Likim was whistling as he was walking with a swift pace through the grasslands, his shepherd's staff on his shoulder in a carefree manner. A flock of sheep was surrounding him and right next to him was walking his trusty little helper, the herding dog. They were heading to the hills, just outside the village of Aldarcan. It was a beautiful sunny day, even though it had been raining heavily during the previous one. But this change of weather had made miracles, and the nature felt so refreshing now. Likim was sure that the sheep would enjoy it too, the fresh grass around the hills would be irresistible to them. The young man was smiling, for he knew that this was going to be a great day.

Soon they arrived to their destination. Likim let the flock spread out around the highest hill while he sat down on a stone that was conveniently placed at the top of the hill. Next to the stone was a lone tree, which offered great shade on the hottest days. It was a nice spot to be. Grasslands surrounded the place, the greenery dominating the landscape for hundreds of meters to every direction, making contact with boundless woods. Even though there were many places where to herd the flock, on the top of the hill was the best spot. It was comfy, but you could also keep eye on the surroundings more effectively. A lamb would make a great meal to predators, especially wolves. Rarely they left the woods, but you can never be too careful while watching over the flock, that's what Likim's father tended to say. The young man took this seriously and luckily, he had an extra pair of eyes with him. The dog was an excellent partner, Likim's father had trained it well. It was good that Likim could have it with him, because he had a bad habit of daydreaming and dwelling deep in those series of thoughts, so he wasn't always staying vigilant while herding.

Likim had brought with him a flute. He enjoyed to play it every now and then, and this was one of those days when he felt like playing. He snatched it from his belt where he had tied it, and began to play a cheerful music, which pretty much reflected his mood. He let the melody flow, getting carried by the wind to the ears of the villagers. While the tunes would eventually change, the cheerful emotion could still be heard from every note. Likim had learned songs from many drifting bards that had visited his home village, and would play them occasionally. Sometimes he was dreaming of becoming a traveling bard as well, seeing and exploring the world by himself, only having his flute with him. Sharing the joy of music with people all around the world felt like great thing to do. And who knows, maybe one day Likim would fulfill his dream.

After playing his instrument for a while, he stopped. He shifted his gaze at the sky, watching the clouds leisurely drifting across the heaven. Although he had stopped playing music, he still kept humming a song. And his mind began to dream of an adventure. From travelers he had heard about many magical and magnificent places of the world, and listening these tales had ignited a flame in Likim's heart. He wanted to discover these places himself, but since that probably wasn't happening any time soon, he dreamed of those locations. Vivid were the visions in his mind, and without even realizing it, Likim was completely occupied by these thoughts.

But then the dog started to bark, snapping him out of his dreamy state.

“What is it, boy?” Likim asked, looking at his companion.

Then his gaze shifted to the direction where the dog was looking at. He saw a dark figure, something that had come out of the woods.

It was a wolf. Black as coal, unusually large and alone, but even so, it was a fearsome predator nonetheless. And it was getting closer, clearly craving for some sheep's meat. 

Likim jumped off of the rock where he had been sitting and began frantically gather the sheep together, the dog aiding him with this urgent task. The young man was shouting, waving his shepherd's staff madly, hoping that they would scare the lone wolf away. He had to get the sheep back home safely. In a matter of seconds, he managed to get the whole flock moving, and started to press them to go down the hill, back to the village's direction. Likim herded them towards the safety while the dog would run between the flock and the hill, barking all the time, trying to frighten the predator and get the sheep moving. The young man didn't look back, he just wanted to get back home.

Likim's heart was pounding hard even when he had managed to get to Aldarcan. His family's home was located pretty much at the border of the village, but it was safe enough. With the dog's help, the young man successfully got the sheep back to barn. His father had probably noticed him getting home with such a swift pace, since the man entered the barn right at that moment.

“Did something happen?” the father asked.

“Yeah, well, we saw a wolf”, Likim replied, his heart slowly calming down now that he was back home.

“A wolf?” The older man raised his eyebrow.

Then he looked at the flock. He was counting them, Likim realized.

After a while, his father shook his head as if being disappointed. The young man wondered why was that.

“One is missing.”

