Shepherd's Wolf

by M. Andrew Reid

  “Are you going to pull us?” Laura joked.

  Viper did not answer right away. Finally, he responded, “Yes, we are going to tie ropes around me and I’m going to run on the shore.”

  Laura was surprised to see a small grin on his face. “What are we really going to do?”

  “Iruka,” Viper said.

  “Who’s Iruka?” Laura asked.

  “It’s not a person.” He turned to her, “I thought you were studying the animals here?”

  She had grown used to scoldings about her lack of game knowledge, “My research was set back by equipment theft.”

  Viper ignored the jab, “Iruka is Japanese or Chinese for dolphin. Or something. They aren’t really dolphins, but they are close. I don’t even think they are mammals. They only live in the Sweet Lady. Somebody figured out how to breed them and train them, and they put them in teams and use them to pull ships. You will get to see some up close.”

  “Wow.” Laura was intrigued, “How many does it take to pull a ship?”

  “This ship?” Viper looked back toward the stern. “Maybe fifteen. It’s been a while since I’ve taken the trip. Maybe less - they probably breed them bigger and faster now.”

  The round towers on either side of the Lady’s mouth were black as pitch. They were so tall that clouds passed beneath their tops. An enormous green flame sprouted from the right tower, and a red flame from the left. Laura pulled out her camera to snap some pictures.

  Suddenly, there was a loud blast; a low rumbling call warbled from the green tower. Laura put her hands up to her ears to block the noise. When she removed them, Gale was shouting to her crew.

  “Barnacle is in command while I am below. Do exactly as he says and do not say the word wolf unless you want to go for a swim. Viper, come below. Ben, keep your wolf quiet. Barnacle, you have the ship.”

  “Aye, Cap’n. I have the ship.” Barnacle bowed politely. He wheeled about to roar and spit at the crew, “You heard the Cap’n! Look lively and keep yer traps shut. Anyone speaks I carve ‘em up fer stew, that I will!”

  “I’m going below,” Viper said. “I’m a bit of a celebrity, and people know I’m with the wolf by now.”

  “A celebrity? Is that supposed to impress me?” Laura asked.

  Viper stopped, “Is infamous better?”

  She laughed, “Go below. I’m going to stay out here in the sun.”

  A gate opened at the base of the green tower, and from inside burst a small boat. The little boat whizzed through the water incredibly fast. Its mast had no sails, but three taut ropes stretched out in front of the ship and vanished into the sea.

  Standing in the boat was a lone man. A green flag with a fish drawn on it fluttered from a small mast set in the boat’s stern. The man held onto a wheel that was connected by chain to a system of gears at the top of the mast. As he turned the wheel, the ropes would loosen or tighten depending on which direction he spun. The boat was silent as it rushed over the smooth water toward them. It looked like a ski boat being pulled by ski ropes.

  “Is that magic?” Laura asked no one in particular.

  “Iruka,” a crewmen answered.

  Laura saw several colorful flashes below the surface near the little boat. The boat rushed ever closer, and the man pulled a lever beside his wheel. Wet ropes whizzed as they played out, and three bright glistening torpedoes leaped out of the water.

  The green iruka, harnessed to the middle rope, was the largest- nearly ten feet long. Its sleek body was streaked with fluorescent yellow stripes. It had a rounded, smiling snout and four bright beady eyes.

  The purple iruka was smaller and wore a much wider smile. A pair of offset dorsal fins sprouted from its back, and two strong flippers slapped the water.

  The blue iruka was the smallest, with white spots and blotches covering its body. It leaped higher than the other two, exposing a muscular tail with a broad tailfin. Articulated with four flippers, the fin wriggled wildly and flung water into the blue sky.

  Suddenly, the iruka disappeared below the water, dragging their ropes. Pulleys whizzed and creaked as the ropes swung back to the stern. With a rush of water, the boat slowed, rocking in its wake. The iruka drifted lazily, their golden harnesses winking in the sun.

  “Ahoy!” Barnacle called down to the man on the boat.

  “Greetings from the Green Guides! I am Horatio!”

