Saulk

The grizzled wolf loped purposefully through the marshy land, with his dual-toned orbs in a constant scan through the stand of dead and decaying trees. He didn't particularly care for this musty old bog, but Quilikahm had told him about the monitor that lived here, dwelling in thermal pockets during the winter that kept some of this terrain free of permanent ice during the colder months.

"Ederelus!" Saulk stopped from time to time to bark her name, and would stop with ears perked, waiting for a response.

Ederelus

I am the people
I am the storm

The muntjac's information had been solid, and with enough searching the wolfdog happened to stumble upon one of the few refuges Ederelus had retreated to during the heart of winter. Even with the faint warmth of the earth at her belly, the wind was still frigid, and she was forced to keep herself buried beneath leaves and moss. It was fortunate, too, that the lower temperatures had dulled her appetite and left the giant monitor lizard uninterested in making a meal out of the passing canine.

"You smell like a Haunter." Her voice would seem to come from a pile of leaves and loose twigs, situated on a mound of sandy earth. A sharp perception might pick out a golden eye peering from between two leaves, and past that, the slow flick of a long, sharply forked tongue. "Come closer, tell me your name."

I am the riot
I am the swarm

Saulk

Saulk nearly jumped out of his skin when the voice sounded far too close for his liking. He didn't even notice the eye peering at him through the leaves until the flickering tongue drew his gaze to that spot. Every fiber in the wolf's being bade him turn and run as his imagination ran wild. Just how big was this thing beneath the leaves? How giant were the teeth?

"My name is Saulk." He found his voice despite the anxiety, and delivered it with composure and confidence. He forcefully ignored his instincts and placed one giant paw in front of the other, pressing forward to the tune of a thrumming heart until he was a mere three feet in front of the pile. "Sister Quilikahm's told stories about you, and I came to find out of they were true."

Ederelues

She could raise her scaly head and reveal her true size and drooling fangs to this wolfdog who smelled so deliciously of fear. She was sure her visage would be met with widened eyes and perhaps a quick few steps back. He might even run away, as so many others did. But instead, the monitor remained buried beneath her pile of leaves and branches, knowing the fear of the unknown could be just as potent.

"Saulk. You do carry the deer's scent." A tongue flicked out again, wavering sluggishly in the air before retreating. "I am sure they are all true, if Quilikahm spoke them." Her words came out slow and steady, and the one eye that peered from beyond the leaves shifted and moved, looking over the grizzled coat of the canine that stood so daringly close. "You are either very brave or very foolish to come here, surely you know that?"

Saulk

An anxious tongue curled over his lips and a faint tremor shook his legs. He wasn't sure why fear had gripped him so surely right now, when he normally walked side by side with big cats and swam the moat where two river monsters lived with no qualms.

Maybe, as Edereleus banked on, it was the threat of the unknown that so rattled Saulk right now. The thought that this creature could kill him with a single, lingering bite wound. Maybe it was the monstrous image that his imagination painted of this terribly lizard beneath the leaves, drawn from descriptions the little deer had given them. All he could see right now was that single hungry orb and the long, glistening tongue that forked out in his direction. Surely, it was attached to something terrible.

'Get a hold of yourself! You are a leader Saulk.' The wolfdog mentally chastised himself. He drew his head back, then against every impulse in his body, sat back on his haunches to show he was not intimidated by the reptile. "Neither bravery nor foolishness brought me here." Saulk returned with competence, forcing an even, self-assured voice, "I came on behalf of the Shadow Haunters. I would like to strike up an alliance with you. An ally as powerful and feared as yourself would be a great boon to us."