Winter of Elves

by Joanne Vruno

  “Well, Aly, let’s get going in healing this big guy. Hopefully he’ll like us for helping him,” said Grandma with a cautious smile.

  Grandma and I leaned over the wolf and preformed our healing magic. Soon there was little left of the wound. Grandma turned to me and said, “Now it’s time for you to get back home. Try to return close to the time you left. I’ll watch over this wolf and keep him warm with blankets. He’s probably used to living outside, so he should be fine. Tomorrow starts your Christmas break, so you’ll be coming here in the morning. We can make some sort of shelter for him then. Now go!”

  I quickly chanted my return words three times and arrived back in my room minutes after I had left. Emily and the twin tomtes were waiting for me.

  “Did Mom and Dad check in while I was gone?” I asked Emily.

  “You were gone only two minutes, so no!” said Emily, “Now tell us about the wolf!”

  “Well, it’s huge. Lunt thinks it may be a descendent of Fenrir and could be very dangerous.”

  “What?” both tomtes asked in unison.

  “The wolf’s really big and has the eye color of Fenrir. He is under a sleeping spell for now, so none of us are in danger. Grandma and I did our healing magic and will probably redo it again tomorrow. Rest is actually the best thing for the wolf now, but we need to wake it so it can eat. Lunt went to ask Dolph’s opinion on how to handle the wolf.”

  “Do you know the stories about Fenrir?” asked Enar. “He broke all chains when the gods tried to capture him. They had to get a magic rope made by the rock elves to hold him. We have nothing strong enough to contain a wolf with that strength!”

  “How do we know he’s evil? His great-great-great-grandfather may have been, but that doesn’t mean he has to be,” said Emily.

  “You’re right, Emily, he may be just wild, but wild wolves are also a threat,” I said. “We just need to know how to handle him. We’ll all think about it overnight. Someone will come up with an idea. It seems we keep having strange things arriving at our doorstep, and so far we’ve figured out what to do with them,” I tried to convince myself.

  “I wish I could see the wolf. I just want to pet it as it sleeps,” said Emily.

  “You’ll get your chance tomorrow. We’re spending the day at Grandma’s.” Grandma had always watched over Emily and me when our parents needed to work and we had days off.

  “Really? I can’t wait to see a real wolf!” said Emily with excitement in her eyes.

  “Don’t get too excited. It may only be for a little while, depending on what Grandma, Lunt, and the lead elves from both villages decide to do. It’s not going to be like the swan maidens. They were extremely friendly once they got to know us,” I said, remembering the autumn months when Alvit, the injured swan maiden, and her two sisters stayed in Grandma’s yard for several weeks.

  Emily looked sad. “I miss them every day,” she said. Emily had formed a special bond with Svanhit, one of the three swan maidens, and it was really hard for her to say goodbye. “I think I’ll go draw a picture of Svanhit, and then she won’t seem so far away.”

  As if Enar and Elsa knew Emily needed some comforting, they both followed her out of the room. I stayed and reached for the book on Norse mythology on my desk. I knew I had to learn all I could about Fenrir. Unlike Emily, I was worried about waking the wolf. I also knew that was to be my job because I had cast the spell, so only I could take it away. I bit down on my lower lip as I started to read.

  Chapter 2

  After tossing and turning all night trying to figure a way we could wake the wolf without putting ourselves in danger, I had no ideas. I quickly dressed, knowing Mom would need to drop us off at Grandma’s house soon so she would not be late for work.

  Emily was up and eating a bowl of cereal as I entered the kitchen. Excitement showed in her eyes as she said, “You better eat something. You’re going to need your strength.”

  “What does she need strength for?” asked Mom as she came into the kitchen.

  “Shoveling Grandma’s driveway,” I quickly answered. It was one of the first times we were almost caught. Luckily, I did not feel as though I was lying. I probably was going to shovel the driveway, after all.

  “I’d say you both need extra strength. Emily, you need to eat all your cereal, too. It wouldn’t be fair for Aly to do all the shoveling,” said Mom.

