A little companion short for: The Lone Wolf Saga: The Lone Wolf

Big Brother

 

Published by C L Carr

Copyright 2013 C L Carr

 

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The Wolf padded about nervously. He was impatient. Cool wind rustled his white coat; his cool blue eyes pierced the night’s vale. He could see fine even in the dark. The gifts that had been granted to him made him unique for his kind. The gifts also made it impossible to work with the pack, too much yipping and howling about nothing. So here he was, all alone, and it did not bother him at all. He even had a name now, not just a scent and rank, Likos.

Likos tweaked his ears a bit. He could hear them. They were far off, but it was them. He was sure of it. A quick sniff in the air, ‘Yes it is a fire and meat,’ were the wolf’s inner thoughts. There were three people in total. Before he had been granted knowledge, they would have only been scents to Likos, but now he could understand more. There was an elf, who smelled much like the one who had sent him, a dwarf, who smelled oddly sweet, and lastly a human, the one he sought, Big Brother.  Big Brother seemed balanced from what Likos had sensed so far. The wolf believed he could enjoy that. For the time though, he knew it would be best not to get too close.

A gurgling sound in his stomach forced the wolf to pause, ‘Hmm, time to eat I guess.’ He took another sniff and a little listen. The group he observed from afar was fine. So into the dark the wolf padded, looking for a snack.

The wolf soon had a rabbit. After the meal, Likos yawned and stretched. If had not been a big meal, but it had been enough. The wolf lazily padded back toward the travelers he followed.

An odd scent caught the wolf’s attention. If was different than those he had followed, and unlike any he had smelled before. To say it was a “bad” odor would not have been accurate, or fair. In fact most smells were great. Only things that smelled different than they acted bothered Likos. The other day he had smelled what appeared to be a human. It walked and acted normally enough, but smelled dead! It was rather peculiar.

This smell was just new. So whatever it was he had to go see, though in no real hurry, it was not urgent. Really only two things drove one to any real urgency: If you wanted to fight something, or if it wanted to fight you. Otherwise life was just trotting here then trotting over there. The wolf was anxious to meet Big Brother, but it would happen whenever it happened.

So he trotted. Only a few minutes passed before he found the smell. The dark cloaked thing before him was known as a dark elf, but it did not smell only like an elf. As he drew closer to it, Likos’s hair pricked up a bit, and he had the urge to growl.

The wolf took a slow quiet sniff. It made no sense to Likos, yet another smell that should not be. Before him, the dark elf smelled like two different things. The smell of a dark elf he had not noted from far off. That scent was tolerable. The other scent though, was confusing. It reminded him of the smell of the dead, but it was not. The human had only smelled dead. This dark elf though, it smelled similar to the dead and like a dark elf. How could it be two things at one time? The worst part of all of this though, was that the dark elf was heading toward Big Brother.

Likos decided to follow it. It was not easy to stop himself from striking out, but he did. The one who sent him, made the wolf promise not to be seen. It was not long before they arrived at Big Brother’s camp he and his friends were all asleep. The dark elf stood over them. He was staring at Big Brother.

The wolf knew that he was not supposed to act, but if the dark elf made a move for Big Brother then the wolf would kill him. How Big Brother did not notice him was baffling to the wolf. Even if Likos had been asleep, the scent and loud foot falls of the dark elf would have alerted him. He would have to keep a closer eye on Big Brother.

To his relief, Big Brother sprang to his feet, as did his elf friend. The dwarf snored on. Likos listened as talking went on. He had been granted the ability to understand the words, but most were still things he could not grasp, like “time.” What the wolf got out of the conversation that mattered though was that Big Brother and the dark elf were enemies. The tension and tones of their voices alone, made that clear.

Then the scent did something else, it just left the dark elf. The others couldn’t sense it, as it floated above them, watching as the dark elf attacked with his twisted magic, something the wolf had also learned about. Nor did they sense the shift in the scent as Big Brother’s elf friend used a blue dome to protect them. When it was clear that the dark elf was no more, the hovering smell slipped away to the north. The wolf huffed. He would remember that scent.

Likos turned his attention back to Big Brother and his friend. They were fine. The sweet smelling dwarf still slumbered. ‘Well one look about, then I suppose I will sleep,’ the wolf decided. He quickly rounded the camp, staying unseen and unheard. No more danger, no more smells. The wolf decided to lay closer to Big Brother than he has dared to so far. Not too close though, and he slumbered.

