For ages Argar had kept the things beyond the ring of firelight at bay. His teeth and voice were usually enough. But sometimes they would sneak through, and he would step off his path to hunt them down.

  It was on one of these hunts that the tracks of his prey brought him to a cliff overlooking a small mountain village. An enormous black dog with a pelt which seemed to swallow the sunlight would cause panic, but very few mortals could see him and only for brief moments, so he was not worried that the screams of frightened children would alert his prey, or men trying to chase him off would interrupt his hunt. He sniffed the air. Something was off. He was not sure what. He smelled his prey and its trail towards the village. The things from beyond the ring of firelight smelled like darkness. Nothing like the smell of shadow and darkness that Argar and his kin had, or the way the night smelled when it arrived to cover the land. He smelled the grass, the storm that was coming from behind the peaks…and although everything smelled as it should, still something felt off. Argar sighed and jumped down from the cliff.

  He thought of making himself smaller while getting near the village, but then getting into his war size would take time and if the enemy was still there, that could cause trouble. The giant dog padded by the livestock pens and the sheep decided to move as far away from the unseen predator as possible. Argar growled a greeting just to tell the sheepdog of his presence and intentions, but no answer came.

  Probably the guardian is eating or sleeping somewhere with his herd safely in the pen. the black dog thought and moved on, nose low to the ground, following the tracks of his prey.

  He reached the square in the middle of the village and suddenly the door of one of the houses burst into splinters and a yellow green shape emerged from inside. It resembled a bear with several clumps of long thin tentacles coming from its side. A gorgepaw. It sprinted towards Argar and the dog realized what felt wrong. There had been no human smells. He had been too late. The gorgepaw had made a breakfast of the people of the village and that made it enormous. Somehow its smell had not changed and that led Argar into the trap. He could have dealt with it even if it had eaten, but not when it had gorged itself on that many people. He needed help, but also needed to keep from moving on to the next unsuspecting village. So, he charged it.

  The thing sped up and wanted to crush the black dog with its weight, but the guardian jumped at the last moment and sprinted towards the nearest house. He needed time and distance between him and the thing. Just as he passed behind one of the houses a huge paw struck him from the side, throwing him through the nearest fence. The talons had barely sliced through Argar’s skin, and the dog jumped to his feet looking at what hit him. There was another gorgepaw. This didn’t make sense. They were lone creatures that never hunted together. And this one had eaten too. Something was terribly wrong.

  Running towards the mill at the end of the village Argar felt the heavy steps of the creatures charging after him. He needed help. Looking around he saw a cart that could lead him up. With two jumps he landed on the roof of one of the houses. He stood on the peak, lifted his head and howled. A long deep howl that echoed from the peaks around the village and was carried far beyond them by the coming storm. Only the wind and the roars of the gorgepaws answered.

  One of the beasts hit the house and the timbers shook. The other one rose on its hind legs and slammed its front paws on the roof. The structure already carrying the weight of Argar crumbled, but the dog took the opportunity to jump behind the other gorgepaw tore off the tendons from the back of one of its legs. The beast roared and tried to turn, but Argar was already moving again. He squeezed under the tilted remains of the roof and his jaws locked around the throat of the gorgepaw. The dying enemy thrashed about and slammed both into the wall of the house. The roof collapsed and a beam hit Argar on the head while another skewered the gorgepaw. Wobbly, he tried to keep his footing and that is when the talons of the second monster tore through his back and he fell to the ground. The dog felt the tentacles of his enemy grabbing him and dragging him towards its maw. He rolled and broke their grasp, but he knew the fight was lost. He felt his strength leaving him so he did the only thing he could do if he wanted to survive. He gathered all his remaining might, summoned the shadowpath ahead of him and jumped through it.

  He landed on the wet foggy ground and collapsed. His head spun and he could barely breathe. He felt tired and just wanted to sleep. So Argar let the darkness take him. The sound of steps brought him back. There was someone close to him, but he didn’t have the strength to move. He couldn’t open his eyes...

  ***

  The mountains are dangerous at any time of the year. Especially when the clouds hang over the peaks and the fog is so dense that you can’t see ten paces ahead. Bryn remembered what his grandfather told him, while he walked carefully on the forest path, down the slope, towards the nearest road. He was sure this was the right direction. Almost sure.

  The beech forest was silent after the storm. Only the distant sound of thunder and Bryn’s footsteps on the wet leaves.

  I should not have started down today, he thought. I should have waited until tomorrow. I knew that there would be a storm today.” The rest of the free company would wait for him. There were still some days before they were supposed to leave for the meeting place. One of the straps on his shield had unbuckled so he adjusted it and continued. He finally got to where the path reached the road. But there was not exactly where he thought he was supposed to be.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  “Curse this fog.” Bryn muttered. “I think I should have taken the other path.”

