The three mages immediately stopped laughing and turned their attention to the road ahead of them.

Lelwyn stepped off of the cart and walked up to Rikel. “What is it that you have seen?” he asked.

Rikel shrugged her shoulders. “I’m not sure yet,” She admitted before turning to him. “Get back on the cart and be ready to take off if any trouble starts,” she ordered, drawing her sword.

Lelwyn quickly followed her instructions and joined the others on the cart. Once there, the three mages started preparing spells in case of an attack.

Rikel quickly dismounted and approached the misshapen mound of snow by the side of the road. She bent down and used her sword to carefully remove some snow, revealing a tuft of gray fur around a broken jaw. “It’s the remains of a wolf!” she cried out in warning to the others.

Kirel rolled his eyes. “Wolves aren’t exactly unheard of in forests,” he mocked.

Lelwyn placed his hand on Kirel’s shoulder. “Kirel, now is neither the time nor place for such levity; I feel that something odd is afoot here.”

Bewr pondered the situation aloud. “While this might explain Rikel hearing a wolf during the night, why would there be a single wolf? Wolves usually travel in packs,” she pondered to herself. “Can you tell how it died?” she yelled questioningly to Rikel.

Rikel stood up straight. “These are definitely combat wounds. Though I don’t know enough of the Healing Arts to be certain of the type of combat. Lelwyn, please take a look,” she requested.

Lelwyn nodded and ran over. When he reached the wolf, he knelt down and made a cursory examination. “This wolf was not felled by beast nor Elf. There is nary a scratch or bite on its fur. Further, I see no sign of puncture nor cut.”

At Kirel’s confused look, Rikel clarified. “Elves practically exclusively use swords or the bow and arrow. While the occasional dagger or ax isn’t out of the question, those would still show similar enough wounds in a corpse. I agree with Lelwyn; something else killed this wolf.” She turned back to the Healer. “Any idea of what weapon was used to kill it?”

Lelwyn scratched the beard that was starting to grow on his chin. “Bludgeoning, I’d say, is what did this wolf in. Given the large square imprint upon the poor thing’s skull, a large hammer is my guess for the weapon used against it.”

Bewr gasped in alarm. “Poachers!” she yelled. “They’d want to use weapons that do minimal harm to the fur and skin,” she explained.

Rikel started scanning the trees for signs of movement. “We need to get out of this area now! If the poachers see us, they’ll have to kill us to make sure we can’t tell the Elves what happened.”

As Lelwyn stood up to return to the cart, he accidentally stepped on part of the wolf’s body. When he did so, he and Rikel could hear the sound of somebody cry out in pain under the remaining snow.

Rikel pulled Lelwyn back. “This could be a trap,” she explained. “Let me.”

As he backed off, she started removing more snow from the wolf. Underneath the wolf was the shivering form of an Elvish girl who looked barely shy of adulthood.

Lelwyn quickly pulled off his cloak and wrapped it around the girl. “We have to help her,” he ordered. When the girl made no effort to move or talk, he turned to her. “How fare you?” He asked. When she continued not to answer, he tried again. “Know you my tongue?”

He stood up and turned to the cart. “Bewr!” he called. “You are versed in the Elvish tongue; I need you here now!”

Bewr jumped down from the cart and started running over. “Lelwyn! There’s actually more than one Elvish lang...” she started to lecture, stopping when she saw the girl wrapped in only Lelwyn’s cloak.

“Hello,” Bewr greeted the girl in the Wood Elf language. “My name is Bewr.” When the girl didn’t answer or show any signs of understanding, Bewr repeated herself in the High Elf language.

Bewr turned to Lelwyn and Rikel. “High Elf and Wood Elf are the only two dialects of the language still spoken,” she explained. “I don’t think her silence is from a lack of understanding us.”

Lelwyn pondered Bewr’s words. “I think we misread the signs of the battle. It appears as though she was attacked by the wolf and slew it instead, then spent the night beneath the foul remains until we let her out. It’s easy to imagine the poor child’s mind snapping in such a situation.”

Rikel barked out a humorless laugh. “Hardly. The wolf was on top of her when it was given the killing blow. She couldn’t have done that. Besides, if your assessment was correct, what happened to her clothes?”

