In the explorers' town of Etria, home to the Yggdrasil labyrinth, the wolf king Fenrir poses a threat to the town's prosperity. Yet when the vicious wolf meets a young troubadour, everything begins to change.
A story I started YEARS ago, long before Friends Through Fire. Most of it was written years ago, and I don't feel motivated to edit it, so I can't guarantee its quality. I'm fairly satisfied with it though. Bonus: Whoever can guess where the old stuff ends and the new stuff begins gets a free 500 word story.
Once upon a time, there was a town called Etria. It was a town built near a giant natural labyrinth called Yggdrasil. Explorers and adventurers kept the town alive, braving the dangers of the Yggdrasil labyrinth and discovering all kinds of plants, ores, and other precious resources. The adventurers sold these to those who could turn them into something useful, such as medicine or weapons. The adventures bought these weapons and used them to get even more valuable things from the labyrinth. The adventurers got rich, and the town prospered.
However, it wasn’t an easy life for adventurers. Within the Yggdrasil labyrinth, countless dangerous monsters lurked. Those who wanted an easy way to get rich quick either died to the monsters or gave up. Only those who were strong and brave kept exploring, and inevitably, they became very skilled warriors, adept at fighting the beasts of the labyrinth.
Adventurers often explored in small teams called guilds. Our story begins with the leader of one such guild. Their name was Harper, and they were a skilled medic. They had just finished off the last of a group of monsters, and they and their team breathed a sigh of relief. They turned their head to the side and noticed a set of stairs leading downwards.
“Hey, guys. Check it out!” they called to their team.
“Sweeeet!” Harper’s best friend, Addie, said. “No one’s found floor 5 yet, have they?”
“Not until now,” Harper said, smiling. “Let’s be the first.”
With the command given, the party of 5 climbed down the stairs. Upon reaching the next level of the labyrinth, the Harper and their team looked around in wonder at the forest surrounding them.
“Oh my god, this is amazing, we’re the first ones to enter floor 5!” Addie exclaimed. “We’re going down in history baby!”
Harper thought about telling Addie to quiet down and keep her guard up, but dismissed the idea and chuckled at their friend’s excitement. It was okay to relax sometimes down here, wasn’t it?
As Harper turned towards the path ahead, they had but a moment to see a snow-white wolf running towards them, before it lunged at them, and bit Harper’s neck. For a moment, Harper felt the intense pain of the wolf’s teeth penetrating their flesh before everything ended, and they fell to the ground, dead.
Now, an adventurer dying in the labyrinth is nothing new; Harper was mourned by their friends and family, but not much notice was taken of their death by others. However, as more adventurers made their way into the 5th floor, more and more casualties were reported as a result of wolf attacks.
The town’s government knew that to keep the town prospering, they must continue deeper into the labyrinth. To do so, they needed to deal with this wolf problem, and after some time, a report from a group of explorers came in that gave them both the problem and the answer: The wolf king, Fenrir.
Fenrir was the leader of the wolves, and had been for over a century. Fenrir was a god among wolves, and being the strongest, was respected as the leader by the others. Fenrir was very territorial, and as a result, even most monsters of the labyrinth avoided his domain in the 5th floor. With these strange new beings entering Fenrir’s territory, he and his pack had become incredibly aggressive in defense of their turf.
The government suspected that if they were to kill Fenrir, the other wolves would scatter after losing their leader, and the adventurers of Etria would once again freely explore the labyrinth. And so, a mission was put out: Anyone to kill Fenrir and bring back his head would receive a very large sum of cash, as well as the pride and glory of defeating the wolf king.
Many adventurers tried, and failed, to defeat Fenrir. Some fled when they realized they stood no chance. Others weren’t lucky enough to escape. One day, a certain guild made an attempt to complete the mission. Little did anyone know, something very unexpected would happen here. Here is the story of their encounter.
Erma, the leader of the guild and an experienced swordfighter, turned to face her team. “All right. This is it. The door to Fenrir’s lair.” She paused, letting her words sink in. “Anyone wanna chicken out, now’s your chance.”
Erma looked at her team. Some smiled with confidence, while others’ faces showed a solemn resolve. None spoke or turned to run away.
Erma smiled. “Good.” She turned back towards the door and placed her hand on it. She hesitated for a moment, summoning as much courage as she could, before pushing it open.
Inside, the party saw a large wolf with white and blue fur. It howled, and several more wolves leaped out of the bushes, standing behind their leader. The wolves hesitated, but Fenrir lunged towards the party, eager to fight!
It didn’t take long before Erma and her team realized they didn’t stand a chance. They had all suffered painful wounds already, and Fenrir’s pack was quickly closing in on them. They knew they had to run for the exit before they got surrounded. Erma gave the command, and the party bolted for the door.
One of Erma’s teammates was a young adventurer named Elian. Elian was a troubadour, a magical musician that could inspire courage and strength through their songs. Elian had been a bit slow to open up the rest of the party, but soon, they were known as the cheerful optimist that could inspire hope even when all seemed lost and everyone felt like giving up. Everyone had grown to love Elian.
On that day, when everyone was retreating, no one noticed the small yelp of surprise and pain, followed by a light thud, that resulted from Elian tripping and falling down.
The rest of the party hastily exited through the door, and using a magical item, teleported out of the labyrinth and back to the town of Etria. It was only then that Erma looked around, and counted 1, 2, 3 team mates. She double and triple checked before asking, “Where’s Elian?”
Back in Fenrir’s lair, Elian clutched their wounded ankle in pain before looking around and seeing that they had been surrounded by wolves. Elian stared in horror at the vicious fangs and eyes mad with bloodlust all around them. Finally, they turned to see the wolf king himself, Fenrir, staring down at them.
At that moment, Elian gave up. Upon staring what was essentially death itself in the face, something clicked in them, and they let go of all their fear, all the thoughts telling them to run, or fight, or do something, and they accepted their fate. They simply stared up at Fenrir, waiting for it all to end...
After that, the attempts to kill Fenrir continued, but if the wolf king was powerful before, he was unbeatable now. He attacked any who entered his lair more ferociously than ever, and the wolves that accompanied him were more vicious as well.
The stories quickly spread through town, the few who survived the battle and escaped told stories that terrified even those who had fought Fenrir before. The knowledge that Fenrir had become stronger was well known within only a few days, but no one could understand why.
