Dirk knelt beside the goblin corpses, rifling through their tattered clothing with a look of disgust on his face. The pungent stench of unwashed goblin and copper-tinged blood made his nose wrinkle. He found nothing but a few worthless trinkets: a shiny rock, a bent copper coin with an unrecognizable face, and a small pouch containing what appeared to be dried rat tails that reeked of rancid meat.
"Useless as teats on a bull," he muttered, tossing the items aside with all the enthusiasm of a dwarf at an elf poetry reading. "Not even a single silver piece. All that effort for what? To become nursemaids to a feral pup-boy?"
The wolf boy had stayed put as the men searched the dead goblins, gnawing on a piece of leather he'd torn from one of the corpses. His teeth made soft scraping sounds against the tough material. His amber eyes never left the two men, watching their every move with wary intelligence, occasionally letting out a barely audible growl when they touched something that interested him.
Felix examined the last goblin's dropped weapon, finding the crude bone knife's handle too small for his hand. The weapon was slightly rusty and notched, but still sharp enough. "Our reward is not in gold or gem, but perhaps in deed, don't you condemn."
Dirk snorted, wiping his hands on his trousers. "We could just leave him. He was handling himself well enough before we showed up. Probably has family nearby." He gestured toward the forest. "Let's move on. I'd like to get to that tavern before dark."
Felix's expression softened as he watched the wolf boy. The creature's small frame, despite its feral nature, reminded him of his own childhood—alone, scrounging for scraps, fighting for survival on the streets after his parents died. No one had cared then, except for his foster sister Haleen.
"Once I was small and left alone, with no one's help but just my own," Felix said quietly. "A helping hand was all I craved, with such kindness I was saved."
Dirk caught his cousin's expression and rolled his eyes. "Don't start getting sentimental on me. That thing bit me! He's not some stray puppy."
While Dirk continued to grumble about their situation, the wolf boy crept behind him. With exaggerated movements, the feral child contorted his face into a grotesque mockery of Dirk's scowl, pulling down his eyelids and pushing his nose upward with one finger. His impression was about as subtle as a minotaur in a porcelain shop. He stuck out his tongue and crossed his eyes, all while maintaining perfect silence.
Felix caught sight of the performance and burst into laughter, quickly covering his mouth with his hand.
Dirk whipped around. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing at all, not a single thing," Felix replied, his face a mask of innocence. "I am just thinking of a song to sing."
The wolf boy had already dropped his expression to one of angelic innocence by the time Dirk turned to look at him. The warrior narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but the boy merely scratched behind his ear with his foot.
When Dirk turned back to continue his complaints, the wolf boy slunk toward the goblin knife Felix had left on the ground. With quick, practiced movements, he picked up the small, curved dagger, concealing it in the waistband of the ragged hide that covered his groin. Neither Dirk nor Felix noticed.
"Home," the wolf boy suddenly grunted, pointing deeper into the forest.
"Look at that, he's eager to return home," Dirk remarked, unaware of the revelation that the feral youngster was capable of speech. "Problem solved."
The wolf boy began padding away from them, pausing occasionally to look back, the acquired blade still hidden from view. His movements were purposeful but hesitant, as if he were torn between fleeing and staying.
"Wait, where go you, child of wild ways?" Felix called, taking a step forward. "Through forest paths on sunny days?"
The boy paused at the edge of the woods, his expression unreadable as he glanced between the men and the depths of the forest.
***
Dirk watched the wolf boy disappear into the underbrush, then glanced at his cousin. A slow grin spread across his face.
"You know, I've changed my mind." He rubbed the stubble on his chin. "Maybe we should follow Wolf Boy."
Felix raised an eyebrow, questioning.
"That's what I'm calling him. Better than 'it' or 'that thing.'" Dirk adjusted his leather helmet on his short-cropped black hair. "He might lead us to something worthwhile."
Felix gestured for his cousin to head after Wolf Boy, clearly intent on following regardless of Dirk's reasoning. "Agreed, we cannot leave the child all alone. We are not men with hearts of stone."
"Exactly!" The muscular warrior hurried off the road and into the woods, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper as he revived his fantasy. "What if his mother is nearby? Just think—a beautiful woman, grateful that we saved her pup."
They pushed through the brush, following the small, barely visible trail of broken twigs and disturbed leaves that marked Wolf Boy's path. Birds called warnings to each other overhead, falling silent as the men passed beneath them. The rustle of small creatures scurrying away through the undergrowth punctuated their progress.
"I bet she's got curves in all the right places," Dirk continued, his eyes glazing slightly like an alchemist after his third potion of delusion. "And surely a little wild in the hay, grateful for returning her son."
Felix shot him a disapproving look. "Your mind goes straight to lust, while aiding this poor child is simply just."
"What? I'm just being practical." Dirk ducked under a low-hanging branch. "Besides, someone has to be looking after him. Wolf Boy didn't raise himself."
