Two more days had passed, and they were now nearing the Pontic Mountains. They had already ascended a few thousand feet from sea level, and the beauty of the mountain range loomed ever closer before them. It was a drastic contrast from the empty tans and browns that had made up most of their journeys so far. There were not a lot of aesthetically pleasing sights visible in the desert. Here, however, lush forests could be seen crawling up the sides of towering mountains in a mesh of green and brown. The peaks of the taller mountains were capped with bright white snow, much of which appeared to have fallen a short time beforehand. All was quiet except for a chorus of birds nearby. Along their path, sparse groups of trees littered the landscape along their path. The sight was truly breathtaking for Swashbuckler and his friend.

“You have a beautiful country,” Swashbuckler told Sayed.

“Yes, it is magnificent this time of the year. The cool winds bring snow to the mountains which melt and run down the sides in streams so clear and blue you would think it was water straight from heaven.”

“Maybe it is,” Robert replied.

“But these mountains are a dangerous place,” Sayed continued. “I have not traveled them much, but it is said that strange things live in the upper regions.” Robert looked a little worried now as he straightened himself atop his camel and looked around. Haven’t we had enough adventures already? He thought.

Sayed went on with his tale. “There are many caves scattered throughout these mountains, and in some it is said that wild beasts live that walk as men. They are huge, nearly as tall as this camel. Many are covered with thick fur and are vicious when encountered by men. Few escape their fury to tell their tales.”

Swashbuckler was not convinced. “Perhaps these things are merely dragons with hair in place of scales.” He was smiling until he found that every Turk was staring at him. “Well, I’ve never really seen a dragon with hair, but it’s possible; now that I think of it, I’ve never even seen a dragon at all.”

“Do not mock me, kafir. We are to travel the length of these mountains, and I am certain you will get your chance to see that of which I speak.”

Swashbuckler confided in his friend as they rode on. “These guys are pretty serious about their stories.”

The company rode on until late that afternoon, reaching deep into the mountains. They had passed over several of the smaller peaks, and now they had come to a towering mountain, its peak hidden from view by the clouds overhead. There was still light, but darkness would soon be upon them. The sky above which had been blue for most of the day, now started to turn more orange as dusk approached. The group rounded the trail and found the entrance to a cave.

General Arshad pointed to Robert as he spoke. “You will check out the cave for us; we will make our camp here for the night.”

Surprised and defiant, Robert replied, “Me? Go in that cave by myself after the stories you guys have been telling? I think not!”

“You have your weapon with you, Spaniard.”

“Sorry, but I don’t think a three-foot scimitar is gonna do much against an eight-foot hairy dragon.” He looked over to Swashbuckler, who was concealing a smile.

“Fine,” the stern man answered. He pointed to one of his men. “Take Karim with you.” Karim looked a bit uneasy after the remark, but he remained firm.

Resigned to his fate, Robert Started to make his way toward the entrance of the cave. “Alright. Come on,” he said as he motioned for Karim to follow him into the cave.

“Here. Take this,” Sayed told Robert as he tossed him a torch and flint. “It gets dark once you are inside.”

The look of disgust did not leave Robert’s face after that remark, but it was evident by the look on Karim’s face that this assignment had begun to unsettle him. The two men entered the cave and made their way into the interior. Sayed had told the truth about it getting dark inside the cave. They were less than twenty steps in, and the light had already begun to diminish considerably. Robert spoke to the man next to him as he began to fiddle with the torch. “Alright, you keep your eyes on the path, while I get this thing going.” Once the torch had been lit, the two continued down into the cave. There was silence except for the burning of the torch and their audible breathing. The cave appeared to have been formed naturally, the walls and the floor consisting of pure rock. Pieces of the walls and ceiling that had fallen as small rocks littered the path before them. They kept on with a hand on the hilts of their swords, Robert with his other holding their only source of light. The grinding of rocks could be heard with each footstep; the path was dark but continued in such a way that it descended deeper beneath the ground. No breeze could be felt, nor could the sound of any underground spring be heard.

“I don’t like this,” Robert said softly. “It’s too quiet.”