Many adventurers were dying or retiring after their experience with Fenrir, either because of crippling injuries or because they were scarred with fear. The government discussed temporarily or permanently closing off the 5th floor to keep from losing even more adventurers. And they would have, if it hadn’t been noticed that the rate of casualties had steadily been going down.
Adventurers reported that the wolves patrolling the 5th floor had become less aggressive, some only attacking after being attacked, and many were reported to not pursue those that ran away from them.
Those that fought Fenrir gradually began surviving more as well. At first, the number of people who successfully escaped Fenrir was rising. Everyone was shocked, however, when a party reported having all their members knocked unconscious during their fight with Fenrir, only for them to wake up outside his lair, alive. Apparently, Fenrir had shown mercy.
One day, a guild decided to make an attempt to defeat Fenrir. This was nothing new, of course; many attempts had been made ever since Fenrir had spared a guild, and every guild that fought Fenrir came back alive, if heavily wounded. However, what happened today brought the tale of the Wolf King to its end in the eyes of Etria.
The guild’s leader stood just outside the door to Fenrir’s lair. This was it, they thought, this will bring them and their guild fame, fortune, and glory beyond imagination. They hesitated, and almost turned and left right then and there out of pure fear. But they steeled themself, and pushed open the door.
Inside, the party saw Fenrir, laying down lazily. He stood up, preparing to fight, but he hesitated, and then, Fenrir laid back down and simply stared at the party, a glare of hatred in his eyes, silently threatening them.
The guild left before they even drew their weapons.
The last guild to challenge Fenrir reported their encounter to the government, and soon the news began circulating: Fenrir was no longer aggressive.
The government canceled the mission to hunt Fenrir; it was no longer necessary that he be killed. The unprovoked wolf attacks had completely stopped, and it was even reported that an especially brave guild had walked right past Fenrir and progressed down into the next floor of the labyrinth.
Eventually, some guilds tried to kill Fenrir again, for various reasons: revenge, pride, whatever the reason, they all ended up dead. It became a well-known rule of adventurers; don’t mess with the wolf king.
This, in the eyes of Etria, was the end of the story of Fenrir the Wolf King. However, there was much that happened in this tale that was hidden from the eyes of the townspeople of Etria...
Ever since Fenrir was born, he had felt a strange desire, one that he could never understand. He tried to satisfy this desire by doing everything he could think of. He ate so often that he was never hungry, he hunted enough to feed 10 wolves, he raised countless cubs, yet nothing his mind nor his instincts could come up with ever quelled the strange, insatiable desire in his heart.
In the end, with the unnatural strength he was born with, combined with his constant eating, hunting, and fighting, Fenrir became the strongest wolf in the forest by a large margin. He was loved and respected by the wolves, yet he wasn’t satisfied. In his frustration, he became violent, hunting for the sake of killing, rather than for feeding himself or his pack, and his pack followed suit, hunting relentlessly.
When the adventurers came, in was just more of the same for Fenrir and his pack. Fenrir killed and killed, but nothing would satisfy him.
Then came the day that Erma and her guild challenged Fenrir.
It was just another fight for him, though as always, he became enraged when they ran away. He had caught one, though.
As Fenrir looked down at the small, weak-looking foe before him, he thought, no, knew he was going to kill them. His predatory instincts that had guided him through his life told him to kill. His anger, burning as hot as a flame, told him to kill. His past experiences told him to kill, as he had done so many times before.
Yet as he looked down upon the pathetic looking creature, so helpless that it had given up hope, the desire that had itched at him since birth flared up inside him. All his life, his instincts had fail to satisfy it. Everything he had ever done never came close to satisfying his strange, unexplainable desire.
His instincts had failed him, and he knew repeating what he had done in the past would fail him. So, he tried something different.
Letting not his mind nor his instincts guide him, but instead relying on the burning desire in his heart, he reached down with a paw towards Elian and gently flipped them over onto their stomach before leaning down and, very carefully, picking them up in his mouth by the back of their neck, as if they were a pup.
This caught Elian very off guard, and for a moment they considered struggling before giving up again and deciding to see where this was going. Elian was taken over to a corner in Fenrir’s lair before being gently set down on their rear. Fenrir then laid down and curled up around them, placing himself between Elian and everything else.
The other wolves in the lair looked on in confusion at what their leader was doing. A few of them took a few steps towards their leader and his catch before Fenrir let out a low growl of warning, and they stepped back.
Elian simply sat there, knowing it would be suicide to try and escape. They were somewhat scared again, but mostly confused. What was happening? What was going to happen to them? And most of all, why hadn’t Fenrir killed them?
They continued to ponder these questions incessantly, until finally, they caught themself shivering in the cold air, and realized that day had turned to night.
The other wolves had left long ago, leaving Fenrir and Elian alone in the wolf king’s lair. It was a very cold night, as Elian was just now realizing. They were getting very uncomfortable, and they were starting be afraid that they would freeze to death before Fenrir ever decided to kill them.
They looked around for some kind of answer to their problem, but all they saw was the wolf king’s fur all around them. Then they got a dangerous idea.
Very cautiously and hesitantly, Elian moved towards Fenrir’s furry torso. Slowly, they reached a hand out and touched it. As they suspected, the fur was somewhat warm. Even more slowly, they gradually pressed their body against it, feeling the warmth emanating from the great beast.
Unfortunately, this roused Fenrir, who had almost fallen asleep. He lifted his head and looked towards the spot where he had felt something disturbing him.
Elian heard this movement, and turned their head to come face-to-face with Fenrir. Realizing they had disturbed his rest, they quickly backed away from him, not breaking eye contact.
This was it, they thought, surely they were doomed now. They shivered, as they were once again exposed to the cold night air without Fenrir’s warmth.
Fenrir noticed Elian’s shivering, and understood that they were cold. Slowly and gently, he curled up around Elian more closely, so close that Fenrir’s body was pressing against them from all sides. Satisfied that they would be warm, he resumed trying to fall asleep.
Elian was confused, scared, and warm. They didn’t dare to move, but thankfully, they were already in a comfortable position to fall asleep in. Their head rested against Fenrir’s chest, and the rest of their body was surrounded by warm fur. Eventually, they became tired, and fell asleep.
When Fenrir woke up, he looked over at the strange little being he had taken as his prize. He finally understood what exactly it was he had wanted all this time, and he now understood what exactly this being was to him; it was his treasure. His treasure to keep and to protect. To value as irreplaceable.
