to eat in this desert. That is what we must do.” I put away the maps, and the wolves and I lay down to sleep.
I woke in the middle of the night, freezing cold and surprised. I hadn’t expected a place that got blistering hot during the day to get so icy cold at night. The wolves were comfortable with their fur coats, but I needed warmth. I dug my bedroll and some extra clothing out of my pack, shrugging on the clothing as I rolled out the bedroll. Stormwatcher curled up beside me when I crawled in, and I fell asleep like that. The only dream I had was a sensation, a feeling of always chasing something and never being able to reach it.
- - - - - - - - - -
I woke to the sound of a hiss and a yelp. Looking in the direction of the noises, the scene I saw made me spring into action. “Wake up, wake up! We’re being attacked!” I shouted as I scrambled over to the injured wolf. It was Sunbeam, and the spear had gone through the fleshy part of her leg, pinning her to the ground. I pulled it out as carefully and quickly as I could, more spears falling around me as I pressed my hand to the wound to try and stop the bleeding.
‘Leave it, we can treat it later,’ Sunbeam half-growled at me. She awkwardly got to her feet, favoring the wounded one. We followed the pack further into the ruins, finally finding one with a partial roof. All of us huddled under it. Peeking out, I got a glimpse of one of the spearthrowers. It seemed to be a lion, but had the upper torso of a man. It was one of the weirdest things I had ever seen. When I shared this information with the pack, they had never heard of this type of creature either. One thing was sure: they seemed intent on killing us. I strung my bow and notched an arrow, then carefully looked out until I could see a good shot at one of the strange lion-men. Ducking out from under our meager cover, I took aim and fire, then quickly ducked back underneath it. The strange creatures responded by throwing another spear at us, but it didn’t manage to fully pierce the roof. I heard a whoosh, and a fire ball hit the ground right outside our shelter, accompanied by a wild, maniacal laughter. We all pressed back into the corner a little tighter.
“Great. A mage. Okay, Sunbeam, stay here with the pups.” I silenced the protests of Solstice and Equinox with a look. “Lightfoot, take some wolves and get that mage, Stormwatcher, Longstride, Snowdancer and I will go after the rest.”
We all split up to deal the strange creatures. My group of three wolves headed for the first one, just around the corner. He tried to keep us at bay with his long spear, jabbing and sweeping with it. But once one of my throwing knives buried itself in his heart, he collapsed in a heap. I didn’t stop to see if he was dead, just grabbed my knife and went on to the next one.
The next one wasn’t so easy. He had only a dagger in one hand, but the other was moving, gesturing. All of a sudden, Longstride turned against us, hackles up and teeth bared. “Longstride?!” I shouted at him, but he didn’t seem to notice. I glanced worriedly at Snowdancer and Stormwatcher.
Stormwatcher sniffed the air. ‘I smell magic other than yours,’ he commented. My eyes narrowed and I tried to reach Longstride’s mind with my own. Nothing. I could feel that he was there, but he seemed distant somehow.
I came back to reality with a thud as another spear sideswiped Stormwatcher, knocking him aside. While he and Snowdancer dealt with the new addition, I made my way to the dagger-wielder, blocking Longstride’s forceful attacks with my quarterstaff. “These are my wolves,” I said through clenched teeth. “And you’ve no right to hold their minds.” I put all my strength into the strike I aimed at the man-beast’s temple. My quarterstaff sailed right through the attempt he made to block and struck right where I had aimed. He dropped like a stone into a heap, and Longstride was himself again.
In the brief respite I had, I looked around. The mage had Lightfoot, Tangle, Moonlight, and Nightsong ringed in a shrinking circle of fire. Stormwatcher, Snowdancer, Longstride and I had managed to take down two spear throwers, but three or four still remained. One of them was fencing with Lightfoot, who was trying to protect her pups.
