When SJ heard nothing, no scream, no cry, no growl, she slowly turned back and looked down. The scene made her eyes pop as if they were going to fly from her face. The Dire Wolf stood directly before Cristy, where it had landed from its pounce. It hadn't attacked, and SJ heard Cristy giggle as she reached her hand to the underside of the giant Wolf's head. The Wolf lowered its head, allowing Cristy to stroke the side of its huge head with her tiny, outstretched paw.

Amazed, shocked, and awestruck, SJ had no words as the Dire Wolf lay on the ground before Cristy. She walked to the side of it, petting it on its head and stroking it.

SJ began to lower herself from where she hovered until she was nearly at the level of the wolves. One of the others growled towards her and salivated at its mouth. SJ was ready to fly in an instant and watched it warily.

"Cristy, what are you doing?" SJ said, her voice returning but filled with nervous wonder.

"This is Patch," Cristy replied.

"Sorry?" SJ said, shock registering on her face.

"Holy Trolls Snot!" Dave exclaimed.

"Patch," Cristy repeated, stroking the Wolf's huge head. The Dire Wolf tilted its head so Cristy could reach behind its ear more easily, and she began to scratch it. This made the Dire Wolf's rear leg twitch as she did. The Wolf was probably six times her size, if not more. It stood four feet at the shoulder, and its jaws looked like they were large enough to fit Cristy inside.

"How do you know him? I assume it is he?" SJ said.

"I have known Patch since he was a pup. I used to feed him," she replied.

"What?" was all SJ could reply.

"Patch was a cub when my dad saved him. A Grizzly Bear had killed his mummy, and we found him suckling next to her. This was about three years ago. I went out with my dad when he was only collecting traps and not hunting, and that is when we found Patch. He has grown a lot since the last time I saw him," she replied.

The tiny form of the Gnoll standing next to the monstrous Dire Wolf was unimaginable, and if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she never would have believed anyone telling her the story.

"Patch is your friend," SJ said.

"We are more than friends; we are family," Cristy replied, a tear forming in her eye. "He is the only family I have left now."

Confused beyond all expectations, SJ stood in disbelief, watching the continuing interaction. Once Patch was happy with his ear being scratched, he flopped his body onto its side and rolled so she could scratch his belly. This was no different from the hundreds of interactions SJ had seen between friends of hers and their pet dogs.

"I think he came to the ridge looking for me," Cristy said.

"Looking for you?"

"My dad used to see him every couple of days. He lives on the far side of the lake with his pack. That was where Dad used to go trapping. We would take a boat over the lake."

"So, because your dad hadn't been over, Patch has come around looking for him."

"Yes. I think so."

Cristy looked at Patch, who was busy enjoying his belly rub, its tongue slightly dangling from its mouth in pleasure. "Dad's dead," Cristy suddenly said, tears filling her eyes, and she burst into tears.

Patch immediately reacted, turning his head, and SJ was sure it had understood every word being spoken. At the words from Cristy, he shot up again, sitting back, tilting his head up to the sky and howled. This howl was different. It was not like his previous victorious howl. It seemed to carry meaning and grief and hit SJ like a train. The other Wolves did the same; all of them howling. The cacophony of noise was not fear-inducing but tear-jerking. They were calling for a lost soul. SJ just knew it.

They howled for several moments before Patch again stood and placed his head next to Cristy, and SJ saw a tear in the wolf's eye. It was not crying; it was just a single tear. SJ watched as Cristy looked at the beast's head and gently brushed it away with her tiny paw.

"He won't attack you," Cristy said, turning her tear-streaked face to look at SJ.

SJ warily lowered herself to the ground, standing still in her miniature form. The remaining wolves could back away, none making a sound or moving towards her. Her senses told her to flee, but somehow, she knew she was safe, and she grew to her humanoid size. Once she was, Cristy ran over to her and flung her arms around her leg, a fresh round of sobs coming from her. SJ looked at the Dire Wolf, who stood there looking back at her as she began to soothe Cristy and stroked her hair.

This continued for several minutes until, eventually, Cristy ran out of tears and, hiccupping, looked up at SJ.

"I miss him," she said. Patch then walked over, no menace, no threat. He just walked over and nudged Cristy on her shoulder with his head. She released SJ's leg and looked at him again. "I know you miss him too," Cristy said.

"Every day, something new is happening in your life that I have never seen before," Dave said, his voice betraying him with emotion and surprise.

"We really should get back to town, Cristy," SJ said. "We need to let them know you are safe."

