PROLOGUE

– CHAPTER EIGHT –

– CHAPTER EIGHT –

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Something wet hit his face.

He awoke with a start, expecting some sort of threat to greet him. Once his eyes were alert, he scanned the small room. To his surprise, he saw the wolf standing next to him. Its tongue was hanging out, panting happily. It must’ve licked him.

“You dumb animal, you’re gonna pay for that trick!”

But before he lunged at it out of anger, he restrained himself. It was just then that he noticed his body wasn’t aching. He also realized his headache was gone.

“Well, what do you know about that!”

Before he acted rashly, he decided to try standing up. He slowly stood, half expecting to be cured, but at the same time waiting for the pain. As he stood up straight, he felt nothing. He felt almost as if he’d never been sick. But now was the real test.

He took a step. He gritted his teeth and tensed his muscles, readying himself.

Nothing.

Am I cured?!

It sure seemed like it.

He turned to look at the wolf, which still sat there, watching him, its tail wagging. It was then he saw that a small, weathered-looking bow sat next to it.

“Where did you get that?” He asked it.

The wolf pretended to attack something. It stood up and began hissing and biting at the air, then sat back down.

“Ah, a skeleton. Thanks! This will come in handy.”

He suddenly realized it felt good to talk to someone, after his period of solitude. Even if it was a wolf

He picked up the bow, examining it carefully. It seemed old, but it was intact.

Instantly he felt guilty. The wolf had cured him, brought him this weapon- which it had probably risked its life to get- and most of all, it had dealt with his temper. And here he had been so mean and skeptical of it.

“I’m sorry. I was being a jerk. Do you forgive me?”

It replied by walking up to him and licking his boot.

“I guess that means yes, doesn’t it?”

Now he put down the bow and thought about what he needed to do.

He remembered that the previous day- At least he thought it was- he’d planned to find his great-grandfather’s map so that he could look for any sign of another civilization. The thought of living among other people again boosted his spirits. Maybe there would be a village, say, only a mile or two from here.

In my dreams.

He crawled outside, the sun greeting him with its warmth.

At least it hasn’t rained for a while.

As he started toward the fletcher shop, he heard the wolf following behind him.

“You’re going with me, then? Alright.”

He then thought that calling his friend “The wolf” Wasn’t a suiting name for an animal that had probably saved his life.

“What shall I call you?”

Though there were many simple names he considered, he decided that a special animal needed a special name.

“I’ll think about it.”

As they headed down the village road, toward his mother’s shop, he pondered on various names for his friend. However, each one he came up with, he deemed either too simple or too fancy.

Before long, they reached the shop.

As they entered the old building, he told the dog to be careful of broken glass. It just wouldn’t do to have an injured paw.

Now to find the map.

He checked behind the front desk.

There was only a few burned goods, as well as a few stray arrows that were half charred. These he picked up, testing the strength of each shaft. Surprisingly, three out of the four arrows were in usable condition. He showed them to the dog, who took and carried them in its mouth.

Then, he walked into the back room. The smell of dust hit him instantly, and he sneezed.

He looked in the first barrel on the right wall. There were only a few coils of string. Looking in the next one, he found it full of already-crafted arrowheads.

Opening the third one, he only saw a few feathers in it.

After examining all but one, he opened the lid of the last. An old map lay inside it.

“What do you know! We found it, pal!” He said as he patted his dog on the head.