Zayed min Shemran's Story

"You should stop smoking," Uncle Tamuz said for the second time that day. Zayed looked at his Uncle pointedly.

He didn't know what had come into Tamuz lately. Everyday, he seemed to be getting older. Sure, he was fifty and old to begin with, but he had always been a younger man at heart. He had always had a joke for Zayed, or a new trick. These days, all he seemed to do was criticize Zayed's habits.

They were under a tree by the side of the road to Menaria, taking shade from the heat. Zayed had his hat pulled low over his eyes and was smoking a clay pipe, dozing in that half-conscious way with his back to the wide trunk. Tamuz had been scouting the area, setting traps for rabbits.

"I will stop smoking when you stop smoking," Zayed replied sleepily, puffing away. He chuckled to himself. Tamuz would sooner give up smoking than give up gambling. And he would sooner give up gambling than he would give up pinching barmaids. And he would sooner do that than die.

"If your parents were alive they would-" Tamuz began but Zayed cut him off.

"They would be shocked that I am still alive. Stop pestering me, Tamuz!" He had passed the stage when he called him Uncle. In fact, Tamuz had insisted on being called by his name. Perhaps he didn't want to be seen as a relative to a clearly poorly-raised boy.

The older man sighed and settled down, uncorking their last bottle of wine as he did so.

"You better go easy on that," Zayed warned. "We haven't got any till we reach Elband." Tamuz waved his hand airily.

"Some merchant train is bound to pass us by," he said, sipping appreciatively from the bottle. "Maybe I will show you my broke-merchant-ruse." He grinned looking at Zayed's face light up.

Suddenly, they heard a distant growl. Tamuz was up like a whip, a knife almost magically appearing in his hand. Zayed still hadn't perfected the move, but he too retrieved hidden knives from under his coat and stood up.

"Wolves," Tamuz breathed. "Not coming towards here, though."

"This close to the city?" Zayed asked.

"Things must be worse up in the mountains for them to come down here," Tamuz agreed, looking quite worried. "If it is a large pack, we better get away from here."

"We can climb a tree," Zayed muttered, looking in the direction of the sound. He could only see trees blocking his vision.

[Another wrong post]

"Over there!" pointed Tamuz. Zayed turned fast enough to see a grey tail swish through the foliage to his left. They were certainly heading away from them. He relaxed his grip on the knife.

"Let's hit the road, Tamuz," he said, beginning to turn.

"Listen, boy!" hissed Tamuz. Zayed stopped and cocked his ear. There were snarls and thunks. Sound of something hard hitting their bodies. They were attacking someone or something and it was fighting back.

"Stag?" Zayed asked.

"No stag ever grunted like a human," his uncle replied, moving towards the source of the sounds.

"All the more reason for us to be off," Zayed said in a loud whisper. "We are not here to socialize, Tamuz!"

"Burn you, boy! Someone's out there trying hard to fend off the wolves. There aren't that many. We can make a difference here."

Zayed hesitated. He wondered if he could live with walking away. Well, he could. But Tamuz wouldn't.

"Fine. But if you get us killed, I am going to be very angry."

They advanced through the forest and emerged into a clearing. Zayed saw a man cornered by a big grey wolf. No. Not cornered. He was using his sword like someone who knew what he was doing. Suddenly, two wolves leaped from the foliage, their teeth bared, snarling. Zayed saw a gleam of silver to his side and one of the wolves fell down with a whimper, Tamuz's knife sticking out of its breast. Zayed quickly let loose another knife and caught the other animal in its shoulder. But the big grey was getting ready to pounce on the man.

The force of the wolf, no longer pouncing simply to intimidate, threw Andrew to the ground. His shield only stopped teeth, claws, and blades, but weight still had a distinctive power. This was proven as Andrew was now holding his shield barely above his chest, truly noting just how much heavier this wolf was compared to the rest. He only had enough control of his sword to cause the wolf to recoil every attempted bite.

"Zayed! Finish it!" yelled Tamuz. Zayed obeyed instantly, letting loose his last dagger. It flew clear and true, and just as the wolf was getting ready to pounce again at the man, the knife struck it in its throat. The force of the impact sent the wolf reeling to the side, and it whimpered and gurgled blood quite pitifully.

He realized he had been breathing hard. Tamuz was leaning against the bark of a tree, looking quite winded. "I don't think there are more," he said.

Zayed turned to look at the man. The stranger had dark blonde hair and stood taller than Zayed. Zayed was always conscious of his height and never stood next to tall people if he could help it.

"You look alright," he said. "Glad we were in the vicinity, huh?"

"Are you hurt anywhere?" asked Tamuz with genuine concern in his voice.

"I am glad you were near, or does vicanaty mean something else, and no I am not hurt." Andrew spoke, surprisingly calm for just being attacked. He looked around a bit more before putting his blade back into the sheath. He then scratched his head a little. Andrew was far from stupid, but he did not know everything either. You don't go into smithing to memorize the dictionary.

After a few moments of pause, Andrew continued with, "I am Andrew Knight, blacksmith in training. Who are you?" He then tilted his head, with a pair of curious eyes. The least he could do was thank these two with their names. Andrew, after some pause, asked, "Are you headed to Elband?" now tilting his head more, and in the opposite direction.