“Stormwatcher, we have to get out of the ruins.” There was an open area near us where the mage was, but several spear throwers were on the walls, where it was next to impossible to reach them. “You guys help Lightfoot with that one, I’ll go help with the mage.” I turned towards the mage and cleared my mind as I walked slowly towards her. Nightsong was howling, but I brushed it aside. I concentrated on the rune for fire, on making the ring of fire mine. The flames slowly turned a deep purple, and as I called it to me, it created a line of fire from the circle to my hands. The ball of purple fire that formed I threw at the mage. As it hit her face and shoulder, Moonlight, Lightfoot, and Nightsong sprang at her. Both hamstrings and throat – the mage went down on her side as Lightfoot’s sharp teeth severed her jugular.
I realized something was missing: there had been more than three wolves in that ring of fire. “Lightfoot, where’s Tangle?” I spied the still form on the ground even as I asked. His fur had been burnt away and the skin underneath was black and blistering. His eyes were clouded with pain and death. When I looked at Lightfoot, I could feel the tears starting. She looked back at me sorrowfully.
‘He tried to jump over the fire, but the flames leapt up and enveloped him.’
I shook my head to clear it. “We need to get out of these ruins. We’ll mourn Tangle later.” Still, I passed my hand over his body. The purple flames sparking around my fingers caught, and the mage fire consumed him in seconds until there was only ash left. “Be at peace, packbrother,” I whispered as I turned, the wind lifting the ashes to spread them over the sands.
By that time, the other half of the pack had taken care of the spear thrower threatening the pups, so we ran, out the way we’d come into the ruins last night. I was the slowest runner of all of us, but fear and adrenaline can lend one wings. However, I noticed Sunbeam lagging behind; it’s hard to run on three legs when you’re so used to four.
I heard the thunk, the strangled yelp, and turned to see Sunbeam trip over her own feet and fall in a heap on the sand. By the time I got to her, she was dead – the spear had gone between her shoulder blades and pierced her heart, killing her almost immediately. I could feel the scream of rage building within me, rage at the strange creatures that had killed two of my family. The Change was pushing to get out, to wreak my vengeance on these things, and then Stormwatcher was there before me. At that point, I was so focused inward that I barely saw him, and didn’t see his paw fly until it struck me across the face. I was brought back to reality by the pain, focusing on Stormwatcher.
‘No! Not here, MOVE!’ He growled with all the authority of the pack leader, then nipped at my heels until I stood and ran, out the entrance of the ruins to the open sand.
The wind was blowing, and there was sand and hair in my eyes and mouth. I had to clear my throat before saying something. “Stormwatcher, I don’t think that this was as good of an idea as I thought it was...” The strange creatures were now spreading out to circle us, revealing five of them. I hadn’t thought there were still so many left. The wolves and I formed a circle, with me, Solstice, and Equinox in the middle, and the adults of the pack facing outward. As the monsters circled us, I prepared for the worst, whether it was the fight, or the aftermath.
Off to my left I heard a howl, then a black streak flung itself at a monster. When it stopped, I could tell that it was a dog. The monster turned its attention to the new threat, and almost simultaneously, I saw an elf materialize out of thin air and attack two monsters close together. They both turned to attack him. I notched an arrow and fired at one of the two remaining. As I did, an arrow trailing blue sparks went by my shoulder and struck the other monster.
I shook my head at our luck. “Saved by the gods own luck, Stormwatcher!” With the other attackers distracted, the pack and I had only a little trouble finishing off the one left. It did get a little hairy when we all started for it, only to have Snowdancer stand in our way. He had his ears back and teeth bared, growling at us as if we were the enemy. Longstride took a step towards the man-creature, but Snowdancer leapt at him. However, while the two were rolling around in the dirt, it allowed us to get to Longstride’s original target. With a wolf for each hamstring and one for the throat, the strange beast was swiftly dealt with. We moved on to help our saviors with the remaining four, not having a problem sneaking up on them while they were focused elsewhere.
