Hushed Willows The voices in my head keep telling me I'm cursed.

It had taken him longer than he'd wanted to get this far, and there was still a ways to go. Glaukos had been downed among the mountains he thought he'd known so well, left to ache and bleed, and managed to patch himself up enough to find shelter but little else. He hadn't eaten in at least a fortnight; his trail had become less obvious as he'd taken the tactical advantage of nightfall to keep watch and to travel, in case his assailant returned.

The beast had been larger than he'd ever seen! It hadn't been a wolf, or a bear, but had an ursine quality that had shocked him. The tusks had gored him badly across one hip, and that was the good news. Any closer to his chest and the boar's aim would have certainly speared Glaukos through the lungs or heart! He was alive now by chance alone, and struggling. Soon he would be home — he thought of the medicine cache, and in a delirious way he thought of Aquene, and then of Tamar.

The squeal of the boar ricochet through his memory and kept him from proper sleep. It served to rouse him each time he thought he was drifting off his path, and sometimes Glaukos could identify that for what it was: fever, and infection from his poorly treated wounds. He had gotten this far through sheer spite and soon, without aid, he would certainly die.

Callum was new here. Wherever here was. He wasn't really sure. But he was in some mountain range, and felt like it could be a place he could settle. He walked around the area, scouting it out. But that was when he spotted the other wolf. A gray and black man, with a massive gauge down his leg. And the reek of infection drifting from him. Callum bounded over, sensing he needed help.

"Hey, I'm Callum. I don't know healing knowledge much but I know you have an infection... we need to get you help. I know a few basic leaves that can help things... I know marigold leaves can help infection. And cobwebs for the bleeding." He said. "Lets get you to a safe spot first though, lean on me and I'll walk with you somewhere." He offered

He had been careful enough to evade the boar, and get as far as the willow grove. Glaukos was on-edge and hazy, fighting to remain cognizant in case a threat did befall him again; and when he heard a voice, he turned groggily to face it, as if drunk. He swayed and bobbed, eyes red-rimmed and face sallow from exhaustion, grayed by bloodloss.

The stranger looked unfamiliar. The soldier saw them in double, superimposed and spinning to his eye. He saw the gawkiness of youth and the fever said, that's not a wolf; imagining deer aspects, and grimaced. The stranger spoke of herbs with as much confidence as any boy might, and Glaukos huffed

He lurched along the ridge away from the boy. You know less than me, kid. The man's voice was a crackling fire, the tone sharp and snapping. What he needed was a proper medic and that meant he'd need to climb the mountain.

“how can i help you then?” Callum asked, not wanting to leave the man in the state he was in. “is there someone i can get for you?” he asked.

"I'm new to these areas, a few days ago I just trecked in here and these mountains are the first place I've found so I'm not really sure if there's packs around here, medics around here, anyone that can help, or anything. Frankly don't even know where any herbs are, if I were to try and help you." He said, realizing he'd barely done any scouting around here before finding this man.

"can I have your name maybe? so if I do go off to try and find someone I can say "[name] needs help", not just "this wolf I found needs help."" Callum asked.

The boy was all talk. It was hard to follow all of it. Glaukos was dizzy from blood loss and half-starved, surviving now by sheer willpower. The longer the other wolf rambled the less Glaukos listened - not out of ignorance, but the lack of focus that comes with trauma and the aftermath of violence. He was a trained soldier and as such, focused on his training as much as he could

What the wolf offered was help, but not anything concrete. Glaukos knew the area. He knew if he could get a little farther he would make it to Mereo and to help; he needed not rely on a stranger. Could he make it? Probably not. But he wouldn't ask for help. The last thing he wanted was to owe any debts.

Leave me be, he told the stranger. He had no reason to turn away the charity of his help except ego. The man huffed and lifted himself to his feet again, to slog his way among the willows. He would know soon enough that there was no path to the mountains here - and he would have to double back, regardless.

Callum was skeptical about leaving him. His instinct told him to stay. "No." He said firmly. "I'm not leaving. You can go, on your own, if you want, but I will stay where I can see you, and if you collapse, I will either do what work I can to help you or find someone. You obviously seem to know where help is so I don't understand why you won't just let me get someone for you, or take you to them." He growled at the man. He was serious about things now.

The stranger was adamant. What did they care? Glaukos was a stranger, and beyond that he was another man which made him a rival; he was a threat when he was healthy, and now that he wasn't, it made more sense to take advantage than to help. If Glaukos had the energy or the focus, he would have flashed his teeth and warned the stranger away - but he was in need, and he was weak.

I seek Mereo, he finally conceded.

A place in the mountains. There is a healer there. He did not yet know that Mereo had fallen, that it lay abandoned; but neither would the stranger. I can find my own way. It is my home. His voice weakened as he said this, sounding as if it caught in his throat in a net of emotion.

He coughed, breathing raggedly. So you see, I don't need help. He stalked another step, and another, intent on departing from the boy's company. Speaking hurt; it took too much energy to think and to respond, and he'd wasted that on the stranger.

Callum shook his head and sighed. "I will not leave. I will not follow you fully though. I will just stay where I can see you, to make sure you don't collapse and die all alone." He said seriously. "You can take yourself to this... Mereo but I will be watching to make sure you make it." The sympathetic boy said. He was adamant about his decision

fading here!

There was no reasoning with the other wolf.

Glaukos did not like the idea of eyes upon him, or of someone tagging along. For all he knew, and all he could trust of the stranger, they waited only for the free meal his body would provide should he falter and die.

But he would persist, and climb his way along. He would go because he had to; and his body would refuse to die, even as he put it through the rigors of the steep climb down from the plateau and in to the green expanse of the valley. The longer he roamed the more hot his fever would get, and the more infected his wounds.

And he would not turn back to the stranger even once, because he knew himself to be strong enough to do things on his own.