Interlude One: The Guard


    Jade is a Guard.


    She usually loves her job. But it can get boring without her friend.


    She really misses Zade, and she doesn’t try to hide it. Erenfeld is the type of place where everyone knows everyone, so at least people sympathize with her in general. Some people in Erenfeld miss Zade too. But Jade misses him the most.


    Zade was usually here in Erenfeld while she was working. He’d listen to her work stories, and share his own before he killed his parents. He’d been a fledgling blacksmith, but he hadn’t been very good at it. He would often tell her of how he messed up here or there, and it would always make her laugh. Until his parents died and everything changed.


    Some people in Erenfeld hated Zade for what he did. Jade got angry whenever anyone mentioned it. It wasn’t fair to him. He’d been devastated. Jade was the only one who tried to help him at the time. Some of their other friends had warmed up, but not all of them. Sedros had never even talked to Zade again. It was a tough time for all of them, but it had been worse for Zade.


    Now it’s worse for Jade.


    Jade is one of five guards in Erenfeld. It’s a small village, so it doesn’t need many guards. Most people live in harmony. Usually, guards are only needed here for feral animal attacks. Therefore, many times Jade and the other members of the Guard must travel to Arcadia, the capital of the land aptly called Arcadia. There they report to the Guard what is happening in Erenfeld. And, if need be, sometimes they even take trips to other villages surrounding Arcadia if there is a big issue in those other villages.


    It’s a great job. It’s Jade’s dream job.


    That is, it was her dream job if it included Zade. They had been best friends since they were born. They grew up together. They learned the sword together. They dreamed together. Zade had helped her become a guard.


    She missed him.


    Today starts like every other day since she returned from Magefell. She wakes up and has breakfast at her house. She still lives with her parents. She’ll move out when she gets married. She breaks her fast with her family too, just after the crack of dawn. Her dad is a farmer, and is teaching her younger brother Reux


    how to farm. Because of that, they have to wake up early. Jade wakes up with them because of her routine.


    “After breakfast, Reux, tend the cows and the sheep,” Her dad says, “I have to go see if Farmer Holdstadt has the produce I need.”


    “If you need it,” Jade intejects, “I can help. The others can cover for a while. Today is mostly a free day.”


    “I think we’ll be fine, Jay” Her dad, Anselm, replies. “Besides, you should be focusing on something else.” He winks. Her dad’s been pressuring her to get married for years now, but she hasn’t gotten around to doing it yet. She supposes she just hasn’t found the right guy yet.


    “She doesn’t want to,” her eight-year old brother commented. “Jay wants to marry Zade. But he’s gone now.” Jade blushes and looks down. Her father gives her a critical eye.


    “You could do much better than that boy,” Her dad voices. “Plus, he’s gone now, so it’s better you let go of him.” His mother, Jeuel enters the room and kisses her father.


    “Shush, Anselm, let her hope.” She says. “Maybe she can move to Magefell with Zade.” Jade tolerates this conversation but only just.


    “Nonsense,” Anselm vocalizes, “If anything, Zade will have to move here. Nothing is taking my Jay away from me.”


    Jade laughs heartily and plants a kiss on her dad’s forehead.


    “I’d like to see you try and stop me. I’ve got to leave. I’ll be back by lunch.”


    “Bye, honey,” Her mom says as she leaves. Jade waves.


    — — —


    “I miss Zade,” Chrome says. “He was such a sight for sore eyes when you were bored.” Jade agrees. Chrome is a twenty-two year old woman who originally lived in Arcadia, but, for some unexplained reason, decided to move to Erenfeld when she turned sixteen. She got married soon after that. She joined the guard just a year before Jade.


    “He was a little bit intrusive, I thought,” Demien responds. A slim man with a nasty scar on his left cheek, Demien has been part of the Guard ever since Jade can remember. Zade had a saying: Everything changes. Except Demien. He’ll always be there. And it’s true. Demien loves his job, and Jade could never see him leaving it. Demien does have strong opinions, though, and one of them is that Zade is a mischievous boy. He doesn’t dislike Zade, he just doesn’t like him. Part of it is Zade’s fault, but Demien wouldn’t like Zade anyway. That’s just Demien.


    “That’s your opinion,” Chrome retorts. “I think he was sweet.”