  The man was dressed in green trousers and a green doublet. He had an impossibly intricate moustache, bushy eyebrows, and spoke with a thick accent.

  “We be seekin’ passage ‘ariver,” Barnacle said. He managed to make everything sound angry.

  “The Green Guides can do that! We are cheaper, faster than Red Guides! First to tame iruka, first to pull ships. Red Guides are no good for you!”

  “That’s well and good. Fetch us a team o’ iruka and we’ll be off!” Barnacle replied.

  “First, I will be inspecting your cargo,” the man said, “To judge the weight so we use enough iruka. Too few, too slow and iruka get weak. Too many,” the man shrugged, “is to waste iruka. I will judge the weight fairly. Horatio is honest.”

  “I am carrying secure cargo for a client. No one can board the Harpy per our contract.” Barnacle waited for an answer. His braids fluttered softly in the breeze.

  “I am afraid I must charge full price then. Three thousand will get you a full team of strong and fast iruka. Green Guides have best iruka.”

  Barnacle drummed his claws on the railing. He looked at the red tower. They might be cheaper, but they had not sent anyone to intercept them. Iruka were fresh water animals, and the sea would make them sick if they stayed too long.

  Finally, he answered, “I have heard that the Red Guides will take me fer two thousand.” This was a lie. NPCs were amazingly good at deception, even the ones that weren’t “villains”. If this were known to the general public it would likely bring many more questions about Omni’s true nature.

  Horatio spat, “Red Guides do not feed iruka enough. They whip them and do not let them play. They are no good. No good.”

  “Yet, ya’ brought yer’ iruka to the sea.” Barnacle countered.

  “My iruka are strong and brave. They like a little salt water. But you are right; I must bring them back quickly. This is why Horatio will take you for two thousand. I do not want you to go with Red Guides and be wishing you were with Green Guides. This would be no good for you. No good.”

  Laura witnessed all of this with fascination. She ran to the bow and watched as lines were thrown to the small boat. Soon, the little boat was towing the larger ship toward the green tower. The three iruka moved the large vessel with surprising speed. She was excited to see what a full team would do.

  The Harpy was quickly tied up at a pier that jutted into brackish water. The tower loomed above them, and on the other side of the pier was an enormous pen, many acres across. Inside the pen, hundreds of colorful iruka jumped and splashed and spouted water playfully from the holes at the top of their heads. They squeaked and chattered at each other.

  Horatio tied up his small boat and untied the harnesses of his three iruka. He clapped his hands and yelled a short command in a foreign language. The iruka leaped over his head, over the pier, and into the pen on the other side. Horatio reached into a bucket on the pier and pulled out three wriggling worms- red and fat and covered in flailing legs. He threw the worms in the air, and each one was caught by an iruka before it hit the water. Suddenly, the water was churning as hundreds of iruka crowded in for a treat. Their squeaks and chatters echoed off the stone tower walls.

  Horatio laughed and clapped again. He turned back to the ship and looked up at Barnacle, “One minute and we will be going. The iruka are ready to show you how strong and fast they are. I must be getting my pilot boat and the harnesses.”

  He vanished into a small door at the tower’s base. Moments later, a crew of men surged through the door, shouting. A large oaken gate swung open with a gurgle. Lines were thrown from the dark
ness inside the tower, and the men caught them. They began pulling a large boat with a tall mast from inside the tower.

  The pilot boat was about thirty feet long, and its mast had many chains, gears, and pulleys. It was painted a bright green, with a grinning face traced on the bow. Three heavy chains ran from the top of the mast to the stern. Horatio ran to the stern and threw thin weighted lines to the crew of the Harpy.

  Strong men hauled on the lines, which were tied chains, and pulled the chains up on deck. They secured the chains to strongpoints at the bow of the Harpy. For the first time, Laura noticed a large eyebolt at the prow which may have been installed for this purpose.

  Horatio called to his men, and some of them jumped off the pier. The water there was shallow; they waded waist deep. Horatio tossed ropes that dangled from the mast. Carefully, the men kept the ropes spread out, ensuring that they would not tangle.