The bard quickened his pace as he rhymed, "Whether mother or all alone, we must ensure he's safe at home."
"I don't think we have to worry about babysitting at all, if we cannot even catch him," Dirk muttered.
The boy darted through the undergrowth with surprising agility, glancing back occasionally to ensure his new companions followed. Dirk trudged behind, swatting at branches that whipped his face, while Felix moved with more patience, studying their surroundings.
"Demon-dung!" he exclaimed, grumbling as he walked through some spiderwebs, the nearly invisible strands sticking to his face like a drunken fairy's attempt at decorating. The rich scent of damp earth and decaying leaves filled his nostrils with each frustrated breath. "We'd better not be wasting our time following a mutt chasing after a squirrel up a tree."
He adjusted his leather helmet after it was skewed from the ordeal of sticky threads, catching a whiff of his own sweat mixed with the forest's earthy perfume.
Felix ignored his cousin's complaints and moved ahead, crouching down just behind Wolf Boy, who paused to sniff at the base of a large oak.
"Hello there, young friend so wild, can we stop a moment, dear child?" Felix said softly, extending an empty hand. "Can you tell us where you dwell? Or show us something you wish to tell?"
Wolf Boy tilted his head, ears twitching at the bard's rhyming speech.
Instead of answering, he dropped to all fours, his movements fluid and natural as he scampered through the dense underbrush. The transformation from biped to quadruped and back was seamless, revealing a deeper connection to his animal nature than either man had initially suspected.
***
"Look at that, he's quite cunning, navigating the woods while running," Felix commented, watching the boy pick up the pace and navigate effortlessly through spaces that would challenge even the smallest adult. The soft padding of Wolf Boy's feet against the forest floor contrasted with their heavier footfalls that snapped twigs and crushed leaves with each step.
Dirk grunted, pushing forward through the thicket, trying to keep up. Branches clawed at his studded leather armor while thorns snagged his trousers like tiny forest pickpockets. "Clever like a fox, annoying like a gnat." He deflected at a branch that whipped back after he pushed it aside. "Orc's balls! This is ridiculous."
Wolf Boy paused briefly, watching Dirk's struggle with what appeared to be amusement in his wild eyes. The boy's nose twitched as he sniffed the air, then he darted forward again, slipping through a narrow gap between two bramble bushes.
"Son of a—" Dirk crashed through the same spot, the thorns catching on his leather armor and clothing. He stumbled forward, nearly falling face-first into the dirt before catching himself. "The mutt is doing this on purpose!"
Felix followed behind, stepping carefully through the path the larger Dirk had forcibly widened. "Perhaps he's taking the scenic route, my friend. Next time, crawl through it, on that you can depend."
"I'm not crawling like some animal," Dirk snapped, yanking a thorn from his forearm's bracer.
Felix adjusted his feathered hat, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. "Remember when you were small, how you begged for a pup to call your own? Now fate has dropped one in your lap, adopting him, you shall not be alone."
"That's not a dog." Dirk yanked another bramble from his armor. "That's a wild animal with a human face. Keep it up, and I'll adopt your head to the nearest tree trunk."
"Yet here you are, chasing after him like a mother hen." Felix ducked under a low-hanging branch. "Though I must say, your parenting skills need work, I ken."
"I'll show you parenting skills with some discipline." Dirk whirled back to swat at his cousin, but missed as Felix danced away with a laugh.
As they continued deeper into the forest, Wolf Boy's demeanor began to change. His playful glances back at the men grew less frequent, replaced by alert scanning of their surroundings. His ears twitched constantly, rotating to catch sounds beyond human perception, as attentive as a squirrel in a room full of hungry cats. The boy's tail, which had wagged occasionally during their journey, now hung stiff and low.
"Something's got him spooked," Dirk observed, his hand instinctively moving to rest on his flail.
Wolf Boy dropped into a crouch, his body tense as he sniffed the air with increasing agitation. His demeanor transformed in an instant, the previously cautious posture vanishing as his tail began wagging frantically. He bounced on his haunches, eyes fixed on something ahead that the men couldn't yet see.
"What's got into him?" Dirk muttered, pushing aside a final curtain of branches.
The forest opened into a small sunlit clearing. At the far edge, partially concealed by hanging vines and moss, the dark mouth of a cave entrance was visible in the rocky hillside. A cool draft carrying the mineral scent of wet stone and something distinctly animal wafted from the opening. Wolf Boy sprinted toward it, stopping halfway to look back at Dirk and Felix with unmistakable excitement, his nostrils flaring as he breathed in the familiar smells of home.
"Home!" The boy yipped, the clearest word they'd heard him say yet.
Felix smoothed his mustache. "It seems our furry friend has brought us to his den, his home beneath the hill where he resides within."
Dirk's eyes narrowed as he surveyed the cave entrance. "Or it's a trap."
Wolf Boy circled impatiently, gesturing excitedly for them to follow as he darted toward the cave's shadowy opening.