These words were like a punch to a face. Likim was shocked, he opened his mouth in disbelief. He was so sure that he had managed to get the whole flock back home, but apparently this wasn't the case. How had this happened? He hadn't heard any sounds that would have indicated that the wolf had actually caught a sheep. Likim felt bad that he had let this happen.

“I'm sorry… I thought I got them all back”, he said quietly, staring at his feet.

“It's fine”, the older man tried to assure him. “It's not the end of the world. You got most of them to safety, after all.”

Likim still felt bad. But he was happy about the fact that his father wasn't mad at him. They didn't talk about this incident at all afterwards, but even so, in his mind, Likim kept blaming himself. He was sulking a little throughout the rest of the day, barely even having appetite for food. Bad thoughts followed him to the bed and as he closed his eyes, he hoped that he would find some peace from the wonderland of dreams. And oh, the sweet sleep gave him what he needed.

The next day, Likim was again assigned to herd the flock of sheep. He returned back to the hill, thinking that the same thing wouldn't happen once more, because, what would be the odds? He still stayed a little cautious, just in case. But eventually, the beautiful and peaceful day managed to ease his tense feeling, granting him a tranquil state. He looked at the sky, watching the clouds roll by, and began to whistle a song.

Sitting on a stone, tapping his foot, Likim felt relaxed. However, he stopped doing these things as he suddenly saw a figure coming from the same direction as the wolf had yesterday. But this time, it wasn't wolf. It was a lone sheep. Likim was surprised, in a good way, for he was sure that this was the missing sheep. Calmly it walked towards the flock, as if nothing had happened, and began to eat the grass as well. A wave of relief washed over Likim and he was rejoicing because his family didn't lose a sheep after all. He smiled to himself, and couldn't wait to inform his father that the missing sheep had been found. For the rest of the time he was herding the flock, he was in a good mood.

When it was about afternoon, Likim began to escort the flock back home. The dog helped him with this task, and they made a swift and safe return back to the barn. The young man was pleased with himself, and as soon as he had got the sheep where they belonged, he went to tell his father the good news. As expected, his father was pleasantly surprised, and gave few pats to Likim's head. It was like nothing bad had happened after all, and their everyday life continued nicely.

However, strange things began to occur after this.

One day, when Likim's father had entered the barn in the morning, he found a dead sheep. And the odd thing was, it hadn't died of natural causes. No, the poor animal had been shredded to pieces, and what was left behind was just a bloody mess. All of its organs had been removed and possibly eaten. But what kind of predator had caused this? Likim nor his father had found no evidence that something big enough had managed to get to the barn during the night. All the other sheep were fine, even though they did seem a bit distressed. This incident was a mystery, and Likim's family was utterly perplexed by this.

It didn't end there.

Two days after the mysterious death of the sheep, it occurred again. Another dead animal was found, all mangled up just like the previous one. By this occurrence, the mystery got deepened. How could this same thing happen twice? And yet, there was no clues about what had caused these deaths. And after this second bloody event, an alarming question was on the minds of the family: if it had happened twice already, did that mean that this would happen again, and again? They were really worried, but because of the lack of evidence, there wasn't much they could do. Likim's father then decided that he would keep guard during the night, hoping to catch the culprit. He armed himself with an axe and so, he began his night watch duty.

However, even with the man keeping an eye on the flock, the slaughter happened again. Likim's father had fallen asleep while on duty, and according to the man's words, it was strange that it ensued. He had no recollection of that he had been awfully tired. It was like somebody had hit him in the head, or something like that. He hadn't felt sleepy but had still become unconscious. Whether it had been in his power or not, the man cursed himself for they had now lost another animal because he wasn't guarding them well enough. He decided to try again next night.

The unfortunate thing was, the same thing repeated itself. Another sheep was dead and Likim's father had fallen asleep again, no matter how hard he had tried to stay awake and vigilant. This was the point when Likim's mother began to get really worried about the safety of her husband. Clearly there were some odd powers at play, and if the culprit could shred the sheep like that and make the man lose his consciousness, what if the one doing these things would hurt him too? But the man was adamant and tried one more time to guard the animals.