After a few days and nights, one morning started out different. Big Brother and his friends did not notice. The humans who lived in the woods were moving trees with their forest magic, another thing the wolf found interesting. To him it made little sense to want to move trees, and he could never imagine someone wanting to do it. His personal thoughts did not matter much though. What did matter was that Big Brother was being lead away from the mountains. The wolf followed, slowly and carefully.

The sun was overhead before Big Brother and his friends realized they were heading in the wrong direction. It was not long before the humans who lived in the forest introduced themselves. Their leader seemed interesting. He didn’t like Big Brother’s elf friend at all. In the end Big Brother persuaded the humans to spare him.

‘Another trap you have fallen into, Big Brother, and so soon,’ Likos thought to himself. He padded behind them all, as they headed toward the humans’ home. As they neared the city, Likos was surprised. The scent he had smelled on the dark elf was here! It was dark, so he was able to follow Big Brother a short way unnoticed. When they arrived at a wall with many humans about, the wolf had to change plans. He followed the outside of the wall, staying out of sight of any wary watchmen. He kept track of both Big Brother’s scent and the dead like scent as he went. Luckily he was heading toward the dead like scent.

The wolf found a small side entrance. The guard stationed there was distracted by a female so Likos snuck in. He made his way to a heavily made building full of smells. An elf inside was bleeding, there were humans, and there was a human that had the dead like smell on him. The worry was that Big Brother was coming this way.

When the leader of the humans arrived, he barked and the man with the scent came out. He took all the belongings of Big Brother and his friends. Then Big Brother left with the humans’ leader, while the man with the dead like scent entered the building again. Likos found a safe place to rest, and waited.

After the sun was well down, and a large fire burned in the town; Likos heard a yell and struggling in the building. Then the elf that had been bleeding ran off toward the fire. Slowly the man with the dead like scent came out. He clutched a wound and acted hurt, but the wolf could sense the pleasure the scent felt. It nearly smiled. Likos followed the man. By the time they arrived at the fire, there was a large commotion and the elf was nowhere that the wolf could tell. The leader of the humans sent the man with the scent back to tend his wounds. So Likos followed again, and waited again.

When morning came, Big Brother and his dwarf friend came with their elf friend. The man with the scent on him and a couple other humans joined them as they departed the city. At the gates, the elf stayed behind. He had some business to tend to that Likos cared little about. The man with the scent was with Big Brother, and no one could tell but him.

So Likos followed Big Brother, the dwarf, and the three humans (one of which had the scent on him). They camped for a night, which was a night of light sleep for the wolf. He kept a steady watch on the man. The next day found them traveling to the base of the mountains. There the humans left Big Brother and the dwarf. Only a short distance from where they left them, the scent left the human. The human was dazed and confused, but he was alive and otherwise well. The scent followed Big Brother.

So the wolf followed. He made his way along the ridge above the path Big Brother was on. He kept himself aware of the scent. It watched Big Brother mostly, and did not worry about the wolf. As the sun went down, Big Brother and his friend tucked themselves away under a ledge which they thought would be safe. After the dwarf had gone to sleep, the wolf jumped down to see Big Brother. At first Big Brother did not notice; he seemed to be asleep. The wolf waited, he was not sure if he would have another chance to meet Big Brother and wanted to do so.

It was nice when Big Brother finally noticed him. To Likos it was like looking at a reflection of himself. He could not stay though, the scent was coming. So the wolf silently padded back and leapt up to the ledge.

It was not far away when he met the dead like scent. Likos sat, blocking the way. The scent had found a small and ugly giant. It was at least twice the size and much heavier than the wolf. The scent touched the wolf’s mind and the two understood each other.

The scent spoke, “So he sent you. I should have noticed you before. You really smell of his taint.”

Likos had a simple response, “Too much talk. Fight.” He barred his teeth and growled.

The scent was angry. It lifted the rock and threw it…

 

***

 

The wolf licked its leg, blood was everywhere. Most of it was not his. He stretched and walked down to the body that lay dead at his feet. It was warm, so he curled up next to his kill. It was like any creature, enough bites to the neck and a few hard snaps and it is dead. The dead like scent was angry, and threatened to be back. The wolf had simply replied, “I’m not frightened.”

As the wolf began to doze he thought to himself, ‘Again you fall to a trap Big Brother. I can’t wait to really meet you, but until then, I will watch over you,’ and so the wolf slept.