He carefully walked along the path, cautiously turning the corner to the divergence in the road. He could go one of three ways at this point. He had come from the west, and he could turn toward the north or the south or continue on east. He decided to hurry on to the east, still vigilant of the threat of fairy dogs. Large hounds, which enjoy nothing more than tearing the flesh from reckless travelers. They’re found specifically on crossroads at night. So Frenris had a reason for worry. No regular hound would stand a chance against him. But his mother had been superstitious, as was he. And soon the wispy hairs on the back of his neck were rigid, only the air wasn’t cold enough for that. Brisk perhaps, but not cold enough to cause the severe gooseflesh that was crawling on his arms like a legion of bugs.

A shuffle of leaves alerted him to something padding along behind him. His head jerked around. And he saw nothing but forest. Dark forest. A shiver scurried up his spine.
What were the odds of a dark green hound sprinting out of the night’s underbrush? Pretty good he learned as he turned around to see a mangy dog with upturned ears sitting in the middle of the road. It snarled viciously at him, baring teeth white and sharp. It barked once loudly at him. Frenris knew it was all about timing, he would have to pull out his sword at the exact right moment for his plan to work.

A second bark resounded through the forest. And then a third. The dog ran toward him, as fast as the wind. With nothing more than the sound of the pads of his feet hitting the ground to warn of his imminent attack.

A second before it reached him, Frenris unsheathed his sword. It was a short sword, the kind you could strap onto your thigh and keep hidden. Perhaps a little longer than thirty centimeters. But it did quick work of the dog. It was dead before its teeth could graze the skin on Frenris’ cheek. But it still left a scratch. Frenris shoved the dead weight of the large stiff dog off himself.

He looked at his short sword, covered in blood, which he wiped off on his trousers. It didn’t matter if those got dirty, in the dogs attack it had ripped them and torn some flesh from Frenris’ leg. He ripped the torn part off and tied it to the laceration on his leg.

“Ouch.” He sighed to himself and continued on his journey.



He walked on until he found a trickle of a stream. Just big enough to cup his hands into and take a drink. While he was there he washed the wound on his leg and re-bandaged it. As long as he was stopped he figured he would make camp. Frenris quickly made a fire and fell asleep.


Frenris woke up to his orange-red fire, still burning strong. But the sky was as thick black as a bottomless well. The black water holding all kinds of secrets.
“So you’re up.” Came a voice from behind him. He turned wide-eyed to see a girl and a man, standing there, just looking at him.
“Who are you?” He asked, already standing up, hand on his sword.
“We’re you, only not. We’re like you.” The girl told him. He just glared at them. They were a weird looking pair. The girl was tiny compared to her counterpart, long black hair flowing down her back, the top fringed in pink. The color of cat-flowers. There was no way her hair could have grown like that. Her eyes were just as strange, dark violet.
The man was far less strange, regular blond hair, and green eyes. But as he kept looking he saw that his eyes were as strange a color as the girl’s, a green more green than grass.
“What do you want?” He still didn’t understand who they were, but maybe they’d answer this question in a not so cryptic way.
“You. We want you to join us.” The girl answered again.
“Why would I do that?”
“Because we understand you. The way you have never been beaten in a battle. Even when you faced that fairy hound earlier. The way you cannot understand other people. Even your own mother. He seemed crazy to you, didn’t she? And your eyes, they’re yellow. No human could have eyes like that.” Frenris’ wide-eyed gaze grew wider. “Don’t you ever wonder what you are Frenris? We can help you answer that. Come with us, we’re moving north, what do you say?” She smiled at him, a smile that would have been heartwarming if it wasn’t so scary.
“I’ll walk with you. Just for now.”
“Great. My name is Nattica, and this is Eos.” She told Frenris pointing to her traveling companion. Who Frenris guessed wasn’t ‘human’ either.