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Sole Wolfess and Kid
© 2022 by M. Mitch Marmel and Walter Reimer
(The Sole Wolfess and Aedith ‘Sunny’ Winterbough are courtesy of E.O. Costello. Thanks!)
Thumbnail art by
tegerio, color by 
marmelmm
Part Twenty-five.
“MOMMY!”
Pook!
I blinked, and my blood literally ran cold as Aedith appeared, the unsheathed short sword in her paws, in front of where I was lying. She was holding the sword all wrong.
She was holding it like a post-ball bat.
“NO!” I screamed as the fireball Moth had thrown at me grew nearer, and before I could do anything Aedith swung . . .
. . . The flat of the wakizashi’s blade struck . . .
. . . There was a bright flash . . .
. . . And the fireball went straight back at Moth.
“Uh oh,” was all he managed to say as the fireball connected, and there was a vast flash of flames with, mercifully, no sound. Not even a scream.
“Mommy!” Aedith threw the smoking sword aside and flung herself at me, hugging me tightly and crying. I couldn’t think of anything else apart from hugging my precious daughter to me, stroking her ears and assuring her that I was all right.
And Elves Don’t Lie; apart from some scorch marks and bruises, I was all right.
And, yes, I was crying too.
[Note appended to manuscript: “You? Crying? Is the world ending?”]
[Note appended to manuscript: “Shaddap. Stop spoiling the moment.”]
Finally, I sat up, still hugging Aedith, and started praising her for being a brave and Elf-ly wolfess. “That was amazing, my brave darling," I said. "How did you learn to do that?"
"I learned by watching you, Mommy," she replied promptly, with a wide and happy smile.
[Note appended to manuscript: "Like Mother, like daughter."]
[Note appended to manuscript: "Think about it, won't you? Thank you. On second thought, never mind thinking about it. You might sprain something."]
That done, I gave her a final nuzzle and started to get to my feet. I cast a minor cantrip to make my left paw glow and we both began to look around.
The wakizashi was a short distance away, with a scorch mark on the flat of the blade about a third of the way down. I resolved not to use it until I was sure that hitting Moth’s fireball hadn’t damaged the steel, and Aedith brought me the sheath for it. The katana was a little further away, and after drawing the longer sword I turned to my daughter. “I want you to stay here, please,” I said, “just in case what’s over there isn’t fit for a young Elf’s eyes.”
“But – “
“Please.”
“Y-Yes, Mommy.” Her eyes were very wide in the chill blue glare of the light-cantrip, and I reminded myself that she doesn’t really like the dark very much. Still, she was being my brave girl. I gave her a brief nuzzle and a smile and went to see what might be left of B.E. Moth.
I needn’t have bothered telling Aedith to stay back. That fireball had been something other than else; it not only rendered Moth to ashes, but from the look of the stoneware bottle and assorted items scattered amid the burned silhouette, I think it incinerated his Elfintory, dumping its contents out onto the ground.
Which was, I think, the Lady’s doing, as there were two mithril-chased gold rings amid the ashes.
I sheathed the katana and fished the jewelry out of the ashes, reciting a small cantrip to clean them up. Certainly pretty little things.
“Mommy! Look what I found!” I turned and raised my lighted paw to reveal Aedith standing there holding Moth’s derby hat, apparently thrown clear when he got hit. She dipped her muzzle toward it, and immediately wrinkled her nose. “Pee-yew, it stinks and it’s all dirty.”
I grinned. “That’s a trophy, Aedith.”
“A trophy?”
“Yes, a trophy of your first battle. Now, if you want to wear it,” I said as she started studying the hat with new-found interest, “you should use all the cantrips that Nippy taught you to clean it and get the smell out. Okay?”
“Okay,” she said happily, and started a perfect rain of dirt from the hat as I went back to looking at the rings.
Time to make sure that these were real, and not copies. I positioned one flat, supported by my left thumb and two fingers, and carefully balanced the second on-edge on top of the first. A gentle puff of air, and the one on edge started to rotate.
Slowly, then with gathering speed.
The spinning one began to glow, and an image of a rather plain crown appeared over the two pieces of jewelry, accompanied by a three-note chime. The overall effect was something like the Master’s Blood Seal.
I stopped the top ring’s rotation, and the image faded. Recalling what one Guard had said earlier, I blew on one of them and my ears went flat at the sound of the whistle.
