The Bond Between Taranis and Boldolph.

The fire had long gone out, and the cold crept in like a snake through the underbrush. Taranis sat with his back to a stone outcrop, shivering in silence. His breath came in misted gasps, though he dared not build another fire. Fire drew eyes. And eyes mean death.

He was only nine winters old skin and bones beneath a damp wolf-pelt, alone since exile. Alone… or so he believed.

Until that night.

A low growl rolled from the darkness.

Taranis reached for his stick-spear crude, splintered, tipped with flint and rose to a crouch. The growl came again, closer. Deep. Measured. Not hunger. Not rage. Warning.

The trees parted.

A shadow, massive and black, emerged from the mist.

The wolf.

Not just any wolf this one had eyes like embered blood. A scar down his left side that caught the moonlight. He have snapped Taranis in two.

But he didn’t.

Instead, the wolf circled once, then lay down, his tail wrapping around his legs. He did not blink. He just watched.

Taranis lowered his spear.

“You’re not here to eat me,” he said, voice hoarse from days without speech.

The wolf said nothing, but his ears twitched.

Taranis crept closer, sat back down beside the dying fire pit. He wrapped the pelt tighter and leaned ahead.

“I don’t know why they hate me,” he whispered.

The wolf’s eyes did not move.

“I saved my brother. I didn’t ask for the fire, or the storm. I just… did what I was told.”

Still the wolf said nothing, but his breathing was calm, deliberate like he was listening.

Taranis closed his eyes.

In the morning, he woke to warmth. Not from a fire, but from the wolf curled around him, sheltering him from the frost.

From that day onward, Boldolph never left his side.

He didn’t need to speak. His presence was enough. His strength, a shield. His silence, a vow.

Taranis never asked him why.

But deep down, he knew.

Boldolph had seen something in him not just a boy, not just a fire-starter. Something ancient. Something kin.

And Taranis, though still just a child, reached out and rested a hand on the wolf’s thick fur.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

The wolf let him.

Thank you for reading.© 2025 Emma Hewitt / StormborneLore. All rights reserved.Unauthorized copying or reproduction of this content is prohibited.

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