Once the creatures were dead, the charms wore off. The two elves sat down to drink from their water flasks, and I went around checking on every wolf. None had been seriously injured, and the pups were already back to playing with each other. I kneeled down by Stormwatcher, and hugged him. He nudged me with his nose. ‘It wasn’t your fault, Shadow. Things like this happen. It was their time, or they would not have been called by the All Mother.’
I sighed. “I know, but I still think I could have done better. If I had healed Sunbeam when she was wounded, she wouldn’t have fallen behind. But what’s done is done… all there is left to do is mourn. And now I’m left at the end of the fight facing two elves who probably think I’m the root of all evil, just like everyone else.”
I heard a noise behind me, and turned to see the elves had gotten to their feet. I took a moment to study them before trying to approach them. Both had pointed ears, and stood about the same height, but there the similarities ended. The one with a blue tint in her pale skin kept the black dog by her side. She had long, deep purple hair, and her eyes were a baby blue so vibrant they seemed to glow. She had tattoos around her eyes, like red faerie wings, and was wearing black chain mail armor. A long bow was slung over her shoulder, elegantly curved and wrapped with vines. She carried a curved blade on each hip, and both glowed a subtle green, something you only noticed just when the light was right.
The other elf had short, dark blue hair, cut off right below her ears. Her eyes were the same shade as that of her companion, and her tattoos were more delicate. More like butterfly wings, and a richer, deeper red color. She wore leather armor, and carried a curved sword in one hand, a regular broadsword in the other.
The elf with the purple hair noticed me staring, and looked back just as openly before asking, “Do we meet with your standards?” I could feel my cheeks heat up, and looked away, then made my way over to them warily, unsure of what to expect. “Sorry, I’ve never seen elves like you before. Thank you. I thought that was the end there, for a minute, until you guys showed up. We owe you our lives.”
To my surprise, the paler skinned one laughed. “Not a problem. We were in the area and saw your troubles.” She extended her hand. “This is my sister Lariana. I’m Stormwatcher, but everybody calls me Storm.” I must have started, for she looked at me a little weird and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“You’re name is Stormwatcher?” She nodded, and I laughed as I led them over to the wolf pack. “Stormwatcher, meet... Stormwatcher. It’s a good thing you have a nickname, because wolves only go by their full name.” I crouched down on my heels and held my hand out to the dog at Storm’s side in greeting. “Who is this?” I asked, as I let it sniff my fingers.
Storm smiled and pulled a piece of meat out of her pack, handing it to the dog as she answered. “This is Quittapahilla, more fondly known as Quittie. When we’re not hunting, she’s a real attention hog.” Upon hearing her name, the dog in question looked up and licked Storm’s face. I stood up and introduced them to each of the wolves.
There was an awkward silence, until I broke it with my question. “You guys wouldn’t happen to know where Hlaungadath is, would you? I’m a little low on supplies, and I have to buy stuff for the wolves now too... that was the closest town on the map.”
Storm and Lariana looked at each other and laughed. “That is Hlaungadath,” Lariana said as she pointed to the ruins. “You won’t be getting any supplies from there, not unless you try and rob the lamias. That’s the only thing that lives there now, trying to get the portal to work.”
“Lamias? That’s what those things are?”
“Yea, there’s a whole huge group of them living in the inner ruins,” Storm sighed. “It’s a good thing you didn’t end up stumbling into there, it would have taken an army to get you out. Tell you what, why don’t you come back to where we live, and we’ll get you some supplies, and you can stay as long as you want?”
I was hesitant. “Are you sure? I mean... won’t whoever you’re living with...” I was unsure of how to put it into words, and motioned to my face instead. “Nobody can ever see past this, I guess it’s a mark of evil.”
“You mean because you’re drow? Well we didn’t freak out, if that’s what you mean,” She smiled impishly at me. “Besides, if you were evil, the wolves wouldn’t be with you, and you would have tried to kill us already. That fight, we couldn’t have done that without you. Even if the only reason we got involved was because of you.” She winked. “So consider your trust earned, and our family knows us enough to trust those that we can vouch for.”
