Otto and the Dragon

Chapter 2: Wolves a Stone's Throw Away

For the next year, Otto and Father lived deep in the forest. Father told Otto that this was the part of the forest where the fairy folk lived, so they were safe—at least from people. Father taught Otto how to hunt small game, and Otto practiced with his sling everyday.

One day in early fall, Otto was gathering sticks for kindling while Father hunted nearby. Otto heard a commotion at the edge of a nearby glade. He came to the edge of the trees and could see three wolves growling and snapping at something in the brush. One wolf leaped in, pulled something out of the underbrush and into the clearing, and then the wolf jumped back with a yelp. The grass in the clearing was tall and the backs of the three wolves were just visible; they were pacing around in a circle, growling and snapping. Every now and then, brightly colored wings would appear out of the tall grass. From what he could see, Otto thought the creature was the size of large rooster but more brightly colored, yet he had no idea what it could be.

A wolf rushed the creature, then immediately retreated, yelping and crying. The wolf shook its head and licked its paw, then rejoined his brothers, growling and circling the creature.

Otto  crouched down and crept along the edge of the clearing, hidden in the trees. He wondered what creature could be so small and yet hold off three full grown wolves. He had seen three wolves bring down a buck deer, and this was definitely smaller than a buck deer.

Otto was downwind and within a stone’s throw of the wolves but still couldn’t make out the creature. Occasionally Otto saw brightly colored wings of reds and blues with hints of purple rise above the grass. Meanwhile, the wolves alternated between low growling and yelping, with an occasional hissing sound from the creature. Whatever it was, however well armed it might be, Otto decided this was not a fair fight and loaded his sling. Otto let three stones fly in quick succession. The first two stones flew high over the wolves heads but the third stone hit a wolf that had its back to Otto in the rump. The wolf jumped sideways and yelped, knocking the wolf to its left. All three wolves stopped circling and looked around; the lead wolf, who had been  to the right of the hit wolf, saw Otto. The lead wolf began growling and slowly walked toward Otto. The other two wolves flanked their leader and also began growling, deep and low as they all moved toward Otto.

“Oh!” said Otto and began walking backwards and fumbling for another stone. Otto’s foot caught on a root and he fell down on his butt; the wolves broke into a lope to attack.

He heard a quiet whoosh and then a muffled thunk as an arrow landed firmly in the lead wolf’s chest. The other two wolves stopped a step or two past their now fallen leader and a second arrow took out the wolf on the right. The remaining wolf quickly changed direction and darted sideways, off into the trees and away from Otto.

“What kind of idiot,” began Father, his face livid, but Otto pointed towards the grass. Something moved, and Father was silent. A wing was briefly visible, bright colors stained with blood, and then collapsed into the grass. 

Otto followed Father over into the grass, where he bent over something the size of a large rooster but more brightly colored. More than that, Otto couldn’t tell because it was in a heap.  Father quickly removed his cloak, wrapped it around the creature, scooped it into his arms, and immediately led the way home. He moved at such a rapid pace that Otto almost had to run to keep up and was too out of breath (or too far behind) to ask the one, obvious question: What was it?

Father took the creature inside and laid it in his own straw bed. He examined it closely and saw all the terrible bite marks and scratches from the wolves. ”It is amazing you lasted so long,” he said quietly to the creature. Otto came up behind and looked around Father’s elbow.