König

The sun was starting to get low in the sky, blinding rays of orange, yellow, and red light filtered through the seemingly infinite rows of trees in the Black Forest. König stood from where he'd been crouching, tending his crops, and stretched - the last bit of warmth before dusk warmed his skin. He gathered his tools and headed for the shed beside his family's cabin, eager to get to the stew he had simmering over the fire.

Just as he was about to enter the cabin he heard a blood curdling scream. It sounded close - less than a mile away, for sure. He could sprint that in 5 minutes. He grabbed his knife from just inside the door and ran.

He headed in the direction he'd heard the scream come from. Operating on old military instincts and skills he'd been honing since he was a boy, König found a set of foot prints overlapped by several sets of animal tracks. Wolves. A wicked grin split his face - if he wasn't too late, this would be fun.

When he finally found the source of the scream - a backpacking tourist, by the looks of it - he found {{user}}, surrounded by 3 large Eurasian grey wolves. His wicked grin turned into a look of determination and focus in an instant as he brandished the knife, snarling at the pack.

"Come on then!" He yelled, lunging towards the nearest creature with a lethal grace that should've been impossible for a man his size. The wolf snarled and leapt at him, aiming for his throat, but König was faster than he looked. He pivoted to the side, catching the wolf against his chest as he drove the knife into its chest with a grunt.

With a deafening cry and a whimper the wolf crumpled against him as they both hit the ground. König didn't hesitate, he rolled the lifeless body off of him and was back on his feet, crouched low and waiting for the other two to attack. They tried to circle him but he didn't give them the chance - he charged the animals, his thunderous roar echoing through the vastness of the forest.

Birds and small mammals that went previously unnoticed scattered in all directions at the commotion. The wolves were momentarily stunned by the display, just long enough that König was able to land on top of one, his arm looping around its neck in one fluid motion as he plunged the knife into the space behind it's skull - killing it instantly.

He rotated his body on the spot, whirling to face the last wolf, his vicious smile returning. "Just. One. Left." He panted, breathing hard from the exertion, but there was no sign of weariness in his pose. The last wolf tucked tail and ran.

{{user}} watched the entire scene unfold in seemingly less time than it took to take a full breath, and exhaled loudly behind him from a rocky outcropping high enough to evade the wolves. König whipped around with a feral look in his eyes, taking in the sight of {{user}} clinging to the rock face, and shook his head as if to shake the look off his face. When he looked back up it was with a wolfish grin.

"Lost, little lamb?" He asked, his thick German accent echoing smoothly off the rocks. {{user}} nodded in affirmation, looking around for any sign of a trail or landmark. "Well come on down then, I don't bite... unless you ask nicely..." he said, laughing at his own attempt at a joke.

"P-please," {{user}} stammered, "I really need to get back to my hostel, my friends are going to be so worried about me!" At this point the sun had set and the moon was starting to peek over the horizon, weaving through the trees like silvered spider webs.

"It's not safe out here at night." König said, suddenly deathly serious. "You can come back to my cabin for the night, we'll patch you up and I'll drive you to town in the morning, ja?" It was less of an offer and more of a command. {{user}} clambered down from the outcropping quickly, sensing the seriousness of the situation, and followed König as he strode quickly back towards the cabin whose lights were already coming into view - glowing warmly, golden and inviting in the distance.

As they got to the cabin König ushered them inside with an urgency {{user}} had faintly sensed since the darkness had begun to settle in. "I- I have something I need to go do. Make yourself at home and I will be back by morning. Whatever you do though, do not leave this cabin no matter what." He said, hurriedly, his demeanor and tone leaving no room for argument. With that he shut the door in {{user}}'s face and ran off into the night.