Dammar investigates the howling carefully, it maybe dangerous but then again it could be some one in trouble, his natural curiosity and instincts make him follow the sound. Taking out his staff he heads towards the sound.
As Dammar carefully makes his way towards the howling sound a cottage comes into view. Moving a little closer a wolf can be seen outside the front and a lion seemingly fending it away from the cottage. The wolf and lion seem to be having a stand off until slowly the lion makes it way in between the wolf and front of the cottage. The lion steps in front of the cottage door and suddenly transforms into a human figure. The human figure looks almost elven but in a different sort of way, more pale. The elven woman opens the door quickly and enters the cottage and slams the door. From inside the cottage a muffled shout is heard, "I think we are in trouble." Dammar takes some sand in the palm of his hand. Mind full of his ignorance of the situation and his reluctance to harm the wolf he begins to cast a spell to try and pick up the wolf in a bubble of air and to carry it far away.
A wolf that stalks far from it's lair
Surrounded by a bubble of air
Far far away to who where
Driven by a wind most fair
The wolf Dammar sent his spell at slowly starts rising in the air. A horrible howl comes from the wolf but it does not seem to be injured. The bubble takes off into the air and floats off beyond vision. As this is happening four more wolves enter the area answering the call of their brethren.
Dammar decides to try and repel the wolves by taking a little sand to try and create a small point of wind. Imagining the effect and shouting, "Point of wind."
Dammar starts his onslaught of air pressure at the wolves who have turned towards him. The first two wolves are effectively decompacitated but two wolves continue their advance. Readying his staff, Dammar calls for help from the people inside the cottage.
. . . . .
Looking out the window Amber can see the wolf coming towards the door. As she watches some talking starts almost poetic. It can be heard faintly to say something about taking the wolf away.
The wolf suddenly starts rising in the air. Amber motions to Aranya to come and see and they both watch the wolf rise into the air and float out of sight.
Looking to where the talking came from, an elven man standing just in the forest with one hand outstretched towards the wolves and the other holding a staff.
Four more wolves come out of the woods and head straight for the elf.
The elven man mumbles some words and the two wolves in front start to shun back as if in pain. They stop and retreat licking themselves. The two other wolves continue to press forward towards the elf.
The elf puts his free hand on the staff and gets in a defensive crouch readying himself for the wolves attack.
With a quick glance towards the cottage he shouts, "A little help here would be nice. I am a Sand Mage not a fighter!"
The two wolves are directing all there attention toward the elven man. The elf falls into a defensive posture and starts to maneuver towards the door fending off the wolves with his staff as he moves.
The woman that was outside earlier that transformed into a wolf can be seen coming out the door as she is transforming once again, this time into a huge brown bear. The bear runs in-between the wolves and the elven man and now the wolves direct their attack towards the newer, more deadly threat.
As the bear runs into position someone from inside the cottage throws a knife at one of the stunned wolves that was making its way back into the fray. The knife met its mark in the hind quarter of the newly attacking wolf sinking deeply into the wolves rump. The wolf falls to the ground loosing precious life blood and is effectively taken out of the battle.
Two wolves remain active in the fight. One has floated away, one has been knifed, and the other has been incapacitated by the magic of the elf.
The elven man shouts his thanks to the woman with the knife, saying, "Thank you fair lady for your help, may Sinlari forgive your blood letting. "
The bear lumbers towards the closest wolf, pouncing on it and squeezing it in it's huge arms.
The elven man then takes some sand out of a pouch at his side. The elf starts to mumble and the air around the remaining wolf starts to swirl bringing up dust and dirt that seems to attack the wolf. The wolf tries to escape in several directions but finds no respite.
The wolf in the bear hug slowly loses the fight in him and slowly stops moving. The bear lets the wolf drop to the ground where the wolf slowly gets to its feet.
An elven woman slips cautiously out of the cottage and retrieves the knife from the wounded wolf. She glances around, and smiles briefly at the Sand Mage. Then she looks toward the wolves.
When the dust stops finally the wolf seems disorientated. The elf hefts his staff and walks toward it ready to finish the battle.
The bear growls mightily towards the wolf near it and the wolf's hairs bristle at the noise. The wolf that the mage was moving towards looks towards the sound and seems to think better of it. Both the wolves turn and head to the woods as fast as their damaged bodies can take them.