  He looked around, trying to determine in which direction he should follow the road. The fog covered most everything more than ten paces in any direction. Nothing on the road itself could help him. One direction he knew, should take him to Crow’s Mill by noon where his free company was supposed to gather. The other would take at least until sunset because it passed through two other villages. He could wait until the fog lifted but that could take a long time. Going back up the hill to the fork and taking the other path would also take time and afterward, he would have to go back down to the same road again. He turned left and decided to follow the road for a while and see if it descended or climbed as Crow’s Mill was further down the mountain. It went down and Bryn continued.

  Walking on the road was a lot easier than on the mountain paths among the wet trees, so Bryn could pick up the pace as it wound between the hills. And after a turn he suddenly stopped.

  There was a dark shape on the road. Something or someone big lay crumpled and motionless on the wet ground. The fog hid any details, and Bryn was not sure what it was. On the left side of the road a cliff stood over the road and the hill above it was hidden, to the right the slope got steeper and disappeared in the fog. So, the only way was forward.

  Bryn checked his sword in its scabbard and moved forward. Nothing moved. He strained his eye while his mind kept trying to figure out what was lying on the road in front of him, painting different pictures from a man who had had an accident to a bear, or just something the wind had carried along the road during the storm.

  He finally got close enough to see clearly what the thing was. It was a dog. An enormous black dog. Bigger than any Bryn had seen. It lay on its side and there were deep red gashes across his back and sides. It didn’t seem to breathe, and Bryn let out a sigh.

  “Poor thing. What happened to you...”

  He stepped closer and saw the puddle of blood that had formed underneath the massive head. The wounds on the neck of the animal were deep. Bryn took another step that brought him between the beast and the slope going downhill. From this close he saw that the dog was breathing. Barely.

  “By the Flame!” Bryn growled and took off his shield and backpack.

  He kneeled by the muzzle of the dog and opened one of its eyes. A barely heard whimper escaped the jaws of the animal. Bryn put one of his hands on its neck, right behind the ears to protect himself if the animal tried to bite him. He looked at the wounds that he could see. Deep gashes from huge claws, at least one of the ribs had been broken and the bone was sticking out. Bryn sighed. He wasn’t sure if he could do anything about the wounds, but he would try.

  As his hand reached for the backpack the worried caws of several crows came from further up the road followed by the thud of heavy paws on the road. Bryn stood up picking up his shield and tried to draw out his sword. A huge bearlike creature came roaring at him from the fog. It slammed at Bryn's shield and he flew back several paces, hitting the ground hard.

  The man rolled over and stood up. The monster was standing above the body of the dog as if listening to something.

  So that’s what attacked the dog. - Bryn thought as he looked at the size of the claws of the beast.

  He thought he should try running while it was busy, but his backpack with most of his possessions was still on the road by the creature’s front paws. And, he guessed, he couldn’t outrun it.

  “Flame burn it!” - he cursed and raising his shield charged the monster.

  The surprised beast stood up on his hind legs and roared again. Bryn came to it low, keeping his shield up and at an angle so he doesn’t take the full strength of the paws. The beast was almost twice as tall as him and that gave it a much longer reach. It also left its lower body exposed. And that is where the first hit of the sword landed. Grey black blood gushed from the wound and several tentacles lashed at the human. Bryn swatted them aside with his sword and jumped away from a swiping paw. Then he tried to circle around. The monster dropped on its four legs and snapped its huge jaws at the human.

  Bryn stepped back and hit it with his sword across the head. The steel didn’t even scratch the skin and felt like hitting a rock.

  Another swipe and jump back and Bryn reached the edge of the road. He risked looking around. It almost cost him his life. A tentacle snaked towards his head. Bryn raised his shield and it was grabbed instead. Bryn let go and while the beast tried to free the suckers from the wood, moved around it. The shield flew off to the side and the beast pounced.

  Bryn tried to dodge. His foot tripped on the body of the dog and the monster’s paw caught him across the chest slicing through his leather jerkin, muscle and bones. He screamed and fell across the dying dog.

  As the beast raised on his hind legs for the kill, something big, fast and gray jumped from the cliff at its throat…

  With pain tearing through his senses saw the huge gray wolf killing the beast with one mighty tug of the jaws. And then the darkness came...

  ***

  Rhae - the Mother of Fangs had heard the call. She spit out the piece of the gorgepaw leaving its corpse to fall back down the slope.

  She padded softly to the two bodies lying on the road. The human was almost dead, his chest open, the blood streaming down his side and mixing with that of the black dog.

  “Oh, Argar, what happened…”- the she-wolf sighed.

  At the sound of his name the broken hound’s eyes fluttered open.

  “Mistress, forgive me, I failed…”

  Rhae nuzzled the head of Argar. The dog’s memories entered her mind. She lifted her head surprised at what she saw.

  “You found something that would have otherwise remained unnoticed.”

  “The human. Is he…”

  “He is dying just like you.”

  “He tried to save me.”

  “I saw. But…” The she-wolf suddenly raised her head and sniffed the blood of the human. Threads of mist had started to come out of the pool where it had mixed with Argar’s. “It seems the Flame has other plans. For both of you.”

  “I must leave you now. We will meet again; I am sure of it.”

  She turned and disappeared in the fog leaving the two to their fate…