Staring at body on the ground, the man approached it with a stride, crouched down to check for any life signs, after rigorously checking for any vital signs, he soon drew the conclusion that the young maiden is gone from this world.
Clenching his fists, he stood up, looking over his shoulder, he said to the men that were approaching him.
" She's is dead, is best that we head back to inform our master and get our next order from him"
" Commander Rom, should we take the body with us?" one of his men asked , his head hanging low.
" No, we shall leave it here for the wild animals to feast on, she is no use for us now" Commander Rom replied with a blank expression, no hint of emotion.
"Master will want proof that she is indeed dead" another man added
" He will have to take my word as proof Sylus, I have no intention dragging a decaying corpse with us , since we are so far away from our home" the Commander replied.
Silence settled in after the Commanders words and the group of men looked at each other and nodded in agreement with what their leader just said.
Hearing a rustle in the nearby bushes, the group of men turned around, looking in the direction of the sounds, drawing their swords , taking positions ready to attack as soon as the threat came into view.
From the bushes a wolf came , with a silver mane swaying as the breeze blew in the forest, bearing his teeth and growling at the men in front of him, he slowly made his way through the thicket.
Looking at their Commander that was not moving and just stared at the wolf at was still some distance away, raised his hand and said to his men " He is here for his meal, there is no need to fight the wolf, best that we make a move"
At his words the men sheathed their swords and turned around to leave the wolf and the corpse of the young maiden behind.
Moving through the forest they quickly disappeared out of sight like they were never there in the first place.
Soon the wolf made his way towards the lifeless young maiden lying on the forest floor in a pool of her own blood ,wounds and slashes all over her body, looking as if someone had taken their time to carve in a systematic way.
He laid on the ground next to and gently nuzzled and nudged her as if to wake her up, gently licking the wounds on her face .
All of the sudden he stopped, his ears perked up as if picking a sound that wasn't there before, stopping his attempts in waking up the young maiden lying on the floor, he turned around and soon enough a man came into his view, not very far from where they were.
All of the sudden the wolf started whimpering, like a puppy and gained the man's attention that was heading in the opposite direction from them.
Hearing the whimpering the man turned around, his gaze falling on the forest ground where the wolf and the girl laid.
The man ran to them and stopped a few steps away, wary of the wolf guarding the girl. His action made the wolf plop his ears, his head lying on his front paws, a sign that he wasn't going to attack.
Looking at the girl with an eye still on the wolf next to her, noticing the condition of the girl, he looked at the wolf and said with a soft tone , concern marring his face.
"I'm going to check to see if she is still alive" the man nodding at his own words.
The wolf didn't move and just whimpered at the man's words, as if to say that he agrees to what he just said.
Slowly approaching the girl, he placed his fingers on her neck, he sat there for a few minutes, staying silent and waiting to feel something, anything that would indicate that the girl is still alive.
A few minutes later he looked at the wolf and said.
" She is still alive but not for much longer, if we hurry we might be able to save her"
At his words the wolf let out a heartbreaking howl, got up grabbing with his mouth on the girls tunic the wolf started dragging the girls.
Looking at what the wolf was doing, the man sighed and said to the wolf,
" If that's how you're planning to carry her, she'll die before we are going to make it to my hut "
Hearing this the wolf let go of the girl and stared at the man's, as if to say " You do you it, then"
Without wasting much of the precious time, the man grabbed the girls body, carrying her in his arms made his way through the forest as quickly as he could and soon enough the man's hut came into view.
Entering the hut , he placed the girl on his bed turning around he noticed the wolf in the doorway staring at him as he fumbled with some containers that were laid on a table in the corner of the hut.
Mixing the ingredients that he needed, he went back to the bed where the girl laid , he opened he mouth and gently started to trickle the concoction that he made a while into the girls mouth, closing her mouth and massaging her throat and the repeating the process until all of it was gone.
Turning to the wolf, he looked at him and said
" Come in....if you want to keep watch of the girl"
The wolf walked in and plopped himself next to the girls and let out heavy breath as if he was annoyed.
Watching the wolf actions , as having an internal battle he sighed and said,
"I'm Ian and I'm healer" the wolf looked at him letting out another heavy breath, the man continued his thoughts " We will know by tomorrow morning if she will make it or not, this is just the beginning " at his words the wolf let out a growl as to say, " If she dies, you die" then carried on being annoyed like nothing happened.
" We should get some rest and see what tomorrow brings"