Fenrir didn’t understand why he wanted something seemingly just to value it. To own and treasure, for no real reason. In truth, this little thing was hardly what anyone would call valuable, and yet, Fenrir felt as though it should be the most valuable and important thing in the world. He felt like with his treasure, he had some purpose in the world beyond satisfying his own instinctual desires.
As Fenrir gazed upon his treasure, he realized it was slowly waking up. As Elian opened their eyes, they were confused for a moment, not seeing the familiar sight of their room in the inn that they were so used to waking up to.
As they came to their senses, they realized a wolf was looking down at them. They laid there for a moment, processing this information, before panicking and realizing that this wasn’t just any wolf, but Fenrir, the merciless killer of the labyrinth!
Elian tried to back away from the dangerous creature, but was quickly stopped as they backed into a wall of warm fur. They were surrounded by the wolf, with nowhere to run.
Fenrir saw that his treasure was scared. It felt... bad. He thought for a moment before understanding that he didn’t want his treasure to be upset. He slowly leaned forward, causing Elian to flinch and close their eyes in fear, before giving his treasure a gentle lick on its face.
At first, Elian figured the wolf must be tasting them, getting ready to eat them, but as the wolf king continued licking them, they realized that the licks didn’t feel hungry, but... comforting. Like a dog grooming its puppy.
Soon, Elian calmed down and stopped shaking in fear, and Fenrir, seeing that his treasure was no longer upset, stopped licking them. Elian looked into Fenrir’s eyes, and for some reason, they felt as though the wolf wasn’t going to hurt them.
Suddenly, Fenrir looked towards the door to his lair, immediately on alert. He had heard the familiar sounds on footsteps coming closer, and he knew what that meant; intruders, wanting to fight him.
Elian was scared again now. They felt a violent aura coming from the previously calm Fenrir. Fenrir stood up, leaving Elian sitting on the grass behind them, as the door to his lair opened. Fenrir growled a warning at the adventurers at his door, but they stayed, determined to challenge him.
As one wielding a sword charged towards him, Fenrir felt something different. He realized that he finally had a reason to fight beyond instinct or self-preservation. He howled, calling his pack, before charging full speed at the adventurers. He wouldn’t lose; he had to protect his treasure.
Elian looked in horror at the five dead bodies in the room. They had heard stories of the wolf king’s ferocity, but even when they fought Fenrir, they had never seen anything even close to this. Their attention turned to Fenrir himself, who had turned towards them, blood soaking his fur and claws.
Elian was paralyzed in fear. This was it, they thought, they were going to end up just like those adventurers, lying dead and bloody on the ground.
Fenrir walked up to the terrified young adventurer, and when he was right in front of them, he stopped, leaned forwards, and gave them a comforting lick on the cheek.
Elian stared at Fenrir in confusion. Fenrir merely gave them another gentle lick before circling around them as he had last night, surrounding his treasure in warm fur, although the blood made the gesture unintentionally disturbing.
Elian simply sat there, not knowing what to do, what to think, what to feel. They just sat there in utter confusion.
Over the next few days, things became calmer. No more adventurers came for a while, and so Elian and Fenrir were left alone. Elian began to understand that Fenrir wasn’t going to hurt them, and eventually, they began to feel comfortable in his presence.
Over time, Elian figured out that Fenrir saw them as a possession, and would not let them leave, ever. They were sad, but whenever Fenrir noticed their sadness, he tried his best to comfort them, and Elian couldn’t help but be cheered up a little by how he cared for them. Fenrir cared for their every need; he made sure they got food, he kept them warm at night, and of course, he comforted them whenever he noticed that they were feeling down. It wasn’t as bad as they would've thought.
One day, as Elian was relaxing against Fenrir’s side, they noticed something off towards the edge of the clearing that made up Fenrir’s lair. They squinted and soon, they realized what it was. They got up and began to walk towards it, but Fenrir quickly got up and stood in their way. Elian stopped, knowing from experience they wouldn’t get past him, but still gazed longingly at the object in the distance.
Fenrir saw that his treasure was sad, and looked towards where it was looking towards. Soon, he noticed the object and walked towards it. He sniffed at the strange object, recognizing his treasure’s scent on it. Deciding that it wasn’t a weapon or anything dangerous, he picked the strange object up in his mouth and carried it over to his treasure.
Elian watched in wonder as Fenrir returned with the object they had lost on the day they had first come here, to Fenrir’s lair; a wooden violin. They carefully reached towards it, watching to make sure Fenrir would let them, before picking up the violin and the bow that accompanied it.
They looked up at Fenrir once more, just in case, before they closed their eyes and began to play.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Dwr7NCsICk)
Fenrir was shocked as an unfamiliar, yet beautiful sound echoed through the forest. It was calm, gentle tune, and it was lovely to hear. The nearby animals quietly gathered just outside Fenrir’s clearing, drawn by the sound as well as the calm joy practically radiating from both Elian and Fenrir.
In that moment, for the first time since they lost their guild, Elian felt like everything was alright. Even here, imprisoned in the labyrinth, their violin wet with wolf slobber, reduced to a monster's possession, there was still happiness to be found.
For Fenrir, the sound was like nothing he'd ever heard before. He'd heard troubadours' combat songs, magical melodies that empower allies, but this was different. This wasn't magic, not a pragmatic spell. This was emotion. This was joy. It was beauty unlike any he'd ever known. To think, his treasure could have such value...
Fenrir snapped to attention, turning his gaze to the door with a bark. Elian stopped playing, dreading what was coming next as Fenrir placed himself between them and the door. The door opened, and adventurers charged in.
The battle was like a train crash; fast and brutal. Elian covered their eyes as screams of anguish and horror flooded the clearing. When they finally dared to look, blood, bodies, and severed limbs were everywhere. But there was one survivor, desperately limping toward the door. Fenrir crouched, preparing to pounce. Elian looked away, and-
"NO!" Elian lunged forward and grabbed Fenrir's hind leg! They didn't care if they died here! They couldn't live like this, surrounded by death, unable to do anything about it! They couldn't just look away!
Fenrir yelped in surprise and stared, confused, at his treasure. Why would it do such a thing? Was it scared? Did it need comfort? Before Fenrir could puzzle out his treasure's motives, the sound of the door closing signaled the escape of the survivor, and his treasure sighed with relief.
Yet the tears streaming down its face, its mournful sobbing, its clear anguish at the battle, it filled Fenrir with sorrow to see his treasure like this. He gave it a comforting lick, and pushed the violin over to it, but his treasure refused to play that wonderful music.