  One of Horatio’s men grabbed a bucket and began shouting at the penned iruka. The water roiled and the air filled with squeals and chatter. Playful iruka pushed at one another and stood on their tails, eager for a snack or an adventure- or both.

  Horatio began shouting names and tossing worms, “Lucy! Papa! Baby! Pig-pig!” Each name was more ridiculous than the last.

  As he shouted, iruka sprang over his head, grabbing a tossed worm. Each animal had distinct, wild markings in every imaginable color. The iruka landed on the other side of the pier, and approached the waiting crewmen.

  Stout ropes were quickly attached to each iruka’s golden harness. Viper had been close in his estimate; there were thirteen of them. The largest iruka, a big black beast with bright green patches around his eyes, took a place at the front and center of the team. He snuffled clouds of mist out of his blowholes, eager to begin. His tail thrashed the water impatiently.

  Before long, the team of iruka had fanned out in front of the pilot boat. Three heavy lines ran from the pilot boat’s mast. One ran directly to the big iruka in the center - Papa. The other two lines stretched port and starboard, and were connected by a bracket to the six individual lines from the iruka on either side of the ship. This arrangement allowed the pilot to control thirteen individual creatures as easily as three. Papa was the team leader, and the other iruka would follow his lead.

  Horatio took his place at the controls. The vessel had an open deck, with a small hatch leading below and a collapsible shelter over the pilot’s seat. Horatio rummaged around behind his seat and pulled out a golden horn. He placed the horn to his lips and blew.

  A savage howl blasted the air. With a jolt, the iruka surged forward. The pilot boat whizzed away and the chains stretched taught with a sharp clank. The Harpy jerked into motion, and several men nearly lost their balance. Laura clung to a rail as the ship accelerated.

  Pen, pier and tower rushed away as the ship plowed toward the center of the river. A vibrant city nestled on the northern bank, hidden at first by a forested shore and the huge tower. Brightly colored houses and shops crowded the water’s edge, and a small wharf held a fleet of fishing boats.

  There were other ships being pulled on the river. Some headed downstream to the sea, others upstream. Horatio steered around seagoing vessels as well as big, flat barges heaped with goods. Every vessel flew a colored flag, signifying the captain’s allegiance.

  If a vessel had a green flag, Horatio would begin to sing loudly, and the captain and crew of the other boat would join in. They would dance together on the decks until they were out of earshot.

  Whenever Horatio passed a red-flagged boat, he would shout curses in his native tongue and thumb his nose. He would often be returned the same courtesy, or be given a glimpse of the other pilot’s buttocks. One Red Guide captain threw a fish, which glimmered as it flew through the air before slapping harmlessly against the pilot boat’s hull.

  From time to time Horatio would glance back up at The Harpy and exclaim, “I tell you Red Guides are no good!”

  After some time, Laura worked up the courage to lean over the bow and shout questions about the iruka to Horatio. She figured she might as well get some work done while she was stuck on the ship.

  “Are they mammals?” she shouted.

  “No mammal.” Horatio shook his head, “Not dog or horse. Iruka lay egg. But they have the milk. They suck when they are babies.”

  “Monotremes,” Laura murmured as she took some notes.

  “How do you tell male from females?”

  Horatio shrugged, “If they lay eggs they are not man iruka!” He laughed heartily at this.

  Laura continued, “How many eggs do they lay?”

  “Two or three.” Horatio raised a hand and extended three fingers, keeping his eye on the river ahead of him. “They are buried in riverbank. Sometimes, they wash away. That is how Green Guides received first baby iruka.”

  “Can you tame wild iruka?”

  “Yes, but they are not happy. Iruka must be happy. They must be born in a pen to live happy in a pen.”

  As if they knew they were the topic of conversation, a group of wild iruka noisily broke the surface in front of the ship. Their colors were not as bright as the tame iruka, and they were smaller and leaner.

  Joyfully, the wild iruka darted among the team pulling the ship, chirping and clacking. With great enthusiasm, the tame iruka returned the calls and tried to race their untethered cousins. The ship surged forward.

  Despite the added weight of the two vessels, the iruka team put up a good fight. Horatio shouted encouragement to his iruka, laughing merrily.

