You may ask me my name, but I may not give it to you. I have no true name, not in the way that you understand them. Wolfkin transfer such things through sounds that do not translate to written language as you know it. Yet Men insist on granting us names, as they might name their family pet. I must answer to my name, the name that they have given to me, but I have not earned it, and it fits me like an ill-made garment. If you require such a name, then you may call me Brutus. It seems somewhat fitting that they choose a name to echo how they see me and my kind. We are simple brutes to them, muscular hulks useful only for guarding weaker and more suspicious Men.
Some of my brethren work in the great Houses of the Dead, where their knowledge and abilities are prized instead of feared. The most valuable situation is at the House of the Long Dead, with the necromancer general, Eufame Delsenza. She is not of the race of Men either, and those Wolfkin who work there work with her, not for her. Yet my place is in the Academy. I spend my days being ignored by the haughty offspring of wealthy wizards as they struggle to retain ancient magickal knowledge, or being avoided by their supercilious tutors. They mistake my placid nature for slow-wittedness, and my apathy for an inability to feel. Men do not credit us with emotional maturity, which yes, we do find ironic.
In my turn, I ignore these humans, and favour the great library, with its scrolls and books. The librarian is not like other Men, she is pleasant and cordial, and she shares new finds with me. Like all Wolfkin, I am fascinated by books. We do not keep our records on paper, and we pass them on through our oral traditions. This has caused us problems, as Men have given us a history that is not ours, granting us legends which we do not understand ourselves. They try to separate us from our ancestors, as though we will not remember that in days gone by, Men and Wolfkin stood side by side, and shared the world.
You may ask why I do not leave the Academy by which I am so bored. I cannot, since the Wolfkin are cursed by the bonds of loyalty. I may care little for the Academy, and for what it stands, yet I am unable to leave of my own free will, and my pride prevents me from acting in a fashion that would see me dismissed, and shamed. No, I cannot leave.
Yet at night, I wait until those within the mighty walls of the Academy are asleep, entrusting themselves to the Dream Realm, and I ascend the stairs in the Northern Tower. The observatory is deserted so late at night, once the astronomers have departed, and I howl to the moon, listening to the music of the night. For that brief shining moment, I understand my place in the Grand Scheme, and I enjoy a freedom that only Wolfkin understand. Not even the most powerful of Men may take this from me.
They would die if they tried.
* * *
If you liked the sound of this Wolfkin, you can read more about them in my new novella, The Necromancer’s Apprentice.
man, the cunning & predatory nature of the wold added to bookish learning, now that would make a powerful adversary for anyone indeed!
But yet they don’t like to be enemies!
Given Wolfkin’s dislike for the written word, it was nice of her to write all this down for us! Poor thing, stuck at the Academy.
He wanted to tell his story.
I’m planning on reading it this weekend. Looking forward to learning more!
Enjoy!
Oh cool! I started The Necromancer’s Apprentice a few days ago, and have read past the part where Jyx encounters the Wolfkin in the library. It’s sort of a relief to know that he thinks it’s a boring job too.
I liked the slightly academic, melancholy tone of this piece. It complements the different narrative voice in the book well.
Fun reading this after reading The Necromancer’s Apprentice. More perspective and complements the novella. Nice tone matching my impression of the Wolfkin Jyx met.
Wonderful book, Icy.
A very elegant piece of writing Icy. I have downloaded the ebook to my kindle now, and shall get around to reading it some time in the near future.
Congrats on getting another of your works out there. Well done. 🙂
In a way, I find some sadness in this piece. To be trapped by your bonds of loyalty, even when you can’t stand it, seems like being enslaved. You really capture the desperation in the voice and tone of the character, wanting to be free to chase after the life it wants instead of being forced to stay. A good job. Like Steve, I want to congratulate you on getting your stuff out there. I read your western shortly after you published it (good job, by the way), so I’ll have to download this one, as well.
Interesting character. I like!
Very cool! I like seeing Men through the Wolfkin’s eyes. 🙂
I really enjoyed this. I think this line is my favorite “The observatory is deserted so late at night, once the astronomers have departed, and I howl to the moon, listening to the music of the night.”
I love him joining his voice with the “music of the night”.
Thank you.
Such an unusual take. Loved this. Especially the last line. So many questions!
The Wolfkin have much more of a role in the second book in the series!