The Fenrir

"She was not trying to hurt me. She just wanted me to treat her cubs! I know her she doesn't want to hurt anyone; she was not herself, don't hurt her!", Marie pleaded.

"What do you mean you know her?" asked Alex.

"Once I went to the forest on my own to pick up some berries and ran into a monster, the Fenrir saved me"

"And what was that about the cubs?"

"She is a mother now and has two cubs. Both of them were weak so I was helping her."

"Fine! Now stay here and don't move."

Alex ran into the forest. It was a deep forest with a lot of overgrowths but Alex could see where the Fenrir had gone by following the blood trail. He followed it closely and then, he heard a howl. Alex had almost reached the Fenrir when he saw a big ugly creature. He had seen the drawings of it. It was an Orc; it was of a dirty green colour and had a hideous face with two tusks poking out one of which was broken. It was wearing only a loincloth but had tattoos all over its body. It was emitting a very foul smell from its body. It had a large axe with jagged edges. After seeing the Orc, Alex knew it was strong.

The Orc was attacking the Fenrir but instead of counter-attacking, the Fenrir was just blocking a dodging the attacks always swaying away from the large tree. That's where the cubs must be thought, Alex. The Fenrir was losing the fight and now that Alex knew she was not an enemy, he decided to help her. Before Alex could jump into the battle, there was a large blast of air and the orc was blown back. The Fenrir had hit the orc with Air magic. This took out most of the energy that Fenrir had and she too collapsed.

Alex moved closer to her cautiously. She was panting hard, and the wound she had worsened. She was trying to stand up but to no avail. Then he heard a loud thud sound. It was the Orc back in action looking more menacing than ever. Alex stood up to the Orc gathering up the courage. He was scared but at the same time the adrenaline had kicked in and he decided to fight. The first to take action was the Orc. It swung the axe vertically downwards with immense force. Alex barely dodged it, the impact was so strong that it made a big crack in the ground below. Alex concentrated his mana in his fist and punched the orc which the orc blocked with no effort. Alex kept attacking it with his punches while simultaneously dodging its attacks. Alex was getting desperate and went in for another punch and that was a huge mistake. The orc had seen through Alex's attack and with a powerful swing, he blew Alex away several feet into the trees. It started heading towards the large tree again when,

"I am not yet done you ugly pig!" Roared Alex. Then with a big surge of mana, Alex fired his magic, "Air Blade". The attack hit the orc squarely in the chest, injuring it for the first time. Without wasting any time Alex had fired several air blades at him. The orc bent down on one knee. Constant attacks had done their damage, it was now tired and slow or so Alex thought. The orc threw its axe at Alex with full force. This attack was so unexpected that Alex couldn't move even an inch. He thought this was the end of the line for him. Alex closed his eyes but what came next was not an axe but a dull thud sound. Fenrir had taken the attack and saved Alex's life. Alex heard a voice in his head, "Save my children. Please!"

It was the Fenrir. She was telepathically telling Alex to save her children. Fenrir drew her last breath and collapsed. Alex now disappointed in himself for not being strong enough, gathered up a considerable amount of mana and this time instead of an air blade, shot a huge ball of fire. This attack landed on the orc and it was blasted away. Alex turned to Fenrir to see if she was still alive when he heard a shout-

"He is not dead yet! Dont look away."

Before Alex could react, he was hit not with an attack from the orc but a blast of water. Before the orc could attack him, the blast of water had pushed Alex away and had saved him. A small boy with blonde hair and blue eyes had come forward. Alex regained his composure and got up. He now stood side by side the boy who had saved him.

"Thank you", panted Alex.

"Keep that for later, the orc is still alive but I don't think my attacks can do anything against this beast." replied the boy.

"Don't Worry, I have just the thing; you just hit him once with water" Alex said with confidence.

The orc had stood up and was now charging at them. The damage done to the orc was obvious, its speed had reduced. The boy shot a weak blast of water at the orc. This did not affect the orc; it was still charging in their direction. Alex jumped in the air and landed behind the orc while concentrating mana in his fist. The mana had taken the form of electricity now and with a swift motion, Alex delivered the punch. The orc writhed in pain and for the last time fell face first with a huge thud.

"That was brilliant! What was that? Who are you?" Alex was bombarded with questions.

"Thank you, I am Alex Grymore and you are?"

"Greymore? Oh sorry, where are my manners, I asked your name without giving any self-introduction, I am Edward Crowe"

"Thanks again for saving my life, Ed."

"Ed? Whatever let's check up on the Fenrir."

Both of them headed toward the Fenrir. She was lying motionless in the same spot as before, the axe still lodged in her chest. She had given her life to save Alex and had asked for her children's safety in return. Alex and Ed removed the axe from her chest and threw it aside. Alex bowed to her and said, "I will keep my promise" and then ran towards the big tree. At the base of the tree, two feeble cubs were sleeping soundly. Despite being in a weakened state, the cubs were beautiful and had shiny coats. One was black, the other one was pure white.

"I want to take care of them but I can't do that alone. You helped me back there so you can have one." Alex said calmly.

"Wait? These are Fenrir cubs you know; they are really valuable and loyal and not to mention powerful," replied Ed.

"Yes, you deserve it."

They reached for the cubs and picked up one each gently and placed them in their respective jackets. Alex had picked the black wolf while Ed had picked the white one. Suddenly there was a bright light surrounding them and a seal appeared on their hands. They traced the path back to the entrance and as soon as they reached the gate, Alex's legs gave way and he collapsed while still holding the young pup in his arms.