It took a couple of nights with the same unwanted results before Likim's father admitted his defeat. Every member of the family was helpless, not knowing what to do. If this incident kept going on, soon they would have no sheep left. Even now they had already lost too many of them. Something had to be done, and quickly. That was when one of Likim's brothers figured out that since it wasn't an ordinary beast they were dealing with, they should try and consult Wilan, the mage of the Aldarcan. This idea brought a spark of hope into their desperate minds and Likim and his father decided to hurry and head to the mage's house right away.

Wilan was a middle-aged man that lived at the heart of Aldarcan. He was well known around the village, for he was the only mage that lived in this place. He was benevolent man who liked to help people with their extraordinary problems. So, Likim and his father were sure that they would get some aid from him for their critical situation. Wilan listened carefully, scratching his beard as Likim and his father told about what had been happening lately in their barn. The mage had a serious expression on his face and when they were done with their tale, he said only one thing:

“Show me the way.”

And the shepherds did. The group of three walked through Aldarcan to the borders of the village. Likim and his father showed Wilan the way to the barn where all the strange deaths of their sheep had happened. The son and father looked at the mage with desperate eyes while Wilan was staring at the flock, looking like he was very much concentrated with something. He probably saw things ordinary humans like Likim and his father couldn't comprehend. That moment was painfully long as the mage was examining the animals.

After some time, Wilan pointed at one of the sheep.

“This one is not a sheep”, he declared.

This surprised and confused Likim and his father greatly. They didn't manage to utter a single word when some strange white lights began to swirl around the mage's arm, and a circle of odd runes had appeared around his feet. The white spheres of light joined in together as one, bigger orbs, and Wilan shot it from his hand like a hunter would shoot their arrow. It struck the head of one of the sheep, causing something within it to begin a transformation. Its form was getting bigger and its skin began to tear, revealing something dark beneath. It growled as its size was enlarging, being a clear indicator that it definitely wasn't a harmless sheep, and its wooly disguise was getting smaller and smaller, ripping apart and exposing its true form. Likim was shocked as he recognized the creature that was now in front of him.

It was the big wolf he had seen that one day before all of these strange things happened.

And in that instant, the dark predator lunged at the young man, snapping its powerful jaws and captured his arm between them. He cried from pain, and struggled to get the wolf detach its grip. Luckily, the mage was there, and as fast as he could, he prepared another spell to help Likim. Dark blue vines, full of sharp thorns, emerged from the ground and wrapped around the wolf. It stopped biting the young man, beginning to fight against this new threat. The vines squeezed the creature tighter and tighter, pulsating, until the wolf was completely immobilized and was laying on the ground. It still growled at the men, but couldn't harm anyone.

“It's not an ordinary wolf”, Wilan stated, looking at the captured beast. “This is a dark being with a black heart.”

[i]Well, that was obvious[/i], Likim thought in his head, but didn't speak aloud his words, whining from the pain in his arm.

The wolf had managed to leave a nasty wound, his skin was shredded and blood was dripping. Now that the mage was done with the beast, he stepped closer to see Likim's injury and examined it for a while, checking the wound from different angles.

“It's not too bad”, he eventually said. “Here, let me help you.”

Before Likim managed to say anything, Wilan had positioned his hand above the injury and some white light began to shine from his palm, and the bloody wound was basking in that glow. The young man felt a warmness spreading through his arm, and the pain was fading away like a distant memory. And to his surprise, Wilan's healing trick was working; the bleeding stopped, his mangled tissue was getting intact again and the skin was recovering. And after a while, everything that remained of the wound was torn sleeve and a very slight scar.

“Thank you, sir”, Likim said, checking the wound, being very impressed with how well it had healed in a matter of seconds.

“You're welcome”, the mage replied, smiling a little, then shifting his gaze at the captured wolf. “We need to take care of this beast.”

The news spread out fast in Aldarcan. Suddenly the whole village was aware of the dark wolf that had tormented the shepherd family for so many nights. In a carriage, pulled by men because horses were too afraid of the beast, the wolf was brought to the center of the village for everybody to see. That was also where Wilan would make his announcement regarding the creature. Basically, the whole village was there and their minds were filled with fear, for the creature was something they hadn't heard about ever before. The crowd was chattering and mumbling as Wilan took his place at the center and spread his arms as a sign that he wanted silence. The words died soon and the attention of everyone was aimed at the mage.

