Drooping Willows The Great Alone

The dark Agouti had been more cautious leaving the pack lands since he'd been attacked at least two times by coyotes. Still the scowle wolves couldn't stay cooped up inside the borders until the vermin decided to leave the lore. Since they had seemed to he such a big problem around the Lagoon Tikhon decided it was time to investigate.

There were so many questions that he didn't know if there were answers for. The only way to find out was to go out and see if he could find the answers. His biggest question was why were they so numerous and aggressive in the lore now. He'd left the territory early in search of them, maybe if he followed them he would learn something of importance. Around mid morning he'd found a carcass that had been picked clean and stunk strongly of coyote.

like a bird on a wire

i have tried in my way to be free

He was lost...

Fully lost and missing and no idea where to go or how to get back. Back on the path he had been given by Everly, back to the path Juliet was one. Worry riped at the edges of his mind, what if he never found it? What if he kept being lost and the darkness swallowed him? The evil that loomed in the darkness, the evil would swallow him whole. What was he supposed to do? How would he fight it? He need to find his way back on the path to the Rye, needed to find Kana. At the given time he be happy to see his sister again. But how?!

He had been on the right path he was sure of it! Though the lowlands and to the edge of the forest. He'd been following his mom's directions, at least until he gotten to the forest and he couldn't find the pack he was told to look for. So he kept looking, he just wandered around and then he gotten lost and tried to find his way back. Which hadn't worked and now he was here, where ever here was.

Bright golden eyes would look around, what should he do? What would Infinite do? Raleah was sure the black lord would have solved this without issue, no he never even had gotten lost in the first place. The Dark furred guardian of The Way, would never lose track of his oath, he might leave it to fight the evil monsters of the darkness but he never get lost.

Taking a deep breath the young Selwyn braced himself, tail reaching high and head rasing to stand tall. What would Infinite do in this situation? Moving forth, the Tall mighty Infinite would move on dark paws carrying him through the forest. Red eyes, observing the forest, evil loomed. The mighty Lord could smell it in the air, something dark loomed. Moving free of a few trees he came upon a scene of great horror. A man stood bend over something dead, carrying a foul scent. The Lord was in no doubt he stood in front of a dark mage, a necromancer trying to conduct some dark magic. A foolish man, serving a darkness which would absorb and enslave him. Infiniti would save his foolish clouded soul. "Thou! What darkness hast thou did summon with such dark rituals? How dare thou clepe on the darkness to cometh enslave the Land, art thou so blind thou doth not see yond nay matter what did promise 't shalt nev'r share 't?" His search for The kingdom of Rye and Grumpy Kana would have to wait. His duty as a lord would come first, to save poor fools and stop darkness from spreading its evil arms.

The Carcass that he'd going was already starting to stick with rot, it had been dead awhile but it was clear who had feasted on it. He’d traveled far from the scowle which onlyafe it clear that the coyote problem wasn't just near the lagoon. He could only wonder how far through the lore it spread. Tikhon didn't even know how big the lore actually was since he hadn't traveled to all parts of it.

The dark Agouti sat down looking out across the willows as he tried to imagine just how far the lore spread. For a while he'd considered striking out in search of his brother Lorcan. He knew now wouldn't he the time traveling on his own got too long with the coyotes would be suicide. They had grouped together and become braver, more aggressive. It was best he stayed in the scowle for the time being.

In his musings he hadn't been aware that there was another close by. It was the scent that was his first indication that he had company. Despite the stench of the rotting corpse that lay not even a foot away he had recognized the scent to belong to a stranger. Tikhon immediately rose to his feet to face whoever it was in case they had bad intentions.

A look of confusion crossed his features as the younger wolf spoke. The dark agouti immediately became suspicious of this character. “What are you talking about?” He asked since it sounded as though this guy was speaking a foreign language. “I don't know what dark rituals your talking about.” This wolf needed to start making sense soon.

like a bird on a wire

i have tried in my way to be free

The man, the dark mage turned to him, his words confused but questioning. Had the lord been wrong? No mages were tricky people, they would lie and use spells and jinxes to get ahead. He could not allow himself to fall for such petty tricks not when the darkness dared rise from the crazy minds of those who perused darkness over light. The lord would keep his tall and defensive stance eyes narrowing as he watched the Necromancer.

"Thy foolish lies and tricks shalt not worketh on me, mage. 'r peradventure necromancer suits thee better. A mage who is't perform charm of the dark arts, a mage who is't has't nay respect f'r the light and desekrate the dead" he spoke words clouded and warning, did he not see the danger of his work? Did he not see the wrong in playing guard by messing with the circle of life? The man in front of him was no child, he was a man who would be old enough to see the wrong in his evil doings.

And yet here they were, the Might Lord Infinite and a Necromancer, who threatened to unleash unknown horrors on the world. But perhpas there was still hope for him? Mages were hard to understand in that way, so easily lost to their own lust for knowledge and power. But sometimes they were wise enough to be reasoned with, somes times he was quite sure the wicked Juliet was beyond reason, but this poor foll might not be. "I shalt square the darkness as t is mine own duty as lord, but i doth not wish to harm the men which darkness hast enslav'd. Prithee flotes this foolish ritual and grise hence from the flesh of the dead. Alloweth the po'r souls to rest. Turn to the light mage, turn back on the path of natures charm" he spoke taking a step forth his voice not pleading but requesting as if asking an old friend for a favor. He did not wish to harm the innocent but if the mage was lost too far in the darkness he would be a risk to everyone around him.

He had come across the strangest wolf in all his life. This one spoke in a way that seemed more like riddles than anything thing Tikhon had ever heard before. The dark Agouti hadn't ever heard anything like it and found it rather hard to follow. He had somehow managed to get the gist of it pulling out the words that did make sense.

What he gathered was that this wolf thought he was doing something with the carcass that he’d found. “Look whatever your going on about I just found this and I'm not planning to do anything with it.” He stated hoping that might get it through to this nut job that he wasn't doing some kind if dark arts whatever the hell that meant.

To prove the point he started to move past the younger wolf a low growl crossing his lips. The strange wolf opened his mouth again with more of his incoherent gibberish. The dark Agouti stopped in his movements and turning toward the strange wolf again. “Look, I've got a pack to provide for. I don't have time to he doing whatever it is your suggesting I'm doing.” The thought occurred to the Artemieva that maybe the crazy yearling couldn't understand him.