Subj: [ffml] [MW] A Little Hunt pt 2
Date: 99-11-23 14:20:00 EST
From: skyhall@hotmail.com (Sky Hall)
Reply-to: ffml@onelist.com
To: ffml@onelist.com
From: "Sky Hall"
Tim stood for a moment in the shade of the forest and looked up, trying to
glimpse the sun and blue sky between the branches and trees above.
After arriving at the manor house and getting a bite to eat, Tim was
introduced to the Duke's men and readied for their hunt. After talking to
the injured man who had been mauled the night before, it was guessed that
the number of wolves was around fifteen, maybe less. And when asked about
their size, Tim took the precaution and had the men wear hard leather
bracers on their forearms just in case.
They had followed the trail from the sheep pen through the duke's lands. A
few sheep were carried off and so trails of blood and wool were left behind,
as well as the heavy tracks of the wolves. On one soft patch of dirt, a
clear foot print could be seen. Tim placed his hand over the footprint and
realized with a shock that his hand was barely larger then the paw.
The duke had ridden with the men out and right away Tim began haggling a
price. The duke found himself in a bind since he would have to pay Tim a
good price, as well as his own men since they were altogether at the moment.
They had finally decided on fifty gold pieces to Tim for the hunt and ten
more for every wolf killed, young or old.
At the forest bordering the duke's lands, the duke had turned his horse
back, bidding Tim and the men good luck. All was quiet in the forest. No
wind rustled the leaves and only a fed birds called to each other.
Tim led the group. The man with the dogs had them in the rear, both
animals muzzled lest they alert the wolves with a scent or sound.
Bits of wool clung to branches that the wolves had passed, other branches
were broken in their passing. Tim followed the occasion foot print and the
debris of the passing wolves.
They traveled along for half an hour came upon a rocky out-cropping, that
rose up at an angle away from the men. Tim suspected a cave or crevice which
the wolves would use for a lair.
Signaling to the men, Tim led them around the rock, moving slowly and
cautiously. Finally, a soft yelp was heard from a thicket of bushes ahead.
Tim halted the men behind him and went ahead alone.
Over the bushes, Tim spied ten large dark grey wolves lounging about. Six
of them were females and all had young that they were nursing. The pups,
some of them medium sized, were romping and playing in a clearing of grass
where the sun was shining down from above. One pup yelped as another one
bite it's tail.
Tim saw that the rock did form a crevice, a over hang, not quite a cave.
In the gloom, he thought he saw wolf-like shapes lying there.
Backing away, Tim looked around and worked his way back to the men.
"We've found it," said Tim. "Ready your bows and your swords. Aim for the
males first, then the females. We'll finish off the young later. Keep the
dogs muzzled till I tell you otherwise," Tim directed to the man, who nodded
in reply. "They are huge beasts, but we have surprise."
Tim turned and was ready to lead the men forward when a large grey shadow
ran past a few feet ahead. Everyone froze.
Another shadow ran past, heading in the opposite direction. A third, this
time pausing before Tim and his men. Tim took a deep breath and surveyed the
wolf.
The animal was large. At the shoulder, it was four feet in height. The
body of the animal was huge and muscled. It's large, pointed ears were aimed
at Tim, it's eyes calculating as it studied it's prey. Tim saw other wolves
join in and form a line off the animal. With a sigh of relief, Tim saw that
the wolf was the biggest of them all. But the other wolves were still large
beasts.
Tim backed up a little and called back to his men, not taking his eyes off
the line of wolves.
"Form a circle, put the dogs in the center. Don't break the circle and
we'll live. Try to keep the wolves outside the circle. If they break in, let
the dogs loose on them. Ready your bows and swords, if they get too close,
drop your bow and grab your sword."
The men quickly moved, the dogs unmuzzled. Soon, the dogs started growling
and barking. This gave the men some courage and they stood resolute.
Tim kept himself outside of the circle and drew his sword. He stuck it in
the ground and readied his bow. He stuck a few arrows in the ground.
As Tim and the men did this, the wolves had begun to circle the men. They
paced around and softly growled as they prepared to fight the intruders.
"Get ready to loose an arrow," said Tim. He took a bead on the pack
leader.
The men picked a target and readied themselves.
The leader stared at Tim, unflinching and unmoving. Tim could see the
intelligence in the animal as it watched. It would not be easy dispatching
these animals.
"Now!" said Tim, and the men released their arrows. Many hit their mark.
Tim, upon yelling, shifted his target and took the wolf next to the leader
in the shoulder. The leader himself had leaped to one side when Tim loosed
the arrow. It's fellow taken by surprise. The leader growled angrily.
Tim was outside the circle the men had formed by several feet. Tim had
planned this. He knew the wolves would come after the easy prey first, and
he trusted that his sword and skill would deal the animals enough damage
before they turned on the less experienced farm workers behind him.
Grabbing an arrow from the ground, Tim took aim and loosed the arrow at a
wolf that was stalking towards the group of men. That animal was taken in
the shank. Grabbing another arrow, Tim turned the opposite direction and
took a wolf in the neck. The animal squealed helplessly as it collasped and
struggled on the ground.
Not wishing to try his luck, Tim dropped his bow and grabbed his sword and
pulled it to the ready. After surveying the situation, he quickly saw that
the leader was approaching him at a sprint. The animals fangs were barred
and a howl escaped it's throat as it neared Tim and leaped.
Tim backed away and almost tripped over a root as he stepped behind a
tree. The wolf sailed past.