He looked back to his companion who gazed forward constantly through eyes open wide; Karim’s jaw hung with his mouth open slightly. Robert looked back to the path before them and noticed that the shadows ahead began to widen further apart. The corridor must open into a larger space, he thought to himself. He found that it did, and as he held the torch up higher at the entrance to this larger space to get a better view, he spotted two golden eyes reflecting off of the light; they were staring directly at them.

Karim drew his sword immediately, but Robert hesitated. Robert moved slowly forward, holding the torch; he could feel a hand from Karim firmly against his back as they proceeded. The eyes staring at them had been about thirty feet across the room; each step they took closer echoed throughout the large area. When they reached a distance of twenty feet, a low growl could be heard coming from the set of eyes; no feature of what lay before them could yet be seen other than the intent gaze of the golden eyes upon the two frightened men.

They held their distance, Robert trying to think of what to do next. He still did not believe the tale Sayed had told them, but the creature ahead of them had started to make him wonder if there was perhaps some truth to it. He decided they would keep moving towards the thing until they could see it through the light of the torch. He took one more step forward, and as he did so, the creature let out a vicious yell that reverberated throughout the entire chamber. Karim had already made up his mind he was leaving at any sign of bad news, and turned and ran back towards the entrance to the cave after he had shoved Robert towards the source of the yell. Robert, thrown forward by the force of the push, landed on all fours, dropping the torch which went out as soon as it made contact with the ground. The sound of feet shuffling on the floor of the cave could be heard as he quickly picked himself up and followed Karim as best he could. He knew they had only wandered maybe a hundred feet past the entrance to the cave, but in the dark it seemed like a much further distance. He hurried toward what he thought was the way out as the sound of the yell closed in on him from behind.

*****

Outside the cave, Swashbuckler and the others heard a loud noise followed by Robert and Karim emerging from the cave as quickly as they could, their words, incoherent.

After a few moments, Swashbuckler made out a single word. “canavar? What does that mean?”

“It is the Turkish word for monster,” Sayed answered as he drew his scimitar. The rest of the men, including Swashbuckler did the same.

They formed a semicircle around the entrance to the cave as the yelling from Robert and Karim grew closer. Karim was the first out, and he continued to run past his waiting companions, continuing across the trail that had brought them here and into the forest beyond.

“Oh, god! We’re all gonna die!” Robert shouted as he broke through the entrance to the cave, still struggling to unsheathe his scimitar; the torch was missing from his possession. He too took the same path as Karim across the road. All the men at the entrance took a step back, looking to each other for support; uncertainty filled their hearts. A few moments after Robert had breached the entrance to the cave, a young wolf came forth and halted with its tail between its legs as it caught sight of the armed men before it. It was obviously frightened by the sight of so many people. It glanced at each man unmoving as Swashbuckler turned to Sayed. “It looks thin.” A bit confused, Sayed replied, “And hungry. But it is no canavar.”

*****

“Well, now we have a new companion,” Swashbuckler said, looking at the young wolf. The company had prepared a meal after unloading their belongings for the night. The sun had passed below the horizon, and all was still except for a light breeze that swept down the nearby road.

It had taken considerable time to retrieve Robert and Karim from their hiding place in the woods; thankfully, the young wolf did not run away after being frightened by all the people who had suddenly taken an interest in him.

Only after seeing the ‘canavar’ did the two refugees return to the camp.

General Arshad was not pleased with the fact that the young wolf would not leave them alone. Some of the men had tried to scare him off earlier, only to watch him run off into the woods, and then return to the men from another direction. “He will not be traveling with us,” he said firmly.

Sayed spoke up for their new companion. “General, we have tried to make it flee, but it does not; it appears he has lost his traveling companions in some unknown way, and now seeks to join another group in us. I think he will not be leaving us any time soon.” He paused for a moment and then added, “we should give him a name.”

“Anything but Mohd,” Swashbuckler replied. Robert began to laugh uncontrollably while the others tried to contain their amusement with little success.

General ‘Mohd’ walked over to Swashbuckler who was sitting on the ground eating his portion of dried meat. Looming over the witty man, he spoke with a harsh tone. “After our journey is complete, I may find you no longer useful.”

“You keep spitting in my food when you speak, and I’ll have to render you useless now.” More laughter came from the men; they ceased as they saw the anger on General Arshad’s face as he made his reply.

“I will drink to your death before our journey is ended.” With that sentence spoken, he walked away.