Unexpected

"What are they…?" Gerald lifted his eyebrows in surprise. He was completely baffled. Didn't they see him? Well, he was sort of hidden behind Toby's lush mane, but surely they weren't that blind, right?

They were just pretending and would soon stop this farce. Right? Right?!

Wrong! Five men charged at him at once, and from their expressions, you could clearly read they were serious. Also, a volley of spells was fired at him at once, Ice Lances, Stone Spikes, some fool even made a giant stone pillar and tried to launch it at him.

It went nowhere near him and simply fell to the ground immediately due to the lack of momentum, but…

"What the fuck?!"

Gerald sent an explosion-like blast of air from his fist and swept away all the projectiles like swatting a fly. The sky became clear again.

That's when a stray arrow came flying at his head.

Pang!

Gerald recoiled from the strike. That thing fucking hurt! It hit him right in the side of his head. Good thing he never released his defensive magic when in a war zone or else he would have been a goner.

"Motherfuckers!" he roared and jumped up, flying a few meters above the Warg and generating massive amounts of flames all around himself.

"Who was it?! Who dares to shoot me?!"

In that instant, everything stopped. The mages stopped chanting spells, the archers lowered their bows in shock and the charging swordsmen nearly stumbled on themselves from stopping so quickly.

"Gerald?!"

"Yes, it's me, who else?! What's with the warm welcome?" Gerald answered, annoyed.

"Huh," Kerius scratched his head while feeling awkward. He didn't know what to say.

"So, who was it?" Gerald asked again, his gaze going over the archers in the background. Feeling his penetration gaze they quickly hid their bows and started whistling and conversing, pretending not to know what was going on.

"That's… That's a Warg," Kerius finally managed to say.

Gerald rolled his eyes and released his magic, landing back on his mount. He gestured for it to move and so it did. As they came into the camp, the people around watched them with wary gazes and took a few steps back, keeping the distance just in case.

"Toby," Gerald said.

"Wha-?" Kerius, together with the rest, was flabbergasted.

"His name is Toby," Gerald repeated.

"…"

How would you respond to that? [Helo Toby, my name is X, nice to meet you, please don't eat me.]?! The group was stupefied. This was a wild animal! A very dangerous one at that!

"You tamed a Warg?" Sera stepped forward, posing the question.

"Yes."

"Why?!"

"Why?" Gerald thought for a bit and then replied. "Well, I'm not really a pet kind of guy, but I saw so many people having tamed beasts so I thought: Hey, what the heck? Maybe there was something to this. And so I got myself a mount."

"Yes, but, why would you tame A WARG?!" Sera exclaimed like she was conversing with a crazy person.

But Gerald was clever. He wouldn't fall for such an obvious trap. He immediately figured out it was a trick question, so he responded most appropriately for the occasion. He said, "Because it was there."

"…"

That was the end of the conversation. Sera threw her hands in the air and gave up.

***

It took a while, but eventually, Gerald managed to calm everyone down and explain what happened. They were mostly just nodding in understanding, although nobody dared to come close to the beast.

Especially with such an innocent-sounding name.

While they were having a peaceful meal, Gerald came to realize a few problems. In just a short hour they got attacked three times by people mistaking Toby for a wild beast.

Well, he kind of was, but he was also Gerand's munt now, so that presented a challenge. How could he act all high and mighty on his cool new mount if everyone ran away in fear or tried to kill it at first sight?

What if he left it alone for a few minutes while taking a dump, only to come back to its butchered remains?

That would be terrible! He had to fix this problem ASAP!

And so, after eating their fill, Toby and Gerald went on the road again.

As the sun slowly moved lower on the horizon, darkness covered the once golden city. If the attacks during the day were already annoying, then the arrows that flew at them in the evening were even worse.

Every hundred meters or so a patrol of city guards or soldiers would try to kill the Warg, as well as Gerald riding on it. It happened so often that Gerald began losing his mind.

"Are you fucking blind? Can't you see me riding my mount?! How about you open your stupid little eyes before trying to kill another fellow human, huh?!" Gerald scolded one of the clueless guards.

"Uh, well…" the guy stammered, "We… We saw the Warg and we thought an Orc was riding it, so…"

"Do I look like an Orc?!"

"Well…" the guard started.

"Don't answer that! It was a rhetorical question!"

Feeling the conversation going nowhere, Gerald created flaming writing above him, visible from kilometers away. It said: "Don't attack – Tamed beast!"

"This ought to work, right?"

"Um… Uh-uh!" the guard nodded at first, but then shook his head and shrugged. Gerald felt like punching him in the face.

***

The rider and the mount then continued on their way until they stopped in front of a Leatherworking Shop.

"Wait here," Gerald said and then entered alone.

"Welcome!" The old man inside greeted him with smiles. "Are you here for clothes, armor, or something more special?"

"I need a saddle for my mount," Gerald explained, "And the few bits and pieces that come with it."

Nodding in understanding, the shopkeeper smiled, "Of course! Let us see the animal then."

He quickly walked to the door and opened them, coming face to face with the Warg's snout. The beast opened its mouth slightly, revealing countless sharp teeth.

"Oh," The old man said in surprise. It wasn't even a scream. Was it perhaps like seeing an average horse for him?

"Oh? You aren't afraid, old man? Most people would freak out when seeing-" Gerald started, but then he saw the guy move backward weirdly.

Thud!

"Ah!" Gerald shouted.

The old man was dead!