  Emily replied, “I am, Mom. Don’t worry. I’ll help her shovel.”

  An hour later we were dropped off at the end of the driveway so we wouldn’t leave car tracks that might make shoveling more difficult. According to Mom, they become icy when they cannot be shoveled off.

  We said our goodbyes and walked up the incline to Grandma’s front door.

  “Mom wants us to shovel your driveway. Should we do that first or check on the wolf?” asked Emily the moment we entered the house. She stopped speaking when she noticed Lunt and Dolph sitting with Grandma’s tomtes, Lina and Berg, in the living room.

  They all smiled at Emily.

  “I think the driveway can wait a while. How about you?” asked Grandma.

  “Good, I want to see the wolf!” blurted out Emily, “Not that I don’t want to help shovel your driveway, too. It’s just that I’ve never seen a wolf up close.”

  Laughter filled the room.

  “We’ll look at the wolf in a while, Miss Emily,” said Lunt, “But first we have to figure out how we are going to feed it. You two need to come and sit down and hear our plan.”

  We quickly took off our boots and jackets and sat down on the floor facing the others in the room.

  Dolph, the lead elf from the village Grandma protected, stood to speak. “I’m hoping I can communicate with this wolf,” he said. “If he is Fenrir’s descendent, as Lunt thinks he is, he may have some magic in him to help him communicate with us. If not, I’ll try to speak with body movements. Both Aly and Alice need to be close in case we need to put him to sleep again. Only the guardians have that power.”

  “I think we should first build him some shelter,” said Lunt. “That by itself may show him we are no threat. All creatures can sense kindness unless they have turned too vicious.”

  “Good idea,” said Grandma. “I have an old tent we can put up. We can set the old blankets in it and some water and the dog food I bought last night. We just need to get the tent down from the rafters in the garage. Aly, you and I should be able to do it together. Then we will put it up right next to the house to help block the north wind. We could actually put the wolf in it while he is sleeping to show him it is for him.”

  “That might work to keep him in the yard. He can’t be roaming around the neighborhood,” said Lina.

  “I think he’s lonely,” I said. “His howling was really sad sounding, as though he was searching for others. I wish we knew where he came from. If we can’t communicate with him, I think he may leave to continue his search.”

  “Aly’s right,” Lunt said. “What will happen to him if we can’t reason with him? And where do we send him after he heals?”

  “We’ll just need to keep returning him to the yard with guardian magic. You two will have to keep up your strength,” said Dolph, looking toward Grandma and me. “The rest of us may have to take turns keeping a visual on him, but we won’t know his reaction until we try to wake him.”

  “I wish communications were open to King Klas,” Grandma said. “He may have answers as to where his sister may be. How much longer do you think this silence will last?”

  “As long as it takes for the king to feel that the light elf kingdom is secure from spies trying to learn our locations,” said Dolph. “He is, after all, doing it for our protection from the rock elves. But, Alice, you’re right. It’d be so much easier if we knew if Queen Elin is alive and could take this wolf. For now, let’s all get to work making a shelter.”


  Grandma and I put on our coats and headed to the garage. I climbed the ladder and pulled down the tent, which landed with a plop on the garage floor. It didn’t take long for the two of us to assemble it. The stakes to hold it up were a bit difficult to drive into with the frozen ground, though Lunt did something to the soil to allow the tent stakes to enter. He had an old gnome chant that did the work. I knew about gnome speed but not gnome magic.

  Emily spent her time petting and touching the wolf as the rest of us prepared a safe place for him to stay. Soon it was time for Grandma and me to move the wolf into the tent. With both of us transporting, our energy was saved for later.

  I stood and watched the wolf as he slept while Emily and Grandma went inside to get him food and water. The wolf took up the whole area of the tent. He was huge. In sleep there seemed no viciousness in him, instead reminding me of a large sleeping dog.