    “As sweet as an onion, maybe,” Demien responds. Usually, Jade ignores them. They never talk about anything interesting. This time, she’s just barely listening because they’re talking about Zade.


    She’s at the Headquarters, which is a small chalet where the Guard hangs out when they don’t have a current job. It didn’t have a name until Jade made a joke calling it that, and everyone seemed to like it. They think it sounds cool. Jade thinks it’s stupid but funny.


    The door to the Headquarters slams open, and Torr walks in. He is the strongest man in the guard. Jade wouldn’t be surprised if he’s the strongest man in Arcadia. He’s also technically the captain of Erenfeld’s Guard.


    “We’ve got a job.”


    “Really?” Demien asks, excited. “Finally. I’ve been waiting for one.”


    “It’s not for everyone. I only need one more person. Farmer Holdstadt is complaining again. He says a giant wolf attacked his farm. Jade, come with me.”


    “What? Why can’t I go?” Demien complains.


    “Don’t worry.” Jade laughs. “Chrome will entertain you. And Guilia, whenever she comes. Where is she anyway?” Torr shrugs. Jade grabs her sword. “Alright, I’m ready!”


    Torr nods, and she leaves with him to Farmer Holdstadt’s house, on the outskirts of Erenfeld, right at the beginning of Eren Forest. It’s a dangerous place if one is alone and not a member of the guard. Many vicious animals live there: wolves, snakes, bears. It was probably just a normal-sized wolf that attacked Farmer Holdstadt’s place, and Jade and Torr will have to hunt it. Farmer Holdstadt has the largest farm in Erenfeld. It’s so large that disputes over where it starts and ends are extremely common. Therefore, the guard can’t let predators attack the place. It would ruin Farmer Holdstadt’s work and a lot of Erenfeld’s economy.


    Farmer Holdstadt is an exaggerator, but Jade has to check it out anyway.


    Just in case.


    — — —


    “Damn, that thing is huge!” Torr says in genuine surprise. Farmer Holdstadt chuckles, and Torr glares at him. The young, lanky farmer stifles a laugh.


    “Sorry,” He says, not very apologetically.


    Jade is looking at the biggest print she’s ever seen. It looks to be seven by six inches. It’s definitely made by a wolf, but it’s a beast. No wolf would have paws that big. It’s just not possible. The wolf would have to be humongous. Also, there’s something weird about it.


    “It walks on its hind legs,” Torr exclaims.


    “On its hind legs, it has to be about ten feet tall, right?” Jade asks. Torr nods, and Farmer Holdstadt gasps.


    “You’re not serious.” Torr glares at him, and he gulps.


    “What did it take?” Torr asks him.


    “Five sheep and three cows. That’s ten percent of my stock!”


    “Why would it need so much?” Jade wonders. “Not even a wolf that big would need to eat that much. Also, it made several trips, or else it wouldn’t be able to carry this much.”


    “You think it’s got friends?” Torr says.


    “Probably,” Jade replies. “We’ll have to follow the tracks, won’t we?” She crosses her arms.


    “I’m afraid so. Farmer Holdstadt, we’ll find the wolf, and bring you back its head.”


    “You better,” Farmer Holdstadt growls.


    Jade looks at the tracks leading into the forest. Whatever this wolf looks like, it will be hard to kill. If it really is ten feet tall and walks on its hind legs like a bear, can Jade even stop it? Where did it even come from?


    Torr walks into the forest quietly. Even in the day, being too noisy in the forest could alert any potentially dangerous animals that they were in the area. Jade slinked in after him, following the tracks.


    The trees let in only partial light, and the deeper they go, the darker it gets. The tracks lead deeper in, but then veer to the right. They keep twisting and turning and backtracking, as if…


    “This wolf is intelligent,” Jade voiced, “He’s purposefully trying to mislead any trackers.” Torr growls in agreement.


    “Something is wrong here,” He says.


    Eventually, the tracks break in two.


    “Should we split up?” Jade asks. She doesn’t think it’s a great idea, and apparently Torr agrees.


    “No. We’ll come back later. After lunch, probably. We’ll come back with Chrome and the rest. Then we’ll split up.”


    “Good idea. I don’t know if we should bring Damien though, unless you plan to use him as bait.”


    Torr cocks an eyebrow. “How did you know I was going to do that?”


