Once the city vanished from my sight, I completely morphed into slender, quadruped creature. Something between wolf and deer. Once again I appreciated how convenient this ability was. Predators had better tracking-related senses, could smell a prey from far away, with their eyes they could better estimate the distance between them and prey and their body was made for short, exhausting chases.

Herbivores, at the other hand, were more aware of their surroundings, yet their body was more used to rather slow marches, their body and muscles was made in such fashion, so they could travel long distances within a day.

Here, I needed mix of these traits. I was preparing myself for a rather longer journey (I doubted that beastmen – former slaves – wanted to remain anywhere close to the city that very recently served as their prison). And that’s what slender body with strong limbs was for.

And the enchanted senses of predator? I have just entered the forest, thick and humid, full of scents of hundreds of animals, and it was very hard to tell apart the smell of wolf men from common canine. The ground was wet, plastic, one could say that it was supposed to be good for me because the tracks of hundreds of slaves would surely leave a huge mark in the soil…

… no, no it didn’t. They had a very light steps, so even if they left some marks behind, the morning rain already managed to cover all the tracks. It only serves as yet another distraction and nuisance.

I look at my reflection in one of dirty puddles.

And I almost burst into hysteric laughter. I was so focused on traits I needed, that not even for second I considered my appearance.

I looked like a wolf-llama! Even the hair covering my body appeared to be fluffy! Yet the head! So un-matching!

ZARI! Get yourself together! You have a serious task to do!

… but… a wolf-llama! Look at it!

I started trotting in place still looking at my reflection… IT WAS HILLARIOUS! Come on! Imagine such creature charging at you – you wouldn’t even know how to react! Ok, it is settled then, I am abandoning my previous life, from now on I will be living terrorizing local villages as wolf-llama! Mother, father, I have found my purpose in life!

Ha-ha….ha…

Tjaaa.

You had your laugh, Zari? Good. Back to business.

With a painful sigh I left the puddle. I walked past few hundred meters before I noticed that ever since I found out my appearance, I was moving by trotting.

Tut-tut tut tut-tut tut, sounds were echoing dully across the earth.

Zariii… You are a grown-up man, few consider you as their god-king. As celestial being… please, behave at least as commoner…

Why? He is enjoying himself, recently he was stressed a lot, let him be whatever he wants to…

I WONT ALLOW IT! We have some standard to maintain! Expectations to meet! Renown! Fame! And instead we are…

WOLF-LLAMAAA! WOLF-LLAMAAA! Rata tiratiraaa WOLF-LLAMAAAAA!

You too… I am surrounded by idiots.

Suddenly, my instinct screamed. My body jumped back almost without my will. Seconds later an arrow dug deep into the bark of the nearest tree. The projectile came from my right. Quickly, I looked in that direction.

In one of the bushes I noticed a hunter, wearing barely anything, just few skins, yet neither the skins nor his body emit any smell at all. Did he use some mixture? I tip my hat to him for this countermeasures, but still…

We were looking at one another, personally, I didn’t had time to waste for him, so I just decided to see if he would be aggressive. I wanted to just head my direction and go, but showing my backs to him would only earn me another arrow aimed at my bum.

Hunter got rid of his shock and put another arrow on the string of his bow.

Poor fool wants to do it hard way, in response I started trotting in his direction.

Another bolt flew in my direction, yet as I saw him aiming I could predict the trajectory and speed of the projectile so evading it was more than easy. Seeing another of his attacks missing the huntsman started moving back.

Another arrow, another effortless dodge. We were too close to each other and he wouldn’t manage to prepare another bolt. He almost gave up and froze in place. Finally, I approached him, we were literally centimeters away.

“What? No longer acting tough, ain’t we?” I asked. The man didn’t expect a monster to talk “… Look at you now! Go on, prepare another arrow!”

I have completely invaded his personal space by getting my head as close to his face as it was only possible, we were pretty much touching at this point

“You are not going to?! What happened? Big bad hunter can’t do shit in close range? Ya don’t have a dagger? No? Then maybe some hand to hand combat at least? Let me warn you though, I have watched every Bruce Lee movie, and I also know sumo! Decide quickly, I don’t have much time to spare, but if you want to, I will turn your ass into tripitas taccos !... the one with minced meat!”

Another moment or two of awkward silence.

“That’s what I thought. And let it be lesson for you, don’t make me come back for you, punk!” I turned around and once again started trotting away.

Tut-tut-tut once again resonated across the forest. As I got few meters away from him I turned back and face him one last time.

“Pussy!” I yelled turning my head in an arrogant and confident manner “… wolf-llama… wolf-llama…” I couldn’t stop myself from singing under my nose.

I have most likely ended his carrier as a hunter, there is no way he would enter the forest again. He would be too afraid to aim his bow at deer again knowing that it may be noble wolf-llama.

Serves you right! Know your place, trash! The forest isn’t a place for some huntsman wannabe with a bow.

It's a place for creatures that a ready to die for the sake of art of survival!

It's the place when only the fittest shall survive!

It's the place for...

WOLF LLAMA!

Later, that day, the hunter returned to his village. He was known as one of the best for this job around, during fairs and festivals he was winning every marksmen competition. Yet, today, he came back empty-handed.

“Oh, Nicolas!” a pretty girl with a basket full of apples called him “… how was the hunt?” she asked with a wide smile on her face.

Yet, a man called Nicolas didn’t respond. Instead, he just walked past her as if he didn’t even notice her and moved straight to the inn. There, he quickly ordered two bottles of pure vodka, more than enough to knock himself out. Everyone inside almost instantly noticed man’s strange behavior. Usually, he would either brag of how much food he managed to bring this time or tell a story of a beast he was tracking.

Yet, now he was but a shell of his old self.

“Nic, all you order is on the house, but for goddess mercy, either tell us what happened or start acting normally! You are freaking out other customers!” “I… I believe I have seen a spirit guard of the forest…” “Bullshit! Guardians appear in either very old places, or the one filled with magic. Our little shrubbery can be hardly called a forest, to begin with!” “I KNOW WHAT I SAW!” huntsman threw the cup across the inn shattering it on the wall, then he hid his face in his palms. “Now, it’s ok, son. Told us what you saw…”

And that’s how the legend of guardian wolf-llama spread across the country.