Sam and Travis rode down the main road through the village and out the other side finally turning around as they reached the edge of Kait Forest. A single lap of their patrol took just over an hour to complete on horseback. They had spent the time talking to each other which was mostly Sam asking Travis about training horses as he himself didn’t really have much to speak about with the older man. Sam had learned while working for Travis last summer the he was more than happy to talk about his passion for raising horses and Sam learned a lot about how to read their body language and train them, and while Travis still had a lot more to talk about Sam was finally starting to get tired of the conversation deciding he would try and change the subject.
Just as Sam was about to speak and change the subject they both fell silent as they heard a howl in the distance. They paused momentarily as the they listed for another howl. The second howl never came and after looking over at each other and giving a nod they set off again on their patrol path. Before they had gotten another 10 metres down the road the sound of the sighting whistle sounded. Sam and Travis quickly glanced at each other again before they took off towards the sound of the whistle as was part of their job as the mounted patrol.
As they got closer to where the whistle had been blown from they came upon one of the hunting parties. As they reined their horses in to slow down Travis called out to the party leader “Katia, were you the ones who blew the whistle?” he asked the huntress. “Yes” she said between heavy breaths. It was clear to Sam that the whole party must have been running. “We, saw the wolf but once it noticed us it decided to flee. We attempted to chase after it but… it’s a wolf” she said. “I see. What direction did it run in?” asked Travis. “Southwest” she replied. “Okay, Sam and I will take the report to Paul so he can pass the message on to the patrols that come by to check in at the coordination centre”. Travis said as he flicked his reins and headed off towards the village centre with Sam quickly following suit.
After Sam and Travis had passed the message of to Paul in the coordination centre they returned to their patrols. The rest of the night was uneventful with no further sighting of the wolf from any of the hunting parties or patrols. Katia’s hunting party followed the wolfs tracks but lost them once they reached the woods and made the decision not to blindly follow into the dark woods. Once Sam had finished his shift he went straight home from the stables. There was some food left out for him on the dining table but he we too tied to eat and headed straight to his room and flopped down onto his bed. Being on high alert for 12 hours straight was exhausting Sam through before he quickly fell asleep.
When Sam woke up again the sun had long since set and his room was filled with darkness. He got up off his bed and went to go get something to eat in the kitchen before he spent some time preparing for his next patrol. Having nothing much to do before his patrol Sam decided to leave early for the stables. Instead of going straight there he took a detour to the village hall to see if there were any updates or sightings of the wolf. “Sam, a bit early for your shift no?” said Caitlyn. “Evening Caitlyn, there isn’t much to do at home before my patrol so I thought I would come and see if there were any updates on the situation” Sam replied. “I see, well there haven’t seen any sightings since the one last night” she said. “I see, well if that’s the case I’m going to head over to the stables. See you later” Sam said as he left the coordination centre and headed out the stables on the edge of town.
No sighting since last night, this is becoming a bit of a pattern. All the sightings so far have been at night Sam thought. He supposed it did make sense since it was a wolf, and they had night sight as good as those with night sight shard skills. Before long Sam had made it to the stables and began preparing Carrot’s saddle for the patrol.
It was around 2am and Sam and Travis were in the middle of their patrol going down the main road of the village when a whistle sounded, it was not the sighting whistle. The next second a bright light shot into the sky and floated in their air. Travis immediately whipped the reins, and his horse took off in the direction of the flare. Sam was caught slightly off guard staring into the sky at the flare but quickly snapped out of his daze and took off after him.
As they drew near to where the flare was hovering in the sky Sam pulled his bow off his shoulders and nocked an arrow in case they came upon the wolf. He knew he probably wouldn’t be able to hit it considering he still hadn’t gained the basic archery skill and had never shot from horseback before but, it was better than nothing.
