Wolf lay on the grass as he looked out at the field, the two humans were about tending to the farm animals, and all was peaceful. Wolf gave a yawn before laying his head down while still looking out at everything around him, he'd had the chance to track and attack a large deer in the forest earlier, so hunger was the last thing on his mind. It had been some time since his first encounter with the armored human, Wolf was still surprised by the actions he had taken in the cave, but had come to trust him and the others around him. In the past, humans were to be avoided for although they did not have claws or sharp teeth as wolves, they carried weapons which could easily kill a wolf regardless of how strong. These humans however treated him rather well, just as the two smaller humans in the past.

xxxx

As a pup, the pack had always taken care of him and his siblings, but even growing wolf pups need to be able to explore. In fact, it was not too far from here that Wolf had encountered those two smaller humans. The place had changed, it no longer had the same smell about it, the village had now become some place for people of different races to do their training, but that was unimportant now. As a young wolf cub, he wandered near the village, curious about the smell of the humans and livestock, and there it found two young ones playing in the field. The wolf cub had crouched as low as it could get, awkwardly trying to stay hidden in the tall grass, as it crept forward stalking the kids as it had with the field mice. The two kids, a boy and girl, instantly saw him, but rather than run away, they happily ran towards him. Wolf was startled, instinctively he tried to growl like the elders in his pack, but at his size it came out rather puny. The kids approached him with arms stretched out, Wolf expected them to attack but found them petting and rubbing his soft fur.

"What a pretty dog."

"It's a wolf." The small male child shook his head as he corrected his friend. "I wonder what he's doing here? Did he get separated from his pack?"

"Are there more cute wolves like him?"

"Wolves can be dangerous, my sister told me about them."

Wolf was far too interested in the actions of the kids to remember what the pack elders had taught him…humans were dangerous. He happily barked and jumped around as the kids laughed. The small male boy raised up a stick in its right hand, Wolf immediately thought about the weapons humans could use to hurt them, but the boy merely reached out with his left hand to pet Wolf's head.

"One day I'm going to be an adventurer! With…uh, Wolf by my side I'll protect you and my sister as I slay dragons!"

"You're too young to be an adventurer."

"Shut up! One day I'll be big and strong, then you'll see! Come on Wolf, we got to slay those bandits!"

"Wait for me." The small female child cried out as she ran after her friend and the wolf cub.

The kids laughed as they ran around the field, Wolf as he was called, bounded after them happily wagging his tail. Some time had passed when he picked up a familiar smell, turning back toward the tree line he could see the eyes of his father watching him. He slunk down, tail between his legs and slowly made his way back toward his father. The kids watched their wolf-friend walking back towards the forest, they wanted to go after him but the male boy stopped his friend.

"What are you doing?"

"Over there in the trees, you see it?" The kids looked out and could make out the outline of a large wolf, its yellow eyes watching them carefully. "That's a big one, he might be dangerous; we better get back home."

The small female child frowned knowing they'd have to say goodbye, but she wouldn't let him leave without him hearing her.

"Goodbye Wolf! Thank you for playing with us!"

Wolf turned toward the humans, the sounds were unfamiliar to him, but the tone was not malicious. Wolf's tail began to wag as he ran back toward the forest with his father, the two wolves stared back at the humans for a few moments before returning to the pack. His first interaction with humans had not been bad, but the next time he visited he would find that things were no longer as they had been. Now older, though still not recognized as a full adult, he ventured back towards the village, still intrigued by his first encounter with the humans. From the tree line he could see the village was smoldering, from the smells he could tell the humans were gone. The stench of blood and smoke filled the air, but there was another scent mixed in with it…goblins. Horrid creatures who were worse than humans; humans killed to protect themselves and for food, for the most part, goblins seemed to kill just for the enjoyment. There was no point in going towards the village, he could no longer pick up the scents of the two humans he had met, they too must have been killed.

xxxx

Many winters had passed since then, he matured and like some of his brothers had left to form their own packs. He'd found his mate and was content with raising his litter in the forest, the humans were not actively seeking him; his encounters with them over the years had been difficult to say the least. Shot with arrows as he ran away with food in his mouth, stabbed and cut while fighting off those that invaded his territory, perhaps the interaction with those two humans had been a fluke, perhaps they were trying to trick him, he could never know. What he did know was the armored human could have killed him that day, but chose to aid him.

The armored human had a strange smell about him, the stench of death and blood clung to him like a sickness, and yet there was the familiar smell like the boy he met in the field. In many ways Wolf thought of him as another wolf, he could tell from the man's presence that there was a great sadness and anger within him, a thirst for vengeance, just like he had after discovering the fate of his mate and pups. Wolf could not consider himself an alpha, an alpha would have protected those in his pack, yet this man, this alpha, treated him like an equal rather than a lower wolf. In fact, all the people that associated with him treated Wolf with respected. This pack he joined was different, there would be an alpha and all others were subservient to him, but each member, himself included, was seen as an equal to one another, each allowed to make decisions on their own but always making sure to protect one another.