Aedith almost dropped the derby in her paws, and gave a soft howl in sympathy as the sound died away. She regained her grip on it as the sound of running feet got louder and louder.
“What kept you?” I asked as three Guards, all canines, came running up. One had a lit torch in one paw.
“ZOINKS!” one cried out, recoiling at the pile of ashes.
“We were on our way here,” one said. “Reports of fires and explosions.” He gave me a suspicious squint. “You have anything to do with that?”
I explained what had happened, and showed them the rings that I had recovered. When I finished, all three of them looked disappointed.
“But we didn't get to pull off a disguise,” one lamented.
The second grumbled, “And I wanted to be called a meddling pup.”
“But you're 311,” the third one pointed out.
“Yeah, but it's the principle of the thing.”
Aedith giggled at their antics, while trying on her trophy.
It was a size too big, but I assured her that she would grow into it.
More Guards and a crowd of citizens arrived to see what all the fuss was about, and Councilor Furrow eventually managed to get through everyone. “Sergeant!” she said to me. “What’s going on here?”
I explained, and gave the two rings to her for safekeeping. “Is everything ready to go?” I asked her.
“Yes,” the mare replied. “We hope to get going before noon tomorrow. Plenty of time.” Aedith and me started through the crowd as word was passed from mouth to ear what we had done. A cheer went up, and eager paws seized me and my daughter and bore us aloft, carrying us to our hotel as someone, in the best Elf-ly fashion, started singing:
“There's a fur of mystery
Roaming through the land!
Oh, oh, oh, oh, ohhhhhh!
Far and near you hear of her
Her tailfur’s very grand!
Oh, oh, oh, oh, ohhhhhh!
Every city, town and village
knows this fur by now.
There’s a way to recognize her
Let us tell you how!
When you're at the barber shop
Getting a trim in your tress
If somefur hollers AROOOOOOO
That's the Sole Wolfess!
She sees all, knows all
Carries a snickersnee
Some night, she might
Have you up for cakes and tea
When some mean Unseelie jerk
Is causing you distress
If someone howls AROOOO
That's the Sole Wolfess!”
And her kid.
<NEXT>
<PREVIOUS>
<FIRST>
© 2022 by M. Mitch Marmel and Walter Reimer
(The Sole Wolfess and Aedith ‘Sunny’ Winterbough are courtesy of E.O. Costello. Thanks!)
Thumbnail art by
tegerio, color by 
marmelmmPart Twenty-five.
“MOMMY!”
Pook!
I blinked, and my blood literally ran cold as Aedith appeared, the unsheathed short sword in her paws, in front of where I was lying. She was holding the sword all wrong.
She was holding it like a post-ball bat.
“NO!” I screamed as the fireball Moth had thrown at me grew nearer, and before I could do anything Aedith swung . . .
. . . The flat of the wakizashi’s blade struck . . .
. . . There was a bright flash . . .
. . . And the fireball went straight back at Moth.
“Uh oh,” was all he managed to say as the fireball connected, and there was a vast flash of flames with, mercifully, no sound. Not even a scream.
“Mommy!” Aedith threw the smoking sword aside and flung herself at me, hugging me tightly and crying. I couldn’t think of anything else apart from hugging my precious daughter to me, stroking her ears and assuring her that I was all right.
And Elves Don’t Lie; apart from some scorch marks and bruises, I was all right.
And, yes, I was crying too.
[Note appended to manuscript: “You? Crying? Is the world ending?”]
[Note appended to manuscript: “Shaddap. Stop spoiling the moment.”]
Finally, I sat up, still hugging Aedith, and started praising her for being a brave and Elf-ly wolfess. “That was amazing, my brave darling," I said. "How did you learn to do that?"
"I learned by watching you, Mommy," she replied promptly, with a wide and happy smile.
[Note appended to manuscript: "Like Mother, like daughter."]
[Note appended to manuscript: "Think about it, won't you? Thank you. On second thought, never mind thinking about it. You might sprain something."]
That done, I gave her a final nuzzle and started to get to my feet. I cast a minor cantrip to make my left paw glow and we both began to look around.
The wakizashi was a short distance away, with a scorch mark on the flat of the blade about a third of the way down. I resolved not to use it until I was sure that hitting Moth’s fireball hadn’t damaged the steel, and Aedith brought me the sheath for it. The katana was a little further away, and after drawing the longer sword I turned to my daughter. “I want you to stay here, please,” I said, “just in case what’s over there isn’t fit for a young Elf’s eyes.”