“The people of Aldarcan!” he began with a formal way. “A ruthless, dark beast has shattered our peace! It started with sheep, but there's no doubt that it would begin to hunt down people as well! Ordinary weapons won't harm it because of the hide is soaked with dark magic! Let's go to the graveyard and bury it alive, for it won't be able to get free from shackles of thorns and from the blessed soil!”

The villagers began to chatter nervously, but soon, as one, they hit their fists in the air and shouted in unison as a sign that they were ready to follow Wilan. And so began the convoy of people as they headed to close to the border of the town, led by the mage. It consisted of many different people, from old to young, from men to women. Few had snatched shovels for they would be needed when they would arrive to their destination. And the whole time, the wolf was growling ominously, making people even more nervous.

The convoy marched to the furthest edge of the graveyard, for they didn't want the wickedness of the wolf to taint the last resting place of their friends and families. And maybe the beast would find peace as well. Few men started to dig a grave while all the others watched their work silently. And for a while, the only sounds were the breeze humming eerily in the trees, the sound of how the earth was dug, and the muffled growls of the beast, but now, even it probably knew that it had been defeated and it had nothing left but to accept its fate.

Eventually the diggers were done. Now there was a gaping hole, a couple of meters deep, waiting for a body. Few men, those who were the bravest and strongest, dragged the shackled wolf from the carriage to the grave and threw the creature at the bottom of the pit. Wilan made a gesture to the diggers to fill the grave of the wolf. They began to return the soil where it came from, burying alive the beast. Nobody said a word. They all watched in silence as the grave got filled again. Wilan seemed like he was praying, but no one understood why he would do that to a wicked monster. But sometimes he just was like this, his deeds were not always comprehended by common men.

In that solemn atmosphere, the villagers started to make their leave. And as the crowd was heading back to Aldarcan, everybody thought that this was it, the last chapter of the beast's book. Just like others, Likim thought so as well. But soon he learned that this wasn't the case.

After the burial of the wolf, the beast still lingered in his mind in a form of dreams. He could hear it weep; how unjust it had been that it had got buried alive. It spoke how it had been just a starved hunter, not evil, and had done only what it had to do to survive in this world. The wolf begged him to come and release it, so it would leave this place forever. It meant no harm.

Likim was tormented by the visions and thoughts of the beast. Night after night, the dreams became more and more vivid and eventually it became hard for him to distinguish what was real and what was not. It was like their minds had got linked together somehow. Their consciousnesses began to merge in a strange way. It happened so insidiously and strongly that Likim had no desire to tell anyone about the matter. He became really restless and could hardly stay in one place for long. An irksome feeling was gnawing at his mind, a feeling of that there was something he had to do. It was like torture. He had to do something about it.

So he did.

It was a night of full moon when he snuck out of his home. How fitting. The full moon induced madness. With nothing but a shovel in his hand, the young man headed to the graveyard where the wolf was resting. He moved swiftly, using shadows to his advantage for he didn't want to be seen. When he managed to get to his destination under the cover of darkness, he was sure that nobody had noticed him sneaking around the area. Likim made his way to the spot where the beast was waiting for him and began to dig in an almost frenzied state. It was like some mystic power was driving him, making him do a job of few men only by himself. He dug and dug until he felt something big squirming beneath the soil. The young man started to use his hands, revealing soon the dark figure that had got buried alive. Even after all this time, it was still alive.

But even now the thorny vines which the mage had casted were shackling it. But Likim took his shovel once more to his aid and used it as an axe and began to chop the vines – it wouldn't really hurt the dark being. Bit by bit the constraining plant got killed and soon the wolf was free again. Likim didn't know what to do after this and just sat in the pit, shovel in his hands and he looked dazed. 

The beast was circling around the young man, pondering what to do with him. With its dark powers it had almost a complete control over his mind. But in the end, it didn't need him anymore.

So the wolf snapped its huge jaws around Likim's soft neck. Its fangs sunk deep into his flesh and beast tore out a big chunk out of him, causing abundant bleeding. The young man gurgled as he was choking on his own blood and was bleeding to death. He collapsed to the ground, his blood staining the soil.

Now it was his turn to fill the grave.

The wolf raised again from the earth. It was free, and could breathe once more. And above all, it would hunt again.