12. Huskie

Long ago in the Ancient Blades lore, dogs were rare house pets. Not because people did not like them, but rather because there were not much of them. A female dog only had two to three cubs at max during her lifetime, but only if she was able to live a full life.

It was a strange occurrence. Wolves had the average amount of offspring. Foxes too. But not dogs. And over time, this led to the extinction of 98% of all dog breeds.

There was a king three hundred years ago, who was bothered by this more than the rest. Conchobhar IV. He was a great lover of dogs and a great hunter. Every time he went out into the woods to hunt, he brought his furry friends along.

It was during one of these hunts that a beast unlike any appeared before him. A great deer; its skin yellow like gold, glowing like the Sun.

The deer spoke to Conchobhar. “King of the Yarx, Conchobhar! Your hunts have gained the attention of the Goddess of Hunt! She proposes you a challenge: should you hunt down her earthly avatar and gain any wish of the wild spirit! But should you fall behind and lose track, she will never again follow you on your hunts!”

Conchobhar accepted the challenge. His men and hounds charged after the golden beast with his might on the lead. However, the beast was fast and sturdy. A single arrow was not enough to bring it down.

The hunt went on for three days and nights. It was at the dawn of the fourth day that Conchobhar cornered the beast at the sea. As it tried to flee into the water, Conchobhar swam after it and defeated the beast with his bare hands.

The corpse of the deer spoke. “Well done, Conchobhar. You have defeated the Hunt Godess’s avatar. Whatever wish you have, the wild spirit shall grant it to you.”

As a king, his men expected him to wish for gold. For might. For power. For women. For a place in history.

But Conchobhar was a different man. He wished nothing more than for his hounds to be free from the mysterious illness.

The wild spirit granted his wish. And when he swam out of the sea, his dogs were not standing on four feet, but two. Their loving howls were intertwined with words. And when Conchobhar stepped out of the sea, they rushed to him and hugged him like a group of human children.

It is one of those feel-good stories I remember from the vanilla game. Thinking back on it, maybe the game had an actual story to tell. Sure, most of it fell flat, but some were shining examples of care from the writers.

It was a good thing I remembered it, otherwise I would have freaked out over the talking huskie. Not like my body did not twitch from the uncanniness of his sight. Rather it helped me not scream like a bitch from how uncanny he looked.

“I got five minutes, you say?” I spoke after recollecting my thoughts, “Why? What’s wrong? I’m trying to help the village find the little girl!”

“Did you come here to argue or to discuss something important,” asked the huskie, ignoring my question.

I frowned at his rudeness and got ready to flip him off, but I held myself back. The guy might be a douchebag, but he got the info I need. It was best to flip him off after the quest was done.

“Okay, here’s the deal, Mister... uh...”

“Ket,” he answered, “My name is Ket.”

“Ket? Pronounced like cat? Are you shitting me?”

No answer. Oh, right. He might be an asshole, but he is still just an NPC after all. He cannot answer all of my questions. If I want to get the info out of him, I have to get on his level and talk like an NPC.

“I am Axel. I am human. I am on a quest. I am searching for the missing girl. Do you know anything about the missing girl?”

“Heidl the Fragile. She has such a bright smile... That girl was the only good thing in all of Nightwood. Sadly, her mother fell ill not so long ago.”

“Yeah, I knew that.”

“Such a hard-working woman. She has been the one running the shop since his husband died in the war...”

“Uh, yeah, already heard that.”

“The war between Floreans and Loxans. It happened five years ago, yet, it feels like it was yesterday...”

“Wait... You don’t plan on telling me about it, do you?”

“Bloody damn fight. Her husband had no proficiency with the blade, but he chose to wield one to honour his ancestors in the war...”

“You really don’t need to tell me all of that.”

“He was put to rest by a Loxan arrow in the mountains, during the charge at his first battle. Poor man. It was while he was away, that his daughter was born…”

“Thanks for the lore-dump, but I don’t...”

“He wanted her to be called Heidl, in honour of his late grandmother. She was a great person too. Lived here in Nightwood, working on the––“

“Holy fucking shit, dude! I don’t care! You said I got five minutes before you kick me out, yet you’ve spent half of that retelling the fucking Genesis! Just get to the fucking point already! What do you know about the missing child?!”

My voice cracked from yelling so loud. Ket frowned at me and growled. I would have done the same, but my throat hurt.

He walked behind the counter and leaned down. He reappeared with a bronze stick that resembled the earliest prototype of a household pen.

“Give me your Journal,” he said and I complied. “I will draw a map of where I saw her footprints. They led to the old bridge between the two mountains. Be wary, there is a bandit camp up there.”

He handed me back the Journal. I reached out to grab it, but instead of letting go, he suddenly leaned closer to me. His eyes were staring at mine, emotionlessly.

“Do not think I’m helping you because I believe you can find her,” he continued, “I have heard about what you did in that mine and I don’t care the slightest about how many undead you’ve killed. I owe a favour to a friend. That is why I’m helping you. That is all. No more.”

He let go.

I tore the Journal out of his hands and stepped away. As if nothing had happened, he walked behind the counter and grabbed a large chump of meat from a nearby hanger. Then, he began the long procedure of cutting it into many tiny pieces.

“Thank you for visiting the Bellflower Butchery! Now, if I am correct, our time is up. Safe travels!”

“Motherfucker,” I whispered under my breath. A message appeared before me, signaling that the mission has been updated and a new map has been added. But I did not care.

Attaching the book to my back, I stomped out of the butchery.