Non Player Character

Chapter 14 - Wolves

'You want me to fight not one but two wolves?'

"Why not?" Val said. "You are fully capable of doing this. You have a sword and a new combat skill you haven't even used yet. Unless you are completely incompetent, dispatching those beasts should be a simple task."

If I wanted Val to fill me in on her grand plan, I needed to prove to her that I could follow this journey through to the end. There was no doubt in my mind that fighting a couple of wolves would fall among the easiest of my upcoming trials.

At her direction, I adjusted my path slightly northward. Tara didn't even seem to notice our altered course.

Val and I conferred as we walked and decided that taking them by surprise would be the best course of action. I would fill Tara in on the plan at the last minute and, if I had to, make up some bullshit reason about how I knew there were wolves approaching. It felt wrong, but if I told her I was going to hunt some wolves, it was unlikely she would be keen to tag along.

Val calculated that I would have about eight minutes to set up our ambush before the wolves crossed our path.

When we found the location, I stopped and quickly surveyed the surroundings. The first thing I noticed was that the wind was in our favor. It was either good luck or good planning by Val, but I leaned more toward luck. There were plenty of thick trees to hide behind and a clearing where a section of another creek had grown wide, forming a small pool.

I took a breath, preparing my lies. "Tara, there are wolves approaching from the northwest. They're on the hunt, and I don't want to be their next meal."

I pointed to a nearby tree. "Climb that and stay quiet. And I mean dead quiet."

Tara's eyes went wide with fear, and I could see her thoughts churning behind her brown eyes. "Wolves? How? What?"

"My job is to get you safely to Danver, and your job is to trust in my ability to do so. So, climb that tree. Now. We're running out of time."

She looked to the north, presumably for the incoming wolves. I could see the doubt on her face, but she turned back to me and nodded.

Tara scrambled up the tree quickly and quietly while I hid behind a thick oak nearer the creek.

Wolves were hunters. Therefore, I assumed they had good eyesight, so I bolstered my hiding spot with a few fallen branches, allowing me to peek around the trunk and stay relatively hidden.

We waited, unmoving. The silence during those minutes of growing tension was deafening. It was a soft sort of silence where all small sounds seemed to disappear. I didn't hear the bubbling of the creek or the whisper of the wind cutting through the trees. I was waiting for another sound—one that didn't belong.

In quiet, anticipatory moments like this, it was easy for one to let their mind wander. Thankfully, I was able to keep my thoughts focused on the task at hand. I was about to engage two wolves with only a melee weapon. Violence of action was my strategy. In nearly all fights, the winner was the one who acted the most violently in the shortest amount of time. The longer a fight went on, the more likely it was that I could get hurt, so I needed to end this quickly.

When doubt tried to worm its way into my mind, I reminded myself that Val wanted me to do this. She had pushed me before when the bandit came for us in the night, and I not only succeeded in saving Tara and myself but also leveled up. If she thought this encounter would benefit me, I trusted her.

I breathed slowly, my ears sharp and tuned in for the slightest variation in sound.

It wasn't long before I heard it. Just the gentle rattle of leaves as something scraped against a bush. Then I heard the muffled patter of paws hitting the ground. They were here.