    For a second, Jade thinks he’s serious. Then she sees his smile. She laughs. Zade describes her laugh as bells tinkling in heaven. Jade isn’t sure if that means anything or not, but she loves the compliment anyway.


    “Come on, let’s go back. And guard my back, Jade. Make sure nothing sneaks up on us.” Jade and Torr sneak out of the forest quietly and head back to the Headquarters to regroup and strategize. Jade gears are already turning, deciding how to find this Wolf.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    — — —


    “It’s massive,” Torr exclaims. Demien chuckles. “Shut up, Demien.” Demien looks abashed. “Anyway, the wolf is probably twice your height. I was thinking after lunch we go fight it. I take the first trail with you, God help me.”


    “Hey!”


    “And Chrome, Jade, and Guilia will take the second path.” Jade and Chrome nod.


    “Where is Guilia? Has she really not shown up yet?” Jade asks.


    Chrome shrugs. “I haven''t seen her today. I did see her mom, though. She said Guilia was still sleeping.”


    Demien snorts. “Figures. Always late, that girl.”


    That’s true enough. Guilia is not exactly what anyone except her would call punctual. She arrived one month late to her own birth, and from there it was all downhill. She would come late for her own appointments. Sometimes, she would come late to something she had delayed for being late. But usually, she wouldn’t be later than an hour after time. This must be her new record.


    “Someone needs to wake her up.” Jade says.


    “A kiss should do it,” Demien vocalizes. He puckers up his lips.


    “Like you would know anything about kissing.” Chrome exclaims, chuckling.


    “I kiss a lot!” Demien retorted indignantly.


    “Yeah, your dog.” Torr laughs, and Demien huffs and crosses his arms. Jade almost feels bad for Demien. She can’t deny he deserves it, though.


    “Okay, so we meet here at two, right?” She asks.


    “Yes. All of us, even Guilia.”


    “If you can get her here on time.” Torr rolls his eyes, but smiles.


    Jade hangs her sword on the wall, and takes her protective vest off. She grabs her linen shirt and pulls it on over her bra. She walks off, heading to her family’s farm. It’s not as big as Farmer Holdstadt’s, but it stands on its own. Her dad is proud of it, and she helps there whenever she can, just to keep her dad happy. He deserves his farm. It’s his greatest pride.


    Except for his kids. They are the greatest thing he’s ever created, he always says.


    Jade sees her father on the pigpen, and she walks over to him.


    “Need any help?”


    “I think I’m good. You don’t have a job?”


    “Only in the afternoon.”


    “Then go talk to someone. I think Yogo has his eye on you.” Her father smiles. Jade shuddered. Yogo’s nice and all, but she doesn’t want to date him. “Oh, and mom almost has lunch ready. If you could be back in half an hour that would be great.”


    “Okay, dad.” Jade says. She saunters off. She sees Danni and waves to her.


    “Hey, Danni! What are you doing?”


    “Oh, just some chores, Jay. Thinking about Zade, as always. He would’ve dated me if I''d asked him.”


    “For some reason, I’m not sure he would’ve done that.” Jade feels a little sorry for Danni, but she knows Zade, and he would not want to marry Danni.


    “You don’t know that, Jay. I was this close to getting him.” Danni almost drops the pails of milk she’s carrying. “Oops, here, can you help me carry this?”


    “Sure,” Jade replies. She grabs one of the pails, and lifts it up. It’s a little heavy. Jade always wondered why milk is so heavy. “Where are we heading?”


    “Taylor’s.” Mistress Taylor is one of the best cooks in Erenfeld, and she owned the only inn here. Occasionally, there were visitors, but mostly the inn was always full at night. It was the most popular place for guys to hang out at night. And women too, although some preferred to sleep at night.


    They arrive at the inn, and Jade opens the door. Danni walks in.


    “Mistress Taylor?”


    “I’m here, Danni. Come to the kitchen.” They walk back towards the kitchen where Mistress Taylor is busy organizing her items. “There you are. Oh, and you brought Jade. How are you doing?”


    “I’m fine, miss.”


    “Good to hear, good to hear. I heard Farmer Holdstadt had a wolf problem?”


    “Yeah, it’s massive. I have to follow it after lunch.”


    Mistress Taylor shakes her head. “I don’t envy you.”


    “I like it,” Jade says, shrugging.


    “Good for you. I’m glad I''m an innkeeper. It’s a great job with little to no danger. At least, here in Erenfeld there’s not much risk.” Jade nods and leaves her pail of milk next to the doorway.