  When everything was set, Emily, along with Lina and Berg, were sent into the house. Only Grandma, Lunt, Dolph, and I were by the opening of the tent. I looked at the others as I took out my amulet. The plan was for me to awaken the wolf, while Grandma was set to send it back to slumber if needed. All three nodded to me as I pointed it toward the sleeping wolf. “Awaken now,” was out of my mouth as the amulet shined a light on the wolf. Slowly the giant creature opened his eyes and stared at the four of us. He sniffed the air as if to gather our scents. He turned quickly in the direction of the food. Grandma had bought canned dog food instead of dry, and the smell was quite strong. The wolf slowly stood and moved toward the food, keeping his eyes focused on us the whole time. He definitely had a sense of distrust. Dolph took this moment to speak, saying, “Grandson of Fenrir, can you understand my words?”

  The wolf just stared at Dolph. He went back to eating, glancing at all four of us. When the food and water were finished, he moved to the entrance of the tent, where we all stood. All four of us moved way back and let the wolf move out into the yard.

  Still watching all of our movements, the wolf smelled the ground and relieved himself. Then he seemed to test his leg for pain. He wasn’t limping anymore, and he glanced down at his hip. Looking back at us, he stood with a look of curiosity as he sniffed the air again.

  “We healed your hip. You need a few more days of rest, and you’ll be back to normal,” I said. “We’re here to help you, not hurt you. If you can understand us, can you give us a sign?”

  The wolf kept studying us, and then slowly walked back toward the tent and lay back down. He kept his eyes open, watching us for a few minutes, and then fell back to sleep.

  Lunt motioned us to move back inside.

  “Do you think he understood us?” I asked after the door was shut.

  “I don’t know, though he acted as though he felt we were not a threat,” said Lunt.

  “So do we keep him awake?” asked Grandma. “Lunt, will you and Alma be safe in your home out in the yard with the wolf? Do you feel any threat? If so, I can put him back to sleep.”

  “Oh, Alice, our home is well protected from any animal. Alma and I will be fine under the shed. After all, we survived two little girls for ten years in our home. A wolf can’t be as bad,” said Lunt, chuckling toward Emily and me.

  Emily turned beet red. I had already known where Lunt and Alma lived, but Emily hadn’t been informed yet.

  “He seems to have some trust that we are not a threat to him, or he wouldn’t have been able to sleep. I have a suspicion he understood our words, also. No creature or animal will enter a yard with wolf scent and with the snow. I don’t believe any of your neighbors could get the gate of your fence open right now, either, so as long as he’s fed, I think he’ll stay put,” said Dolph.

  “Emily and Aly, you’re not to enter the yard alone,” said Grandma in a stern voice. “Guardian powers or not, we can’t take the risk. In fact, none of us should venture out there alone. Even you, Lunt. One of us will watch you from the window.”

  “You can watch, but with gnome speed there’s no way I can see that the wolf could possibly catch me. Even being taken off guard, my reflexes are too quick. Plus, if he’s fed daily, I’m not much of a meal. We’re not threatening him in any way. Instead, we are showing kindness. I’ll be fine in the yard. I’ll make sure he meets Alma, too.Then we both can go about our normal routine,” said Lunt.

  “Lunt’s right, Alice,” said Dolph. “We’ve made no threats to the wolf. He’ll watch us carefully, but I don’t think he’d attack a gnome. Emily, Lina, and Berg, you’re still strangers to him, which might make you threats. None of you should venture into the backyard for a while. In time, when you can, you need to be with one of us,” said Dolph looking directly at Emily.

  “I got it,” said Emily. “It doesn’t seem fair though that I can’t become friends with him.”

  “Give it time, Miss Emily. If the wolf becomes friendly, then you can be introduced to him. Right now I think Aly and Alice should be accompanied, also. We can’t risk either guardian,” said Lunt.

  “I agree with those rules,” said Grandma. “Now what about the front yard? Will the girls be safe shoveling?”

  “I’ll keep an eye on them, and Aly has her amulet,” said Lunt. “Shall we venture out, girls?”

