in the plains. The shore was dangerously slippery with all the snow that covered it, but strangely, the water was not frozen.
Kaj saw Clarice approach the water. If she fell into it, she could catch something. “Clarice! You could slip!” he exclaimed, too forcefully.
“Dammit, are you mad!?” The elf glared at him. She bent down to fill the bottle, then threw it to the man with a defiant look. “How caring of you, Kaj. Up until a few days ago, I was the one who had to babysit you…” she said self-importantly.
“Babysit me?” he asked incredulously.
She stared at him intently for a moment. “You bet!”
Kaj returned her gaze without replying. Eventually, he tossed his backpack at her to provoke her, but Clarice elegantly ignored his provocation and resumed her march.
For a good hour, they continued apace along the stream, until they reached the point where it sank under the rocks. The path was impassable in places; the cliffs and the ups and downs forced them to take detour after detour. The time needed to reach Nidath was getting longer. They had to take advantage of the good weather and cover as much distance as they could.
They walked all night. The moonlight accompanied them faithfully, but by the crack of dawn, the clouds had returned, low and gloomy, a portent of fresh new storms. Clarice looked up at the sky. The tops of the tallest trees were swaying in the winds, which were once again strong and freezing. Suddenly, they heard something from behind. Clarice stopped, stretching out an arm to stop Kaj and gesturing for him to keep silent. The man knew what was following them; he sensed the same stench: lalks.
“They’re tailing us,” Clarice said softly.
The man did not lose heart. “Seeing how they screwed us over the other day, I’d say it’s better to attack first, so we can take them by surprise.”
“That’s just what I was thinking. Let’s let them get close.” The elf rose slowly, peering into the forest. Suddenly, the pack leader came forward, and two other lalks flanked it. Clarice had her bow in hand, and Kaj drew his sword. Two arrows were enough to kill the two lalks at the sides. But the largest remained. The beast avoided Clarice’s arrow, thereby yielding its side, and Kaj quickly lunged, managing to score a hit. The lalk turned quickly, growling and baring its teeth. Then Clarice laid down the bow and drew her daggers, before leaping forward for the strike. The animal knocked the elf down, and she lost her blades. The beast was close, and she managed to injure it in on one leg with the dagger that she had fastened to her leg, hidden by her tunic. The animal whined and bled profusely as it fled back into the forest.
Clarice was sitting on the ground. Kaj held out a hand to help her up.
“You were great back there,” he said.
She gave Kaj a satisfied look, accepted his hand, and got to her feet. “I know,” replied the elf.
The man shook his head in amusement, feeling the traces of blood left by the animal. “It’s losing a lot of blood. We should give chase and finish the job.”
“Agreed,” she nodded.
Trying not to make noise, they followed the lalk’s trail of blood into the undergrowth, weapons in hand to avoid surprises. Little by little, the size of the pools of blood was increasing, and the footprints were getting irregular—the animal was slowing down. They found it a little further on in a huge pool of blood, completely resigned to its fate. Clarice approached, and the beast did not attempt to attack. It only emitted a short growl. The elf took out the dagger, and when she was about to stab it in the heart, she saw that the animal had a collar. She moved its hair and discovered the stone attached to its hide. Kaj came closer to get a better look. The two exchanged a surprised look, and then the elf cut the collar. Suddenly, the animal stirred, frightening them both. It raised its head, looking at Clarice and breathing heavily, then expired.
They both stood there, speechless. Clarice looked at the collar: the stone, which until recently had been shining, was now dull and opaque.
“What do you think?” asked the man.
“Do you want to know what I think, Kaj?” the elf put forward a hypothesis: “The collar was controlling it, but when it looked at me before it died, it seemed to be nothing more than a normal wolf…”
Kaj chewed over her words. “If it’s the collar that makes it a ‘lalk,’ as you elves call it, that means it’s the work of necromancers.”
“They can probably see through the eyes of the wolf, and the stone influences the wolves that are close to it, inducing them to form a pack…” she said, searching for an explanation.
“It almost seemed like it wanted to tell you something,” hazarded Kaj.
“Without the collar, it had reverted to being under the influence of the goddess Efabi, and stopped being my enemy,” she noted, feeling for the beast. “It was my duty to free it from the pain I had caused it, and to send its soul to the Goddess.” Angry, the elf’s fist tightened around the collar. “I’ll have to make amends.”
Another two days’ walk brought them closer to the innermost area of the forest. The elven magic was so powerful that, despite it being winter, the vegetation was green and lush. Only in that area of Elelreel could one almost breathe in the power of ancient magic—the magic surrounding the creation of the first elves Nariel and Fayriss. They proceeded rapidly despite the shifting terrain. The elf’s purposeful steps served as a guide for Kaj. Suddenly, Clarice stopped to listen.
“What?” asked Kaj, surprised.
“Follow me!”
Clarice ran through the vegetation with such agility that Kaj could not keep up; he kept getting caught in branches. Going past the last shrubs, she spotted with great surprise a group of elves that had recently killed four lalks. When Kaj arrived, he was out of breath and exhausted. He tried to recover by resting his hands on his knees.
“They dead?” asked Clarice, checking the bodies.
“Of course!” replied an irritated elf.
Clarice found another collar at the neck of one of the animals. She cut it off, and shoved it in the elf’s face. “These collars are controlling the wolves! You don’t have to kill them!”
“They attacked us and we defended ourselves,” replied another member of the group.
Clarice swore in Elvish. Kaj convinced her that she had to explain herself better. “I believe that by removing the collars from the lalks that wear them, they will return to being simple wolves…” she said.
The elf stared at Clarice, eyes wide. “Incredible!”
“We found out a few days ago,” said Kaj.
The elf looked at him with suspicion. “And who would you be?”
“My name is Kaj,” he replied eagerly, hoping for a nod of acknowledgement.
“You weren’t asked,” said the elf.
Clarice stepped in. “We’re going to Nidath; are you headed there, too?”
The elf shook his head. “No. We don’t even come from the city.”
“Oh…” exclaimed the Vagabond, surprised.
Without
