Karol's midnight walk.
Karol was exhausted, but in spite of this, and the late hour, his thoughts wouldn't stop coming. He had been thinking about Nan, and his old acquaintances in the Hunting Blades. He couldn't in all honesty call them friends, not like Yuri and Estelle, even that arrogant, bossy Rita was kind of a friend to a degree. They had already been through so much together, and even with their teasing they did still encourage him. But still he did not feel quite at ease – still the need to impress, to feel worthy and valued tugged at him. He did not yet feel that he belonged with these people, even though it had been his idea to join forces officially and create the new guild in the first place. Despite his pride, anxiety and insecurity still plagued him.
Outside the rain pattered gently on Dahngrest's pitched rooftops and cobbled streets, and gurgled occasionally in the gutters outside the inn where his group had taken up lodgings for the night. All of a sudden, he became aware of a new, different sound, mingling with the raindrops, but distinct from it. A low grumbling – no, a snarling. Karol gripped the sheets tightly, trying to ignore the sweat that was already coming unbidden. "Come on Karol, don't be such a baby. Call yourself a monster hunter", he thought to himself.
Not wanting to wake the others in their neighbouring rooms, he slid, as stealthily as possible, from his sheets, and tip-toed to the wooden windows that opened onto the dark, and previously empty, alleyway. Heart pounding in his chest, he reached towards the latch, his fingers gingerly lifted the cool worn metal, and slowly pushed the shutters outwards, fearing at every moment a squeak from the rusty metalwork would reveal his presence to whatever was waiting in the darkness below.
The rain came harder now, a storm was clearly about to break over the Den of Guilds. As if on cue, a flash of lightning overhead illuminated the dingy alley below, and Karol perceived in the blackness the silhouette of a creature, frozen in a tense position of attention, ears pricked, in the middle of the alley.
"Wolf", Karol gasped, the word bursting from his mouth in spite of himself. In that moment the animal lifted its head and looked towards Karol's viewing place. Before swiftly ducking down the sill he caught a glimpse, a flash of something familiar. Metal? A chain? His confused thoughts took a moment to settle. The barrier blastia was fully functional in Dahngrest, and if there had been a breach, someone would have raised the alarm long ago. No, there was only one thing it could mean.
He raised his head once again above the window sill and stole a glance below. Relief, flooded through him, and yet his curiosity prevented him from calling out. Repede was still there, stock still apart from the occasional twitch of his tail, but now his eyes were aimed elsewhere. Silently Karol pulled on his boots and a hooded cloak, and made his way towards the exit of the inn, which he knew appeared further down the alley, behind Repede's vigilant figure. As he stepped out into the night, his eyes adjusting quickly to the dark as they always did in this gloomy city, he wondered at his own observation. Somehow it had seemed obvious that Repede was on the lookout for something. But what could it be? And where was Yuri?
In front of him, Repede's dripping, hunched figure seemed to stiffen, his ears twitched and then flattened back against his head, steeling himself for something. As Karol watched, Repede's muscles tensed and then he bounded off down the alley. Karol adjusted his hood and took off in pursuit, his feet steady on the slick cobbles. Repede turned left as the alley opened onto the next street without hesitating, almost as if he already knew exactly where he was going, as if he was being compelled by some mysterious force that Karol couldn't see or hear. At a safe disance, Karol followed Repede's retreating figure through the twisting lanes. "He's heading towards the bridge", he realised after 10 or so minutes of tailing. "What is he doing out here?"
As the alleys opened out into broader streets and avenues he moved swiftly between the shadows of doorways, taking cover behind empty stalls and stacked shipping crates, but Repede seemed not to notice he was being followed. Karol felt a fleeting surge of pride in his sneaking abilities, but this was swiftly followed by another thought. If he had noticed Karol, whatever was compelling him on this late night excursion, it was more important.
Upon reaching the bridge, Repede's pace slowed and his posture visibly altered. He padded softly towards the middle of the stone bridge, his head lowered strangely, in what looked like a gesture of submission. Karol remained concealed in an archway and silently observed the radically different behaviour of the usually haughty creature, oblivious to his sodden boots and rain-soaked clothes. Despite the noise of the rain, he held his breath in anticipation and wonder. Gradually the rain clouds parted to reveal a milky white full moon, the reflection of which made the cobbles glisten with a somewhat eerie silvery light.
As Karol watched, Repede shifted his weight backwards, his front legs were stretched out in front of him, he gently bowed his head between his fearsome paws. Somewhere in the distance, a clear howl rang out above the rooftops of the city, but Karol, rooted to the spot, could not tell from which direction it had come from. It seemed almost as if it had come from everywhere at once. Repede raised himself from his position of deference, and lifted his head in a long, soulful howl in response. A few, long seconds of expectant silence ensued, then the heavy clouds drifted back across the sky to once again shroud the moon, and the rain continued. Repede heaved out a sigh, turned and started to make his way back across the bridge.
As he came level with Karol's hiding place, he stopped as he perceived the young boy's presence. His eyes narrowed and his lips pulled back to bare his teeth, but made no sound. Then to Karol's surprise, he exhaled sharply, angled his head in a kind of sneer, and seemed to shrug his powerful shoulders. He turned as if to continue on his way back to the inn, but paused for a second, and looked back at the boy. Without a word Karol re-adjusted his hood and accepted the invitation. Side by side, dog and boy slowly made their way back through the empty streets of the sleeping city.