It seemed too good to be true. I put a hand on my pendant. <Lightfoot, what do you think?>
‘Remember what you said? We do not really have a choice.’ I gathered my backpack, and Longstride’s saddlebags, then took a deep breath. “Ok. I’ll try it.” Storm nodded, and whistled for Quittie, who was playing with Solstice and Equinox. I looked around, swiftly realizing what was missing. “Where’s Lariana?”
Lariana materialized a few feet away. “I was scouting. Are we heading home?”
Storm nodded. “May as well, although we shouldn’t go back with nothing. We’ll stop on the way back.” She turned to the southwest and pointed. “Our home is at an oasis on the edge of the desert, over there. We should probably get going before the lamias come back.”
I nodded, and we started off towards the tree line. “What do you guys need to bring back?”
“Food,” Storm replied. “We’re pretty much self-sufficient. Everybody contributes to the community. During the day, our little village is empty because everyone is out. But in the evening..., that’s when it really starts to fill up!” She paused by a tree to pick up an herb. “There are some things we have to buy, but the rest we can make.”
We arrived late in the afternoon, walking in through the houses as the sun was beginning to set. I saw a few people, who smiled and waved, calling a greeting to Storm and Lari, who smiled and waved in return. They led me over to a small house set back under the trees. Quittie bounded up to it and nosed the door open, disappearing inside. Storm and Lari were only a few steps behind her, but I hesitated, still unaccustomed to generosity of people who were almost strangers. By the time I’d worked up the courage to push open the front door myself, everybody else had disappeared.
I stood in the door awkwardly, unsure of what to do. Storm appeared from another room with a basket in her hands. “Come in Alyssa, what are you waiting for? And bring your wolves, we can feed them when we feed Quittie and Star!” She had taken off her mail and was dressed in a simple linen shirt and breeches. I noticed then that Quittie was with her, as well as a black panther with faint white spots. Both were sitting staring at the basket in Storm’s hands with such intensity that it made me laugh.
“Ah, the begging look. Universal no matter what the animal, I see.” It was the look I had seen before on the twins when they wanted food. “Actually, if there is wild game around, the wolves would probably rather hunt their own food.”
“That should be ok,” Storm replied. “Just have them do it a ways from the village.” She fed Quittie and the panther chunks of meat from the basket. “Alyssa, this is Starshine. She’s called Star or Kitty by everybody here, and is very friendly. Don’t let the friendliness fool you though, because in a fight she’s deadly.
“You… actually take them hunting with you?”
Storm nodded. “Yea. Isn’t that what you do with your wolves?”
“No.” I shook my head. “They will fight with me if I need it, but they are still wild wolves. I guess its just that I’m considered one of them. Besides, it’s more fun to hunt by myself. Between the entire wolf pack and me, it’s easy, not interesting.”
Storm laughed. “Yes, I can see that. I only take one of these girls out at a time.” She hugged Quittie and Star, then stood up quickly. “It’s almost time for dinner. We’re having a sort of festival tonight. Everyone pitches in for food, and there will be a bonfire and games. You should come and meet everyone!” She glanced at me. “You’re covered with blood and muck, let’s see if we can get you cleaned up a little, and I’ll see what I can do about those scratches.”
Half an hour later, I felt clean for the first time in a while. It’s amazing what a quick wash and a clean pair of clothes can do. Storm found me some salve for the clawmarks on my cheek, but I refused anything further. I knew that by tomorrow they would be mostly healed. She shrugged. “Well if you want, one of the priests would be happy to heal them later.” By then, the wolves had returned from hunting, and Storm was coming from the kitchen with a basket of food. I peered inside, smelling the amazing aroma of cooking. Storm inhaled deeply. “Mmmm… brownies and chocolate chip cookies! These are always popular. Hey, make sure you bring anything that you would use in a fight.”
“Why?”
“Because we have sparring matches.”