Fenrir needed to figure out how to keep his treasure happy.
Over the next few days, Fenrir learned more about his treasure: It didn't like meat, and much preferred fruits and such. It liked the feel of wolf fur, and always snuggled into Fenrir's side at night (much to his delight!). It enjoyed playing with his pack, especially the cubs. It could make many different kinds of that soothing music. But most importantly, it hated battle.
It was tricky to figure out how to protect his treasure from the anguish that battle caused. He tried ending the battle quickly, moving it somewhere else before fighting, getting rid of the corpses, but nothing worked.
Then, one day, Fenrir accidentally let an entire group of adventurers escape, and his treasure... wasn't sad. On the contrary, it was overjoyed! It made a point of showing Fenrir how happy it was, even playing music! That was it, his treasure hated death!
It took some practice (these humans are such fragile things), but Fenrir became skilled at wounding humans just enough to force them to retreat. No more tears, no more anguish, his treasure was finally happy! It was an awkward day when Fenrir accidentally knocked out a whole group, but his treasure seemed fine with it, and simply moved the humans outside the lair. Everything was perfect for Fenrir, and as the wolf king calmed down, so did his pack.
Eventually, Fenrir grew tired of fighting; each battle risked hurting either his pack physically, or his treasure emotionally. He settled for intimidation, and eventually found that most humans were more interested in the staircase behind him than in his treasure. And the few that insisted on threatening him, his pack, his treasure? He had run out of mercy for them.
Finally. After a century of searching, Fenrir had finally found his purpose. He was finally satisfied.
Erma and her guild walked through the forest for the first time in months. After losing Elian, the guild didn't know what to do, but everyone was finally ready to go back into the labyrinth, even if just to make some cash. They hadn't decided what to do about Fenrir yet; everyone wanted revenge for Elian, but the other explorers had proven how bad that idea is. The guild resolved to stay away from Fenrir's lair for now.
At least, that was the plan. Until they heard a familiar sound. A sound that should have died. A sound they had just finished mourning.
A violin.
Erma was the first to break into a sprint, following the sound deeper into the forest, deeper into the wolves' lair, straight toward Elian's grave. She kicked the door open, and the music stopped.
Elian was nowhere to be found. There was only Fenrir, lying in the corner of the clearing. There was only that accursed wolf, staring at her. There was only Elian's murderer.
"You..." Erma drew her sword, her rage overpowering her reason.
Fenrir growled, giving her a chance to leave. She didn't want the monster's mercy.
"You took them from us..." Erma walked toward Fenrir. Her guild, having caught up to her, pleaded with her to stop.
Fenrir stood, locking eyes with her. He growled, then barked, showing her his vicious fangs. The fangs that had claimed many lives. The fangs that took Elian from her.
"You'll pay..." Erma charged forward. "You'll pay for taking Elian from us!"
"STOP!"
The voice snapped Erma out of her rage. There they were. Standing between her and the monster was Elian. "What... what kind of... illusion..."
Elian smiled. "It's me, guys. I'm okay. I'm alive."
Tears welled up in everyone's eyes, Elian included. Erma fell to her knees. "Elian, I... I'm so sorry, I- I panicked, and I... I abandoned you..."
Elian shook their head. "If you had stopped to help me, you wouldn't have escaped. I should've been watching where I stepped. But it's okay now. Everything's okay."
"I- I don't- How are you-"
"ELIAN!!" The rest of the guild rushed forward to embrace Elian, tears pouring from their eyes-
Fenrir stepped in front of Elian and snarled. He had been still since Elian jumped in front of him, but now he stood to block them, as if protecting Elian.
"What the... Elian, what is going on? How are you alive?! What is Fenrir doing?!"
"Well... Long story short, I'm kinda the reason Fenrir stopped killing people. I don't know why, but he just decided to... own me? I've never had to explain this before-"
"Own you?!"
Fenrir growled at Erma's sudden outburst. "Uh, you should probably step back," Elian said. "He doesn't like it when humans get too close to me."
Erma stepped back. "Elian, this is ridiculous! What happened these past few months?!"
"Well, Fenrir's been feeding me, keeping me warm, and doing his best to make me happy. It's okay, I'm fine. I'm safe." Fenrir moved to cover Elian more. "Very safe."
Erma stared at Fenrir in disbelief. "And you're just... okay with this?"
"I don't have much of a choice."
"We're going to rescue you Elian, I promise."
"I... That's a nice thought, but... You really shouldn't."
"What?! Don't tell me you actually want to stay like this!"
"Of course not. I would love to go back, to keep adventuring with you guys, but..." Elian sat down and tugged at Fenrir's fur. The wolf king lied down and nuzzled against Elian, rubbing his fur against their body. "As long as Fenrir has me, he doesn't want anything else. He won't kill anyone, because he doesn't want to upset me. But if you rescue me and bring me back to Etria, he'd invade the town to reclaim me. And please, don't try to fight him. I've seen too much of that, I can't watch that happen to you."
"No... We can't just... leave you. Not again."
"It's for the best. If I can keep the wolf king placated, then I'll... Jake, what are you doing?"
Jake, the guild's archer, was setting down a picnic blanket. "I'm setting down a picnic blanket," said Jake. "We're gonna have a picnic together, just like old times."
"I don't think Fenrir will-"
"You said he wants to make you happy, right?"
Elian beamed as they realized the potential plan. Fenrir grew frustrated with how long the guild had been in his lair, but sure enough, he let them stay when he saw how happy they made his treasure. He refused to allow Elian to get near them, but the guild, the full guild, was finally able to talk together after so long. And then, just as the guild was leaving, Elian took their violin and played a song.
The song that echoed through the labyrinth that day was one of such pure joy, that for an instant, all the creatures of the forest were calm.
Many decades later, after the rampage of the wolf king was little more than a distant memory, a legend is told of the angel of the forest, who's melody keeps the wolf king locked in eternal slumber. It is said that their song is so pure that even monsters and humans locked in combat will make peace to stop and listen. Should any harm threaten the angel, neither human nor monster nor god in the heavens can avoid the wrath of their guardians...
Little do the people of Etria know, all but one of those guardians walk among them; retired adventurers, telling stories of how one of their members explores the labyrinth to this day. Every now and then, they pay a visit to their 'angel', taking their place as honored guests in the wolf king's chamber. On those days, the melody of the forest sounds just a bit nicer.