Wolf suddenly found the female human who was with the cows earlier walking toward him. She soon turned and sat beside him on the grass, casually reached out to scratch the tops of his head, Wolf instantly closed his eyes and wagged his tail at the attention he was getting. This human too had a very familiar scent to the girl he met in the field, but there was no way that those two children could have survived that goblin attack. He was not able to protect his pack before, he was not able to protect the little ones that were close to him, but in this new pack he would not allow that to happen again.

"It's a very nice day isn't Wolf?" Cow Girl mused as she continued to pet the dire wolf while taking a break from her duties, soon a puzzled expression came across her face. "Wolf…Wolf…why does that sound so familiar as I say it?"

She looked back down at Wolf and a thought came to her, one she had not considered for many years.

"I remember now, he and I were playing in the field with that wolf cub, my that was so long ago. I wonder…could he have remembered what he said in the field, and that's why he calls you Wolf or…no that's a silly thought…could it be though…"

She looked back at Wolf, really studying him, Wolf looked up at her returning her gaze.

"Is, is it you? Are you the same wolf cub we met all those years ago?"

There was no answer of course, but Cow Girl smiled as she decided that was exactly who Wolf was. He had to be that same wolf they met all those years ago, another happy piece of her childhood come back to her, just as her friend had.

"Don't you worry Wolf, he'll be back, he never breaks his promise."

xxxx

"Well if it isn't the Goblin Slayer. Where's your mangy dog?"

Goblin Slayer turned to see Spearman sitting beside the wall casually smiling, every now and then looking toward Guild Girl. Goblin Slayer was a bit confused by the comment; he did not have a dog, it had been years since he had been seen with a dog, it was then that Goblin Slayer realize that Spearman must have been referring to Wolf.

"I do not have a dog. I do have Wolf in my party."

"Sarcasm is really lost on you isn't it? Fine, then where's your mangy "wolf" ?"

"He's at home. Guarding the farm."

"You trust that thing around the animals and that cute girl of yours?"

"Yes. I told him not to eat the animals."

"I don't know what I was expecting. Anyway, I heard you actually went on an adventure that didn't involve goblins. What was it? Troll? Evil Wizard?"

"I'm not sure. I only know they weren't goblins."

"Every time I talk with you, I feel a headache coming on. Fine, so what brings you to the Guild today, more goblins?"

"That and I was told the Guild had something for me."

As the line of adventurers cleared, Goblin Slayer finally made his way up to the front desk where Guild Girl was smiling brilliantly at him, much to the chagrin of Spearman.

"Why hello Goblin Slayer, it's so nice to see you today."

"Hello."

"If you'll wait a moment, I'll get some tea and then you can give me your report."

Goblin Slayer downed his tea in one gulp, through his visor of course, then thanked Guild Girl for the drink before giving his report on the quest at the Dog-Faced Padfoot village. The details he provided perfectly complimented what his party members had mentioned; she could not help but be proud of his accomplishments, his heroics and quick thinking saved those children.

"I'm thankful that you made it out of there safely and saved the children as well." A sudden thought popped into her head as she remembered the two items that had come in for him. "That reminds me, I have here a couple of things here you."

"What things?"

"A letter from Water Town and this from the Dog-Faced Padfoot Village."

Goblin Slayer looked at the two items before him, one was an envelope that bore the mark of the sword and scales the other was a scroll that had been rolled up and tied with a string.

"A magic scroll?"

"You won't know unless you open it."

Goblin Slayer thought about for a moment before undoing the string and carefully unrolling it, yet instead of magic runes he and Guild Girl found a crude drawing on it. On this long paper they found rough charcoal sketches of figures, one was round and short, the next was a short girl with a stick in her hand, the next was tall figure with fangs and feathers, the next was a tall girl with a bow, the next figure looked like a man in armor, the last was a large dog with a big smile and two little children on its back. Below the figures were the words "Thank You", all clearly done by a child's hand. Guild Girl's eyes sparkled at the sight of this, this was just as good as the thank you letter and corn he received some time last year. How far he had come from his first quests some six years ago

"I believe that's all of you correct?"

"So it seems."

Goblin Slayer made sure to roll up the scroll before tucking it into his pack behind his back.

"You be sure to share that with the others."

"I will."

"Now what about the other one?"

Goblin Slayer opened the letter and began to look over the contents, Guild Girl could not see his face, but judging by the sounds she heard from within the helmet did not sound good.

"What does it say?"

"It's a request for me and my party to come and see the Sword Maiden at the earliest. A report of an individual in leather armor seen with a large wolf terrorizing the countryside."

"That…that sounds like you and Wolf, but that couldn't be, Wolf has been with you."

"I hunt goblins."

"I'm sorry."

"I hunt goblins…I don't use them."

He handed the note to her and she quickly glanced over it until she caught sight of the final bit of information.

"A large group of goblins have been witnessed attacking under his instructions." The thought of someone controlling goblins who resembles Goblin Slayer was beyond belief she looked back at Goblin Slayer with a worried look. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to hunt these goblins down and their master."