“Oh. Ok.” I went to the room where Storm had shown me I was to stay and gathered up most of my stuff. Circlet, knives, bow; I’d seen Storm with her bow and assumed it was ok to bring it. Last, my quarterstaff. I met Storm at the door. “Ok let’s go. The wolves don’t want to go anyway.” She nodded and led me out the door towards the center of the village, the three wolves trailing behind.
As we got closer to the center of town, I saw more and more people. Gnomes, dwarves, humans, elves… some with wild hair colors like Storm’s. “Storm, how did you guys get such wild hair colors?” I asked quietly, hovering at her elbow.
She laughed. “Dyes, m’dear.” She smiled that impish smile. “We already use them for making other things, so it’s personal preference for someone to use it on their hair. I prefer purple myself.” She pointed to a gnome on the other side of the large dirt area in the center of the village that served as the square. “That’s Xiral, although we normally just call him X. He prefers green.” Sure enough, X’s short spiky hair was dyed a bright green.
Storm set her basket of goodies on a long table and led me over to Xiral to introduce me. I shyly shook his hand, as more people started to fill up the square. The long table of food filled up as Storm led me around to introduce me to everyone else. There were so many people, so many names, I didn’t think I could possibly remember them all. Mages, priests, warriors… a variety of professions to go with a variety of races: gnomes, dwarves, humans, elves, even a strange race that Storm said was a variety of planetouched. They looked like a mix between a satyr and a moon elf: horns, and double jointed legs of a satyr, but the legs were smooth and hairless instead, and I saw many shades of blue skin.
After eating, and lighting the bonfire, the games started: horse racing, archery, and all sorts of sparring. I stayed and watched, learning what I could of these people. I participated in the archery contest and did fairly well, but Storm still beat me.
The festivities continued long after dark had fallen, but I slipped away unnoticed and walked back to Storm’s little house. The wolves were spread out on the ground outside the door. I remembered the day’s events with a pang of sorrow. “Stay here, I’ll be right back.” Lightfoot nodded once after I spoke, then I went inside to put away my weapons. Storm had given me a small room on the second floor with a few windows, and these I threw open to the night air after closing the door. Then I stripped, folding my clothes carefully and set them on the bed, until I was wearing only my crystal pendant and my woven bracelet. The bracelet was flexible enough to keep, so I took off my pendant and stood in the middle of the room. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, gathering my thoughts around me like a cloak. I remembered the seemingly unending rage and sorrow that came when Sunbeam died, almost releasing the wolf within. Now I let it out, holding on to my consciousness while it rushed around me like a river. I felt my skin start to prickle as hair grew, and I resisted the urge to scratch. Ears slid up a head that was growing longer as my nose and jaw formed themselves in a snout. My arm and leg bones shifted, and I could feel my knees reverse themselves, forcing me to fall forward onto my forelegs. Muscles grew and shifted as a tail sprouted from the bottom of my spine. Finally it was over, leaving me shaking from the strain suddenly released. My sharpened sense of smell told me that Storm had not returned yet, the house was still empty. I carefully made my way down stairs more suited for two legs instead of four, and went to join the wolf pack outside. Lightfoot understood what I intended even as I lifted my head to scan the hills surrounding the village. Still in silence, I started off for a suitable peak, the wolf pack following behind me in that ground-eating lope that takes very little effort.
The site I had chosen was the tallest hill close to the village. We gather around on its crest while the lights from the village shown below us. The moon was half full; next week I would prepare myself for the urges that come from a full moon. As I looked around at the wolves surrounding me, I saw understanding in their eyes. Wolves cannot cry, but at that moment of remembrance, I would have if I had been human. Instead, I lifted my head and howled my sorrow to the moon.
- - - - - - - - - -
In the village below, Storm raised her head towards the direction of the wolf howl. A faint white figure could be seen in the distance with its head raised in song. After a minute, more voices joined it, harmonies in a song of sorrow. She didn’t notice Baldwyn beside her until he spoke. “Are you sure she is all you think she is?” She understood his concerns. After all, he was the village leader.