If you liked the story, please comment! I love hearing responses to my writing!
A story I started YEARS ago, long before Friends Through Fire. Most of it was written years ago, and I don't feel motivated to edit it, so I can't guarantee its quality. I'm fairly satisfied with it though. Bonus: Whoever can guess where the old stuff ends and the new stuff begins gets a free 500 word story.
Once upon a time, there was a town called Etria. It was a town built near a giant natural labyrinth called Yggdrasil. Explorers and adventurers kept the town alive, braving the dangers of the Yggdrasil labyrinth and discovering all kinds of plants, ores, and other precious resources. The adventurers sold these to those who could turn them into something useful, such as medicine or weapons. The adventures bought these weapons and used them to get even more valuable things from the labyrinth. The adventurers got rich, and the town prospered.
However, it wasn’t an easy life for adventurers. Within the Yggdrasil labyrinth, countless dangerous monsters lurked. Those who wanted an easy way to get rich quick either died to the monsters or gave up. Only those who were strong and brave kept exploring, and inevitably, they became very skilled warriors, adept at fighting the beasts of the labyrinth.
Adventurers often explored in small teams called guilds. Our story begins with the leader of one such guild. Their name was Harper, and they were a skilled medic. They had just finished off the last of a group of monsters, and they and their team breathed a sigh of relief. They turned their head to the side and noticed a set of stairs leading downwards.
“Hey, guys. Check it out!” they called to their team.
“Sweeeet!” Harper’s best friend, Addie, said. “No one’s found floor 5 yet, have they?”
“Not until now,” Harper said, smiling. “Let’s be the first.”
With the command given, the party of 5 climbed down the stairs. Upon reaching the next level of the labyrinth, the Harper and their team looked around in wonder at the forest surrounding them.
“Oh my god, this is amazing, we’re the first ones to enter floor 5!” Addie exclaimed. “We’re going down in history baby!”
Harper thought about telling Addie to quiet down and keep her guard up, but dismissed the idea and chuckled at their friend’s excitement. It was okay to relax sometimes down here, wasn’t it?
As Harper turned towards the path ahead, they had but a moment to see a snow-white wolf running towards them, before it lunged at them, and bit Harper’s neck. For a moment, Harper felt the intense pain of the wolf’s teeth penetrating their flesh before everything ended, and they fell to the ground, dead.
Now, an adventurer dying in the labyrinth is nothing new; Harper was mourned by their friends and family, but not much notice was taken of their death by others. However, as more adventurers made their way into the 5th floor, more and more casualties were reported as a result of wolf attacks.
The town’s government knew that to keep the town prospering, they must continue deeper into the labyrinth. To do so, they needed to deal with this wolf problem, and after some time, a report from a group of explorers came in that gave them both the problem and the answer: The wolf king, Fenrir.
Fenrir was the leader of the wolves, and had been for over a century. Fenrir was a god among wolves, and being the strongest, was respected as the leader by the others. Fenrir was very territorial, and as a result, even most monsters of the labyrinth avoided his domain in the 5th floor. With these strange new beings entering Fenrir’s territory, he and his pack had become incredibly aggressive in defense of their turf.
The government suspected that if they were to kill Fenrir, the other wolves would scatter after losing their leader, and the adventurers of Etria would once again freely explore the labyrinth. And so, a mission was put out: Anyone to kill Fenrir and bring back his head would receive a very large sum of cash, as well as the pride and glory of defeating the wolf king.
Many adventurers tried, and failed, to defeat Fenrir. Some fled when they realized they stood no chance. Others weren’t lucky enough to escape. One day, a certain guild made an attempt to complete the mission. Little did anyone know, something very unexpected would happen here. Here is the story of their encounter.
Erma, the leader of the guild and an experienced swordfighter, turned to face her team. “All right. This is it. The door to Fenrir’s lair.” She paused, letting her words sink in. “Anyone wanna chicken out, now’s your chance.”
Erma looked at her team. Some smiled with confidence, while others’ faces showed a solemn resolve. None spoke or turned to run away.
Erma smiled. “Good.” She turned back towards the door and placed her hand on it. She hesitated for a moment, summoning as much courage as she could, before pushing it open.
Inside, the party saw a large wolf with white and blue fur. It howled, and several more wolves leaped out of the bushes, standing behind their leader. The wolves hesitated, but Fenrir lunged towards the party, eager to fight!
It didn’t take long before Erma and her team realized they didn’t stand a chance. They had all suffered painful wounds already, and Fenrir’s pack was quickly closing in on them. They knew they had to run for the exit before they got surrounded. Erma gave the command, and the party bolted for the door.
One of Erma’s teammates was a young adventurer named Elian. Elian was a troubadour, a magical musician that could inspire courage and strength through their songs. Elian had been a bit slow to open up the rest of the party, but soon, they were known as the cheerful optimist that could inspire hope even when all seemed lost and everyone felt like giving up. Everyone had grown to love Elian.
On that day, when everyone was retreating, no one noticed the small yelp of surprise and pain, followed by a light thud, that resulted from Elian tripping and falling down.
The rest of the party hastily exited through the door, and using a magical item, teleported out of the labyrinth and back to the town of Etria. It was only then that Erma looked around, and counted 1, 2, 3 team mates. She double and triple checked before asking, “Where’s Elian?”
Back in Fenrir’s lair, Elian clutched their wounded ankle in pain before looking around and seeing that they had been surrounded by wolves. Elian stared in horror at the vicious fangs and eyes mad with bloodlust all around them. Finally, they turned to see the wolf king himself, Fenrir, staring down at them.
At that moment, Elian gave up. Upon staring what was essentially death itself in the face, something clicked in them, and they let go of all their fear, all the thoughts telling them to run, or fight, or do something, and they accepted their fate. They simply stared up at Fenrir, waiting for it all to end...
After that, the attempts to kill Fenrir continued, but if the wolf king was powerful before, he was unbeatable now. He attacked any who entered his lair more ferociously than ever, and the wolves that accompanied him were more vicious as well.
The stories quickly spread through town, the few who survived the battle and escaped told stories that terrified even those who had fought Fenrir before. The knowledge that Fenrir had become stronger was well known within only a few days, but no one could understand why.
Many adventurers were dying or retiring after their experience with Fenrir, either because of crippling injuries or because they were scarred with fear. The government discussed temporarily or permanently closing off the 5th floor to keep from losing even more adventurers. And they would have, if it hadn’t been noticed that the rate of casualties had steadily been going down.
