Chapter 4

The Entry

Tell them "I am here to restore the outcast Wolf his honor." Tell them "I am here to restore the outcast Wolf his honor." Saphira kept telling herself as she stalked through the darkening woods in search of her target. The pack she carried was light enough but made heavy by the long 15-mile trek from the drop-off point into the forest of Dunland. The air was very quiet, except for the occasional crebain that soared through the air above her head as if on a mission of its own: spying into the recesses of the woods for suspicious trespassers like herself. As she walked softly on the cold moss, she heard a rustle of leaves behind her. A shiver ran down her spine as she silently spun around with blades drawn to confront the squirrel. It stopped abruptly before retreating up a tree.

Sighing she sheathed one blade while keeping the other at the ready. Even after 20 years of training as an Hȃsharin, she was still spooked by the forest, by what happened in one a long time ago.

At his office, Dalimir said this mission would be an opportunity to hide my emotions while manipulating those of my opponents and potential allies, Saphira thought. I will make Thrydan Wolfbane as spooked of the forest as I am, she resolved.

Suddenly, she saw several birds burst out from the leaves of trees in the distance while simultaneously staggering back from the onslaught of body odor. Taking it as a sign, Saphira scaled a nearby tree as the forest turned grey in the oncoming night. The Hȃsharin were renowned for being able to smell odors from long distances, but Saphira (unfortunately) made the other Hȃsharin pale in comparison.

After 5 minutes, she saw torches break forth from between the foliage. A young man no older than in his early 30's led the pack of men with his double-bladed axe in hand. Saphira counted 20 men with him. It's not an overwhelming force, but enough to give any Hȃsharin a little fun, Saphira thought to herself as she smirked. But sadly, that is not my mission tonight. I need a smuggler and Thrydan will have to make do. Saphira waited till the pack passed on but was still within earshot. With a swift leap off of her branch she landed noiselessly onto the forest floor behind some green foliage.

"Hail, Outcast Wolf! Would you spare me a moment's time?" Saphira boldly pronounced.

With that the dunland warriors stopped in their tracks and turned around with murdering eyes at their unforeseen foe. Thrydan walked fearlessly through his pack to face this herald:

"What do you want? Why are you afraid to come out into the open? Why do you call forth the Wolf as if you were a herald bringing tidings?"

Saphira, circling the pack under the cover of the foliage answered, "Why so many questions? I do not come as a herald but as a friend".

Thrydan, who was already tired of this game, snarled, "Answer me this, friend. Why should I not sniff you out and kill you myself?"

Saphira emerged from the foliage behind Thrydan and his men. She cocked her head to one side as if she were about to state the obvious,

"Because I am here to restore the outcast Wolf his honor."

The men turned in alarm, but Saphira seemed to fade like a wisp of smoke as their axes flew harmlessly into the ground where she was standing just a moment ago. Thrydan had just pushed through the crowd when she melted out of view before their eyes. Now he looked frightened, mistaking this messenger for a spirit.

Up on a nearby tree branch, Saphirra cocked her head in amusement as she watched the bewildered band of burly men peering into the shadows with their torches. The Wolf was dumbfounded, and his eyes were filled with dread, as if his pride had been drained from him. She almost felt sorry for them…almost.

Saphirra leapt onto the forest floor in the recesses of the forest and called out, "Tell your men to stop shaking and lay down their weapons, I mean you no harm as long as you mean no harm to me." Saphirra called out with a smirk.

Thrydan muled this proposal over in his head for a moment before whispering to his men, "put down your arms, the forgoil do not play with their food like this spirit." As the men laid down their crude axes, Saphirra waited, not wanting to emerge from the trees before the wolf had laid down his weapon. After his men had laid down all of their axes, the wolf carefully laid down his beloved ax with his eyes still peering into the forest. Immediately, Saphirra stepped out from the shadows and unslung her pack. Curious, the wolf edged a step closer before taking a step back in disbelief.

"How did you come by this? It was taken from pirates long ago and swept out into the sea."

"Dalimir of Umbar sends his greetings. This wolf's skin was from a mighty kill your father performed long ago and by it he earned the right to rule your clan, did he not?"

"That is right, but when it was taken, my family and I were banished from our clan, considered too weak to rule since my father had been dispatched by mere pirates. But why would this Dalimir send me my prize back? And why in the hands of a girl?"

Saphira's eyes burned with wrath as she raised a dagger towards Thrydan's throat.

"Because this girl needs safe passage into the land of Dol-Amroth" she said as her eyes narrow threateningly.

…

Thrydan led Saphira for 4 days through the wilderness, off the beaten path to avoid unfriendly eyes. As they crossed wetlands and marshes filled with gnats and hills and streams scarred with ruins from ages past, Saphira kept a constant lookout for retaliation for the game she played with Thrydan and his men. But no retaliation ever came. Thrydan and his pack wanted nothing more than to slash her throat, but fear held their hands back. Thrydan would glance at Saphira's pack that held his honor with a deep longing, as if his very future was tucked away in her pack.

On the fourth night they came upon a ridge that overlooked a good-sized cabin. It looked all but deserted as if some calamity had overtaken it.

Thrydan turned to Saphira and said, "this is the border of the land of Dol-Amroth. I have held up to my end of the bargain, give me back my father's honor", Thrydan demanded impatiently.

Without another word Saphira pulled out the wolf's skin and laid it at Thrydan's feet. As he picked up the skin, Saphira vanished from their sight. Thrydan responded in a huff as he and his pack retreated back to Dunland with his family's honor restored. Saphira stealthily descended the valley's ridge with a sigh of relief. Now the hard part begins, she said to herself.