Drawn by the rumour of a manslaying wolf, Murdoch arrived at the Averlorn Inn just before dusk. For a few hours, while riding slowly through the predusk gloom of the forest, he had felt eyes watching, and despite his bravery, it sent shivers down his spine.
At the Inn, he turned his mount into the hands of a stableboy, and with a few words of precaution to the boy about the stallions foul mood, and with a few coins to the dirty lads pockets, he made for the Inn's door.
On the porch to the Inn, and at the moment he placed his hand on the doorknob, he heard something from behind, the snapping of a small branch followed by a low growl, and his heart almost missed a beat from the startlement he felt. Murdoch slowly turned about, his hand drawn to the hilt of his sword by instinct and reflexes, and he caught movement from behind a fallen log. Something reflected the Inn's light...was it eyes? Yes, he could clearly see a shadowy form slink away behind the log....
Murdoch slowly advanced towards the log, and as he approached, a loud growl was heard, and there it was...the wolf!
'Could it be?' he thought with both hope and fright, the confusion evident on his face. He squatted down, and with the most calm and soothing voice he could master he spoke to it "Don't be afraid, I mean you no harm!"
The wolf backed away from him, further into the brush of the forest, and Murdoch noticed he had his sword still drawn, so he sheathed it, and once again he called out to the wolf. "A...Adella?"
Suddenly a man approached from behind him and went towards the wolf, and knight by the look of him, and Murdoch cursed inside, he felt as if he had somwhow reached through, but now the moment was gone. The knight went boldly up to the wolf and talked to it, but instead of backing away, the wolf bit his calf, and the knight cried out in pain. Murdoch's moment of hesitation was over, and he ran forward flailing his arms and screaming from the top of his lungs, and the wolf sneaked away, frightened by his charge.
When Murdoch came up to the man, he saw it was a knight named Uzziel Nefzen, a paladin of some reknown, and the bite turned out to be shallow and the paladin quickly healed it with his divine powers. After some slight arguing, the two of them came up with a plan as how to catch the wolf, after Murdoch explained that it might be his presumedly dead wife inside that beastly form. Murdoch circled around it, while Uzziel taunted it into a charge, and as the wolf and the paladin began to fight, Murdoch snuck up from behind to knock the wolf to the gorund with his shield. The plan worked, but the two fighters had not anticipated the wolf's quick reflexes, nor it's prodigious strength, and it made it's escape, despite their efforts. The paladin followed with eager and bold conviction, but Murdoch lingered outside the Inn, his mind in turmoil. He had found Adella, of that there was no doubt, since the wolf had spoken to them, and at one point, Adella's voice cut through the malicious voice of the beast, letting out a cry of anguish and plea. The word she cried out was 'help'! Simple as that, but it cut straight through Murdoch's mind into his heart, and he stood for a while, lost. His cheeks turned wet with unshed tears of grief, of shame and of dishonor from vows broken, yet he wiped them away, his face more stern than ever before, and followed the paladin deeper into the woods. The tracks were easy enough to read, despite his lacking skills, and he caught up to them near a lone house on a half-hidden trail south, and he evaluated the scene before him.
The paladin was lightly wounded, but the wolf was in far worse shape, and the two stood locked in a stalemate, none of them daring any sudden moves. Murdoch slowly moved up on the wolf from behind, and the quickthinking paladin started talking to the wolf with a loud voice, moving about and making quick charges against it, to lead it's attention away from Murdoch, who at the last made a dive at the wolf, grappling it in his strong arms. The move was successful, and the wolf was caught, finally. Uzziel tied the thrashing wolf's paws together, and it started to convulse in violent spasms.
In one eerie moment, it looked as if a red shadowy wolf charged right out of Adella and away through the forest, and soon after she lay in Murdoch's arms, her humanity restored.
With alarm, Murdoch and Uzziel noted that she didn't breath, nor did her heart beat, and with joined forces, they began to bring her back the warrior way. Uzziel worked her chest, while Murdoch gave her the warriors kiss, breathing down her lungs until life came back into her.
Murdoch lifted her frail body tenderly, and carried her all the way back to Solinar, with Uzziel as an escort, and with the same conviction the paladin had showed earlier, he fought off wild beasts and orcs alike to keep the two safe from harm, but not without injuries.
Once safely at home, Murdoch placed Adella in her bed, washed her clean and tucked her in to sleep, all the while his mind raced along destructive paths....what was he to do now, what was he to tell her? He didn't know....
If he found the chalice, his dishonor and shame might be forgiven, so with Adella safe in her bed, he made it back to the library to continue his wanton search...of a higher purpose.
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'The wise ox gets the yoke'
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