Adventurers reported that the wolves patrolling the 5th floor had become less aggressive, some only attacking after being attacked, and many were reported to not pursue those that ran away from them.
Those that fought Fenrir gradually began surviving more as well. At first, the number of people who successfully escaped Fenrir was rising. Everyone was shocked, however, when a party reported having all their members knocked unconscious during their fight with Fenrir, only for them to wake up outside his lair, alive. Apparently, Fenrir had shown mercy.
One day, a guild decided to make an attempt to defeat Fenrir. This was nothing new, of course; many attempts had been made ever since Fenrir had spared a guild, and every guild that fought Fenrir came back alive, if heavily wounded. However, what happened today brought the tale of the Wolf King to its end in the eyes of Etria.
The guild’s leader stood just outside the door to Fenrir’s lair. This was it, they thought, this will bring them and their guild fame, fortune, and glory beyond imagination. They hesitated, and almost turned and left right then and there out of pure fear. But they steeled themself, and pushed open the door.
Inside, the party saw Fenrir, laying down lazily. He stood up, preparing to fight, but he hesitated, and then, Fenrir laid back down and simply stared at the party, a glare of hatred in his eyes, silently threatening them.
The guild left before they even drew their weapons.
The last guild to challenge Fenrir reported their encounter to the government, and soon the news began circulating: Fenrir was no longer aggressive.
The government canceled the mission to hunt Fenrir; it was no longer necessary that he be killed. The unprovoked wolf attacks had completely stopped, and it was even reported that an especially brave guild had walked right past Fenrir and progressed down into the next floor of the labyrinth.
Eventually, some guilds tried to kill Fenrir again, for various reasons: revenge, pride, whatever the reason, they all ended up dead. It became a well-known rule of adventurers; don’t mess with the wolf king.
This, in the eyes of Etria, was the end of the story of Fenrir the Wolf King. However, there was much that happened in this tale that was hidden from the eyes of the townspeople of Etria...
Ever since Fenrir was born, he had felt a strange desire, one that he could never understand. He tried to satisfy this desire by doing everything he could think of. He ate so often that he was never hungry, he hunted enough to feed 10 wolves, he raised countless cubs, yet nothing his mind nor his instincts could come up with ever quelled the strange, insatiable desire in his heart.
In the end, with the unnatural strength he was born with, combined with his constant eating, hunting, and fighting, Fenrir became the strongest wolf in the forest by a large margin. He was loved and respected by the wolves, yet he wasn’t satisfied. In his frustration, he became violent, hunting for the sake of killing, rather than for feeding himself or his pack, and his pack followed suit, hunting relentlessly.
When the adventurers came, in was just more of the same for Fenrir and his pack. Fenrir killed and killed, but nothing would satisfy him.
Then came the day that Erma and her guild challenged Fenrir.
It was just another fight for him, though as always, he became enraged when they ran away. He had caught one, though.
As Fenrir looked down at the small, weak-looking foe before him, he thought, no, knew he was going to kill them. His predatory instincts that had guided him through his life told him to kill. His anger, burning as hot as a flame, told him to kill. His past experiences told him to kill, as he had done so many times before.
Yet as he looked down upon the pathetic looking creature, so helpless that it had given up hope, the desire that had itched at him since birth flared up inside him. All his life, his instincts had fail to satisfy it. Everything he had ever done never came close to satisfying his strange, unexplainable desire.
His instincts had failed him, and he knew repeating what he had done in the past would fail him. So, he tried something different.
Letting not his mind nor his instincts guide him, but instead relying on the burning desire in his heart, he reached down with a paw towards Elian and gently flipped them over onto their stomach before leaning down and, very carefully, picking them up in his mouth by the back of their neck, as if they were a pup.
This caught Elian very off guard, and for a moment they considered struggling before giving up again and deciding to see where this was going. Elian was taken over to a corner in Fenrir’s lair before being gently set down on their rear. Fenrir then laid down and curled up around them, placing himself between Elian and everything else.
The other wolves in the lair looked on in confusion at what their leader was doing. A few of them took a few steps towards their leader and his catch before Fenrir let out a low growl of warning, and they stepped back.
Elian simply sat there, knowing it would be suicide to try and escape. They were somewhat scared again, but mostly confused. What was happening? What was going to happen to them? And most of all, why hadn’t Fenrir killed them?
They continued to ponder these questions incessantly, until finally, they caught themself shivering in the cold air, and realized that day had turned to night.
The other wolves had left long ago, leaving Fenrir and Elian alone in the wolf king’s lair. It was a very cold night, as Elian was just now realizing. They were getting very uncomfortable, and they were starting be afraid that they would freeze to death before Fenrir ever decided to kill them.
They looked around for some kind of answer to their problem, but all they saw was the wolf king’s fur all around them. Then they got a dangerous idea.
Very cautiously and hesitantly, Elian moved towards Fenrir’s furry torso. Slowly, they reached a hand out and touched it. As they suspected, the fur was somewhat warm. Even more slowly, they gradually pressed their body against it, feeling the warmth emanating from the great beast.
Unfortunately, this roused Fenrir, who had almost fallen asleep. He lifted his head and looked towards the spot where he had felt something disturbing him.
Elian heard this movement, and turned their head to come face-to-face with Fenrir. Realizing they had disturbed his rest, they quickly backed away from him, not breaking eye contact.
This was it, they thought, surely they were doomed now. They shivered, as they were once again exposed to the cold night air without Fenrir’s warmth.
Fenrir noticed Elian’s shivering, and understood that they were cold. Slowly and gently, he curled up around Elian more closely, so close that Fenrir’s body was pressing against them from all sides. Satisfied that they would be warm, he resumed trying to fall asleep.
Elian was confused, scared, and warm. They didn’t dare to move, but thankfully, they were already in a comfortable position to fall asleep in. Their head rested against Fenrir’s chest, and the rest of their body was surrounded by warm fur. Eventually, they became tired, and fell asleep.
When Fenrir woke up, he looked over at the strange little being he had taken as his prize. He finally understood what exactly it was he had wanted all this time, and he now understood what exactly this being was to him; it was his treasure. His treasure to keep and to protect. To value as irreplaceable.
Fenrir didn’t understand why he wanted something seemingly just to value it. To own and treasure, for no real reason. In truth, this little thing was hardly what anyone would call valuable, and yet, Fenrir felt as though it should be the most valuable and important thing in the world. He felt like with his treasure, he had some purpose in the world beyond satisfying his own instinctual desires.
