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Fear can either paralyze you or provide strength when you need it most. The creature in front of us is a nightmare made flesh but not entirely unexpected. My father enjoyed toying with human DNA. A part wolf-part man was one of his most curious mutants.
Oberon stands and places himself between me and the creature. As I get to my feet, a stranger’s voice calls out from behind us.
“You have nothing to fear from old Harold there. He may appear fearsome, but he’s as harmless as a teddy bear.”
When I turn, the man who spoke hops off the limb he was perched on from a nearby tree.
He’s no taller than four feet but the white whiskers and wrinkles seem to indicate he’s an older gentleman. When he takes a few steps forward, his gate is odd, but I don’t see why until he gets a little closer. By wearing long pants, his legs are covered. He isn’t wearing any shoes because he doesn’t have feet. He has paws. Unlike Harold, this man only seems to have the lower body of a wolf.
“Who are you?” Oberon demands.
“My name is Lev.” With an exaggerated wave of his arms, he makes a grand gesture of bowing to us. When he straightens to his full height, he begins to chuckle. “You’re welcome by the way.”
“Welcome for what?” I ask, seeing nothing to be grateful for.
“Old Harold there,” he points to his friend who hasn’t moved an inch in the clearing, “let the local wolf pack nearby know that he claims you for his own. They won’t be bothering you while you’re with us.”
“And who exactly isus?” I ask. Neither Harold nor Lev are giving me trustworthy vibes. I only hope they don’t recognize who I am. If they discover who my father is, Oberon might be forced to use his magic on them. Even if my life is in peril, I don’t wish that fate on anyone.
“Your saviors, from the look of it, deary.” The man eyes us with a great deal of scrutiny in the pre-dawn light. He’s sizing us up but is it for a fight? He would be a fool to start one with two fae, but humans have never been the smarter species.
“We appreciate your assistance.” Oberon takes hold of my hand and grips it tightly. Is he preparing to attack or run? Knowing him, I have to assume attack. I can’t imagine Oberon ever running away from a fight. “Can you tell us the direction of the nearest village?”
“Of course! We can even take you there. Come on, follow us.”
Lev ambles off toward the clearing and Harold on his deformed legs.
“Follow or stay?” I whisper to Oberon.
“Follow, but at a distance.” He looks into my eyes. “If I tell you to hold onto me, do it without hesitation. I would rather not use my magic on them, but if they force my hand, you know I have to.”
Half-heartedly, I nod. “Onlyif our lives are in danger.”
Oberon returns his gaze to our new guides. “Keep your eyes out for anything strange or out of place. For all we know, they could be leading us into an ambush. They have to know about our magic. They would be fools to test us.”
“To testyou,” I say as we start to move forward, still holding hands. “I’m afraid most of my magic was used to heal this planet. I only have a bit left over.”
Oberon squeezes my hand a little tighter. “We’ll see what we can do about that.”
I look at him sharply. “What do you mean?”
“We’ll discuss it later.”
We come to a stop in front of the other two. Now that we’re close to Harold, I can see why his call would be enough to scare off the other wolf pack. His shoulders are the size of a large boulder. Everything from the neck down is pure muscle. If his head didn’t look like that of a wolf, he would have been the perfect male specimen attracting several ladies I know at court.
Harold tilts his head down and sniffs the air in our direction. A low rumble starts in his chest until we see his canines reveal themselves as he snarls at us.
“Now, now, Harold,” Lev pats his friend on the back comfortingly, “is that any way to treat our new friends?” Lev looks at us apologetically. “You’ll have to forgive old Harold here. We’re still trying to train him on human etiquette.”
Harold snarls again but this time in Lev’s direction. Lev simply laughs it off.
“Come on. You two look like you could use some food in your bellies. Maybe on the way to our village, you can tell me how you came to be in this part of the world.” Lev heads off to the east expecting us to follow without question.
We do follow him, but I have plenty of questions to ask.
“What’s the name of your village?”
“Oh, it’s probably not one you’ve ever heard of,” Lev says. “It’s filled with people like us trying to get by with the deformities your father left us with.”
