Temple Sword

Chapter 75 The Wind Shepherd

1309 Summer
Transylvania, Hungary
—

The night in the valley was getting darker, and more and more things were sneaking into the darkness.Otto Wittelsbach, Duke of Lower Bavaria, king of Hungary exiled, imprisoned, mocked, and abandoned in this valley, was grinding a branch tremblingly.

The cleaver Laszlo Khan had given him wasn't for a spear, but the hungry and thirsty, tired and frightened man couldn't make a fire with all his might, so he tried to at least make a fire with his twitching hands. A decent weapon against potential dangers in the forest.

There was movement very close to him, and before Otto had even finished sharpening his spear halfway, he could already hear footsteps approaching him, the footsteps of wolves.In desperation, he tore off the hem of his frayed clothes, tied the knife to the end of the branch, fastened it as tightly as possible, and gathered the weapon in front of him with pretended boldness.

"Come!" he cried in his native tongue, and began to turn his stick slowly, so that no matter where the beast's attack came from, he would strike in time. "come!"

"Come on, what are you waiting for?" Otto continued tremblingly in German, "Come on, you beasts from hell!"

The first wolf came out from behind the nearby bushes, and Otto no longer had the courage to continue to pay attention to the animal's footsteps.He didn't make a move, but swallowed heavily, looking at those eyes that glowed in the dark.

"Good dog," he said in Hungarian, trying to make the wolf understand and give up attacking him, "good dog, good boy, go away."

But the wolf was not persuaded. He grunted and howled, and kicked the ground straight for Otto's throat.Instinctively he raised his spear and thrust forward with all his strength, and to his surprise the knife attached to the end of the stick pierced the wolf's body, just near its heart.The wolf fell to the ground, uttered a whine, and fell silent forever.

"I killed it!" the man said to himself happily, "I killed you, damn it!"

Otto Wittelsbach did not notice that his horse was stamping more and more nervously, and was trying to break the twine that his master had tied him to the tree.Otto was covered in blood, and he waved his spear wildly, shouting as if to attract all the wolves in the forest.

"Come on!" he growled. "Come on, little wolves! Who else wants to taste my spear?"

Another wolf appeared before him, but Otto was no longer afraid of it, and holding his weapon firmly in front of him, he waited for the animal to spring from the ground, and then he could use the sniper of the previous one. way to kill it.

"Little wolf, come on!" Otto whispered to it, "What's the matter? Don't you dare?"

At this moment, a pair of sharp teeth bit Otto's calf from behind, and he realized that the wolf was only distracting his companions.There was a sharp pain in the man's leg and he howled, but he didn't give in, he turned and slashed at the beast that attacked him, preventing it from taking another bite.He finished off the wolf with two stabs, then looked back at the other wolf who was standing there watching him.

But now there was no longer one wolf in front of him, but three.Not far away, two more beasts appeared from the darkness, then three, four... Soon, the whole pack of wolves surrounded him, but they didn't attack him yet, they approached him slowly with low howls, The circle got smaller and smaller, and the bony old horse was temporarily ignored.

Otto could feel his leg throbbing, warm blood oozing from the fresh wound.He could feel his heart pounding, the numbness of his fingers clenched on the branches, and the growling of his empty stomach.

But he felt no fear.

If he had to die like this, he thought, so be it.He is no longer young, God has given him 48 long years, and if He calls him back to him now, he will gladly accept His decision.He only regrets that he didn't get to eat a good meal before he died.

"Come on, you stinky dogs!" he said again in German, grinning at the wolves. "I won't be beaten so easily!"

A gray wolf pounced first, followed by the black wolf, the largest of the pack.Otto pierced the first with ease, but the second fell straight for his chest and knocked him to the ground.Otto turned the stick sideways and pressed it against the black wolf's jaw, preventing the drool-filled mouth from biting his face.The wolf started clawing at the man's belly with its hind legs, but Otto snarled and pushed him away with the pole.

Although he was fighting valiantly, the other wolves gradually grew tired of waiting and rushed towards him.Otto kicked, trying to drive some of the wolves away, but the hungry beasts grabbed his shoes, pulled at his trousers, tore his clothes, and wanted to feed on his flesh.

