Fur Flying

"Quit whining," grumbled the fifteen-year-old boy, Gideon. "You don't have to walk with me."

"And do what?" snapped the young dragon, Pavataro. The dragon was only a little taller than the boy, and trudged next to him in a deep sulk.

"You could fly," suggested Gideon hopefully.

"Done that, Lunchmeat," said Pavataro while using an old schoolyard taunt for the boy. The dragon huffed in annoyance. "Bored. You're taking too long with this walkie thing you're doing."

"You said that this castle we're going to is only a day away . . ." said Gideon.

"For you," said the dragon

"Then why don't you fly ahead, get the book we're picking up and come back?" asked Gideon.

"And do your work for you?" asked Pavataro.

"My work," started Gideon. "It was your fault that . . . ."

Gideon suddenly stopped and looked around. Pavataro flattened his triangular ears and stilled, ready to pounce.

"I hear it too," whispered Pavataro. He nodded his head toward the brush. "Over there."

They moved off the dirt road and into the forest coming upon a clearing. A wolf with an arrow in her left flank was limping away from them.

"Please, don't hurt me," said the wolf. "I have cubs. I didn't do it."

"We're not going to hurt you," said Gideon in surprise. He tried to hold up his hands, but his staff, the Pigsticker, was in one hand. He let go of it letting it lean against his shoulders as he showed the wolf his empty hands. "What didn't you do?"

"The werewolf!" said the wolf. She was panicked, but now also confused. "Have you not heard of the Wolf of Cambria?"

"We're just passing through," said Gideon.

"A werewolf has been attacking our lands," said the wolf. "The Two-Legs think it is the wolves, so they hunt my people. I was only getting food for my cubs."

The wolf seemed ready to cry, if wolves could. There was a large noise from behind them in the woods. It sounded like a large group of men, and they were getting closer. Gideon looked at Pavataro who just shrugged.

"Okay," said Gideon. He came toward the wolf who growled. "Wait. I'm going to get you out of here, but I'm going to have to carry you."

"You would do that?" asked the wolf suspiciously.

"Wasn't raised to leave people in distress," smiled Gideon. "Can you lift me?" asked the wolf. "You're not very big."

Pavataro chuckled and Gideon shot him a dark look. It was true; Gideon was on the short side.

"I was raised on dragon's milk, and it made a couple of changes," said Gideon.

"Gravity being kinda optional for me is just one of those changes."

He slowly stood over the wolf. The men were getting closer.

"This is going to hurt," said Gideon.

"Get me out of here," hissed wolf desperately.

Gideon lifted the wolf up trying to be careful of the arrow and manage his staff as well. Finally, he found a good balance and they took off.

***

The wolf made a hissing noise as Gideon pulled out the arrow. He quickly dabbed some green foul smelling ointment on it that helped clot the wound.

"That . . . that didn't hurt too much," said the wolf in surprise.

" Regent, my mentor, swears by it," said Gideon holding up the little jar with the ointment. He looked up at the cave he sat in. He saw that all the wolves were huddled as far away from him as possible, except for wolf's three cubs who were bouncing nervously near them. Gideon put the jar of ointment back in his coat and sat back against the wall of the cave. He did not know what to say, but Pav saved him.

An ex-razor deer dropped into the cave mouth. All the wolves jumped and looked at it hungrily. Pavataro just sat back on his haunches and nodded at the wolves.

"Go on," he encouraged.

The wolves pulled the deer inside and began to eat it desperately. Pavataro walked over to Gideon and the wolf with some meat for her. He dropped it in front of the wolf with an airily look as if he did not want to get caught doing something nice. Before she could thank the dragon, Gideon came to his rescue. "Tell me about this Wolf of Cambria?"

"We don't know who it is exactly," said the wolf between mouthfuls. "Several months ago, there was a terrible fight out in the woods. A werewolf had been stalking our lands. One of the Two-Legs had found it and was fighting it. He killed it . . . ."

"But not before it bit him," finished Gideon.

"You have heard of this happening?" asked the wolf.

"I've read about it, yes," said Gideon. "So now he's a werewolf."

