Scianeus's Orphans Saga

Today marked a week's passing since the group had set off on the journey, and the situation looked grim.

They had emptied the stew pot this morning, and even their jerky was close to running out as they were forced to ration. This was coupled with a mysterious absence of any sort of prey. Altan claimed that this was due to them approaching the territory of a wolf pack Dirrar had mentioned before.

The rainy nights further exacerbated their situation; not only did the moisture cause several of them to fall ill, but they also found it increasingly hard to find their path as they relied on the stars to navigate.

Stumbling blindly into the forest, hoping to be on the right track, was madness, but Joshua had little choice. He needed to get his people out of the forest so they could recover from their illness and try to replenish their supplies, so he had no option but to press on.

In the morning, they held their usual meeting. This was a tradition used to keep everyone in the loop, as Joshua recognized throughout the trip that every one of his group deserved an opinion and was qualified to contribute to the effort.

Up until now, they usually traveled while following along whatever water source they came across. Indeed, the direction of the flowing water was their last hope of getting back on track.

They had memorized the layout of the kingdom. They understood that the topography of the forest was a downhill slope leading into a valley. Therefore, finding a large enough running source of water and following the direction it flowed would surely point them in the right direction.

But which way should they go? Waiting for the weather to clear up was a long shot; it could be weeks before that happened, and that was time they simply did not have. They were deep in the forest by now, and their sense of direction was thrown off. Everything looked the same, as trees were everywhere.

"We have no choice but to make a choice in the dark," stated Joshua. "It's best not to dawdle. We are losing daylight."

"But who will make the decision? Or do we take a vote?" asked Loretta.

"We might as well leave the choice to someone with a bit of luck. I think Reynard should do it," expressed Sai.

"What? Why am I the one to make such an important decision? I think Joshua should decide; he is our leader, after all," muttered Reynard, weary of the potential consequences if he made the wrong choice.

"Because an egg wouldn’t crack even if it fell on your head. You always came out first when playing dice," noted Altan.

"Herbert often got angry as he thought you were cheating," revealed Teuta while chuckling.

"Uhh, fine! Don’t blame me if this goes wrong."

He then drew a circle in the ground, put a stick in the middle, and closed his eyes as he let it fall. After that, they settled on following the direction the stick pointed to.

After trekking along for a few hours, they were starting to get famished. The lack of water skins was coming back to bite them hard as they ran out of water.

They now had to rely on scavenging what little drops of moisture they could from the tree leaves and hoped they would encounter a water source before nightfall, as Joshua urged them to pick up the pace.

Late in the afternoon, just as the sun was starting to set, a shushing sound was heard. It was Altan at the front, ordering the group to pause and keep quiet so he could focus his hearing. Then he suddenly veered off, trying to ascertain the location of the running water he had heard.

He came back a while later, a big smile on his face and his hair drenched in water. "I found it, it's this way! I knew you were a lucky man, Reynard," he joyously expressed as he guided them toward it.

It was a humble rivulet, less than three feet wide, but for them, it was a flowing beam of hope. Exhausted, they quenched their thirst and started setting up camp while Altan and Joshua set off to make sense of their surroundings and to try to catch something to eat.

Just as Joshua was retrieving a rabbit he had managed to pierce by throwing his dagger, and was returning to link up with Altan, he was surprised by his comrade’s odd behavior.

Sitting on his knees in the dirt with his jaw dropped to the ground and eyes widening in disbelief, Altan seemed like he was struck by lightning as he struggled to get the words out.

As the moon was still covered behind a veil of clouds, Joshua had to strain his eyes to try and make out what caused his friend to become so disheartened.

As soon as it hit him, he started losing heart as his knees began to buckle. It was wolf scat.

Under normal circumstances, a pack of wolves would have been somewhat manageable if the group combined their efforts, but this was a different story.

The words of Dirrar started ringing in his ears. Often after the end of their hunts, he would celebrate with them in the cabin. He would break out the booze he had hidden away from the director’s prying eyes, and after a while, start boasting about his past deeds of bravado. One story stood out among all of them, the one that ended in failure.

He told them of a great wolf pack that lives deep in the forest. One day, howling was heard near the orphanage, and he was tasked with investigating their hideout and disposing of them if necessary, hoping to avoid any potential accidents if someone were to get lost in the forest.

"It was an easy enough job at first. It took me four days to track down their habitat. Admittedly, even in the beginning, I was surprised by the size of the pack, but I brushed it off and started picking off a few at a time. That didn’t last long, however, as I soon found out the reason for the pack’s unusual size."

He continued after taking a sip from his mug. "At first, I didn’t think much of it. His color was different from the others; his legs and torso were white, and he was a lot larger than the others. I knew he was the leader of the pack and that killing him would mean the job was done."

He then rolled up his sleeves to show bite marks stretching all over his forearms. "He fought like a front-line commander, commanding his pack to keep me busy while constantly bouncing back and forth. His speed and decision-making, coupled with their teamwork, threw me off guard. I barely managed to drive him away after I slashed his right eye."

He then spilled his drink onto the campfire, causing it to flare up. As all eyes were focused on his next words, he said, "If you ever run into it, don’t think of facing it head-on!" He then zeroed his sights onto Altan and asserted, as he put on an intimidating face that sent chills down everyone’s spine, "It’s too early for you!"

The duo then came to their senses as they realized they had to quickly get the rest of the group out of this situation. They were aware that fighting an entire pack of wolves at night with their limited weaponry, even without the infamous wolf showing up, was a worst-case scenario.

And then, they heard howling in the distance...