When they reached the site the flare was floating above, they pulled out their lanterns to light up the area. They swept the light all around them but couldn’t see a wolf or the people who had blown the whistle and sent up the flare. The lanterns and the flare were casting a lot of shadows and were making it hard to tell what they were looking at. Sam through that it might be better if they didn’t have any light other than that of the moon. As it was just the two of them neither of them wanted to dismount to have a better look around and so they silently agreed to stay together waiting for more people to arrive and assist them.
As time passed they slowly increase their parameter riding in circles below the flare slowing pushing out to cover move ground while they waited for backup. It wasn’t until one of the hunting parties finally joined them that they found the source of the blown whistle and the flare, or at least one of them. Lying behind a bush in a pool of blood was Yaris the village teacher. Sam and Travis dismounted their horses to take a closer look. It was the first time Sam had seen someone dead, killed so violently. He had seen old folk in the village who had died from old age or illness but nothing like this. The man’s throat had been ripped out, his spine visible from the front.
Sam scanned over the man’s body and noticed his right hand was also missing. Sam quickly turned away as vomit coursed up his throat and knelt down and threw up. Just as he thought he had finished another wave of nausea hit him and he threw up again. He knelt down retching as he felt a hand rub his back. “Nasty one for your first” Travis said. When you live as long as me you get to see your fair share of people killed in a violent fashion like poor Yaris here. “You’ll eventually get used to it but it’s always hard the first time, especially when it’s someone you know” Travis said as he comforted him.
Once Sam had recovered to the point where he was able to stand up again he and Travis went over to the horses and Sam got some water to wash out his mouth and throat. “That was awful” he struggled to say once he had rinsed his mouth out. “It was” replied Travis. “The look on his face, the fear” Sam said. “As I said, you get used to it. Nearly every man in this town fought in the war. Most have seen hundreds if not thousands killed lying on the ground with horror on their faces. You will also likely see it as well at some point although you’re more likely to experience it adventuring or in a dungeon than on the battlefield” Travis said. “I am?” questioned Sam. “Yeah, I can see it in you. You want to leave the village and become an adventure right?” Travis quizzed. “I mean, I suppose but doesn’t every boy wish to do that” asked Sam. “I supposed they do, but I don’t know. Something feels different about you Sam. Even when you were working for me last summer you seemed strangely enthusiastic about looking after the horses and learning how to ride. Most kids aren’t as willing to learn as you are” Travis finished as Katia walked over to see them.
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“Sam, are you okay?” she questioned. “Yeah I’ll be fine” he said. “Good, can the two of you go into town and report what happened?” she asked. “Sure, can” replied Travis. “And also, can you find out who Yaris’ partner was, we can’t find anyone else around here”. “Will do. Come on Sam lets go” Travis replied.
The rest of the patrol went by in a blur for Sam as he couldn’t stop thinking about Yaris and his missing partner. After they reported what had happened to Paul in the coordination centre they were sent out to bring all the hunting parties back into the village. The parties were then split up and each patrol was assigned another 2 people to increase their numbers for the rest of the night while Katia’s party and Paul investigated the attack.
It wasn’t until Sam returned home and tried to go to bed did the events of the day finally hit him. Yaris was dead and his partner Andrew the pig farmer was missing. He lay in his bed unable to sleep as the image of Yaris’ body flashed throughout his mind. It wasn’t until late that afternoon that he finally managed to fall asleep.
When he woke up he found his mother waiting for him in the kitchen. She spoke with him about what had happened last night and helped him get some of the unresolved emotions off his chest. After his mum had gone to bed he got ready for his next patrol but unlike last night he wasn’t quite as eager to get to the stables early. When he eventually arrived, the returning patrol informed them that all those starting their patrols for the next shift had to meet in the village hall for a briefing. They said the earlier patrols would work an extra half hour to cover the briefing.
