1

“Wolves? No, ain’t seen no wolves round here.”

“What about over on Gregor’s field? A couple a’ nights ago?”

“OH! Yes, there was something that had got into his fencing. Took a few sheep, it did.”

“Can you recall how many nights ago this happened?”

“Hmm, well, it mighta been four…five? Mighta been a little over a fortnight, now that I think on it?

“Well dear, there was that time with the sheep…an’ then again with the preserves that went missing.”

“No, no— that was them Darley boys what did that. Buggers tried to make a run for it and fell right into the shit pile out back of the stables!”

“Oh yes! Serves ‘em right, those two. I know Misses Darley raised them boys better n’ that.”

“Have either of you noticed anything out of the ordinary in your fields over the last few months? Other than wolves….and thieving young men?”

The couple looked at each other.

“…Who did you say you was again?”

Telhari tried his best not to sigh. He unbuttoned his breast pocket and pulled out the contract.

“I am here at the behest of your Lord, Paloni—”

“Oh! That’s that old Lord Thistletwat’s signature, that is!”

Telhari nodded.

“You must be one of them hunters from over the hill. Not the first one I’ve seen, I’ll tell ya…”

“There were others who’ve come?”

“Oh yes! There was a nice couple that came over the hill a few months ago.”

“Then there was that one big fella, with the hammer— oh what was his name? Grob?”

“Grig?”

“Grotto?”

“Ah, whatever his name was, we never saw’r him again.”

“No sir. An’ there was that last group, too”

“Group?”

“Ooh it was a nice little bunch, it was. Maybe seven or eight in all? Well, seven an a half if you count that small one.”

“Do either of you recall what happened to them?”

“Wolves got ‘em”

“Speakin’ of wolves, did you hear about ‘ol Gregor’s field? Coupla’ wolves got through his fence and snatched up some sheep, right from under his nose!”

Telhari’s eye twitched.

“I thank you both for your assistance. I’ll be on my way…”

“Glad we could be of service to ya. Hope you catch them wolves!”

“Oi! Fella!”

“Hmm?”

The old woman lowered her voice as she spoke.

“In the city there, they got a great doctor. Edgar’s his name.”

“It’s Egurd, darling! Egurd!”

“Oh, shut it! Anyways, Doctor Egurd is fantastic!“

“Has Doctor Egurd been attacked by the wolves?”

“Oh, heavens no! Not for the wolves. For the… you know…”

Telhari stared.

“Look, son. I’ve got this lovely niece, Gloria, my sister called her. Nice red hair. But she was born with odd lookin’ ears…not quite like yours, but close enough, a bit rounder maybe…sort of lopsided too. But anyway— Edgar fixed her right up! Keep her hair down and you can barely tell anything was wonky. She’s engaged already. Oh, how the time goes! He’s a nice man too. A good bit smaller ‘an you, though. Say, I have another niece. Pretty young thing, great wide hips, a sturdy girl. Takes after her mum. She’s just about —”

“Thank you!” Telhari said as he peeled away from the woman’s vice like grip on his arm. “But I really must be off.”

“You take care of those wolves! An stop by Doctor Edgar!”

“Egurd!”

The old couple waved goodbye as Telhari hurried over the last stretch of open space between him and the city.

2

“I am sorry Sir, but that is all I know on the matter.”

With that, the watchman turned back to his post and said no more.

Telhari had been making his way along the outskirts of Malendar’s Edge for several hours. He had spoken with every watchman, porter and militia he could find, trying to gather information regarding any disappearances, crop disturbances or aberrant wolf packs.

So far, he had nothing of use.

Begrudgingly, Telhari continued deeper into the city, toward the foot of the keep. He had found out, between the ramblings on petty crime and whose-who gossip, that the Lord of Malendar’s Edge lived in a manor built behind the walls of the keep. At the foot of the keep, in the wealthiest part of the city, existed those businesses which were required for the day to day necessities of the city’s burghers; stationers, minters, merchants and medicine men.

After some searching, Telhari found what he was looking for: a small stone building at the end of the street, rising two stories tall and capped with a wooden roof. The front door was propped open, and an earthy, pungent odor was emanating from inside. The signpost hanging above the door read “Doctor Egurd’s Apothecary and Triage”.