“But – “
“Please.”
“Y-Yes, Mommy.” Her eyes were very wide in the chill blue glare of the light-cantrip, and I reminded myself that she doesn’t really like the dark very much. Still, she was being my brave girl. I gave her a brief nuzzle and a smile and went to see what might be left of B.E. Moth.
I needn’t have bothered telling Aedith to stay back. That fireball had been something other than else; it not only rendered Moth to ashes, but from the look of the stoneware bottle and assorted items scattered amid the burned silhouette, I think it incinerated his Elfintory, dumping its contents out onto the ground.
Which was, I think, the Lady’s doing, as there were two mithril-chased gold rings amid the ashes.
I sheathed the katana and fished the jewelry out of the ashes, reciting a small cantrip to clean them up. Certainly pretty little things.
“Mommy! Look what I found!” I turned and raised my lighted paw to reveal Aedith standing there holding Moth’s derby hat, apparently thrown clear when he got hit. She dipped her muzzle toward it, and immediately wrinkled her nose. “Pee-yew, it stinks and it’s all dirty.”
I grinned. “That’s a trophy, Aedith.”
“A trophy?”
“Yes, a trophy of your first battle. Now, if you want to wear it,” I said as she started studying the hat with new-found interest, “you should use all the cantrips that Nippy taught you to clean it and get the smell out. Okay?”
“Okay,” she said happily, and started a perfect rain of dirt from the hat as I went back to looking at the rings.
Time to make sure that these were real, and not copies. I positioned one flat, supported by my left thumb and two fingers, and carefully balanced the second on-edge on top of the first. A gentle puff of air, and the one on edge started to rotate.
Slowly, then with gathering speed.
The spinning one began to glow, and an image of a rather plain crown appeared over the two pieces of jewelry, accompanied by a three-note chime. The overall effect was something like the Master’s Blood Seal.
I stopped the top ring’s rotation, and the image faded. Recalling what one Guard had said earlier, I blew on one of them and my ears went flat at the sound of the whistle.
Aedith almost dropped the derby in her paws, and gave a soft howl in sympathy as the sound died away. She regained her grip on it as the sound of running feet got louder and louder.
“What kept you?” I asked as three Guards, all canines, came running up. One had a lit torch in one paw.
“ZOINKS!” one cried out, recoiling at the pile of ashes.
“We were on our way here,” one said. “Reports of fires and explosions.” He gave me a suspicious squint. “You have anything to do with that?”
I explained what had happened, and showed them the rings that I had recovered. When I finished, all three of them looked disappointed.
“But we didn't get to pull off a disguise,” one lamented.
The second grumbled, “And I wanted to be called a meddling pup.”
“But you're 311,” the third one pointed out.
“Yeah, but it's the principle of the thing.”
Aedith giggled at their antics, while trying on her trophy.
It was a size too big, but I assured her that she would grow into it.
More Guards and a crowd of citizens arrived to see what all the fuss was about, and Councilor Furrow eventually managed to get through everyone. “Sergeant!” she said to me. “What’s going on here?”
I explained, and gave the two rings to her for safekeeping. “Is everything ready to go?” I asked her.
“Yes,” the mare replied. “We hope to get going before noon tomorrow. Plenty of time.” Aedith and me started through the crowd as word was passed from mouth to ear what we had done. A cheer went up, and eager paws seized me and my daughter and bore us aloft, carrying us to our hotel as someone, in the best Elf-ly fashion, started singing:
“There's a fur of mystery
Roaming through the land!
Oh, oh, oh, oh, ohhhhhh!
Far and near you hear of her
Her tailfur’s very grand!
Oh, oh, oh, oh, ohhhhhh!
Every city, town and village
knows this fur by now.
There’s a way to recognize her
Let us tell you how!
When you're at the barber shop
Getting a trim in your tress
If somefur hollers AROOOOOOO
That's the Sole Wolfess!
She sees all, knows all
Carries a snickersnee
Some night, she might
Have you up for cakes and tea
When some mean Unseelie jerk
Is causing you distress
If someone howls AROOOO
That's the Sole Wolfess!”
And her kid.
<NEXT>
<PREVIOUS>
<FIRST>
Category Story / General Furry Art
Species Wolf
Size 1280 x 966px
File Size 194.6 kB
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