To The North

Chapter 4

Finally Darren woke up, only to be greeted by a deathly sunlight towards his eyes as he opened them. Squinting his eyes, he can make out that he was not the same place as before. After his eyes finally adjusted to the light.  The first thing he do was checked his surroundings and try to find this talking wolf. But to his disappointment, the wolf was no where to be found. Was is it all a dream? He sighs knowing that it was too good to be true.

For the first time he had felt how having a friend feels like. The other boys at his hometown Glaid, never try to befriended him because he was a freak due to his weird eye and hair color. So he had spend his childhood by accompanying his foster father while he was hunting. That where he had found the loved of hunting.
Though it was only a dream, the wolf kept him company and telling him stories. Was the story that the wolf told are real or just a made up stories by his mind?

Though Darren doesn't even know that they are different bloodline of each unique, how could that dream explain everything that he haven't heard off. Darren head started spinning as his headache wasn't helping.

Darren tried not thinking about it and took his pack.he quickly inspects it to see if anything was missing or broken. He counted the jerky and it was two less than before. "Surely the wolf was here last night" Darren spoke to himself as he sighs. He was almost out of food. He check his water gourd and it was half full. He needs to find a river to fill it up

Next he checked his map and it was still there. And lastly he check his contraption. It was a thing that he had worked it for a few years, still had some tweaks and flaw. He inspects it, though it was still not complete finish, it still works. Well sometimes it missed fire but that was the part of the flaw.

The contraption was like a mini crossbow but it can be wear on his arms. He quickly put it on. The device help Darren to shoot arrow fast if he hunt small animals. It could be also deadly if he was cornered. The device has made with iron for the body and flexible wood as the head. He uses spider strings, one of the strongest and flexible string that had been use for hunting bows.

He load the device with mini arrows which he made. The tip was the hardest since he need to forged a mini type of a normal arrow tip. Took him three days to perfected it. He made the body with leftover sticks from broken arrows and uses no feather since it can be shot in a very fast speed.

He stood up and point his hand to one of the tree. How it works is that he wore it on his wrist area and a pulley system locked in one of his fingers. He has to extended all his fingers when loading it. Darren focused on the tree and closes his hand to shoot the arrow. As expected it flew off target and left a scar on the tree.

Darren sighs as he went to fetch his arrow. Once he got it. He put it back to load since he needed to know what any flaw it has. In inspecting it, he noticed that one of the cogs that released the tension between the trigger and the string was loose. Darren slowly pull it out to see why it was loose. He noticed that the cogs was damaged and has small cracks can be found.

The cog was made out of wood, Darren doesn't have any cog shaped mould so he made it out of redwood, one of the strongest wood to withstand pressure. But surely it didn't do its jobs.

He sighs and put it back into its place. He reminded himself to ask a blacksmith when  he arrived at the circumference. He kept the device on his wrist since it felt right not to kept it hidden. He wanted to show off his invention when he reached the circumference.

He took a last glance at the place before leaving the place. Trying to find any signs of the wolf was real or not.  Since there are no signs of the wolf or any paw marks, he took out his map and headed the direction in where the circumference was.

Not after five steps In, he had heard rustled from one of the bushes. He felt like a de ja vu where he had encounters this scenario before. He pointed his device on that bush and prayed that it wasn't the guards founded him by accident. But what came out of the bush was shocking. It was the wolf, the elemental talking wolf came back. But dragging a deer by its antler? That was surprising.

"I must be going insane right now" Darren spoke to himself on what he had witness. A wolf carrying a deer for him, maybe for the wolf himself but carrying a deer. Now that is not something you see everyday.

The wolf let go the antlers and spoke,"what do you mean by going insane?". The wolf gave him a weird look while continued dragging the lifeless deer towards the center for them both.

"I mean it's not something you see everyday where a wolf dragging a lifeless corpse of a deer in the middle of the jungle" Darren says as he slowly approached the wolf and the dead deer.

Darren went near the wolf and started to slowly touch the wolf to see if he is not imagining it. The wolf look at Darren quite weirdly due to Darren's behavior. " did you bump your head that hard?" The wolf said and slowly backing himself up.

"Yeah no, just checking if you are a figment of my imagination. Looks like your not" Darren replied since he doesn't know what the wolf was talking about. "Bump my head, what does he meant by that" Darren thought. He does not remember the incident where both of them were chase by the guards.

"That was awkward, anyways I brought you food and if you don't mind I would need your help to skin it first" the wolf says as he smells the deer, hoping the deer won't started to rot.

A juvenile deer started to rot around six to twelve hours after it had been killed so they have to work fast. The deer body hasn't started to rot so the wolf waited for his master to start. "Well what are we waiting for, skin it so we can take out the meat and preserve it by hanging it out at the sun." The wolf says to Darren. Darren was still in a shock on how does the deer have burn bite marks around its neck.

But without delaying it more, Darren took a skinning knife which he had forge before leaving Glaid and started to skin the deer, Darren could sell the hide at least five sliver shillings and the antlers for a good amount of twelve silver pieces.

After a few hours on skinning it, and cutting out its meat, Darren lay all the line meat which he had cut and along with the hide out on a tree branch that has sunlight basking in it so he could preserve it for later on his journey.

The wolf feast on the leftover, including the the bones and the head. Meanwhile Darren cut of the antler. It was no bigger than a large tree branch, so it would be easier to carry it even though it was a three day journey to the circumference.

Darren had though that they have to stay for the night to let the meat to set. The still feasting on the deer while Darren started a fire by a flint and steel, not with his power. Once he got the fire started, he found a plate looking rock and make a stand by using big rocks around the fire to hold the plate. He then put his beef jerky on top of the plate and start cooking it.

After fifteen minutes, Darren use a stick to grab the beef jerky and remove the rock from the fire. He then blows the beef before eating. Darren moan involuntarily as his tastebuds fills with sparks on his tongue. After eating the food, Darren felt better and full now that he has eaten. He drank some water and lean on one of the tree near him.

The wolf have finish eating and literally ate everything including the bones, eyes and others that can't be eaten by people. Then again the wolf was from another dimension.

As the skies getting darker, the stars are out and the moon was shinning, Darren couldn't help but wander about the wolf. The wolf had fallen into slumber the minute it had finish eating. Darren started to think on how the days did he manage to summon a wolf, an elemental wolf to be exact.

Darren tries to recalled any memories about him saying an incantation when had tried doing some spells. But from the spells he had tried, all of them were just basic ones. He had yet to master all the spells since he only self taught.

Hello readers. Firstly, I would like to say thank you for reading. I have been working on this so hard and I appreciate who have read and liked it. Don't be a silent reader and a vote would be nice. I will be posting one chapter per week and again I hope you guys keep reading.

Until next time... Happy reading.