"Can Patch come?" Cristy asked.

"I am not sure the town would allow him. I heard they already had reports of a Dire Wolf in the area, so the guard will look for him and his pack."

"But his friends are injured."

SJ took in the full scene for the first time. The four Hobs lay dead, and the two injured wolves were among them. One of the Wolves looked seriously injured, and another one had walked over to it, nudging it and licking at the horrible-looking wound down its flank. Knowing that animals didn't heal properly, SJ was unsure what to do.

"I wonder if my potions will help," she said aloud deliberately for Dave's benefit.

"It may do if you can get it to drink it. They are weak potions, though," Dave replied.

"I am going to see if this helps," SJ said, calling one of her lesser potions to her hand. She uncorked the small vial and walked towards the Wolf, injured the worst and unable to stand with its deep flank injury. The Black Wolf that had been by it let out a warning growl as she stepped closer. SJ put her hand out in a placating gesture and moved forward. The Dire Wolf let out a low growl of his own, and the Black Wolf looked at it and then took a step back.

SJ bent down by the head of the Grey Wolf. The wound was oozing blood, and it looked deep. SJ placed her hand on the head of the Wolf, who looked at her with sad eyes. The bright yellow of them having faded as the Wolf had been. Gently lifting its head from the ground, she tipped a small amount of the potion onto its tongue. It licked instinctively, swallowing it. She repeated the process until the whole vial was empty. As she watched, she saw the wound begin to heal; the blood began to stop flowing initially, and then the wound began to close.

The potion wasn't enough to heal it fully, but it would hopefully keep it alive at least. The other injured Wolf could stand weakly but could not put weight on its front leg and had to hop to move. SJ knew that both injured Wolves would unlikely survive in the wild. Nature was cruel. Then, the Black Wolf suddenly growled, turning and its heckles raised as it looked down the trail to the north. The Dire Wolf growled, and the three lined up facing towards where the Black Wolf faced. SJ stood and looked down the trail. She couldn't see anything, but then she heard it. Footsteps running down the trail, multiple pairs by all accounts.

"I hope it's not more Hobs," SJ said.

"I don't think so," Dave said.

The sound got louder, and then they came into view. Charging around the corner came a large Orc. She recognised several other town guard members and the white-haired Paladin that had healed her after the battle.

"Charge," Gary screamed as he swung his axe in front of him.

"STOP!" SJ screamed, running to get in front of the Wolves, who were all tensed and ready for the fight to come.

SJ moved in front of the Wolves, throwing her arms out wide as Gary suddenly stopped. The others in the group did the same.

"SJ? What do you think you're doing? Get out of the way," Gary shouted.

"No. They are friendly," SJ called back. There were only twenty feet between the groups now, and the three wolves stared at the guard force, who stared back in reply, all brandishing weapons.

"What do you mean friendly?" Gary said, confusion on his face.

"The Dire Wolf is a friend of Cristy's," SJ said. At the mention of this, Patch turned to look at SJ, and Cristy, who had been standing behind him, walked to his side.

Every one of the guards stood in front of the Wolves, mouths dropped open in shock.

"He is my family," Cristy said as she stroked Patch on his foreleg.

"But they are Wolves?" Gary replied in shock.

"Please put your weapons down, and I will explain," SJ said.

Gary looked around, taking in the scene of the recent fight, the Hobgoblin corpses and the fact that SJ and Cristy were standing amongst them with no signs of aggression being shown. He slowly lowered his axe. He glanced at the rest of the guard force and told them to stand down. Slowly and with uncertainty, the guard members began to lower their weapons or sheath their swords.

SJ then explained the history of Cristy and Patch to them. It didn't take long, and although the guards were as confused as she had been at the revelation, they began to accept it, especially as the young Gnoll stood stroking the huge Dire Wolf as though it was her pet dog.

SJ couldn't remember the name of the Paladin who had healed her, so she walked up to him.

"I am sorry, can you heal animals?" she asked.

"I can heal anything that doesn't have evil alignment," he responded.

"Could you please try and heal the Wolves that are injured?"

The Paladin looked over at Gary, who appeared to be in charge of the group and then shrugged, nodding. Walking towards the injured Wolves, the others began to growl at him. SJ walked by his side. "He is going to try and heal your friends," she said.

Stepping to the side, the Wolves let them pass, and the Paladin leaned over the Wolf to tell that SJ had given the potion. Saying a few words, he placed his hand on its side. A bright flash of white occurred, and SJ watched in amazement as the wound began to close and the colour returned to the Wolf's eyes.

