The mangled body of the knight was about ten paces away.
“Where are the others?” Burchard asked, concern lacing his voice.
“I am not sure. The knights were effective at splitting us up and driving us away from the camp. I killed two,” Sir Peter replied. “If you can manage it, we should see if they need help. Or I can leave you here.”
Burchard shook his head. “No, I am not sure I can hold my own against another one of those knights right now.”
Sir Peter nodded and started to walk off, presumably in the direction that he thought Sir Daniel and Ruschmann were in.
“Wait!” Burchard called.
Sir Peter came back. “What?”
“Where is the dog?” Burchard asked.
“Dog?” echoed Sir Peter. “There is no dog.”
Muttering to himself, Burchard wobbled before he closed his eyes, waiting for everything to stop spinning, then cautiously opened his eyes again. “There was a big black dog…it helped me,” he explained.
Sir Peter gave Burchard a look, like he thought his squire was losing his mind. Shrugging, Burchard focused on scanning the area for clues. He realized that at some point the sky had lightened with dawn and that he could indeed see. Everything wasn’t just in dark shadows anymore. He finally saw blood on the bushes to the left and odd drag marks.
“There,” he said pointing. Moving quietly so as not to spook the dog into attacking, he approached the bushes. When he was only a few feet away, Burchard could see the edges of black fur not completely concealed by the bush. Burchard cautiously crouched by the bush and spoke in a calm, quiet voice. “My name is Burchard. I am a squire of Etria. Thank you for saving my life. I want to see if you need help too.” As he spoke, Burchard slowly parted the bushes, revealing a blood-soaked…wolf. Sucking in a deep breath, he shuddered at the old memories threatening to resurface again. This is the present. It’s not the same wolf. I am not an innocent boy anymore.
Golden eyes gazed back at Burchard as he wondered why a wolf would help him. He reached out a steady hand toward the wolf’s face for her to sniff. The wolf remained immobile. Gently, he ran his hands over the wolf, probing for wounds, just as he would do when his horse was injured. There was a large, deep gash on one of her hind legs and smaller cuts throughout. Glancing over his shoulder, Burchard saw Sir Peter staring at him with his mouth hanging open. Returning his attention to the wolf in front of him, Burchard remembered that he had packed bandages in a small mending kit.
He glanced at Sir Peter. “I have bandages, but they’re in the tent.”
Sir Peter gave him a frown. “Sir Daniel and Ruschmann finished off the other tattooed knights. You should be able to get the bandages without any problem, if you really think it is worth saving a wolf.”
Burchard glanced from his knight master to the wounded wolf and back again. “Eos, another wolf, helped me escape from this place. The least I can do is help a wolf who also came to my aid in the same manner.”
Sir Peter pressed his lips together and nodded. Taking that as approval, Burchard ran a hand lightly down the wolf’s side.
“I’ll be right back,” he stated quietly to the wolf, then stood up shakily. Slipping inside the tent, Burchard rummaged through his packs for his medical kit and smiled grimly when he found it. Slinging the small bag over his shoulder, he slid out of the tent and back over to the wolf. Even with all the extra motions of getting in and out of the tent, the dizziness and vertigo finally seemed to be wearing off. He still took his time kneeling beside the wolf. Once her wound was clean, he expertly wrapped the bandage around it.
As he stood up, Burchard realized the clearing was filled with fog, making it almost impossible to see. Burchard looked around warily, hand on the hilt of his sword. Sir Peter was doing the same. The forest was eerily quiet, yet it was a different quiet than it had been right before the attack. A shimmering blue glow appeared, and a huge white wolf, larger than a horse, materialized out of the glow.
Burchard shifted slightly, trying to hide his nerves. He’d thought the injured wolf seemed large, but she was nothing compared to the one in front of him now, who looked familiar, but he couldn’t quite place why. It’s not like I go around making friends with wild wolves. As the giant wolf turned its attention directly on Burchard, he began to shake as nerves gripped him.
“Burchard Wolfensberger, I am Eos, goddess of the wolves. For the unexpected kindness you have shown to my granddaughter Fang, she will accompany you on your journey,” Eos stated matter-of-factly.
Burchard’s jaw dropped in surprise and awe. Eos is a goddess? She has time for me, a lowly squire? He closed his jaw hastily and tried to come up with an appropriate response but drew a blank. What do you say to a goddess? I’ve never even been in the presence of royalty before…now I get a visit from someone even more important. What is going on?
The wolf goddess looked at Burchard with her piercing eyes as though she could hear his rambling thoughts. “As long as you treat Fang with respect and honor, she will defend you.”
Without further explanation, the shimmering fog got brighter, and the goddess faded.
Burchard took a step forward, hand reaching as though to stop her. “What about my father?” he asked, concern lacing his voice. General George Wolfensberger had no tolerance for disobedient squires or people who bonded with animals.
Eos’s eyes were all that remained, but her voice came through the fog, “He will accept her…in time.”
Suddenly, the fog was completely gone from the clearing, as though it had never been there.
Rough hands shook Burchard, and he leapt into the air, startled. “What the hell!” he growled, arms swinging.
“We need to go,” hissed Sir Peter.
Burchard looked around, realizing that his knight master hadn’t seen the wolf goddess even though she had been here in the camp with them. Perhaps it didn’t happen at all.
“Oh, your wolf friend seems to be feeling better,” the knight added as an afterthought.
Burchard glanced in the direction of the wolf before replying, “Her name is Fang.”
“Fang?” echoed Sir Peter. “How do you know the wolf has a name?”
“The wolf goddess told me,” Burchard said softly, bracing for Sir Peter to contradict him.
Sir Peter, eyebrows raised, gave Burchard an appraising look. “The Eos you mentioned who helped you is the wolf goddess?”
Burchard ahemed in embarrassment. “I guess so. She just told me that’s who she is. Did you see her, just now, when she appeared?”
Sir Peter shook his head. “No, I did not see her. But…that means the situation here is even more grave than I suspected. Let me get your wound wrapped, and then we can go find Sir Daniel and Ruschmann.”
Burchard handed over his medical pack and stood quietly while Sir Peter cleaned and then bandaged the slice across his arm and the wound on the side of his head and ear. He was sure he looked utterly ridiculous with the bandage wrapped around his head, but the blood was no longer trickling annoyingly down his neck, and for that he was grateful. “Should we take the pack with us?”
He watched as Sir Peter debated his answer. “I think since you’re injured already, we should try to move as quickly as possible without extra gear.”
“The plan is that we’re going to find Ruschmann and Sir Daniel, and then what?” Burchard asked, not sure what his knight master was thinking. Running back to Alderth Castle or helping whoever was alive at Camp Tooth?
