A time ago in a village near the forest and the trees the body of a man was found. The man was one of two brother priests in the town and had been missing for days, not discovered until playing children had found him, lying face down in a dry creek bed, his body partially devoured. When being prepared for burial, the other village saint concluded that neighboring wolves were to blame for the death of the man. The saint preached of demons and beasts lurking in the forest and anger swept through the town like fire on dry flora. The wolves were perceived as the enemy, quickly becoming the cause for every negativity the town had suffered; including death, disease, famine and drought.
The women of the village watched through fearing eyes as the men tore into the forest armed with weapons and fire. By the end of nightfall blood was on the winds, replacing the howling that was once heard. Their problems, the villagers thought, we over and they continued to grieve over the death of their lost saint.
Though a week or so later the brother of the dead saint glimpsed a familiar form through the trees. A large black wolf with menacing jaws was watching him. Maddened by his brothers’ death, the saint was convinced this was the wolf that had murdered his kin and armed himself to kill.
Dashing into the forest with knife in hand the saint stalked the wolf and traced its’ heavy paw prints through to a clearing. The wolf was facing a different direction, standing alone. The saint, thinking he had outsmarted the wolf, pounced at the canine from behind, swinging his blade.
The wolf whipped around and caught the saint first, landing on his chest, forcing the air from his lungs. The knife was sent sprawling and the man gasped. “You foul beast of Satan!” he bellowed in the wolf’s face, “I will kill you as you did my brother!”
The man tried to rise but upon raising an arm the wolf began to growl; a deep growl, becoming louder and louder. The saint was at the wolf’s mercy and he knew it, resigning himself to bellow in outrage,
“Harm me and the villagers will not rest until you are killed!”
At this the wolf simply blinked.
Angered even more the man continued, “Do you understand you stupid animal?! You, ravenous demon, will die along with the rest of your breed!”
The wolf lowered its’ head close enough to breathe on the man’s face and opened its’ jaws...
“You dare lash out at my kind, human? You dare threaten me from the ground? You call me a demon and a beast am I right? Yet I don’t see how this is so. You slay us without a thought, for skins and because of mans’ anger. You call yourself a holy man, ha! We have done no wrong! Ignorance killed your kin, ignorance of the forest. He was lost for days and ate poison from the sickle bush. We were not wrong by nature to take advantage of the cadaver.”
From the trees surrounding the clearing four wolves emerged. Two sibling cubs, an adolescent and a female; the last remaining pack. The youngest nuzzled the blade as it was stuck in the ground, the others simply watched.
“When we kill it is because we have need. You slaughter for trophies. But…if you insist,”
The black wolf stepped off of the now trembling man, his face struck with horror and awe.
“I will let you free, human. Because you are the saint and I am but a beast.”