"And he leads the searches for the wolves saying the monster is still out there!" said the wolf.

"I'm not sure what we can do," said Gideon thoughtfully and he looked sideways at the dragon.

"We'd have to flush him out," said Pavataro.

"Just a little dangerous," said Gideon.

"Do you know what this werewolf looks like?" asked Pavataro of the wolf.

"No, but we know he smells strongly of the flowering vines," said the wolf hopefully.

"Flowering vines? Seriously?" asked Pavataro as he turned to look at the boy. "That's not much to go on."

"But we gotta help," said Gideon.

"We do?" asked Pavataro archly. Gideon just nodded and the dragon looked up at the cave ceiling. Finally, he glared back at the boy. "You're an idiot, Lunchmeat."

Gideon turned back to the wolf. "We'll see what we can do. No promises."

And the boy's eyes fell on a pile of shed fur in the back of the cave. "Can I have some of that?"

***

"And how are we supposed to get our money now?" demanded Gideon rather loudly.

"It's not my fault," said Pavataro.

"Of course not. It's never your fault!" said Gideon.

Three hunters sprang out of the woods. They carried nasty looking crossbows, mostly aiming at Pavataro.

"Stop right there!" shouted one of the hunters, Hoyd. The hunter strutted confidently until Gideon whirled on him.

"You!" shouted Gideon.

"Me?" asked Hoyd in surprise.

"Yea, you," said Gideon. "You in charge?"

"What? Yes, of this team," said Hoyd.

"Did I ask you about your team?" snapped Gideon. "I meant this whole operation. Are you the Big Cheese?"

"Um no, that would be Burgermeister Loam," said Hoyd.

"Well, you better take me to him now," said Gideon.

"Are you covered in blood?" asked one of the guys. Gideon looked down at the wolf's blood on the front of his clothes.

"Wolves blood," said Gideon. "I'd hate to get any other type on it."

"Let me take you to the Burgermeister!" said Hoyd quickly.

***

"And what is this?" asked a tall man as Hoyd raced up with Gideon and Pavataro.

"Are you The Man?" asked Gideon.

"I am High Burgermeister Herbert Loam," said the man with a puffed out chest.

"So, are you The Man or not?" huffed Gideon.

The Burgermeister's face darkened. "Yes, I am in charge."

"What are you doing with the dead wolves?" asked Gideon.

"Why do you want to know?" asked the Burgermeister.

Gideon held up the fluff in his hands. "Because this probably isn't enough proof, is it?"

"Of what?" asked the Burgermeister.

"We killed a wolf hoping there might be a reward AND THEN THIS ONE," shouted Gideon as he turned on Pavataro, "ATE THE DANG THING."

"I was hungry!" exclaimed Pavataro in mock innocence. "I told you we should've eaten before we went out."

"With what money?" asked Gideon. "We don't have food and we can't buy any and I don't think this is going to do us any good."

Gideon threw the wolf fluff into the air sending it flying. The Burgermeister looked between the boy and dragon as they bickered. He saw the boy covered in wolf blood.

"Boys, boys!" he held up his hands. "Don't fight."

"But now we have to go find another wolf," said Gideon sadly.

"Enough," said the Burgermeister. "Let me take you back to my tavern and get you some food."

***

When the Burgermeister walked into town, the people seemed to twitch like a dog that had been beaten regularly. The townsfolk eyed the boys suspiciously as the Burgermeister steered them toward the large building in the center of town. It was the old tavern, but you would not know it at first because of all the wolf pelts hanging outside.

"As you can see," boomed the Burgermeister. "Business has been good. But that darn werewolf is still elusive."

"I've heard normal wolves were actually shy creatures," said Gideon conversationally. "And never bother people, at least that's what the village idiot told me."

"He was an idiot indeed," said the Burgermeister. "They are cruel and vicious, and need to be put down, for their own good."

"Of course," agreed Gideon carefully.

They walked into the dark and dusty tavern. There were only a few people in there at this time of day. The Burgermeister immediately went behind the bar and put his crossbow above a painting of a man fighting a pack of wolves.