As Fenrir gazed upon his treasure, he realized it was slowly waking up. As Elian opened their eyes, they were confused for a moment, not seeing the familiar sight of their room in the inn that they were so used to waking up to.
As they came to their senses, they realized a wolf was looking down at them. They laid there for a moment, processing this information, before panicking and realizing that this wasn’t just any wolf, but Fenrir, the merciless killer of the labyrinth!
Elian tried to back away from the dangerous creature, but was quickly stopped as they backed into a wall of warm fur. They were surrounded by the wolf, with nowhere to run.
Fenrir saw that his treasure was scared. It felt... bad. He thought for a moment before understanding that he didn’t want his treasure to be upset. He slowly leaned forward, causing Elian to flinch and close their eyes in fear, before giving his treasure a gentle lick on its face.
At first, Elian figured the wolf must be tasting them, getting ready to eat them, but as the wolf king continued licking them, they realized that the licks didn’t feel hungry, but... comforting. Like a dog grooming its puppy.
Soon, Elian calmed down and stopped shaking in fear, and Fenrir, seeing that his treasure was no longer upset, stopped licking them. Elian looked into Fenrir’s eyes, and for some reason, they felt as though the wolf wasn’t going to hurt them.
Suddenly, Fenrir looked towards the door to his lair, immediately on alert. He had heard the familiar sounds on footsteps coming closer, and he knew what that meant; intruders, wanting to fight him.
Elian was scared again now. They felt a violent aura coming from the previously calm Fenrir. Fenrir stood up, leaving Elian sitting on the grass behind them, as the door to his lair opened. Fenrir growled a warning at the adventurers at his door, but they stayed, determined to challenge him.
As one wielding a sword charged towards him, Fenrir felt something different. He realized that he finally had a reason to fight beyond instinct or self-preservation. He howled, calling his pack, before charging full speed at the adventurers. He wouldn’t lose; he had to protect his treasure.
Elian looked in horror at the five dead bodies in the room. They had heard stories of the wolf king’s ferocity, but even when they fought Fenrir, they had never seen anything even close to this. Their attention turned to Fenrir himself, who had turned towards them, blood soaking his fur and claws.
Elian was paralyzed in fear. This was it, they thought, they were going to end up just like those adventurers, lying dead and bloody on the ground.
Fenrir walked up to the terrified young adventurer, and when he was right in front of them, he stopped, leaned forwards, and gave them a comforting lick on the cheek.
Elian stared at Fenrir in confusion. Fenrir merely gave them another gentle lick before circling around them as he had last night, surrounding his treasure in warm fur, although the blood made the gesture unintentionally disturbing.
Elian simply sat there, not knowing what to do, what to think, what to feel. They just sat there in utter confusion.
Over the next few days, things became calmer. No more adventurers came for a while, and so Elian and Fenrir were left alone. Elian began to understand that Fenrir wasn’t going to hurt them, and eventually, they began to feel comfortable in his presence.
Over time, Elian figured out that Fenrir saw them as a possession, and would not let them leave, ever. They were sad, but whenever Fenrir noticed their sadness, he tried his best to comfort them, and Elian couldn’t help but be cheered up a little by how he cared for them. Fenrir cared for their every need; he made sure they got food, he kept them warm at night, and of course, he comforted them whenever he noticed that they were feeling down. It wasn’t as bad as they would've thought.
One day, as Elian was relaxing against Fenrir’s side, they noticed something off towards the edge of the clearing that made up Fenrir’s lair. They squinted and soon, they realized what it was. They got up and began to walk towards it, but Fenrir quickly got up and stood in their way. Elian stopped, knowing from experience they wouldn’t get past him, but still gazed longingly at the object in the distance.
Fenrir saw that his treasure was sad, and looked towards where it was looking towards. Soon, he noticed the object and walked towards it. He sniffed at the strange object, recognizing his treasure’s scent on it. Deciding that it wasn’t a weapon or anything dangerous, he picked the strange object up in his mouth and carried it over to his treasure.
Elian watched in wonder as Fenrir returned with the object they had lost on the day they had first come here, to Fenrir’s lair; a wooden violin. They carefully reached towards it, watching to make sure Fenrir would let them, before picking up the violin and the bow that accompanied it.
They looked up at Fenrir once more, just in case, before they closed their eyes and began to play.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Dwr7NCsICk)
Fenrir was shocked as an unfamiliar, yet beautiful sound echoed through the forest. It was calm, gentle tune, and it was lovely to hear. The nearby animals quietly gathered just outside Fenrir’s clearing, drawn by the sound as well as the calm joy practically radiating from both Elian and Fenrir.
In that moment, for the first time since they lost their guild, Elian felt like everything was alright. Even here, imprisoned in the labyrinth, their violin wet with wolf slobber, reduced to a monster's possession, there was still happiness to be found.
For Fenrir, the sound was like nothing he'd ever heard before. He'd heard troubadours' combat songs, magical melodies that empower allies, but this was different. This wasn't magic, not a pragmatic spell. This was emotion. This was joy. It was beauty unlike any he'd ever known. To think, his treasure could have such value...
Fenrir snapped to attention, turning his gaze to the door with a bark. Elian stopped playing, dreading what was coming next as Fenrir placed himself between them and the door. The door opened, and adventurers charged in.
The battle was like a train crash; fast and brutal. Elian covered their eyes as screams of anguish and horror flooded the clearing. When they finally dared to look, blood, bodies, and severed limbs were everywhere. But there was one survivor, desperately limping toward the door. Fenrir crouched, preparing to pounce. Elian looked away, and-
"NO!" Elian lunged forward and grabbed Fenrir's hind leg! They didn't care if they died here! They couldn't live like this, surrounded by death, unable to do anything about it! They couldn't just look away!
Fenrir yelped in surprise and stared, confused, at his treasure. Why would it do such a thing? Was it scared? Did it need comfort? Before Fenrir could puzzle out his treasure's motives, the sound of the door closing signaled the escape of the survivor, and his treasure sighed with relief.
Yet the tears streaming down its face, its mournful sobbing, its clear anguish at the battle, it filled Fenrir with sorrow to see his treasure like this. He gave it a comforting lick, and pushed the violin over to it, but his treasure refused to play that wonderful music.
Fenrir needed to figure out how to keep his treasure happy.