Inside, Telhari saw a small room with a front counter, behind which stood rows of wooden drawers and shelves, each containing some collection of herbs or tinctures. In the corner of the room, there was a man in muted brown robes tending to an elderly woman and her son.

Looking straight ahead from the entrance, Telhari could see down a corridor that opened on either side to two identical patio spaces, each one walled off from the alleyways. Draped over each patio space was a heavy, patchwork of cloth, tied to a scaffold of wooden posts. The entrance to the patio on the left was covered with a large white linen sheet. From the hallway, Telhari could hear the commotion of several nursemaids and one very unhappy person coming from the leftmost patio.

The curtain covering the entrance to the right patio space was drawn back. As he approached from the hall, Telhari could see that there were several cots laid out, three of which had people laying in them. In the center of the space, a man in unusual dress was tending to one of these individuals. The man was perhaps in his forties, with dark brown hair, and wore a pair of spectacles perched atop his nose. He had on a vest with over a dozen pockets, which he wore over a light gray tunic; each pocket seemed to contain a trinket or small metal tool that Telhari had not yet seen before.

“Excuse me, are you Doctor Egurd?”

“Just a moment…”

The physician held in his hand a strange implement; it was of polished metal and had a piece of glass impeded in it, with two openings at either end. Having finished examining the man in front of him, he stood up and placed the instrument into one of his vest pockets and turned to face his new guest.

“How may I help…oh!?”

“My name is Telhari. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

“The pleasure is mine. Please come sit!”

He gestured to a table with chairs set up in the corner of the patio space. It was crowded with herbs, bandage dressings, and a bowl of bloody water. Doctor Egurd neatly pushed everything off to one side to clear space for the two of them.

“So, what brings such a traveler into my humble clinic?”

Now, how do I explain this…

“I was wondering if, perhaps, you had treated any patients for…wolf attacks?”

“Wolf attacks?”

Telhari nodded.

“Well, I don’t believe so, although a patient of mine — lovely lady—  told me a story about a farmer named Gregor who—”

“Well—” Telhari butt in, “If nothing in particular about wolves, then I wonder if you have heard of any other unusual incidents?”

“Unusual? In what way?”

“Strange illness befalling the field workers. Or perhaps any, strange sightings of beasts.”

“Well, now let me think.” Egurd tapped his chin. “No, I don’t believe I’ve seen anything as you’ve described.”

“Are you sure, doctor?”

“Quite sure. Although, I must say it is a strange query for one such as yourself.”

“How do you mean?”

“Have your kind not perfected the art of medicine? Surely there is no treatment I could give you that you wouldn’t already be aware of?”

It was unusual for Telhari to receive both acknowledgment from outsiders, as well as praise. He wasn’t quite sure how to respond.

The doctor took his opportunity to continue.

“I remember my early years in the great southern libraries, studying medicine. There were many accounts of elfkin sages who would share their knowledge with our healers of old. Many remedies we rely upon for common ailments in this modern age, they say, have roots back to your people. Of course, many humans do not naturally possess a gift for commanding the arcane forces, so we must stick to our mortars and pestles!”

At that, Egurd chuckled to himself.

“It is as you say. There are accounts from my people, as well, of our trade of ideas with your healers. Truly, an example of what good can come from a mutual love of understanding.”

“Well said, sir! Well said. Of course, there are limits to what can be done with this mortal body. In the end, even seventy years is not enough…” The doctor sighed. “But what can be done? I would be a poor physician if I could not accept a mortal fate!” He laughed again to himself. Egurd then took the spectacles off his nose and hung them around his neck. “It has been a pleasure to meet you, master Telhari, but I must now return to my patients.”

“Of course, doctor.”

Telhari stood with Egurd. He then reached out and shook the doctor’s hand. Egurd turned with a smile and grabbed the water bowl, along with some bandages, then left for the other room. Telhari remained standing, his eyes fixed on the ground while he tried to think of his next move.

“…You really think it’s wolves out there in that forest?”

The voice that spoke was hard like gravel and came from a hunched over figure in the furthest cot from the door.

Telhari’s attention turned to the voice.

“Should I believe otherwise?”

“That depends…”

Telhari began to walk over to the man’s side.

“Depends on what?”

Hearing his footsteps, the man turned over to face Telhari as he drew back the blanket.

“On whether or not you believe in monsters.”

“You believe there is a monster in Edge?”