“Yes,” She replied. “Canines do not tolerate evil. And even if her own were evil, Quittie would have picked up on it. Yet she plays with them as if they were any other companion in the village.”
He nodded. “I still reserve the right to ask her to leave.”
Storm laughed. “You always did say I seemed to pick up the strays,” she smiled teasingly. “But give her a chance, she’s young.”
- - - - - - - - - -
I was woken the next morning by the sun shining though a window. The house was quiet and peaceful. Restless, I pulled my clothes on and padded silently down the hall to find the wolves. I passed Storm’s bedroom – her purple hair was fanned on the pillows, and Quittie and Star were curled up on either side of her. I found the pack piled on top of each other at the bottom of the stairwell. Picking my way among them, I found a spot against the wall where I could sti with my legs stretched out. Solstice was snug up against one leg, and Moonlight put her head on the other. I found myself dozing off in the midst of scratching Solstice’s head.
“You didn’t sleep there all night, did you?” I opened my eyes to see Storm at the top of the stairwell, clutching a blanket around her. The sun had just started to burn the mist off and the small house still held the night’s chill.
I shook my head, and Storm smiled. “Good!” She disappeared back into her room, and when she came out again she was fully dressed, her armor slung over one arm. She opened the door for Quittie and Star, and then started buckling on her armor. “Are you going to come hunting with us? I’d love to see your wolves in action.”
I thought about it for a second, then agreed. “Yes. And I am curious to see how you hunt with those two.”
Storm laughed. “Oh they get along great at home, but out in the field… well I guess they always try to prove they are better than the other. I usually only take one at a time when I’m hunting.” She went into the next room and I could hear the sound of a blade being drawn from its sheath as she inspected her swords, then belted them on. She came back into the front room with a bag slung over her shoulder and raised an eyebrow at me. “Are you going to hunt with your bare hands?”
My mind snapped back to reality and I bounded up the stairs to grab my bow and daggers. When I came back downstairs and announced I was ready, Storm gave me a look of disbelief. “Don’t you have any armor?”
“No… besides, it’s just a hunt.” It had never occurred to me that having armor would be beneficial.
Storm looked at me thoughtfully. “Hm. Habit for me to wear it whenever I’m away from town, I guess. Out here, with the lamias unpredictable at times, it means I’m never caught unprepared.” She opened the door and motioned for me to go first.
We had only gotten as far as the tree line when a dark shape leapt from the undergrowth and knocked Storm over. The wolves growled and I drew my daggers, but she was laughing as the dark cat on her chest licked her face. After a few minutes it got off her, and she rolled to her feet, still chuckling. “Where were you last night, Ciri? You missed a good time!” She addressed the cat, who stood up carefully on his hind legs. There was a soft whoosh and it shifted into a tall elf that shared the same pale skin as Storm.
“Business,” he said with a smile.
Storm nodded. “There will be other times. This is Alyssa, Lari and I picked her up near Hlaungadath yesterday. Alyssa, this is Ciridan.”
“Call me Ciri,” He took my hand and gave a small bow over it. “And now, ladies, I have to run. Nice meeting you, Alyssa.” He smiled. “And you wolves, whose names I don’t have time to learn.” He bowed in the general direction of the wolf pack, then with a poof he shifted back into a cat and raced off through the trees.
“He noticed the wolves… not many people do, at least not with the courtesy he showed them.” I stared after him through the trees.
Storm shrugged. “He’s a druid. Of course he would notice the animals. Lately he seems to be always busy, although he has always lived on the outskirts of town.
I gave a small start. “He’s a druid? I didn’t know druids could shapeshift. My parents were druids.”