Men know this is the end of it all.He closed his eyes and began to pray.All his sins were clearly laid out before him, and he remembered them all, and sincerely began to repent.

His horse, the poor fellow, as skinny as he was, struggled desperately to get away from the hungry wolf that was attacking his back.

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name...

The wolves removed his shoes and drove their sharp teeth into his bare feet.

may your kingdom come...

He heard the sound of his trousers being ripped open and knew his thighs and bleeding calves were about to become a delicacy, like plump goose legs in that never-ending, glorious feast of Bavarian nights...

May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven...

His clothes were no longer holding up, and the Beasts stripped the man naked and prepared their summer dinners with great care and attention to detail.

Give us this day our daily bread.Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors...

The black wolf grabbed Otto's abdomen, bloody and bloody, and finally bit the wooden stick in two.It turned its drooling face to the moon and let out a howl of triumph.

Lead us not into temptation...

The horse tied to the tree raised its head and kicked violently with its front hooves, crushing the head of the wolf that ran below.

Deliver us from evil!
The wolves suddenly fell silent, froze, and raised their heads to spy and sniff the forest in the night.

Otto Wittolsbach saw a flash of blinding light as he closed his eyes, followed by a spreading white light.This strange, frightening and reassuring otherworldly light filled his consciousness, his being, every part of his body, reaching deep inside him, driving away the pain, driving away the wolves .

A dark and solemn silence fell over the forest again.

—

The chirping of birds woke him up, the sun caressed his face, and a heavenly aroma tickled his nose.

Otto opened his eyes.

He saw him in a cabin, the sun shining on his face through the palm-sized windows.It was a small wooden house, he had never seen such a small house.He looked around and could see no furniture at all, nothing but the soft bearskin lying under him.

He sat up cautiously.

His head hurt a little, but otherwise he was in no pain.He examined himself. He was wearing a new dress, a strange robe, the kind worn by Orientals.The mysterious man who had saved his life and brought him to this place had tied a simple rope around his waist as a belt.

Curious Otto turned up the hem of his new clothes, the scratch marks on his feet and legs were clearly visible, but looked like old scars suffered many years ago.He also touched his chest, but he didn't feel any trace of the black wolf's claws.

There was a loud growl in his stomach, and he was very hungry.Otto stood up, put his head on the roof of the house and went outside.

Outside, a strange figure was kneeling before a cauldron under which flames were crackling.The person preparing the food wore a brown robe similar to Otto's, but around the waist was a belt with a gold buckle.His black hair was braided in countless strands and fell below his shoulders, and a leather and antler headdress adorned his wrinkled head.He knelt by the fire with his eyes closed, a long, rough, curled stick strangely marked and carved across his lap.

"Morning Roar!" said Otto, "You saved me Yimin, I am grateful to you, they are about to kill me...I owe you..."

"You owe me nothing, Otto Wittelsbach, Duke of Lower Bavaria, exiled King of Hungary," said the man to a surprised Otto. "Please feel free to speak in your own language, your Hungarian I I don't quite understand."

The man turned to face Otto. He had deep brown eyes.

"Are you hungry," he asked, then stood up and leaned over the cauldron to take a deep breath of the rising aroma. "Well, this should be delicious," he said with a happy smile, "mushroom stew."

"Who are you, good sir?" Otto asked the stranger in German, and he had no doubt that this stew would be the best thing he had ever eaten in his life. "What should I call the benefactor who saved my life?"

"Your good luck saved your life, Otto Wittelsbach." The man approached him, "and I have many names. Erda. But you may call me Wind Shepherd, that is the name I was given when the world was born."

"You have a strange name, sir," Otto said, and then doubts took over. "Please tell me, how do you know who I am?"

"I knew who you were before you came here, Otto Wittelsbach," replied the wind shepherd vaguely, "just as I knew the wolves would not tear you to pieces. You He didn't deserve to die here, and he didn't deserve to die like this."

With his back turned to the Duke of Bavaria, he lifted the filled cauldron from the fire with the ease of twisting a leaf.

"Dinner is ready," he said cheerfully, and from under his robes he drew two long wooden spoons. "I hope you don't mind, Otto Wittelsbach, because I can't serve you on a plate."

Otto didn't care, and even if he had to lick the stew off the ground, he'd eat it just as gratefully.

(End of this chapter)