“I know that some godforsaken monster is on the loose…” As he said this, he held up his arm— or what was left of it. The man’s arm was missing, severed from the middle of the bicep down; the stump was wrapped with bandages that had crusted over with dried blood and remnants of an herbal paste. “But that doesn’t mean they will believe me.”

“And what if I told you that I would believe you?”

The man laughed under his breath.

“That’s because you haven’t heard what I have to say…”

“If you would speak, I will listen.”

The man said nothing for a few moments.

“I-I don’t know for certain what did this. I never saw it…never saw all of it, that is.”

“But you saw part of it?”

“Just the eyes…”

“Eyes?”

“I was out in the forest five nights back…I had gone deeper than I usually go and couldn’t make it back before nightfall. The moon was hidden, and it was too dark to find my way. I tried to make a fire, but it had rained the day before, so the kindling was too wet. I wandered for hours and ended up lost somewhere around the foot of the mountain.”

“Then what?” Telhari asked with an encouraging nod.

“I found a cave…I figured I would just camp until morn’, instead of risking it out there. I had just started to settle in when I began to feel strange…”

“Strange how?”

“I felt that… my body wasn’t my own. I couldn’t make it move the way I wanted. I tried to run…and that’s when I saw it.”

Telhari waited patiently, keeping silent, yet offering the man a determined look.

“Two yellow eyes, jus’ floatin’ in the dark. They glowed something unholy. Had slit pupils and seemed as though they were moving…swirling. Then everything went slow. I fell to the ground. I couldn’t move or speak, like I was made of stone—”

His voice cut out. Telhari could see the man’s face twisting.

“What happened to your arm?”

“The damn thing ate it! Tore it right off!” He spat the words out into the air. The man grabbed his left shoulder in pain. “I couldn’t scream. I couldn’t do nothin’… but I could still feel it. Those teeth tearing into me. At first, it felt like my head was going to explode— like my arm was on fire! Then, I couldn’t feel anything. But I could hear it… ripping and crunching.”

“If you couldn’t move, how did you survive?”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out myself…”

“Do you remember anything else?” Telhari asked him, “Anything at all?”

“There was something else out there…somewhere in the trees. I heard a cry, like a small animal. A fox, maybe? Guess it wanted something better tasting…The monster heard that and just walked off.”

“And afterwards?”

“I must’ve passed out. When I woke up, it was mornin’ and I was in the worst pain I’d ever felt. I tore a piece of my shirt, wrapped up my arm as best I could and managed to find my way back to Edge.”

Exhausted, the man rolled over to face away from Telhari, drawing the blanket over himself once again.

Telhari’s hunch had been correct. And although he wished to let him rest, he had no other choice but to press the poor man further.

“What was it you were doing so deep in the woods that night?”

“My wife and I, we work the farm just outside the forest. Since the season started, we’ve been havin’ trouble sewin’ seeds as we usually do. Things just ain’t growing, no matter what we try. Thought it might have been bad weather or a slow start, but then our dog…We found him dead on the edge of the field, right by the river. And not just him. There were others too, fish and small critters were dead in the water. Guessing he was trying to fish one of ‘em out for a quick meal… Anyway, I decided to follow the river up into the mountain and see what was what…”

“Did you find anything?”

“No…tried my damndest, though. But the river disappeared underground. I tried to get around it to see the other side, but that’s when I ended up getting lost…”

“Have you spoken to anyone else about what you saw…about what happened to you?

“When I first got back, I tried to tell ‘em. They all said I was lousy from the attack. Then the good doctor fixed me up and I asked to talk with the constable.”

“And?”

“Stupid bastard said I was crazy! ‘No such thing as floating eyes.’ I nearly cracked ‘im upside his head with his own club! Doc says it happens to people when they come close to dying from something—their mind gets all strange and they make up things that didn’t happen. But I know what I saw.”

“I believe you.”

“Yeah, ‘course you do— the stranger with the giant ears believes the crackpot with one arm.” He looked up suddenly. “Sorry…you know how I mean it…”

“Of course.”

“Say fella, what is going on with them ears? Is it some condition?”

“I am an Elfkin.”

“Now there is something crazy. You expect me to believe that?! Ain’t no such thing.”

“You’re right,” Telhari sighed, “I am no Elfkin.”

“Then what are you?”

“A wolf hunter.”