After the wolves are gone the bear turns into a human. She looks very tired and seems in need of rest. She walks up to the elven man and says, "Welcome stranger. May I ask what brings you to these parts? I have heard your singing before. Have you been following me and if so why?"
Aranya examines her knife, and finding it coated with wolf stuff, makes a face and wipes it on the grass at her feet. She then slips it up into her sleeve. Dammar notices this and looks back at the bleeding wolf, he seems saddened by what he sees. "poor creature" he mutters.
Aranya blinks a little at this.
Dammar leans on his staff while dusting himself down, and replies to the shapechanging female, "I apologize, for my ignorance but I have never seen you before, I heard noises from over here and merely wished to see what events were occurring. Why would I be following you, and if I were would I be helping you now? Quite interesting I have never seen any one... shape shift before. But I forget my manners, I am Dammar el Rand, greetings fair ladies. May I ask as to the nature of the incident that has just transpired?"
Dammar smiles as he offers his greeting and waits for an answer.
Aranya bows her head politely as Dammar introduces himself. "I am Aranya of Blackblossom..." She trails off, and looks to Amber, expecting her to answer, too.
Amber goes over to the dying wolf and puts it out of it's misery. "We can use the meat"
Amber replies to the newcomer, "You have a point there. The shapeshifting is just a little knowledge that I picked up over the years but, enough about me. These wolves attacked us because we were to close to their masters home. There is a man living in a keep not to far from here and in the morning we were going to go and investigate him. He has been terrorizing this area for a time. You are welcome to join us if you wish. I see your abilities could come in handy."
Dammar replies to Amber, "If what you say is true then I think I will join you, I thank you for your offer and accept, but I warn you I will not participate in any acts of murder if that is what you have in mind for this man, he should be taken to the people he has wronged for justice. Perhaps not all you hear is true. Well if we are finished here and the cottage is safe, maybe you should get some rest Amber."
Dammar speaks to Aranya, "You seem very silent lady, have you any thoughts you wish to share?"
Amber drags the wolfs body back into the cabin leading the way. She puts the bed in its normal position braids her very long hair wraps her blue clock around her and gets some much needed rest.
Aranya watches Amber go into the cottage, and looks rather sad. "Well, I suppose I'm on watch now..."
Aranya goes into the cottage and gets a stool, which she brings outside and sits on, her chin in her elbows. She peers at Dammar. "You're welcome to go to sleep, too, if you trust me enough to." She grins sardonically and quirks an eyebrow at him.
Dammar sits against the wall of the cottage wrapping his cloak tightly around himself. "Well Aranya, I wouldn't have it any other way. No doubt you will cut my throat as I sleep and steal my scribing set and herbs to sell to the herbless."
Almost sarcastic, she replies, "No doubt."
He smiles back and yawns. "I have my faith in Sinlari, we trust everybody." he smiles to himself.
She nods a little. "That must make things--strange--for you sometimes."
"Wake me if you get tired, I’ll take over the watch, what's left of it. If you trust me enough that is." He grins at her.
"Believe me, I will." Aranya shudders a little as she imagines what could've happened if Amber had fallen asleep on *her* watch.. "I think I'll build a fire..."
She starts walking around, poking through the underbrush, but never going far from the cottage, and returns with enough dry sticks from the ground to make a decent fire. She then takes them inside the cottage, puts them in the fireplace, and gets a fire going.
The night continues uneventful. A hush seems still present over the entire forest. There are none of the usual night sounds that would be expected to be heard. Near the morning hours, very near dawn, a lone bird flies near the cottage and soon after that flies off. The sun slowly brightens the land.
Aranya spent most of her watch after the others went to sleep staring into the fire in a sort of meditative state of consciousness.... not paying attention to anything in particular, but listening for noises... once the sun rises, she becomes aware of hunger, and wonders if she has any food, or if she'll have to find some... she stands and stretches, regretting having spent the whole watch perched on the small stool. Then she goes out of the cabin, and looks around rather listlessly.
Aranya has come to the decision that, it being late spring, the most likely food she's going to find is roots. Acting accordingly, she has picked up a short, sturdy stick for digging the roots out of the ground. She hasn't found any appropriate plants yet, though.
