He lay there in the dirt, his eyes averted and staring off into the distance as though they saw nothing. For the first time in a long time, I was actually anxious in his presence. But it was not for myself that I felt worried, it was for him. Clearly he’d been attacked, and Meryl was the last wolf in all of Moladion that would ever do something to provoke such actions taken against him. Something about his demeanor felt almost broken from the inside out, and I knew whatever – whoever – had done this to him had rooted itself perhaps even deeper within him than the bond that tied our souls together. As I extended my muzzle to touch my nose to his cheek, I was relieved to feel some familiar sensation emanating from him. I could still break through to him, wherever he was lost behind those eyes.

Silently he looked to me, and as our eyes met I began to realize that the feeling was in some way familiar. Though his emotions were like a turbid river – that which you could not see the bottom of – his eyes let me in just enough to understand. Pain and anger consumed him, and though I could hardly ascertain what had caused this for him, I knew that not so long ago I had born such a face in the aftermath of my parent’s deaths.

In silence he lay there, unwilling to fully turn his face towards mine and not making any movements to rise. But as I glanced over his wounds once more, I knew he could not stay here. He needed a healer. Glorall was close, but I did not know their healer personally and I wasn’t going to trust my soul’s wellbeing to just anyone. But surely back in Diveen there would be one of his own pupils, or perhaps some master from which he had learned. Either way, it seemed like the most sensible option, though I half wanted to carry him back to Spirane so that I could keep a watchful eye over him in the coming days. However, I refrained.

Leaning down, I nudged my nose under his abdomen, a place where he was not obviously injured. Gently I wedged my head underneath his body and then lifted with my strongly muscled neck, bracing my legs so that I could lift his lighter weight to his feet. I would do whatever it took to help him to stand up. Only when I felt he would remain standing did I remove my head from beneath him and immediately shift my weight to his side so that he could lean onto me in whatever way would help him ease the journey. If he collapsed back to the ground I would not mess around with trying to get him to his feet again; I would simply lay down and somehow wedge myself underneath him so that he rested on my back, and then I would carry him home. One way or another, I was getting him back to Diveen and to a healer.