Over the next few days, Fenrir learned more about his treasure: It didn't like meat, and much preferred fruits and such. It liked the feel of wolf fur, and always snuggled into Fenrir's side at night (much to his delight!). It enjoyed playing with his pack, especially the cubs. It could make many different kinds of that soothing music. But most importantly, it hated battle.
It was tricky to figure out how to protect his treasure from the anguish that battle caused. He tried ending the battle quickly, moving it somewhere else before fighting, getting rid of the corpses, but nothing worked.
Then, one day, Fenrir accidentally let an entire group of adventurers escape, and his treasure... wasn't sad. On the contrary, it was overjoyed! It made a point of showing Fenrir how happy it was, even playing music! That was it, his treasure hated death!
It took some practice (these humans are such fragile things), but Fenrir became skilled at wounding humans just enough to force them to retreat. No more tears, no more anguish, his treasure was finally happy! It was an awkward day when Fenrir accidentally knocked out a whole group, but his treasure seemed fine with it, and simply moved the humans outside the lair. Everything was perfect for Fenrir, and as the wolf king calmed down, so did his pack.
Eventually, Fenrir grew tired of fighting; each battle risked hurting either his pack physically, or his treasure emotionally. He settled for intimidation, and eventually found that most humans were more interested in the staircase behind him than in his treasure. And the few that insisted on threatening him, his pack, his treasure? He had run out of mercy for them.
Finally. After a century of searching, Fenrir had finally found his purpose. He was finally satisfied.
Erma and her guild walked through the forest for the first time in months. After losing Elian, the guild didn't know what to do, but everyone was finally ready to go back into the labyrinth, even if just to make some cash. They hadn't decided what to do about Fenrir yet; everyone wanted revenge for Elian, but the other explorers had proven how bad that idea is. The guild resolved to stay away from Fenrir's lair for now.
At least, that was the plan. Until they heard a familiar sound. A sound that should have died. A sound they had just finished mourning.
A violin.
Erma was the first to break into a sprint, following the sound deeper into the forest, deeper into the wolves' lair, straight toward Elian's grave. She kicked the door open, and the music stopped.
Elian was nowhere to be found. There was only Fenrir, lying in the corner of the clearing. There was only that accursed wolf, staring at her. There was only Elian's murderer.
"You..." Erma drew her sword, her rage overpowering her reason.
Fenrir growled, giving her a chance to leave. She didn't want the monster's mercy.
"You took them from us..." Erma walked toward Fenrir. Her guild, having caught up to her, pleaded with her to stop.
Fenrir stood, locking eyes with her. He growled, then barked, showing her his vicious fangs. The fangs that had claimed many lives. The fangs that took Elian from her.
"You'll pay..." Erma charged forward. "You'll pay for taking Elian from us!"
"STOP!"
The voice snapped Erma out of her rage. There they were. Standing between her and the monster was Elian. "What... what kind of... illusion..."
Elian smiled. "It's me, guys. I'm okay. I'm alive."
Tears welled up in everyone's eyes, Elian included. Erma fell to her knees. "Elian, I... I'm so sorry, I- I panicked, and I... I abandoned you..."
Elian shook their head. "If you had stopped to help me, you wouldn't have escaped. I should've been watching where I stepped. But it's okay now. Everything's okay."
"I- I don't- How are you-"
"ELIAN!!" The rest of the guild rushed forward to embrace Elian, tears pouring from their eyes-
Fenrir stepped in front of Elian and snarled. He had been still since Elian jumped in front of him, but now he stood to block them, as if protecting Elian.
"What the... Elian, what is going on? How are you alive?! What is Fenrir doing?!"
"Well... Long story short, I'm kinda the reason Fenrir stopped killing people. I don't know why, but he just decided to... own me? I've never had to explain this before-"
"Own you?!"
Fenrir growled at Erma's sudden outburst. "Uh, you should probably step back," Elian said. "He doesn't like it when humans get too close to me."
Erma stepped back. "Elian, this is ridiculous! What happened these past few months?!"
"Well, Fenrir's been feeding me, keeping me warm, and doing his best to make me happy. It's okay, I'm fine. I'm safe." Fenrir moved to cover Elian more. "Very safe."
Erma stared at Fenrir in disbelief. "And you're just... okay with this?"
"I don't have much of a choice."
"We're going to rescue you Elian, I promise."
"I... That's a nice thought, but... You really shouldn't."
"What?! Don't tell me you actually want to stay like this!"
"Of course not. I would love to go back, to keep adventuring with you guys, but..." Elian sat down and tugged at Fenrir's fur. The wolf king lied down and nuzzled against Elian, rubbing his fur against their body. "As long as Fenrir has me, he doesn't want anything else. He won't kill anyone, because he doesn't want to upset me. But if you rescue me and bring me back to Etria, he'd invade the town to reclaim me. And please, don't try to fight him. I've seen too much of that, I can't watch that happen to you."
"No... We can't just... leave you. Not again."
"It's for the best. If I can keep the wolf king placated, then I'll... Jake, what are you doing?"
Jake, the guild's archer, was setting down a picnic blanket. "I'm setting down a picnic blanket," said Jake. "We're gonna have a picnic together, just like old times."
"I don't think Fenrir will-"
"You said he wants to make you happy, right?"
Elian beamed as they realized the potential plan. Fenrir grew frustrated with how long the guild had been in his lair, but sure enough, he let them stay when he saw how happy they made his treasure. He refused to allow Elian to get near them, but the guild, the full guild, was finally able to talk together after so long. And then, just as the guild was leaving, Elian took their violin and played a song.
The song that echoed through the labyrinth that day was one of such pure joy, that for an instant, all the creatures of the forest were calm.
Many decades later, after the rampage of the wolf king was little more than a distant memory, a legend is told of the angel of the forest, who's melody keeps the wolf king locked in eternal slumber. It is said that their song is so pure that even monsters and humans locked in combat will make peace to stop and listen. Should any harm threaten the angel, neither human nor monster nor god in the heavens can avoid the wrath of their guardians...
Little do the people of Etria know, all but one of those guardians walk among them; retired adventurers, telling stories of how one of their members explores the labyrinth to this day. Every now and then, they pay a visit to their 'angel', taking their place as honored guests in the wolf king's chamber. On those days, the melody of the forest sounds just a bit nicer.
If you liked the story, please comment! I love hearing responses to my writing!
Category Story / All
Species Wolf
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File Size 35.1 kB
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