Kirel surprised the others by speaking up next to them. “We all know what happened. I guess I’ll just have to be the only one who’s willing to say it. The girl was attacked, probably with sexual intent, by poachers and the wolf died trying to protect her,” he concluded.

Rikel nodded. “Bluntness aside,” she answered, “I agree with Kirel; that has to have been what happened.”

Kirel bent down to try to help the girl up. As he held out his hand, she showed the first signs of awareness since being uncovered by shrieking and backing away with tears running down her face. He stood back up and started walking back towards the cart. “Lelwyn, I think it’d probably be best if Rikel and Bewr try to take care of this without us,” he explained. “We’re just upsetting the poor girl unnecessarily.”

Lelwyn started to protest. “And should she have injuries beyond Bewr’s proficiency in Healing, what, pray tell, should she do then?” he demanded.

Bewr started pushing Lelwyn towards the cart. “If anything appears to be life threatening, I’ll have you help her directly. Otherwise, I’ll have you walk me through the basic spells; I do still remember the basic lectures on Healing magic,” she pointed out in annoyance. Lelwyn reluctantly nodded and returned to the cart.

Once Lelwyn and Kirel were out of sight, the girl started calming down. Bewr knelt down to try to comfort her. “It’s okay. You’re safe, now. Nobody here wants to hurt you.” The girl showed no sign of understanding Bewr’s words.

Rikel started pulling the wolf off of the girl. “We should get her out. Being covered by death can’t be helping her,” she commented. Bewr nodded, quickly casting a spell to help Rikel move the wolf off of the girl.

As they pulled the girl away from the wolf, she surprised them all by reaching for the remains. “Jolen!” the girl cried out, while struggling to get closer to it.

Bewr turned to the girl. “Is Jolen the wolf’s name?” Bewr asked her.

Instead of answering the girl knelt down next to the wolf and started silently sobbing. Bewr hugged the girl close and tried again to calm her down.

Bewr looked to Rikel. “Please go and ask the others to start making camp.” Before Rikel could protest, Bewr continued. “I know we just set out for the day, but I think she needs some rest to help recuperate.”

Rikel smiled sadly. “I was only going to suggest that we make camp out of sight from where this happened.” She stood up and headed back to the others. “Also, if you had tried to leave the girl here, I would have given back my pay and stayed here without you.” Bewr chuckled to herself as Rikel walked off.

As Rikel walked up to the cart, she heard Kirel casting a spell. Lelwyn turned to her. “How does the girl fare?” he asked in greeting.

“She’s crying now,” Rikel reported. “Bewr wants to make camp so the girl can rest. I think we should do so where she doesn’t have to see where this happened.”

“A sound idea,” Lelwyn agreed. “A league and half should be distance enough, I say.”

Rikel nodded. “I’m going to let Bewr ride with the girl on my horse. I’ll walk ahead and scout. Try to stay a good distance behind us. Will the two of you be fine on the cart?”

Kirel finished his spell as a simple set of wool clothes appeared in the air. “These will only exist for two to three hours,” he informed while handing them to Rikel. “We’ll be fine on the cart by ourselves.”

Rikel took the clothes and ran back to the girl. Bewr saw the conjured clothes and pointed to them. “Did Kirel make these?” she asked. To Rikel’s nod, Bewr continued. “Then they’re temporary. But they should last long enough to get to and make camp. Who’s riding where?” Bewr asked on a new topic.

Rikel summarized the plan. “You and the girl will ride my horse while I walk ahead. Assuming she’s calm enough to ride a horse, that is.”

Bewr shrugged. “There’s only one way to find out.” She turned to the girl. “We’re going to try to get you on the horse so you can ride. Do you think you can handle that?”

When the girl continued not to answer, Bewr and Rikel dressed her in the conjured clothes before sitting her on the horse. Though she made no movement to control the horse, she kept her balance in a way that only a well trained rider could manage.

Bewr saw the way the girl sat on the horse and chuckled. “She’s probably a better rider than I am. Help me up?” she asked Rikel.

With Rikel’s, and the horse’s, help, Bewr managed to get on the saddle without falling off. The group traveled a fair distance along the road towards Midway before stopping and making camp again in the late morning.