  Emily and I put our winter gear back on and grabbed two shovels from the garage. Luckily, the garage door to the backyard was closed. We shoveled our quickest in order to get back inside where we knew we were safe. I wanted to trust the wolf, but it was huge, and a bit frightening being that it was wild.

  When we went inside, we could tell Dolph and Grandma were in a serious conversation. They abruptly stopped at the sight of us. I tried to read their faces to see if there was more going on than the wolf, which was a major event in its own. I hoped they would soon tell us if there was something else going on.

  I quickly turned to Lunt, who also seemed to read their faces.

  “Is something else going on?” I asked.

  “We don’t know for sure yet,” said Dolph. “It seems some tree sentries we sent on a scouting expedition north of the cities noticed a band of dwarfs. Dwarfs usually are loners, but once in a while they connect with others. We’re keeping an eye on them and monitoring their movements. Right now we don’t think they’re a threat. They would have to come our way or be teamed up with rock elves for that. I was just letting Alice know they’re there.”

  Shivers went up my spine as I thought of the dwarf encounters this past summer. “Could they be looking for the dwarf that died?” I asked.

  “Probably not. They don’t seem to keep close bonds with others of their kind,” said Lunt, “unless it was family, like a spouse or child.”

  “He didn’t seem like a child, and I can’t imagine anyone willingly marrying him!” I said.

  “Aly, they’re all similar to that one. They’re the least friendly of all the creatures I’ve met. Giants were more friendly than dwarfs,” said Lunt.

  “Do Agda and Beck know of the dwarf sighting?” I asked, knowing they and their village were under my charge.

  “Yes, we’ve kept open communication between both villages,” said Dolph. “Our two villages are working as a team now protecting each other.”

  Both Grandma and I looked at each other with a smile. It was nice knowing we were all together. It made the guardianships less stressful.

  Dolph and Lunt kept an eye on the wolf and reported to us in the house for the rest of the afternoon. We were told the wolf slept most of the day. Right before I had to leave, Lunt had me go out with him and fill up the water and food bowls again. The wolf was asleep as I took the bowls out of the tent but woke when I returned.

  “This water and food will help your strength come back,” I said to the wolf as he kept an eye on me.

  My heart started pounding when the wolf rose and walked toward me. I tried to settle it down, thinking of music and
breathing normal. I started nervously humming as he was right in front of me. He rubbed the side of his head against my arm as he turned toward the food. I stood in shock, realizing the wolf not only touched me but seemed to show affection toward me.

  “I have to go now, but I’ll return tomorrow. Lunt here will be taking good care of you tonight,” I turned toward Lunt, whose eyes were widened by what had just happened.

  Lunt bowed to the wolf as we both turned to leave.

  Inside the house Lunt burst out saying, “The wolf has accepted Aly as a friend! He rubbed her arm in a sign of affection.”

  “What!” said Grandma in a shocked face, “The wolf rubbed up against you?”

  “Yeah, he’s gentle. It frightened me when he approached, but he likes me,” I said with a huge smile.

  “Do you think I could meet him, then?” asked Emily.

  “In time. Now that we know he’s not vicious, we’ll just let him get used to the four of us. Then you can come out,” said Dolph. “Too many of us might scare him.”

  Emily sighed with disappointment.

  Mom pulled up in the driveway then, and we both rushed out to her car. “What’s that smell on you two? It is like wet dog! What were you doing?” asked Mom as we entered her car.

  “We just played outside. It must be because our clothes are damp,” I quickly answered.

  “Well, make sure you hang them up when we get home so they’re dry for tomorrow.”

  Chica did not leave either Emily or I alone the rest of the night. The wolf scent was driving her crazy. It wasn’t until after our baths that she settled down. As Emily and I gave her attention on my bedroom floor, Emily asked me, “Aly, did you kill a dwarf?”

  “Not really, the guardianship powers did. A tree kind of swallowed a dwarf that was going to harm me. It’s a long story,” I said.

  “Can I hear it?” asked Emily.

  I told her the story of this past summer when a dwarf had captured Chica and I tried to free her. Reliving the story gave me chills.