"My grandfather!" bragged the Burgermeister. "He had to fight the wolves to carve out this town. He built this tavern with his own two hands."

"Wow," said Gideon obediently.

"Now to feed you two," said the Burgermeister. "You both look skinny as rails." He grinned at Pavataro. "And I don't want this one eating me by mistake."

***

The food was passable, and at least it had lots of tatos in it. Gideon leaned back happily at their table while Pavataro licked his bowl clean. The sun was setting and more people were filing into the tavern, but they had a haunted look on their faces. No one seemed happy to be here.

"Where's the Burgermeister?" asked Gideon.

Pavataro craned his long neck for a moment. "Dunno."

Gideon got up and headed toward the bar followed by Pavataro. The barmaid, Kelkie, walked behind the bar, but watched them very carefully.

"Hello," said Gideon. "Where's the Burgermeister?"

If he had not been looking directly at her, he would not have seen the flinch in her eyes.

"He's down in the basement," said Kelkie pointing towards a door. "He likes it down there, making beer."

"Thank you," said Gideon as he headed toward the door. He knocked on it, but there was no answer. Opening it up, he saw stairs going down and looked at Pavataro. Gideon tested a stair with his staff, but it seemed solid.

"Definitely dangerous," sighed Pavataro.

"But if anyone knows who been acting oddly in the last few months," suggested Gideon.

"True," said Pavataro.

They went down the steps into an earthen basement lit by torches. The Burgermeister stood before a workbench with his sleeves rolled up and an apron on. He was mixing the ingredients for beer.

"Wow!" said Gideon pretending to be excited. "You get to make beer too!"

"What are you two scamps doing down here?" bellowed the Burgermeister in his deep voice.

"How do you make beer?" asked Gideon. He must have touched a sweet spot, because the Burgermeister went into a long and boring spiel about the art of making beer.

"So you use water, yeast, barley and hops to make beer," recited Gideon afterward. "Wait, what are hops?"

"They're a kind of flowering vine that I grow," said the Burgermeister. "The dried flowers act as a preservative."

Gideon froze. He watched the Burgermeister as he worked on his beer. The big man reached up on a shelf for something and his sleeve moved. Exposed for only a moment was the scar of a bite mark on his arm.

"My, what a big bite mark you have," said Gideon and everyone froze for a moment. Pavataro shifted his weight ready to move.

"What do you know about that?" asked the Burgermeister.

"Someone went out and killed the old werewolf," said Gideon. "But they got bit too. Which is never good."

"The werewolf has never been caught," said the Burgermeister carefully.

"No, the new werewolf has not been caught yet," replied Gideon gripping his staff tightly.

The Burgermeister lunged at Gideon. The boy hit the dirt floor and rolled.

"You . . . you'll ruin everything!" snarled the Burgermeister.

"Seems like you broke this all by yourself," said Gideon. "But you shouldn't have brought the wolves into it."

"Wolves!" cried the Burgermeister and he roared in anger. Gideon and Pavataro backed up.

"Oh, oh," said Pavataro.

"We better . . ." started Gideon as they headed toward the stairs.

With a great leap, the Burgermeister launched himself at the stairs smashing through the wall that surrounded it. Crouching on the stairs, blocking the way up, the Burgermeister changed. It was horrible. Bones broke and reknit themselves making Gideon almost lose his dinner. Now the werewolf glared at them with mad eyes as it stood on two legs.

"Snail burgers," said Gideon and Pavataro together.

Exploding towards them with an insane fury, the two boys dove in opposite directions to get out of the monster's path. But the werewolf was too quick and slashed at Gideon's shoulder. His dragonskin coat stopped the claws, but the force was too great. He spun through the air and smashed into a bench that buckled.

Pavataro head-butted the werewolf and both dragon and monster staggered for a moment. Gideon shook off the pain and jumped towards the werewolf. Swinging his staff, he hit the monster across the back of the knees. The werewolf cried out as it began to fall back.

The dragon swatted at the monster with his tail as it was falling and sent it hurtling through the air. The werewolf smashed through a beer barrel sending liquid everywhere. Pavataro started strutting when the werewolf jumped up and threw a barrel at him. The dragon went down in a shower of splinters and beer as the werewolf leapt out.