Bewr and Rikel kept the girl calm while Lelwyn and Kirel made camp by themselves. Rikel turned to Bewr. “Should the girl sleep in your tent or mine?” the knight asked.

Bewr nodded. “Mine,” she answered instantly. “If she needs any healing before morning, I’d be more able to take care of it than you would. No offense,” she quickly added.

Rikel held up her hands and smiled. “None taken,” she assured the mage. “You were just stating the truth.

Once Kirel and Lelwyn finished putting up the tents, Bewr and Rikel helped the girl walk into the tent and lay down on the bedroll. As soon as the girl was set on it, she fell into a fast, if fitful, sleep.

Bewr looked at the girl sadly. “Tell Lelwyn that I’m going to try to keep her calm with some simple mind enchantments,” she ordered Rikel.

Rikel nodded her head and left the tent. She found Kirel and Lelwyn sitting around the campfire. She sat down and repeated Bewr’s message.

Lelwyn nodded in understanding. “Though I strongly feel for the girl, our errand has been delayed far too long already,” he announced. “At first light in the morning, we must be off with great haste if we are to be of any assistance to the denizens of Midway.”

The others all reluctantly nodded, understanding Lelwyn’s words about the importance of their quest.

Bewr entered the tent with the girl, leaving the others outside on their own.

Kirel started using his magic to play with the fire. “So, who do you think she is?” he pondered.

Lelwyn sat down next to him. “The only one with the answer to that question is the girl herself,” he answered.

Rikel started brushing the horses to fill the time. “Speculation won’t do us any good. We have other things to worry about,” she pointed out.

Kirel raised his eyebrow. “Such as?” he asked.

Lelwyn stretched. “The poachers are one obvious threat to us,” he observed.

Rikel stopped brushing and turned to the two mages. “While the poachers are one threat, I’m more worried about how they managed to remain in the forest without the Elves finding and dealing with them,” she informed them. “Could somebody have been assisting them?”

“A fair point,” Lelwyn acknowledged. “We must endeavor to inform the authorities upon arriving in Midway.”

Kirel huffed. “It’s not like we can do anything about it while we’re here at the camp.”

Lelwyn turned to face him. “We are not leaving Bewr alone with the girl while we attempt to search for those who did this!” he admonished.

Kirel shrugged. “Our protection spells should keep them safe enough while we’re gone,” he countered.

Rikel pulled out her sword and handed it to Kirel. “If you want to go after the poachers tonight, you’ll be doing so by yourself,” she threatened. Kirel raised his hands in defeat and Rikel put her sword back in its scabbard. “That’s what I thought,” she smirked.

Kirel sat down on a snow-covered tree that had fallen down long ago. “So, out of curiosity, what made you retire?” he randomly asked.

Lelwyn glared at him. “Kirel!” he admonished. “Have you no respect for the privacy of others?” He demanded before turning to face Rikel. “Do not feel obligated to answer that if you do not wish to,” he assured her.

Rikel waved her hand, dismissing Lelwyn’s concern. “Don’t worry about it,” she told him. “It’s pretty straight-forward actually: I was getting too old for front-line duty and I didn’t want to be ‘promoted’ to an administrative position.”

Lelwyn raised an eyebrow. “Forgive the observation,” he started. “But you do not appear to be that advanced in age.”

Rikel lightly laughed. “No offense taken,” she assured him. “The army has a mandatory age limit for front-line duty,” she explained. “I hit that age; it’s that simple.”

Kirel shrugged. “I suppose that makes sense,” he admitted. “After all, there are some activities that are better suited for the young, aren’t there?” he added with a wink.

Lelwyn rolled his eyes. “As ever, my old friend, your mind remains firmly entrenched in filth,” he teased.

Kirel scoffed. “Like you were any better that time...”

Lelwyn interrupted whatever Kirel was about to say with a cough and a pointed look towards Rikel. Kirel raised his hand in apology. Rikel saw the exchange and laughed. “What, is there some juicy story from your academy days I’m missing?” she asked as a joke.

Instead of answering, Lelwyn stood up. “We should all retire so we can be ready to leave at first light,” he suggested.

The others all nodded and headed to their tents to keep themselves busy until going to sleep that evening.