Dammar wakes up fitfully from his sleep easing the aches from his neck, a wall is never a comfortable place to doze. Feeling pangs of hunger he begins to search for food in the woods.
Upon meeting Aranya, Dammar says "Good morning, you do not feel like eating wolf today then?"
"Not quite." Aranya wrinkles her nose at the thought. "If you find a pond, let me know, okay? Water lilies have edible roots."
"I think we should wake Amber and start our journey soon."
"Yes, but I plan to eat first... I haven't eaten since this time yesterday."
Amber cooks up the wolf for breakfast having some ready for the others when they are ready to eat. Amber says to the group, "I'm ready when you two are." Amber leaves her hair braided for the days journey, shifts her cloak to a more comfortable position and gets ready to leave, straightening up the cottage.
Aranya and Dammar search for a little bit and find a small chestnut lying on the ground. Looking up they see a small nook not too far off the ground. Upon further exploration they find that it is a little cache of nuts that some squirrel has collected and has either abandoned or has forgotten. There is plenty for a filling meal with some extra.
Amber is able to cure the meat enough so that it will stay good for at least a couple of days.
"Well... eating wolf meat seems just about like eating dog meat, to me.... but I suppose it might become necessary." Aranya doesn't relish the thought.
After everyone has eaten a slight sound is heard just outside of the camp. All three hear it. It is a ruffling of leaves that seems to move rather quickly. After listening for a moment a slight growl can be heard. The movement seems to be staying just out of sight but just enough to know it is still there.
After everyone has eaten a slight sound is heard just outside of the camp. All three hear it. It is a ruffling of leaves that seems to move rather quickly. After listening for a moment a slight growl can be heard. The movement seems to be staying just out of your sight but just enough to know it is still there.
Amber speaks, "What do you suppose that could be? I think that we should try and circle around it. Does everyone agree? Wait. Give me some nuts. We can flush it out."
Aranya whips her head around, and looks at the spot where the noises came from. She is tensed and ready, and Dammar notices that the dagger has reappeared in her hand.
Dammar waits and when nothing happens says, "It seems we have guests, perhaps those wolves have returned, they seem to be just watching. Perhaps we should just leave them."
Looking a little sheepish, Aranya relaxes some, and puts her dagger away. "I guess after little sleep and less food, I'm just on edge." She reaches into her backpack, produces a handful of nuts, and hands them to Amber.
Amber tosses a few nuts at the ground in front of the bushes to see if it comes out, even a little, so she can see what it is.
Nothing happens.
Amber puts out the fire and says "I think maybe we should start our journey towards the keep now. We want to get there before it gets too late."
Dammar waits, and when nothing happens again he walks towards the sound saying "We are wasting time, if there was anything in here that meant us any harm I think we would know about it by now!"
As Dammar nears where the sound was heard two wolves bolt past him narrowly missing running him over.
The two wolves do not look familiar and they did not seem injured. They were smaller than the wolves fought earlier. They also did not try to attack Dammar in anyway when they passed him.
The noise from them retreating slowly fades. It is still early morning and the sun is casting long shadows on the ground. The cottage does not look so gloomy in the morning. It can be seen how people could easily call it home. The yard is well kept and there are various farm implements leaning against the house.
The run down farmhouse in the back of the cottage is as run down as seen as night. It appears it has no use now except for a garbage dump and as a compost pile. It sort of smells.
The way the wolves went there is a make shift path that is overgrown. The path remains large enough to easily pass through but it is not as used as others that are strewn about. Low hanging trees infringe on the path as well as large weeds that have grown onto it. In the morning light it looks sort of gloomy.
Aranya starts a little when the wolves charge from the underbrush.
Aranya peers after the wolves. "I'd say that was our cue... shall we go now?" She goes back to the bushes and picks up the nuts Amber tossed. She puts them back into her backpack. "Be prepared, I always say." She grins.
Amber gathers her things together. "C'mon lets go. There is a connection between these wolves and that keep. I just know there is." Amber starts down the trail. "Everyone keep an eye out."
Dammar follows Amber and Aranya down the path. "It almost seems as if we now have two guides." He takes his staff out as an aid to walking and in case of trouble.
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