"Come on men, an army has been here recently. We don't want to stay here too long." A tall man, skin darkened from dirt, and long hair matted to his forehead with sweat yell back to a group of men following him. The group was small compared to the army which was traveling through this area. Only a dozen men on horseback with one carriage to the group.

The man thought while he scanned the area as they traveled, 'If we run into that army they'll probably make a game out of our deaths. Get enough men together and there's no telling what horrors they will commit.'

The path ahead of them was cleared for a good distance, so he kept his eyes to the woods that were on either side of the path. If there was going to be an attack he didn't see coming, it would have to be from the woods.

"Boss?" Looking over his shoulder he faced one of his men, "What's that up ahead?"

As soon as the man spoke the boss whipped his head around and squinting his eyes to see as far as he could. 'That's... a wolf?' The man turned his head back to his men but kept his eyes on the wolf lying in their path, "Any of you boys happen to have fought a wolf before?"

"Aye!"

"Yes sir!"

"Once when I was a boy."

As he spoke with his men they grew closer. After getting about a hundred feet from it, the wolf stood up, its eyes locked on the approaching group.

That's when its true size was revealed to him, 'Have mercy!' “Men, any of you fought a great wolf before?"

"A great wolf!"

"Wha-what's one of those doing down here?"

He could hear the fear in his men's voices, but that was to be expected. A great wolf was a thing of legend, something to be fear but never seen. It was said not many existed but the ones that do, rain over vast amounts of land up where no humans could survive. It's even said you have to be careful what you say around them for the men who have survived a meeting with them, fear that they can understand the tongue of humans.

"I have sir." A solemn voice came from the back of the group, he already knew who it was.

"That's no surprise there, Scarred. Tell me, how did you fare in this fight?" The man pulled back on his horse rains and the whole group stopped with him. They all were silent.

"It wasn't a fight. I did nothing but survive, that's more than the village I was in can say."

"I see, so it is as I feared. Well then." He climbed down off his horse, "Scarred, and the three who have fought a wolf, you're with me. The rest of you bastards stay here, don't want to give it too much to eat if we lose do we, haha!" None of the men laughed at his joke but his smile didn't waver from his face.

"Alright men, I'm sure you already know that if we tried to run from it we'd just get ran until our horses dropped. We have no choice but to fight it and fight it well we shall!"

His men shouted, "Aye!"

Approaching the wolf they noticed something rather strange, "Why isn't it moving Scarred?"

"I do not know. The one I saw did nothing but move."

"Hmm, alright, spread out and try to get around the back of it. We'll use it to our advantage."

The three men did as they were told and Scarred stayed right beside the boss. "Be ready, they move fast."

The boss and Scarred crouched down and readied themselves for an attack, "Boss there's someone behind it!"

"It looks like a boy?"

"It must have been in the middle of a meal then!"

"No sir, the boy hasn't been eaten at all, he's still alive I think."

One of the men stepped towards the boy, attempting to get him away from the wolf while it was occupied with the Boss and Scarred. The wolf spun around ignoring the men that were in front of it and snapping at the man closest to the boy. It stood over the boy keeping him in between its legs and growled at the man.

"What on Terra is going on here?" The Boss stopped his men with a wave of his hand and they all watched the wolf. It made no attempt to step away from the boy and attack them.

Scarred spoke up, "I think it is protecting the boy."

"It looks like that but how can this be? A great wolf protecting a mere boy?" He motioned and the men began to circle the wolf. "Let me get a look at this boy." Now on the side of the wolf, he was able to see a shirtless boy who looked badly beaten. "A wolf couldn't have done this kind of damage to him. This boy was beaten by men."

Scarred nodded, "Yes, I believe so too."

The wolf's growl took an abrupt turn for the worse. It deepened as it crackled and popped, the wolf pushing off with its front legs and standing up tall on its back making it look even bigger than it was. All the men staggered back in shock and fear. The wolf spun back and forth keeping tabs on every one of the men.

"This might mean we can pass it without losing anybody," Scarred spoke as he backed away.

"I do not know, we would have to leave the boy like that."

"It's our only chance."

Then the wolf came to a stop, its growl disappearing like it had never been echoed.

"Look, sir!"

The boy's hand had reached up and touched the wolf and a faint voice escaped his cracked lips, "Stop White, it wasn't them."

The boy fought his way up to his feet, he was clearly in bad shape. As he got to two feet one slipped and he fell, onto the wolf. It had placed itself under him and caught him before he hit the ground, "Please! Don't hurt her!" His head collapsed on the soft white fur of the wolf's back.

"Was he... talking about the wolf?" The men all looked at each other astounded. Not only was a wolf protecting a boy but it looked as if it cared for him like a pup of its own. Seeing this the Boss stepped forward but making sure to walk slow with his hands held out.

"What are you?" The Boss shot a look at everyone, letting them know to be still and quiet. He then continued to get closer, the wolf looking directly at him. "We can help him if you let us." The wolf's eyes dilated, causing a bead of sweat to run down the man's face.