That would have been a great name for me by now. Alas, this is not my name. But I will tell you the story as to why it might befit me.

Many years ago, the land of my ancestors – which my family is sworn to protect – was under threat by an evil spirit that would whither our crops and barren the earth. It also conjured up storms, crashing our ships on sea against our shoreline, making fishing impossible. Soon, our stocks would be empty and our people would suffer hunger.

Being first-born amongst my brothers and sisters, I went forth to try and fight the hidden foe, gathering rumours and following trails in search of that which brought us such suffering and threatened my family, my generation to be known as the one that had failed our sovereign.
Half a dozen men and women, brave and steadfast, were at my side as we entered the woods that were suspected to harbour the source of the misery. Among muddy earth and old trees we found a wise-woman, who soon explained to us the root of what was going on.

Fool that I was, I believed the words I heard. And I asked her to help me find the beast that caused us such troubles. Wolf she called it. And as for her help, it would not come cheap. The things we really need usually never do. So she asked for the sight of my right eye and took it, leaving it present, yet entirely useless. The price was named so that I could prove my devotion to duty to her. Naturally, I was unaware that in truth it was named as to weaken us. My mentor, an old man who lived in a forest near to the sea, warned me that things might not be as they seemed. But I was younger then and desperately wanted to be a hero to my people.

So on we went, finding what was described to us as a monster. We had expected to be ambushed, or just straight on torn to pieces once we were seen. Instead, the beast fought a foul creature of decay. I felt the wolf asking for help, though to this day I cannot say what gives me this conviction. And I remembered the old man in the woods and the council he had given me.

So instead of fighting a wolf, we ended up fighting a creature of the swamp with no name, earning us the trust of a creature, wounded in battle and fading fast. There was, however, a way to safe him, which was to allow one of us to join body and soul with him.

That was the moment, for I cannot tell whether it was day or night by that time, in which two became one. I learned more about the creatures of the land than ever I could have dreamed of. And the wolf got to live. The old man taught us how to benefit from one another, taught us the ways of land and water, taught me to better protect what had always provided for us.

As for the old hag… Frost, which was what the wolf was named, and I found her again. And her demise is a story for another night.