    “I have to head home now.”


    “Wait,” Mistress Taylor exclaims, “I have something to give your mom.” She leaves the room and I wait for a minute. She returns with a set of four plates. “Tell your mom I said thank you.”


    I nod and say goodbye. I leave the inn, and head home to have lunch.


    — — —


    “Alright, we’re heading out,” Torr announces. “Guilia, thanks for finally showing up.” Guilia is thirty minutes late. She yawns, looking very tired. “Guilia, you’re with Chrome and Jade. You will take the right side. Me and Demien will take the left.


    “I don’t need to remind you, but I will anyway. Be careful. This wolf is dangerous. If it attacks you, don’t take on it alone. If you need help, leave or find us. Don’t be a hero. Do your job.” Jade and the others salute in agreement.


    They leave, heading towards Father Holdstadt’s farm. When he sees us, he only says one thing:


    “That big, huh?” Demien snorts, and Torr grunts. They keep walking deep into the forest. The prints were deep, and are still there. Eventually, they reach the fork.


    “Alright, we’ll see you soon,” Torr says. “If you find the monster, try to kill it. If it’s too strong, leave. Cut off its head if you kill it. Good luck.” Jade echoes the sentiment and they’re off.


    Deeper into the forest, the ambience becomes even darker. Jade takes the lead, with Chrome on the left and Guilia on the right like a triangle.


    “Those tracks really are big,” Guilia whispers. Chrome shushes her. The tracks veer left and they follow. Then the tracks cut off.


    “So our path is a dead end?” Chrome asks.


    “I don’t think so,” Jade responds. “This wolf is smart. He probably started erasing his tracks a little. Let’s spread out and look for more tracks. Don’t veer too far. If you find it, don’t yell. Come find us.


    Jade walks slowly forward, scanning the ground. The ground has clearly been trodden on recently. The Wolf probably passed through here. She keeps looking to make sure the wolf passed here and not some other animal. Nothing yet. She looks back. She isn’t getting too far apart from her fellow guards. She keeps slinking forwards.


    There. Prints. On closer inspection, they prove to be wolf prints. She smiles. She found it. She waves at Chrome and she sees it. Chrome pokes Guilia and Guilia looks up, surprised. Guilia points at Jade questioningly, and Chrome nods. They walk over to Jade and notice the prints. This way, Jade mouths. They walk forwards.


    Jade wonders where Torr and Demien are now. Maybe Torr found a dead end. Maybe he got tired of Demien and decided to use him as bait. Did they reach a dead end? Did they find the wolf? She can’t hear any noises, so she doubts it, but anything is possible.


    She’s never been this deep in the forest before. They had to be a mile deep. This wolf had walked a lot. She notices a blood trail on the ground. Chrome sees it too.


    “Probably Farmer Holdstadt’s sheep,” She whispers. Jade agrees. Looks like the wolf ate some of the animals here.


    “We must be getting close,” Guilia says. The tracks are getting slightly fresher. The wolf has been here more recently. The path Torr took must have been a dead end. As they keep walking, Jade hears a twig snap. She glares at the other two girls. It wasn’t me, Chrome whispers.


    “It wasn’t me either.”Guilia responds. Jade’s eyes widen. It knows they’re here, doesn’t it? Is it hunting them? Jade shudders.


    She turns around and unsheathes her sword. Next to her, Guilia and Chrome do the same thing, forming a circle around each other. They walk in circles, scanning their surroundings, searching for the wolf.


    Snap.


    Jade looks to the side. She still can’t see anything, but now she’s sure. It’s here. She pauses and waits, listening. She closes her eyes, and lets her ears do the work. The emptiness surrounds her, and she lets it come. She waits to hear something. Her friends are probably doing the same.


    Snap.


    She opens her eyes and turns around. There. Behind a thicket, there it is. A mass of fur. It’s clearly crouching, but now Jade can see it.


    And it realizes that. She sees two burning.red eyes looking straight at her. Then the thing stomps out of the shadows. Whatever Jade thought this wolf would look like, she was wrong.


    It’s humanoid. Walking on two legs, with a muscular frame like a man. It’s truly giant, over ten feet tall probably. Its fangs are longer than Yue’s hands. Its ears flattened in rage. Its tail flapping on the ground wildly. Its gray fur blends into the forest surroundings.