Tim was going to attack the wolf from behind, but a growl alerted him and
he turned in time to catch the attack of another wolf. The animal tried to
bite Tim's arm, and but just nipped the bracer of his right arm. Without
pausing, Tim swung and struck the wolf a roundhouse blow on the side of it's
head with his left hand.
The wolf yelped and stumbled away, dazed. Tim turned his attention back to
the leader and was knocked down by the large beast. The surprise completely
took Tim and he was knocked to his back. The wolves claws dug into his
chest, through the leather vest on his body. The hot breath washed Tim's
face and he barely managed to bring his left arm up to take the wolves bite
on the bracer. The extra leather and toughness of the item protected Tim
from the sharp teeth of the wolf, but not from the powerful bite.
Tim grunted and his eyes widened in panic as the wolf's bite crunched down
on, piercing the outer leather and squeezing the very flesh of his forearm.
Tim began swinging his sword at the wolf, cutting into it's flank and thigh,
but the damage was minimal and the death bite was locked in. The wolf began
yanking on Tim's arm, and the man realized that the wolf intended to
dismember him. The panic seized Tim and he tried aiming his sword to drive
it into the body of the wolf, but the movement of the wolf kept it from
sinking in, and instead just cut the outside.
The wolf pulled hard and Tim grunted in pain as he felt the tendons and
and muscles in his elbow and shoulder strain and stretch.
An arrow caught the wolf in the chest, the animal released Tim's arm to
cry out in pain. Tim sighed in relief, but then took advantage and with his
adrenlin pumping, grabbed the body of the wolf and rolled it over his body.
The wolf landed on it's back and quickly got to his feet.
Tim got to his knees, facing the wolf, and readied his sword. The leader
came at Tim again, the arrow protruding from it's side. Tim readied his
sword and aimed it at the wolf's mouth. It glanced off the teeth, caught the
back of the mouth, and instead sunk into the beast's shoulder, penetrating
deep from the force of the animal onto the sharp point. Growling in pain,
the wolf clawed at Tim and scoured his legs.
Grunting in return, Tim pulled the sword free and began stumbling towards
the men. The wolf leader backed away and walked off a few paces, panting
heavily as blood flowed from it's wounds. The damage had been done, Tim saw.
The wolf would bleed to death.
Another wolf came charging at Tim and he readied his sword, swinging down
to catch the animal on the neck, slicing open it's jugular. The wolf whined
in pain and crawled away. Coming to the circle, Tim helped dispatch one wolf
that was giving a man a hard time.
In the center of the circle, a wolf had penetrated and the dogs had been
released and were having a hard time fighting the animal, the man watching
over them trying to strike the wolf, but finding it hard with the dogs in
the way.
"Back dogs!" yelled Tim. One of the dogs responded by backing away a few
steps, but continued to snarl and face the wolf. Tim stepped forward and
with his left hand, grabbed the collar of the other dog and hauled it away,
the wolf, looking at Tim in bewilderment, met his blade as it came down and
cracked open it's skull. The wolf collasped with a soft whimper.
Standing up, Tim saw one man with his arm in the jaw of a wolf. He ran
over and as the wolf tried to react by placing the man between Tim and
itself, Tim ran his sword through the chest of the wolf, and quickly pulled
it free. The blood from the wound soaked the fur and the man, but the wolf
released it's bite and started backing away.
Tim looked about and returned to the circle.
Tim saw a few wolves moving, but they were all injured and many had arrows
in them. Tim took a deep breath.
"We did it," said a man.
"Barely," said Tim.
As the late afternoon set in, the shadows lengthened and the work about
the manor began slowing up.
The Duke was a little worried about the mercenary and men he had sent out
earlier. The Duke sat on a window sill over looking the fields in the
direction the hunting party had disappeared in.
Some movement caught his eye. Through the grain came running the two
hunting dogs, and far behind them the men could be seen.
Rasel hurried from the sill and down the stairs to the outside. He called
to other servants and they flocked to him as the led the way out.
Coming down the road, were all eleven men that had set out that morning. A
few stumbled and some had their arms in make-shift slings. Several of the
men carried skins over their shoulders. All of hte men looked bloody and
somber.
As Rasel greeted them, he urged his servants to help the men.
"How many were there?" asked Rasel.
"In all," said Tim, who offloaded the skins he was carrying, "there were
twenty-one wolves, plus eleven pups. Tell me, my lord Rasel, how large is
your bed?"
"What?" asked Rasel, taken aback.
Tim unfolded the skin and it was revealed to be that of the leader wolf.
The large skin was equal to that a bear skin. And the massive head was still
attached.
"My word," said one of the servants. All stared in amazement. Tim took a
sack from one of the men and opened it to Rasel.
"And we saved you the pups in case you might have desire to breed them, my
lord."
Rasel stared for a moment and his eyes were wide. "Thank you, Tim. You
have done an amazing job."
"We all did, my lord," said Tim. "But I think that you should pay us all
fifty more gold pieces for this hunting excursion, and if you don't mind,
allow me to spend a night here." He rubbed his shoulder. "We almost all died
out there."
Rasel surveyed his men, the skins they began showing off, and bag of wolf
pups that was squirming on the ground.
"Very well, Tim. I believe that you and my men have earned such a reward."
Tim sighed relief. At least he wouldn't have to make the trip back to the
inn that night.
--Sky
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From: "Sky Hall"
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Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1999 11:19:30 PST
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Subject: [ffml] [MW] A Little Hunt pt 2
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