Firestone Hot Springs I will go anywhere, provided it be forward

How do you measure success?

It had been almost three weeks, since Dwin had left Brecheliant full of hope, optimism and confidence that everything would be alright. She had let the evident worry of both her parents pass as she headed out in the wilds on her first grand adventure. But as all inexperienced travellers do this young wolf too had learned some things by now. Such as:

1. Winter had proven to be a more challenging season than the summer and spring, when Dwin's conviction that exploring the world was something she essentially needed; 
2. Cold was something she could still tackle, but hunger was a foe that a thick coat could not protect from. Food was scarce and difficult to come by;
3. Sometimes it was very hard to imagine that you were the worst thing to meet out in the wilds. Dwin would never ever admit it, but there had been moments and places, when and where she had genuinely felt afraid. The fact that there was no one else to discuss this about did not make things any easier; 
4. Well... being out in the wilds was not as grand as she had imagined it to be. For someone, who is eager to encounter dragons, big-fish, ghosts and spirits, the beautiful, changing landscape did not hold particular appeal. 

Had it occurred to Dwin to turn back home?

I would be lying if I told "no", though the inherited Blackthorn stubborness and pride in herself would never let Dwin admit this. She was frowning at me too, as I was writing that sentence. I may have been called a traitorous narrator too. 

So, the only option was to move forward and to hope for the best. Her aspirations and goals were more down to Earth now, but she still firmly believed that the only road for her was to go forward and see, where it led. Today she had found a very unusual place amid snowy ice-cold fields. It smelled funny, it was full of fumes and the water was hot and tasted odd, but it was warm. And for a traveller, who felt somewhat weary after days of ploughing through chest deep snow and digging in to spend the nights, it felt almost like a paradise on Earth. Dwin chose a nice, flat and warm rock, where she sprawled upon, closed her eyes and fell asleep. 

After traversing through the Wilds for days and nights aplenty, Nils had reached the conclusion that he was all alone. His master was lost somewhere among the trees, or had perhaps gone for a swim and a pee, but regardless of the specifics - they were lost! What a horrible boy he was, letting that happen.

Baroooof! The great lummox cried, stomping through yet more snow. Borff! Borf! If only he could be loud enough! Master would surely hear him and come running with snackies in hand, and Nils would even subject himself to a proper bath if it meant going home!

He did not see the slumbering dog, or take notice of the springs and their warm water, as he was squinting up at the sky while making quite the show of his sorrow.

I'm sorry! I'm a bad dog!

What a way to be woken up - by unholy sounds that tore the caller's soul and receiver's eardrums apart. Dwin woke with a jolt and nearly fell in the hot water pool. She was still half-asleep and pretty disoriented, looking around for the source of the sound. The howl echoed in the forests and mountains again and it was then, when her gaze finally met another alien. 

She still remembered the deer-wolf-like Skeletor, who she hoped had by now taken her advice to heart and found a proper home and friends for winter. The beast she was looking at now was of an entirely different sort. Large, massive, odd-coloured. Had her parents not shown a bear in the distance once, she would have thought that this was the animal. 

Since her last encounter had gone well and it did sound as if this guy was in big trouble, she slunk closer to the creature and stopped at a safe distance, but still within earshot. "What's wrong with you?" Dwin called out.

All at once he is not alone. It is a surprise that makes Nils jump backwards - or as close to a jump as he can manage, as he shores up against the snow behind himself. His fur is too long to puff out or spike but he has the addled look of a cat being caught unawares; his tail is up and the tip wagging with curious little twitches.

The other thing isn't just anything, but another dog! A small one - or a young one, he can never tell those facts apart - but he isn't alone, and is overjoyed by the discovery. He stops his barking and braying after that, staring at the stranger and letting his tail wag in great sweeps.

Nils was looking for someone. You're not the someone, but you are someone! Hello! He wanted to rush in close and get a good sniff, but for once in his life he remembered how large he was, and the last thing Nils wanted to do was trample the dog.

Ever wonder, how the first Europeans felt, when they set their foot on the newly found American continent and encountered the locals, who look the same and then not exactly? Dwin may have had similar experience, when she regarded the dappled beast, who looked nothing like she had ever seen before, but spoke the language of the wolf-kin. Having been introduced to the existence of Sithis, who lived on this Earth inside of a body of a mortal wolf, she wondered now, could this process work the other way round? Say... the body of a fantastic beast was inhabited by a mortal wolf soul?

The manner this fellow spoke to her hinted that he would probably not understand the complex musings of supernatural kind, nor the necessary inquiries to find out, whether you were possessed or a spy from another world. Oy, halt right there. You don't have to tell them every detail. They might think I am crazy! So... Dwin stood there with a frown, contemplating, what kind of friend or foe she had before her and what to make of his strange declarations. "Looking for someone what?" she asked in a serious tone and not once did her mind veer back to the passages of the mental Bestiary that had been passed on from one story-teller in her family to the next for generation. Author's note: she did.