Know Thy True Enemy

As Albrecht charged the wolf, he saw a rope drop around him. The rope was pulled tight. He flew backward. The wolf ran off.

Albrecht pulled himself up. He looked around to see who had tossed the rope, and saw the rope lead straight to the village blacksmith. The blacksmith pulled the rope back, glaring at the knight the entire time. “Go after that once again, you will be facing the entire village. Sir Knight.”

Albrecht sheathed his sword as he stormed over to the thick man. “I was sent here to eliminate the monster that plagues these lands.” He pointed in the direction of the departed wolf. “That’s the only one I’ve seen so far.”

The blacksmith glowered at the man in plate armor. “Ach. That wolf has protected this village for the last seven years. You may want to find the real monster or depart.” He grabbed the rope and departed.

Albrecht punched a wall. Why did these ignorant villagers protect that bleeding wolf so much? He had seen entire castles ensorcelled; he wondered if such magics were at work here. How to avoid the spell was probably in the report I tossed on the way here. He hoped the necklace of jasper under his armor would protect him.

The portly Sheriff Dugan walked up to him. “Yet another villager preventing you from your duties, sir knight?” Sheriff Dugan tossed the core of his apple away.

Albrecht glared at the man, then decided he wasn’t worth it. “Apparently.”

The larger man smiled. “The wolf can cloud the minds of men. Kill it and the village is freed in more than one way.” He lost the smile as he pulled closer to the knight. “But I would hurry. The wolf is rejuvenated every seven years. He is due any day now.”

Albrecht’s brow raised. “He can get more powerful?”

“Always.” The sheriff started walking away. “I’ll see you later. After I’ve dealt with my own little problem.”

Albrecht rubbed his face. “There’s never good news in these things.” He smiled. “I’m not sure if that applies more to the wolf waxing or seeing that rotund constable again.” He started looking for the wolf’s trail.

* * * * *

Albrecht spent the next few hours tracking the wolf. It was difficult to track at night, but the wolf had not bothered to hide its trail; between the tracks and the bent stalks, even a blind man could have tracked it. This didn’t mean that he didn’t occasionally lose the trail, but he found it again quickly enough. He quickly found a cave and entered it, but not before drawing his sword. He only hoped that the trace of silver in the blade’s forging would be enough.

The cave had sconces that held torches. Unlit now, sure, but they had recently been lit. He grabbed one and lit it. The cave was relatively short; he reached a chamber at the end of it in but a few minutes. A desk stood at one end. His brows furrowed as he walked to the desk and inspected it: It was read for use; there was even a full inkwell. A wolf into writing? That the chair had been recently used did not make him feel any better.

He looked around the rest of the chamber and notice the pentagram and table with books on it. There were a number of dark splotches throughout the pentacle. He exhaled; that this was the wolf’s den was beyond question. He just had to decide if he were to wait here for it or just outside the cave.

The sound of a wagon arriving just outside the cave made his mind up for him. He looked for a hiding spot and hated that only the desk presented anything resembling cover. He doused his light and hid as well as he could. There were the sounds of a man struggling with someone else; he merely had to wait until they were close enough. The moments quickly stretched to hours. He had time to start wondering why he heard humans, one dragging the other, and not the padding of a wolf, but he quickly tossed those thoughts away; a wolf taking human form was not exactly unknown in his line of work

Soon the pair were just outside the chamber. He sprung from his hiding spot, blade held in front of him, ready to chop off the head of the person doing the dragging. He paused: Before him was Sheriff Dugan holding a lit torch in one hand, dragging a boy in chains just past puberty in the other. The sheriff grinned. “When I said I would see you later, I meant in my office.” He dropped the boy. “This can work just as well.”

Albrecht quickly regained his sword and ran back to the sheriff. The sheriff lunged at the wolf. Albrecht used his sword to leverage him off the path of his leap. The two quickly finished the sheriff. Albrecht released the boy, who ran over to the wolf to hug him like a long-lost brother. The wolf looked the boy over, as did Albrecht, noting that the boy looked like he had been living the past few months in the forest. He quickly broke off, heading to the table. The wolf looked at the books and grabbed one gingerly in its mouth. He carried the book over to the knight, dropping it in front of him. It then ran off into the night. Albrecht’s brow furrowed as he realized why he had been able to track the wolf so easily. The wolf led me here, to the cave of his enemy.

The sheriff lunged at him. Albrecht braced for contact. Sheriff Dugan flew past him. The wolf he had fought earlier was right there. He had apparently pushed the sheriff, causing the miss. Albrecht saluted the wolf; the wolf bowed its head. Albrecht ran for his sword even as the wolf began circling the sheriff. Sheriff Dugan smiled at the wolf. “I am so glad to see you, puppy dog.” He pointed to the boy. “Gives me the chance to kill you and your replacement at the same time.”

Albrecht quickly regained his sword and ran back to the sheriff. The sheriff lunged at the wolf. Albrecht used his sword to leverage him off the path of his leap. The two quickly finished the sheriff. Albrecht released the boy, who ran over to the wolf to hug him like a long-lost brother. The wolf looked the boy over, as did Albrecht, noting that the boy looked like he had been living the past few months in the forest. He quickly broke off, heading to the table. The wolf looked at the books and grabbed one gingerly in its mouth. He carried the book over to the knight, dropping it in front of him. It then ran off into the night. Albrecht’s brow furrowed. The wolf led me here, to the cave of his enemy.

The knight picked up the book and then looked over to the boy. “Let’s return you to your parents.” The boy nodded and the two left the cave.

* * * * *

As the two approached the village, the wolf reappeared, a sprig of some herb in his mouth. The boy walked over to him and grabbed the sprig. Albrecht froze in place. The boy bit into the sprig, then fell onto the ground as if in pain. Albrecht moved to succor the boy but a glower from the wolf stopped him. The wolf soon convulsed in pain itself, and it began to lengthen as its limbs straightened, its muzzle flattened, its hair falling off. In mere heartbeats, a youth in naught but a cloak of wolf fur stood before him.

The youth through the cloak onto the boy. He began to grow, to gain fur, to change. He grew into the cloak and the cloak melted into the boy, now a wolf. The new wolf bound into the forest.

The youth smiled, then looked at the knight. “Happens every seven years, sir knight.” He looked at the surprised knight. “It’s sort of chilly, sir knight. Mind if I borrow your cloak?”

Albrecht smiled as he handed the cloak to the naked youth. I seriously need to start reading those reports.