A Sheep in Wolf's Clothing - Chapter 1

The mule cart followed a road that peeled off into a forest just north of the beach. Moonlight shone through the leaves as the cart bumped over tree roots, forcing the wolf awake every time his eyes began to close. The fishermen grumbled, trying to avoid tripping over roots and stray branches.

Then the wolf stood up alert, sniffing the air. A moonlit arrow screamed past his ear into the groin of a fisherman to his left. He let out a sickening cry as he keeled over, clutching himself in agony. The wolf cocked his head in the direction of the arrow. Then another arrow flew by. And another. None missed their target, and the wolf shrieked in excitement.

The fishermen threw knives every which way, hoping to hit the killer in the shadows; but sharp arrows found all of them and seemed to come from every direction. As the last man fell, blood pooling around him, a young girl walked into the moonlight in front of the wolf’s cage. Her forehead was beading with sweat, and her skin, like polished wood, seemed to glow in the low light. Thick braids made their way to the back of her head where they were tied in a rough bun. She wore the simple gray tunic of a hunter. Her bow and spear hung at her back, and her quiver of arrows was tied at her waist. She took her spear and applied it to the gut of the last fisherman still groaning. Silence.

“I'm here,” she said, breaking the crate-lock with the end of her spear. The wolf attacked her face with kisses, and she smiled, nuzzling him. They rolled around on the ground, wrestling. The wolf would back away and pounce on her, and the girl would scratch his patchy hide when he let her. Her laughter filled the forest until she noticed his torn back where a fisherman had knifed him. Only the slightest change in her face showed that she was upset.

“Things cannot go on like this,” she said, grabbing his face with both hands. She opened her sheep skin and poured some water on his back. The wolf winced, and she cleaned his wound with a cloth. “I'm going to take a risk that I shouldn't. I hope you’ve learned something. Anything.”

The wolf started licking the blood of one of the fishermen. He looked ready to take a bite too.

“No,” the girl said. “Follow me. Then find me at the Temple of Death."

She walked and the wolf followed. After some time the girl ducked low. She began to creep forward step by step. Then in one fluid motion she notched her bow with an arrow, drew, and released. A deer 30 paces away seemed to feel no pain as it noiselessly dropped to the forest floor. 

"Now go," she said.

The wolf ran to the corpse and ate his fill. When he turned, the girl was gone. The wolf howled, and lay down, shivering in the cool air. But when he curled up next to the warm deer, his shivering ceased; and he drifted into sleep.