Night of the hunt
I just felt like I should write something so I did. This is the first thing I wrote and how I came up with my username.
The water from the rain made running incredibly difficult for the wolf. He tried to take advantage of the moonlight and the bad weather to get away from the hunters but to his dismay, the crossbow wound in his paw was only getting worse, he was loosing speed, and the hunters seemed to be running faster. The wolf could hear them screaming, calling for the child that was strapped to his back. "DON'T LOSE THE KID, KILL THE DAMN WOLF". He needed to get back to his master, fast.
The wolf could barely feel the child move in his back, it was as if the rain mixed with the screaming of the hunters chasing them was nothing to the sleeping child. The wolf was glad for this. It made the little bit of running he could do easier, he didn't need to worry about the child moving in his back and possibly falling. His master's wife made sure that the baby was securely strapped to his back before whispering into the wolfs ear her last request "They are coming for us, please take him to his father, thats an order". The wolf did as he was told, regretfully leaving the woman behind to fend off against the group of men chasing her family. She was a strong fighter, the wolf believed in her.
Hours seemed to pass, he could no longer hear the hunters. The wolf took a moment to catch his breath and look at his injured paw. It didn't look good, the pain was bad, and worse, he was leaving a blood trail through the forest. He was close to his master's camp. The wolf tried to keep a steady pace but his paw completely failed him. He was afraid. All alone in the rainy dark forest, unable to move, losing blood, and his master's son on his back. The wolf was fighting back his urge to make the whole forest shake with his howl in an attempt to call his master. He couldn't fail his master, nor his son. The wolf dragged himself under a shrub and waited, he could only hope the hunters would lose his trail.
The wolf growled as he felt something move in his back and cried in his ear. The wolf quickly got out of the shrub and looked around him, he had fallen asleep. The sun was beginning to rise and relieve washed over him at the realization that the hunters had missed his blood trail. The baby was now awake and scared, he wasnt with his mother or father. The child was no stranger to riding on the wolfs back though, so he found comfort in holding tightly into the wolfs fur, almost as if hugging a plush toy. The wolf didn't want to waste any more time so he started walking onto the direction to his masters camp, careful not to put to much pressure in his injured paw with the crossbow bolt still pierced through his flesh. He was lucky, in a sense, the bolt being the only thing keeping him from losing too much blood.
After a few hours of walking the wolfs ears dropped as he heard whimpering from his back. He couldn't blame him, the child was probably as hungry as he was, and thirsty, so very thirsty...
Night dropped yet again, the child was in tears and screaming in the wolfs back. The wolf didn't know what to do but to march on, he knew he had to be close to the camp by now. He was afraid the child's screaming would alert any remaining hunters following them. Those fears where soon proven to be true when the wolf heard rustling trough the bushes and trees. "OVER HERE I FOUND THEM" "What!?" "Where!?". The voices kept appearing out of seemingly nowhere. "There they are!" The hunter stood in front of the wolf and took aim with his crossbow. The child held to the wolfs fur screaming as the wolf growled and bared his teeth. Any man would normally be terrified of a wolf his size but the hunter knew he was wounded and tired from nearly two days of running. The hunter took aim and shot his crossbow. The wolf quickly lunged himself to the right dodging the bolt and ignoring the pain in his paw, determined to save the child and get to his master. He was too weak to fight, he ran. "I MISSED THE SHOT, GET THE DAMN BEAST" he tried to dodge the incoming barrage of bolt arrows but one struck him in another paw, he was unable to move. As the wolf fell to the ground so did the child, he quickly pulled the boy by his shirts collar and used his own body to protect him. The wolf closed his eyes, awaiting his end. He had failed his master.
"Men! Attack!" The wolf heard men grunting and swords clashing. He looked around him and saw men in the same armor his master used. He was saved, he had reached his masters men."Oh gods, Treu! ,what happened to you?" The wolf looked over to the voice that called to him by his name and was happy to see his master. He had fulfilled his mission. He had saved the masters child. He tried to stand up and run to his master but he was to tired to stand up. The master reached the wolf and got on his knees holding his companions head. "Where is my son?" The wolf pointed with his head under himself and tried to get up, his master got what he was signaling and gently move the wolf. The wolf looked at his masters face and saw that his face was pale, tears quickly building up in his eyes. "No..." The wolf looked at the floor and saw how a bolt had struct the child in the chest, the child's blood smeared in the wolfs chest. Sadness enveloped the wolf as he realized he had failed to save the child, He had failed his master, his friend. He started howling into the moon and joined his master in sorrow.
Men gathered around the wolf and his master. "Boss..., I'm sorry for your loss ... The hunters have been cleared out, a few of them managed to escape... Im sorry, please forgive us" The wolf suddenly collapsed into the ground as the soldier finished speaking. "Quick get him patched up! Do not let him die" "Yes sir!" The wolf's master grabbed the limp body of his late son "Ready the carts men, we return home tomorrow, my son deserves a proper burial next to his mother" he gently laid down the body besides his mother, whose own body had arrived the previous day as a sign of victory by the enemy. "They will pay for this, I swear it"