Upon arriving at the village hall, they tied the horses to a post out the front and headed in. The mood was sullen and everyone one looked tired, upset and angry. Once everyone arrived Paul stood up on stage and began the briefing. “Listen up everyone. We will be continuing the larger patrols like last night with just Katia’s hunting party actively hunting for the wolf. I know that this will slow down progress but in light of yesterday’s events it was decided that we need to increase the numbers for the patrols. Now, we still haven’t found Andrew, Yaris’ patrol partner. The hunting parties spent all afternoon scouring the surrounding fields for any sign of him but alas we found nothing. At this point we are going off of the assumption that he is dead.” Paul said solemnly. Everyone was silent, Sam expected this because of the circumstances and that everyone knew both Andrew and Yaris pretty well. “We have contacted Rimour asking for assistance. As far as we know they are going to send some hunters and some of the town guards to assist us with patrols around the village. This will allow us to continue sending out the hunting parties while still having the increased numbers in the patrols.” Paul continued. “Sam and Travis, we have a new route for you. This will keep you closer to town not only for your safety but also for rapid response on calls for assistance as well as improved communications. Hopefully these extra precautions will prevent a repeat of last night but please stay alert. We also have a new flare for each of you. This one shoots up a red flare. The red flare will be for immediate life threating circumstances where everyone will rush to the flares originating location whereas the existing flare will be for a sighting but not a life-threatening encounter. You can collect the new flares from the table on the way out” Paul said as he dismissed the gathering.
There were now flares for each person rather than each team. Sam collected a red flare while Travis collected one of each. Paul came down off the stage and handed them a map with their new route outlined and they set off on their patrol. Sam and Travis spoke for a bit during the beginning of the patrol in an attempt to keep their minds off of the deaths of Yaris and Andrew.
Sam and Travis stopped in the village centre to get some food and to top up on water. While they were dismounted a whistle sounded out from the north of the village. It was a whistle for assistance and Sam and Travis quickly stopped what they were doing and remounted their horses. Just as Sam had got back into his saddle a red flare rose up in the sky. Immediately Sam and Travis whipped the reins of the horses and sprinted over to where the flare hung in the sky.
As they arrived they found one of the patrols backed up against one of the farmhouses with a large brown wolf creeping towards them. Instinctively Sam used ‘Creature Identification’ on the wolf.
~Greater Northern Jardish Wolf
Level: N/A
Strength: 132
Agility: 212
Perception: 344
Endurance: 105 ~
‘Ping’ a system notification sounded in his head, but he was too distracted to notice it. “Oh shit” Sam cried as he saw the status of the wolf. They didn’t stand a chance against that thing or rather more accurately, he didn’t stand a chance against it. The older villagers would be of high level and so more likely to be able to match up against it, but he was only level 13.
As the wolf noticed Sam and Travis bounding towards it, it stopped and howled before it turned tail and fled. “After it Sam” called Travis as he passed him a crack of the horse’s reins ringing out. Not thinking Sam whipped his reins again and sped up after it. They chased after the wolf, but it slowly pulled away from them. This thing is bloody fast Sam thought as they bounded through the plains surrounding the village. They made it to the edge of Kait Forest when the wolf disappeared into the foliage.
Sam and Travis quickly pulled up on their reins bringing their horses to a halt. “Shit, we can’t follow it in the Forest” Travis said. Sam pulled out the white flare and fired it into the sky to alert the other of where they were and where the last sighting of the wolf had been. Just as they were about to turn around and head back to the patrol that had fired the red flare the wolf jumped back out of the forest and charged at them. Sam quickly pulled out his bow and nocked an arrow before quickly drawing back and firing it in the direction of the wolf. The arrow missed its target flying far over the wolf’s head. The wolf, now seeing Sam as more of a threat changed its course and ran directly at him. He quickly nocked another arrow panic flooding through him as the wolf leaped towards him. Carrot reared up to defend himself from the leaping wolf and Sam’s feet slipped out of the stirrups and he began to fall from the Saddle. As he fell backwards he saw the wolf flying over the horse’s head staring right into his eyes. In a panic same release the nocked arrow firing a wild shot towards the wolf falling down upon him. He felt a sharp pain in the back of his head as his eyes went blurry before fading to black. ‘Ping’ Ping’ ‘Ping’ ‘Ping’ ‘Ping’ ‘Ping’ ‘Ping’ ‘Ping’