  Eventually, the wild iruka won out; they were not pulling wooden ships filled with dragons and giant wolves. Ghosts of the water, the creatures vanished back under the river, and the iruka team resumed a cruising speed. Laura went below to log off; all there was to do now was wait.

  Gilgal- The Conquerors’ City

  Richard Brook and Major White climbed the gray stone steps to the Council Chamber in Gilgal. Cold northern winds whipped at their clothing. Brook wore a fancy white tunic with a golden sash. White wore a simple leather jerkin and pants - something that might be worn under a suit of armor.

  They reached the chamber entrance and were escorted down a hallway by surly guards bearing torches. Crossed white swords - the insignia of the Conquerors - marked the guards’ dark plate armor.

  At a stone archway, the guards stopped and motioned them in. The arch opened to a great banquet hall, cold and sparse. Walls, seats, and even the table were made from the same steely gray stone. Barely enough torches blazed on the walls to light the enormous room.

  Footsteps echoed icily as the pair made their way down the long narrow table to the far end. Seated there were two figures, one small and gray, the other tall and blood red. The figures watched silently as Brook and White approached.

  Tungsten wore a deep red cloak that cascaded around him. His black eyes bore no emotion. Bony fingers folded thoughtfully under his gray chin.

  Grave wore studded leather armor. His pepper-gray fur glimmered as the faint light caught tiny bits of metal woven into his pelt.

  Brook sat down and White followed suit. A cup of wine was poured for each of them by a thin serving girl. Brook took a sip before speaking.

  “This wolf is a problem for the company. I would have never dreamed that something so silly would change the positions of governments, but it has. We stand to lose a lot of money if this farce continues, and can reward handsomely those who help us put the wolf down.”

  “Why don’t ya’ll just delete the wolf?” Grave asked - Southern drawl dripping from his tongue.

  “It’s not that simple. That is not an option for reasons I am not willing to discuss with you. However, we believe the wolf can be killed like any other creature in Verdia.” Brook took another sip, “We intend to do just that.”

  Tungsten tapped his fingers together, “And what can the Conquerors do for you?”

  “We know that the wolf was protected at the Haven, which has ties to the Explorers,” Brook replied
. “We know that you don’t like the Explorers, and stand to lose out if they succeed with whatever plans they have for the wolf.”

  “This is true,” Tungsten allowed.

  Brook waved his hand in the air, “I could care less about factions and magic swords; this entire game is an indulgence I could do without. I want the stock price to go up and not down. I think that you can help us with that, and we can help you out as well.”

  Tungsten smiled, “I can help you with information, but I think Grave is better suited for getting blood on his hands.”

  “What do you know about the wolf’s whereabouts?” White asked Tungsten. His eyes were hard. This was a test.

  “This is my latest intelligence,” Tungsten began. “The wolf was sighted aboard the Alexa, a small merchant ship captained by an Irish girl named Gale. She is a Level Seventeen Brigand. The pirates that attacked the ship were repelled by Gale, her crew, and Viper, a level Thirty-One Thaumaturge.”

  Grave growled at this and spun a pair of black knives. They floated slowly through the air before returning to his hands.

  “Thaumaturge?” Brook raised an eyebrow. He was willfully ignorant of the classes and silly names in Verdia.

  “Thaumaturge,” Tungsten repeated. “It means Miracle Worker, and Viper is the only one in the game. It’s a human ultimate class, and is essentially a blank slate. Viper is proficient in many schools of magic, and skilled with most weapons. He can fight in any armor without penalty. There is nothing that he is exceptional at when compared to say, a Paladin’s defensive power or the eye melting terror inflicted by a Warlock such as myself, but neither does he have weaknesses.

  “What it holds for you is that the Wolf Rider has the protection of one of the top players in the game wielding a very unpredictable set of abilities. Your task will be very difficult. Aside from possibly Kogan and our Grave, there is no one in the game that can match him - myself included.”

  This drew another growl from Grave.

  White stared at Grave for a bit, “We will need a guide to move us from the coast to a point where we can intercept the wolf. You came highly recommended by several people. They say you are among the top three players in the game.”