    But that’s not the scariest part. It’s wearing armor, Jade realizes, horrified. The wolf is wearing protective gear on its chest, arm, and leg area. Stabbing it with a sword on its chest would clearly not do any damage. And by far the worst part about all this is its weapon.


    On its right hand, the wolf-human combination is wearing a double-bladed axe. It looks like one hit from that thing could split Jade’s head. Its massive arms carry the axe like it was a simple kitchen knife, but Jade isn’t sure she would be able to lift it. She looks in horror at the wolf.


    The wolf snarls and roars at them. It charges Chrome, who dodges out of the way just in time. The wolf swings its axe wildly, and Chrome ducks. Jade tries to rush and help Chrome, but she’s too slow. The wolf slaps Chrome with his blade and she’s flung back, hitting a tree.


    She lies still.


    Jade runs at the wolf, and while she does that, she yells at Guilia.


    “I’ll distract the wolf. Go get the others.”


    Guilia nods and runs off, and Jade stabs at the wolf. Her blade slides off its armor, and he turns around, growling.


    The creature swings its sword in a downward arc, intent on cleaving Jade’s skull. She jumps back, and trips on the ground, falling. She crawls back as it stabs again and again. It growls in annoyance and stomps on her leg. She hears a crunch and shrieks in pain. Her vision gets blurry, and she sees as the wolf smiles in hunger.


    “AAAAAHHH,” Chrome screams from behind her. Apparently, she’s woken up. “I’M HERE! COME GET ME!”


    The wolf ignores her until Chrome attacks him, sword lunging at its arm. He turns around snarling. Jade hopes Torr comes back soon or else they’re dead. The wolf grabs Chrome and flings her around. Chrome falls on the ground and gets up slowly, bleeding. She swings at the wolf and the wolf catches her arm with his left hand, Jade tries to get up, but is too tired. She watches in horror at what happens next.


    The wolf bites Chrome’s arm, and she screams. It flings its head back, and Chrome’s arm comes with it, blood spurting everywhere. She screams again, terror and pain flooding her. The wolf throws her down. It raises its foot and stomps right on Chrome’s head. Jade looks away as the parts that aren’t crushed by the wolf are thrown in the air. When Jade looks again, all she sees is Chrome’s headless corpse and blood where her head should be. All over the forest is the blood and brains left of Chrome’s head. Jade feels bile coming up her throat. She can’t believe Chrome is dead.


    The wolf turns toward her, fangs out as a challenge, and Jade’s eyes widen. She scrambles back despite the pain on her leg. She stands up, ready to face it. Her leg complains but she ignores it, adrenaline running through her. She glares at the wolf, and clumsily limp-runs at it. It charges too, axe pointed dangerously at her. It swings, and she slides down on her good foot under its legs. She notices it''s a boy, but doesn’t have time to stab it there before she’s behind it. She quickly stands up, and knowing she had one second to get it right, stabs it in the leg. It howls in pain and anger. Jade doesn’t feel satisfaction. It killed Chrome! She stabs it in the leg again, and it falls.


    She goes for another one, but this time it’s ready. It moves quicl?y, standing up, resting on its good leg. It holds its axe carefully, expecting Jade to do something. Jade doesn’t move. She wants him to do the first move. Eventually, it realizes this and decides to attack her. Jade smiles, ready.


    It charges and swings its blade. She ducks out of the way, turning right. Then she jumps forward, thrusting her blade towards its head. The sword slides in its forehead, and she jumps back. Her bad leg buckles, and she falls. She watches as the wolf roars and tries to get the sword out of its head. It does so, but falls back. It breathes shallowly until eventually, it stops breathing.


    Jade killed it! She did it! She feels tired, and slumps against a tree. Chrome is dead. She has avenged her. Jade sheds a couple tears for Chrome. She breathes shallowly. The pain in her leg was too much. She thinks it’s broken. Her vision starts to get blurry again, and she can see blood pooling from several cuts.


    She hears screaming, and sees Torr, Demien, and Guilia running towards the scene of the battle. She can barely think, but she tries to signal them that the wolf is dead, and so is Chrome. She can’t move. Torr notices she is alive, and walks towards her. He kneels beside her and asks something that she is too lost to understand.


    She slips out of consciousness, pain drowning her.