Chapter 3-1

Chapter 3: Winter

Almonihah awoke that morning feeling better than he had for a long time. It seemed that whatever peaceful influence reigned here had sunk into him over the night, leaving him relaxed and calm, yet still awake and alert.

He also awoke to find that there was a wolf staring him in the face.

Normally, this would have caused Almonihah quite a bit of alarm, but today, it just brought a laugh as the wolf licked him friendlily. His laugh brought a pair of laughs from in front of the tent.

“I guess you're awake now, Almonihah,” he heard Zrathanzon call out.

The wolf stopped licking Almonihah, and he caught his breath long enough to yell back, “Yeah.”

There was a whistle from outside of the tent. The wolf looked up abruptly, then bounded outside, leaving Almonihah room to get up.

“Once you're ready, I'll introduce you to Llinos,” his mentor called out, his voice sounding a little farther away.

Almonihah prepared quickly, putting on his warm clothing, gathering his dagger, pack, and the little bow and quiver of arrows Zrathanzon had made for him, then exited the tent. It had snowed again overnight, leaving a fresh blanket of white over the valley. Zrathanzon was engaged in restarting their fire while conversing with a man sitting on a log near the fire ring, who Almonihah supposed was probably Llinos.

As Almonihah approached, the man stood up, and Almonihah could get a good look at him. He was of moderate height, shorter than Zrathanzon, and of slighter build. He wore a simple brown robe and held a staff that looked much like a large tree limb that had simply been picked up from off of the ground. As Almonihah got closer, he could see that Llinos had a carving of a tree, much like the symbol on the tree they had passed on their way into this valley, tied to a leather strip around his neck like some kind of necklace. He also noticed that Llinos had somewhat pointed ears.

“Almonihah, this is Llinos, my friend I've been telling you about. And Llinos, this is Almonihah,” Zrathanzon said once his pupil neared the fire.

Llinos, nodded, his blue eyes meeting Almonihah's green ones. “Welcome to my valley, little one. Did you rest well?”

Almonihah nodded. “Yeah. It's... nice here.”

Llinos smiled. “Thank you, young one. I try to make this valley a place of peace and respite.”

Just then, a familiar lupine head stuck up over the log that Llinos had been sitting on. The rest of a wolf soon followed it, as he trotted over to Llinos's side.

“And I believe you have already meet my friend,” Llinos continued, his smile growing perhaps a bit wider.

Zrathanzon laughed as Almonihah nodded. “It sounded like he likes you,” the Ranger chuckled.

“I think so,” Almonihah responded with a shy grin.

“He is a pretty friendly fellow,” Llinos said, as he scratched behind the wolf's ears.

Almonihah asked, “What's his name?”

Llinos shrugged. “He does not have one. What need have wolves of names?”

Almonihah thought for a second, then shrugged as well. “I dunno...” he said uncertainly, “Just... kinda seems like he should have one.” He paused for a moment more before hesitantly asking, “Could I come up with a name for him?”

Llinos looked down at the wolf. “What do you think about that?”

The wolf looked back at the druid, his tail wagging. After a moment, Llinos turned back to Almonihah and inquired, “Have you a name in mind?”

“Oh... uh... how about... um... Garekh?”

Zrathanzon laughed. “Naming him after his fur color?” Llinos cast an inquiring gaze at the ranger, so he explained, “Garekh means “gray” in Draconic.”

“Ah. An appropriate name, I suppose. Is it acceptable to you?” Llinos turned back to the wolf, who simply kept wagging his tail as he looked back. “Very well,” Llinos said, “He shall be named Garekh.”

“Now that that's settled,” Zrathanzon said, standing up, “I think it's time Almonihah helped me with cooking breakfast.”

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Chapter 3! Huzzah!

So, a lot of dialogue for a fairly short post. And we got to meet Llinos and Garekh. I've always wondered where it is that A.Z. got his kinship for wolves from, and I have a feeling this is part of the answer.

I italicized Garekh when Zrathanzon and Almonihah said it to indicate that they pronounced it differently (correctly, I should say) than Llinos, given that they both speak Draconic and Llinos doesn't. I realize that just italicizing doesn't really get that across very well, but... I didn't feel like it was worthwhile to interrupt the flow of the tale with such a minor detail.