“I guess it depends on the druid,” Storm commented as she headed deeper into the forest. Soon we were creeping quietly along in the underbrush. I saw Star’s ears perk up just as Storm whispered, “There a herd of elk just over there.” She pointed past some dens underbrush. “And a straggler has wandered into those trees.” She glanced at Star and something I almost recognized passed between them. Then Star started moving nearly unseen through the bushed towards the straggler. Storm started creeping the same way, but not before motioning me to stay put: “You wanted to see how I hunt. Well, here’s your chance!”
When star moved, it was with an explosive motion. She had climbed up into a tree and at some unseen signal from Storm she dropped onto the back of the animal, jaws locking onto its neck. Storm swiftly drew an arrow and loosed it. The arrow trailed the same blue sparks before burying itself in the creatures shoulder. The fight seemed over within a few seconds, so smoothly did the two work together. Storm went and retriever her arrows, then went about gutting the animal, rewarding Star with the liver, which was promptly gulped down. As I approached, Storm must have given Star another unseen command, for she loped off in the direction of the town.
“She’ll go to Lari, who will bring a horse and a few others to help bring back our kills. The nice thing about stragglers is that they don’t startle the entire herd.” She motioned to the rest of the herd, grazing contentedly in the clearing. “You want to try for a kill?”
I grinned suddenly. “Hell yes.” I strung my bow as I asked Lightfoot, <Think we can take one of those elk? Might be strange trying to do this with a full pack, but if you guys single one out I should be able to drop it.> Lightfoot returned my enthusiasm and with a short yip from her the pack spread out around the herd. I notched an arrow, took a place at the edge of the field and waited. The tension was palpable as muscles tensed, the wolves waiting for age-old instinct to determine the proper moment. Their timing was perfectly simultaneous, all of them streaking out of the woods at once. The elk herd, of course, stampeded. I watched carefully as the wolves separated an elk from the herd and hamstrung it. My arrow took it through the heart a split second later. I ran over to the corpse, looking first at my wolf brethren, then at the elk herd. A feral grin spread across my face and I felt the urge to run between wolves and elk, to feel the pounding of hooves through my paws. I shook my head to clear it; it would probably turn out bad if I just shift to a wolf right in front of Storm. Looking after the last of the elk herd vanishing over the hill, I saw a figure materialize next to an elk that dropped a split second later. Turning, I saw Storm and several horses, along with a couple of the larger planetouched. They wrestled the corpse of Storm’s elk onto a sled that was harnessed to one of the horses. They left the horse standing next to Storm and led the other two horses towards me. After my kill had been loaded onto another sled, two men took the last horse and sled out to where I could barely see Lariana standing next to her elk. When hers was loaded up we headed back to the village where others made short work of skinning, gutting, and cutting the meat off the bones. Storm came over balancing a large basket on her hip.
“This is only about half of the meat from your kill. How do you want the rest?” She asked me.
“They’ll prepare it for me?” I was so used to doing everything myself that the concept seemed foreign.
Storm nodded. “Someone will. We’ve got some pretty awesome cooks.”
I contemplated my options for a moment. “If they could salt it and dry it, it would be great. That’s the best way to carry it, I’ve got pretty limited space.”
“Why don’t you take this to your wolves while I go tell them that?” She handed me the basket and pointed me in the direction of her house.
By the time I’d given the wolves their hard-earned food and turned back, Storm met me halfway. “Am I correct when I think you have no armor?” She questioned. When I nodded, she turned and motioned me to follow her. “I thought so. You won’t want to go west without any, there can be all sorts of nasty creatures you might run into.” I followed her into a building in the center of town. Inside, she pushed me forward to the counter and called out, “Hey Gwny! You here?”
I heard an affirmation shouted out from the back of the shop, and a woman pushed through the curtain behind the counter. “Hi Storm. What do you need?”
“This is Alyssa. Think you can whip her up some leather armor by tomorrow?”
She eyed me up and down. “Maybe. What did you have in mind?”
Storm looked thoughtful. “No hard leather. Not the studded stuff Lari wears either, I was thinking more the soft pliable armor you make for the druids.”