"That's that one healed," the Paladin said, turning to the next one with the injured leg.

Walking over to it, it hopped backwards initially until it saw the one that had been injured on its side slowly start to stand and get back to its feet. It stopped and lowered its head towards the Paladin. The Paladin again placed his hand on the Wolf, and another bright flash of white occurred as the wound on the Wolf's foreleg healed.

"We got the message you were in the forest. Rex informed Alice this morning, and we set off straight away," Gary said, turning to look at SJ. "With the recent Wolf sightings, we thought we had better come and check, which now seems unnecessary."

"If you hadn't come, I doubt the two injured Wolves would have survived," SJ replied.

Patch walked towards the Paladin, who was still near the second Wolf. On nearing, he dropped his head as he had done towards Cristy.

"I think he is saying thank you," SJ said, looking into the Paladin's fear-filled eyes. The Paladin was this close to the beast with no weapon in his hand.

"That's ok," he replied rather nervously.

Patch turned back away, returning to Cristy's side.

"Can they come back?" Cristy suddenly said.

"Back?" Gary asked, looking at her.

"Back to town," she replied.

"I don't think so. People would not be happy with a Dire Wolf being near the town," Gary said.

"They won't harm anyone."

"And how could you be sure? They are Wolves."

Cristy's little face scrunched up in annoyance. "Patch is my family," she shouted.

"Patch?" Gary said with a confused look.

"Patch is the Dire Wolf," SJ answered.

"Look, we need to get you back to the orphanage. Miss Madeline has been worried sick about you since you disappeared," Gary said.

"I'm not going. Not unless Patch comes with me."

"He can't come back with you."

"Well, I will stay here with him then."

"Cristy," SJ said.

"What?" she replied, huffing.

"Patch can walk back with us, but he just can't come into the town. I am sure he can stay nearby, though, and as long as he or his pack don't attack any of the town, I am sure they will be fine in the woods."

Gary looked at SJ, "They can't be anywhere near town. I know we have healed them today, but the wolves are renowned for the damage they cause, and the hunters can earn a living."

"Do the hunters hunt on this side of town?" SJ asked.

Gary stood and scratched his head for a moment, thinking. "Well, no, because of the Hob scouting parties, like this one lying dead around us."

"Exactly," SJ replied.

"What do you mean?" Gary asked, frowning.

"Patch and his pack on this side of the town will act as another line of defence and deterrent against the Hobs, especially the scouting parties."

After briefly considering SJ's comments, Gary replied, "I suppose it makes sense, but I can't give them permission to be near town. Only the Mayor could do that."

"Well, I suggest we get back to town and see the Mayor then," SJ said, smiling at Gary.

Gary frowned, looking at her and scratching his chin again. "Sven. What do you think?" he asked, directing the question to the Paladin.

"I tend to lean towards what SJ just said. A pack of wolves on this side of town would act as a deterrent for the scout parties. It won't affect if they come to raid, but it could cause them issues at least."

Gary grumbled, mumbling under his breath before he spoke again. "Ok. They can walk back with us but must stay in the forest. They are not allowed to enter the fields leading to town. We can then go and see the Mayor and get his opinion on it."

"Are you ok with that?" SJ asked Cristy.

Cristy looked from Patch to SJ to Gary before replying. "I suppose."

"Good. Then let us get back. Jacob, Brin, can you check the Hobs, please?"

Two of the accompanying guard moved to where the dead Hobs lay and looted their corpses before picking them up and moving them into the treeline off the main track. Soon, the only signs of any fracas were the marks on the ground and the patches darkened, which had soaked up blood.

"Right, come on. It's a long way back yet. We need to get moving," Gary said.

Cristy was quietly speaking to Patch, and SJ could not hear what she said. A moment later, Patch lay on the ground, and Cristy began climbing onto his back.

"What are you doing?" SJ asked.

"Riding Patch," Cristy replied, smiling as she sat with her legs over the Dire Wolf's back. Patch stood again, lifting Cristy into the air and making her let out a shout of glee.

Gary turned, and the party of guards began to follow him as they returned to town. That was until there was noise off to the right of the track. Stopping, they all turned and began to draw their weapons. In amazement, SJ watched as five more wolves suddenly appeared from the treeline. They were all slightly smaller frames than the others, and three small cubs followed them. The lead of the Wolves from the treeline and the largest was a brilliant white colour, and it walked up to Patch and nudged his face.

"It looks like Patch has a girlfriend," Cristy said, smiling.
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