Anthony sat cross-legged in the back of an empty wagon, watching the green countryside filled with waving stalks of golden wheat pass by slowly as the horses briskly trotted along the road ahead.

  A farmer, on his way back from unloading goods in town, had agreed to give the young mercenaries a ride up to the hillside. It had taken a bit of convincing, but once Elara explained their mission, the man happily agreed to her request.

  The countryside surrounding Highwarden was filled with a variety of agricultural businesses. The farms they were currently headed toward raised fowl, pigs, and some larger cattle for slaughter to feed the city. The immature Fortune Hound they were hunting wasn’t large enough to take down a full-grown pig or cow alone—not at such a young age, anyway—so it was mostly just wreaking havoc on the area's chicken population.

  As the large wooden wheels came to a slow stop, the old man wearing a wide-brimmed straw hat waved toward the farmhouse on the left side of the road as he spoke.

  “This is the place you want. That damn hound takes a bird from the Riley farm every day like clockwork. Good luck on your hunt, and tell old man Riley I said hello.”

  After thanking the man for the ride, the group made their way into the Riley farm and quickly tracked down the owner. He was a man even older than the one who had just driven them up from Highwarden.

  The farmer, named "Old Man Riley," had thick black bags under his eyes, a disgruntled scowl on his face, and heavily wrinkled skin hanging from his cheeks. He was currently barking orders at a group of younger men who appeared to be farmhands when he caught sight of Anthony’s group approaching.

  Riley gave Elara a suspicious glare as she stepped up to him at the head of the group. Without speaking a word, she unfolded the mission parchment and held it out before the old man. A hint of relief seemed to cross his grizzled face, his scowl turning into a smile as he realized the purpose of his visitors, but as he looked back up at the three his eyes narrowed in hesitation.

  “You three look awfully young to be doing this sort of job…”

  He gave the three of them a quick glance up and down before shrugging his shoulders and waving for them to follow him.

  “I ain’t in any position to be picky. Come on, I’ll show you where to start your hunt. That cursed hound has eaten up five silver worth of hens over the past few weeks, and it would be a lot more if I hadn’t started leaving out scraps to keep his belly full.”

  As he spoke, Old Man Riley led the group toward the south side of the farm, where the field containing dozens of chicken coops ran alongside a heavily wooded area. Riley stopped beside the south fence, casting his gaze into the gloomy-looking forest with narrowed eyes as he spoke.

  “He’s in there somewhere, comes out once or twice a day to steal from me,” Riley said. Letting out a quiet sigh as he turned away from the woods and looked at the three mercenaries beside him. “I don’t know what you’re planning to do, but don’t you dare harm the beast on my property! Call me superstitious if you like, but I’ve got too much work to do to be gettin’ cursed. I can’t afford it, you understand?”

  After giving his warning, Old Man Riley headed back to work, leaving the three companions to their task.

  “So, what’s the plan?” Anthony asked, looking over toward Elara as he spoke.

  Almost immediately, he saw a shimmer of magic develop at the tips of Elara’s fingers, and a bundle of black rope soon appeared on the ground between them. Elara reached down to grab the pile of rope, tossing it over to Anthony as she replied, “We are going to set a trap, of course!”

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Over the next half hour, the three companions got to work creating a simple snare trap and moving the scraps of food that had been left out for the hound inside it. When that was done, all that was left to do was wait.

  The girls had a casual conversation while keeping one eye on the trap. Anthony sat cross-legged a bit further away, taking the time to get some cultivation done while he waited. Time passed painfully slowly; the morning giving way to noon as the sun rose high into the sky. When the group was more than tired of waiting, and thinking about eating lunch, a sudden sound caught their attention.

  Snap! Woosh!

  Anthony’s eyes shot open as the sound of the snare trap being triggered echoed through the area. Jumping to his feet, he saw what looked like a blur of white and gold moving back and forth rapidly as it pulled against the taught rope of the snare.

  The creature was the size of an average dog, but it appeared to be unusually strong, and the tree limb used as part of the trap was being heavily bent by the creature’s desperate frenzy.

  “Hurry! It’s not going to hold!”

  Anthony dashed forward with another rope in his hands, tied off into a lasso at the top, as he approached the struggling Fortune Hound. Unfortunately, they had underestimated the young creature’s strength, and the large limb broke off before he could get close enough to add his leash to the beast.

  The terrified hound dashed into the woods, pulling the large tree limb behind it as it fled.

  “Follow it! It can’t outrun us for long while it’s dragging that limb behind it!” Elara shouted.

  Anthony hadn’t bothered waiting for the order, he continued running after the creature as soon as he saw the trap breaking. As he sped into the woods, the thick underbrush made it difficult for Anthony to navigate, but it was causing even more problems for the hound.

  The large limb dragging behind it kept getting snagged, forcing the beast to use an enormous amount of strength and energy to rip itself free again and again. Even so, Anthony could barely keep up with it. The creature possessed an impressive amount of strength and endurance for its size.

  The three followed their prey through the woods for nearly twenty minutes before the chase finally came to an end. The large limb became wedged between two closely growing trees, and no amount of pulling could dislodge it.

  When Anthony finally stepped up beside the creature, it was panting so desperately that he thought it might die of exhaustion. Still, he quickly tossed the looped rope around its neck as he leaned against the tree and began to catch his breath.

  Anthony glanced down at the beast while he waited. It’s golden eyes staring back at him as the two slowly caught their breath. It was a beautiful creature, almost pure white with golden claws, teeth, eyes, ears and tail.

  When Pom finally caught up, she let out a sigh of relief as she pulled a small metal bowl from her bag and proceeded to pour a small amount of cool water into the bottom. Then she pulled the lavender potion from the pouch around her neck and carefully mixed it into the water.

  Anthony watched in fascination as the trapped and exhausted creature before him began to calm down the moment it smelled the mixture. Pom stepped forward slowly, returning the creature’s gaze as she carefully placed the bowl of liquid down beside the Fortune Hound’s snout.

  The creature flinched in hesitation, its eyes shifting between Pom’s figure and the bowl for a few moments as it began to sniff at the air.

  “Give me the rope! You and Elara need to step out of sight for this to work properly!” Pom explained, holding out her hand toward Anthony.

  Anthony handed over the leash in his hand without hesitation, then followed behind Elara as the two moved away to allow Pom to complete the taming process. As soon as her friends had stepped out of sight, Pom pierced her finger with a needle and squeezed out a drop of blood, allowing it to drip into the bowl on the ground in front of her.

  This was the most difficult step because she had to focus quite hard to prevent her body from automatically transforming and preventing her from drawing out any blood. The ability to do so was something she had newly learned in order to complete the taming process.

  As the blood hit the lavender liquid, a heavy purple mist began to be released from the bowl like a smoke bomb. The Fortune Hound’s expression seemed to change when it breathed in the powerful aroma, the fear in it’s eyes slowly disappearing as it allowed Pom to gently run her hand across the soft fur on its head.