Gideon took a defensive stance with his staff, but the monster swatted the staff aside. Bearing the boy to the ground hard, the werewolf gave a low growl, teeth inches from Gideon's nose.

"You know I was raised by a dragon," huffed Gideon trying to get his breath back. "I only mention it because Mom gave me dragon's milk."

"Rrrr?" asked the werewolf in confusion.

"It had some odd effects on me," said Gideon and he took a deep breath thinking of flashpoints.

The werewolf, tired of the waiting, began to snap at Gideon when the boy opened his mouth. A wide burst of flame came out of his mouth; not very hot, but enough to singe fur. The monster jumped back in a panic, its head smoking. Flying up the stairs, the werewolf smashed through the door above.

Gideon jumped up, scooped up his staff.

"Come on," said Gideon nudging Pavataro in the flank with his boot. "We're still working here."

"Good job," said Pavataro. "You scared the werewolf off and right into the a crowd of people."

"You can kvetch later!" snapped Gideon as he pounded up the stairs. "Right now, we gotta take this fight to the street."

Gideon came out on the ground floor and saw the werewolf in the middle of the tavern, crazy and confused. Everyone was pressed into the walls trying to escape. The screaming was making the monster unstable. It needed a focus. Gideon ran up to it and hit it in the stomach with his staff. The blind, cold fury of the monster focused all on Gideon.

"Oh, oh," said Gideon.

Pavataro roared by. "I got the door," shouted the dragon and he ran right through the door, splintering the wood. The dragon staggered out into the street seeing stars.

Gideon jumped towards the door and ran out with the werewolf on his tail. The monster hit him in the back and he went flying forward. Two men ran out of the tavern with swords.

"Get it!" cried Hoyd. The werewolf knocked the blade aside and prepared to eat Hoyd's face off.

Gideon dropped onto the werewolf's back swinging his staff around into the monster's mouth. Like a horse's bit, the monster could not bite through the staff. Gideon pulled it tight riding the werewolf's back.

Having recovered, Pavataro danced around just outside its range.

"What're you going to do now?" asked Pavataro.

"Haven't a clue," said Gideon. "I think letting go would be bad."

"Really?" asked Pavataro sarcastically. "You think so, Lunchmeat?"

There was a whistling sound and a silver-tipped arrow poked out of the werewolf's shoulder almost hitting Gideon.

"Sorry," said a voice. Gideon looked up to see the barmaid, Kelkie, reloading the crossbow. Another shot hit dead center in the chest and the werewolf dropped to its knees. A third shot pierced the monster's heart and it fell forward into the dirt.

Rolling off, Gideon sat on the ground. Pavataro walked around and sat next to him.

"How did you two find the werewolf?" asked Hoyd.

"Dumb luck," shrugged Gideon.

"I gotta find the Burgermeister and tell him that we . . ." started Hoyd, and then he stopped as the werewolf began to shift back. After a moment, the Burgermeister's cooling eyes watched the crowd. Everyone stopped.

"Right," said the barmaid. "I think we all need a drink, except the young'n's."

The young'n's moaned at this as their parents ushered them back into the tavern.

After a moment, Gideon got up and dusted himself off.

"We better go," said Gideon as he pulled his staff from underneath the ex-werewolf and Burgermeister. He made a face at the drool on it. Using a scrap of the Burgermeister's torn clothing he wiped it off.

Pavataro was looking inside the tavern.

"Are you sure we have to go?" asked the dragon. "We stopped the werewolf. They might feed us."

"And their leader is lying dead in the middle of the street," said Gideon as he headed out of town.

"But . . . but they might feed us," said Pavataro, but he followed Gideon sadly. "Can't believe that you drove the werewolf into a crowded tavern."

"Quit your whining," sighed Gideon.

As they left, a wolf song of thanks and praise went up and followed them deep into night.

THE END

Bio: Mr. Esselman's last Aphelion appearance, Fire! Fire! appeared in our May 2016 issue.

E-mail: Walter G. Esselman

Comment on this story in the Aphelion Forum

Return to Aphelion's Index page.