Fair Game- Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Ingolf had let his cloak drop as he fled “The Black Crab”. Now it lay crumpled in the gutter—it was useless now. He ran blindly out of the coastal town, remembering a strong feeling of peril, but no longer the cause of it. Limping on his burnt paw, he had managed to reach the far outskirts—a place he knew to hold food. Immediately, he found what he was looking for, though unexpectedly, the sheep was already dead. He tore off a large chunk of the meat and swallowed it whole, very quickly aware of the bitter taste and dizziness that followed it.

Arth spotted the wolf through the window of the farmhouse. He took a pitchfork with him as he went to check it—the poison was strong, but strange things were afoot—it paid to be careful.

The animal made no attempt to run—on closer inspection, it wasn’t breathing either. Arth had only put the sheep out a couple of nights ago, probably a good thing. If the wolf had been staying close enough to his farm to find the sheep so soon, it was probably best he had killed it before any more livestock was lost. He dragged the body into the barn and closed the latch—there were people who would pay good money for wolves, dead or otherwise. It just so happened that one of them had knocked on the door of the farmhouse right at that moment.

**

Gytha looked carefully at the stranger before letting him in. The wolf-skin cloak and various silver artefacts suggested that he was just the person they needed.
“Please, come in! You’ll be wanting to know about the wolves, then?”
Grosvenor merely nodded politely and sat down at the table.

A few minutes later, Arth came back. He couldn’t believe his luck—he had always known that such people were rich, but this one could well have been mistaken for royalty. It was clearly a testament to his skill with a weapon, however, that he hadn’t been robbed by now.

“Good evening.” Said the stranger “I am Grosvenor. Your wife tells me you’ve seen a wolf in the fields—I’m sure you know of the rewards for any information.”
Arth beamed “Aye, and I’ve got more than information for you!”

**

Lycurgus slid carefully out of his window and scaled the drainpipe down to the ground. He had seen the wolf when it first came, and now had the opportunity for a closer look. From overhearing the conversation downstairs, he knew that it had been left in the barn. Now that it was dead, it couldn’t possibly do any harm just to look.

His hand was almost on the latch when a sudden noise startled him.
“Help! I’ve been locked in! Please, get me out!” Someone banged on the door from the inside. Lycurgus knelt down and pressed his eye to the crack between the two doors. From the darkness, another eye stared back. “Please?” He lifted the latch and opened the door. The eye folded down into a slit on contact with the bright moonlight, and the once friendly face sprouted hair and lengthened into a snarling muzzle.

**

“No, I assure you—I used nightshade. No animal could survive nightshade.”
“This isn’t any ordinary animal.” Grosvenor replied coldly. “I’m in pursuit of a dangerous fugitive—they’re using foul sorcery to appear as a wolf, and vile herbs to protect themselves against poison.” His tone warmed slightly. “I’m sorry to have dragged you into this—here” he said, placing a heavy velvet pouch on the table—it jingled and clanked as it made contact with the wood. “You’ve helped me a lot.”
“Help! Help!” Lycurgus slumped against the doorframe, holding a deep gash in his left arm. Grosvenor’s eyes snapped to the horizon behind the boy, where the silhouette of a wolf was already disappearing from view. In one motion, he snatched up the bag of coins and dashed out of the door, pushing the child roughly aside.

Arth stood up from the table angrily, holding a knife. “You foolish boy! We could have lived like kings!” Gytha stepped forward and expertly wrenched Arth’s hand downwards, twisting the knife out of his grip.
“Don’t you hurt him!” Lycurgus stepped inside, but Gytha immediately pushed him back out, staring at the wound on his arm. “Leave! Go! You’re not welcome here no more!”