Witch, Wolf, Woods

CHAPTER 17: THE WITCH KILLER OF THE SCHWARZWALD

Katja gaped at the creature, too stunned to move. The wolf stared back, then slowly, its tail began to wag, and it stepped forward, running a very wet, very real tongue up one side of her face.

Katja went rigid, terrified it was trying to distract her while its eyes turned to flames and hypnotized her, preventing her escape, but the wolf merely sat down on its haunches.

"I'm probably not what you were expecting," it admitted, "but on the bright side, you were trying to conjure an enchanted pet!"

Katja couldn't breathe; it was as if her heart had jumped into her throat and lodged itself there. Shaking so hard her teeth chattered, she finally managed to say, "You're...you're the groBe böse Wolf! The Witch Killer of the Schwarzwald!"

The wolf cringed, folding in on itself as if she'd yelled at it. "How do you know those names?" it asked.

"You're a legend among my kind," Katja said, keeping her wide eyes fixed on the creature. "You killed witches in the Black Forest in service of the Waldkonig."

The wolf's triangular ears flattened against its head, and its eyes narrowed.

"I never worked for the Waldkonig!" it growled, making Katja tremble so hard, she almost dropped the necklace she'd forgotten she was holding.

Glancing down at the jewelry, mind reeling, all she could think was that the pendant had come to life. And what's more, it could talk. How was this possible? She hadn't even started the process of creating her enchanted pet; she'd only removed the spells on the necklace.

And then something occurred to her.

"Were you trapped inside the necklace?" she asked, voicing the only logical explanation she could think of. "Is that why you disappeared?"

"Yes," nodded the wolf. "And thank goodness you were so determined to break those spells; otherwise, I might never have been freed."

Katja made a noise that was part whimper, part groan. This was terrible! Not only was she an outcast among the Hexen, she'd just freed one of their most ferocious enemies, letting a blood-thirsty creature loose inside what was supposed to be their sanctuary.

"I have to put you back," she said, panic tightening her voice. "You have to go back inside the necklace. You can't be here!"

"Well, I am here," replied the wolf, "but you needn't worry—I have no intention of harming anyone." Straightening its spine, it gazed pointedly down its tapered snout. "Although on that topic, I'm curious to know how you've even heard of me."

"I read about you," Katja replied, and when the wolf simply stared at her, she pointed towards her nightstand. "In that book, there's a story about you. I've been reading it for years."

The wolf's silver eyebrows bunched towards one another in obvious confusion, so Katja stood up—slowly, so as not to startle the creature—grabbed the book, then sat back down and turned to the familiar page. Taking a deep breath, she read the story of the groBe böse Wolf aloud, then placed the book on the floor beside her.

"That's you, isn't it?" she asked, trying to sound more curious than accusing.

The creature was silent for a moment, then softly asked, "What year is it?"

When she replied, the wolf closed its eyes and let out a long sigh.

"Well, it's no more than I deserve, I suppose," it finally murmured, before turning a sorrowful gaze to her. "It seems I was in the necklace for roughly two hundred and twenty years."

Katja gaped at the creature. "How did you end up trapped in a necklace?"

"A witch put me there," the Wolf replied as its bright eyes slid from her to the book. "I can't believe someone wrote about me...and in a real book, no less." Its ears perked upwards, and the animal appeared almost happy. "Is it considered a good story?"