Gwny came out from behind the counter with a measuring tool and started measuring me, a calculating look on her face. “Yes, I will see what I can do. Come by tomorrow and I should have it ready.”
“Great!” Storm gave her one of her dazzling smiles. “Thanks Gwny!”
I was stunned. “What do I owe you for this?” I asked. “Surely you don’t just give everybody who comes through here gifts like armor…”
Gwny spoke quietly, but with authority. “No. But we don’t expect payment, either. More like a return of services. I could use some new leather, and I heard that you just killed an elk.”
“It’s yours,” I said with a smile. “You’ll make better use of it than I will.”
“You know you can always have mine, Gwny.” Storm chimed in from behind me. “I leave that stuff to you guys that know how. And you know to come see me if you ever need herbs or potions.” Gwny nodded and disappeared into the back of the shop as Storm pulled me outside with her. “I just have one more thing I think you can use,” she said as she led me back to her house. She left me in the kitchen and started rummaging in the back of a closet. Finally I heard a muffled “Aha!” and she emerged clutching a faded dark purple backpack. “Here!”
I turned it over in my hands and inspected it. “But I already have a backpack.”
Storm chuckled. “Right, but do you have a backpack like this?” She giggled as she opened it up, unbuckled one of her swords, and, peering inside, put the sword in the backpack. Taking it back from her, I looked inside and saw it had different size pockets inside. Plus, like Zayanya’s house, it was bigger on the inside than the outside. Wide-eyed, I reached into the backpack and pulled the sword back out. Storm laughed at my face as she belted the sword back on. “It’s kind of like a limited bag of holding. Some of the mages make them. I think it’s got something to do with extra-dimensional space, but all I really know is it will hold a lot of your stuff. It should help with the space problem.”
I could feel the smile on my face growing. “Thank you! That will be so useful!” Like a child with my new toy, I ran upstairs to see how much it would hold. I was delighted to find that it held all the things that previously caused my bags to overflow before. When one of Storm’s friends came by late in the evening and brought by the meat they’d salted and dried for me, I was pleased to test just how much the bag would hold. Longstride would be traveling with a very light load – my spare weapons, and some extra clothes. Everything else fit inside the new backpack Storm had given me.
The next morning, I went with Storm back to Gwny’s shop. Gwny brought out a leather jerkin and had me try it on to make sure it fit. “That should last you quite a while, dear.” Gwny commented. “I didn’t make you any bracers or greaves because the druids don’t normally wear them. That chest piece will boost your strength, and your magic too, if you have any. It’s made from the lion skin of a lamia.”
“Thank you,” I said softly, overcome with gratitude. “There must be some way I can repay you for everything. I don’t even know where the skin from the elk I killed went.”
Gwny smiled. “The skinners set it aside; Storm told them you had promised it to me.” She waved goodbye to me. “Luck be with you where ever you go, Alyssa Wolfchild,” she said as she disappeared into the back of the shop.
Outside, I felt strange in the leather armor. While it was soft and pliable to the touch, it didn’t seem as supple when I was wearing it. It would take some getting used to. The wolf pack was waiting for us a short distance away, gathered in a group in the shade of a tree. Someone had carried down my new backpack and the bags for Longstride. They were as anxious to keep moving as I was, so I shouldered the backpack, adjusted the bags on Lonstride’s back, and turned to Storm. She smiled and pulled me into a sudden hug. “I don’t think I can thank you enough for all the help you’ve given me,” I said as we pulled away.
“I enjoy helping people,” Storm said. “I like to see them smile. But I hate goodbyes. Just come back and visit us sometime, tell us tales of your travels.”
“I will. And trust me, I’m sure I will have plenty,” I laughed. I turned to the wolf pack to nod that I was ready, and they rose from various reclining positions and started to move towards the forest’s edge. I took a few steps, but when I turned back to wave to Storm, she was gone. But by the time we got to the crest of the hill just outside of town, I could see her and Lariana silently watching me from Storm’s house. I lifted my hand in one last salute, and smiled when it was returned.
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