Last Tail - Chapter 01: Meet Advrik

 

“If you want the property, you’ll have to meet us at Town Hall today by 3pm sharp. I realize the distance is great and that this is rather strict timing on our part, but at this point, it’s the only way we can see this offer through as it stands. 

I hope to see you soon, Mr. Drahcir.”

The voicemail had found its way to the wolf’s inbox this morning before the sun had even begun to crest the horizon. It had been what he was waiting to hear. A confirmation, the invitation to take up the reigns of a new life in a new town, away from the hustle and bustle of New York where he’d spent the last decade of his life chipping away with a meager living as a grocery market employee.

Of course, he had no job going into this new life, but he wouldn’t be a bagboy at the very least!

Something had woken him up just before 6am this morning, a little tickle under his right arm that wouldn’t relent no matter how much he itched at it. Finally, he opened his eyes to a darkened apartment, the curtainless window still dark save for the dim glow of a nearby streetlight. This time of year, he simply knew that he could get himself a few extra hours of sleep before having to leave for another grueling, thankless eight-hour shift at work as a quote-on-quote, part-time employee.

But something told him to check his phone anyway, even at the risk of burning his eyes against the bright light of the screen.

To his surprise, there was some voicemail from a number he wasn’t familiar with. Holding the device to his ear to listen, the southern-sounding voice spoke to him from within, delivering the news he’d been holding his breath for.

The wolf gave his manager a call, dropping the bomb that he wouldn’t be coming in today or ever again. He would be leaving nothing of any real value behind by doing so on such short notice, anyway. The job sucked; he was underpaid and had been offered no benefits beyond the promise of thirty-nine-hour work weeks in a twenty-hour-a-week position. The decision to do so came to him as easily as it was trying to sneak a pick at a pretty girl walking past.

Within the hour, he had packed his clothes and whatever belongings he collected over the years into a single plastic tote. Nothing else had been worth keeping. 

He had plenty of savings left over and could coax by on that for a while once he got to where he was going.

It had just been a matter of getting outta dodge and signing that piece of paper.

Tossing the keys into the lock box beside the door, along with a note telling the landlord to keep whatever he found inside, the wolf with the shaggy brown hair hopped into the driver’s seat of his 2000 Toyota Camry, cranked up the tunes, and sped off down the road, offering not a single look into the rear-view mirror at the humdrum life he was leaving behind.

That was three hours ago.

His name is Advrik Drahcir, and he is a Grey Wolf. 

At thirty-something years of age, the wolf had found himself growing up in the Sitting Pretty orphanage for the first eighteen years of his life. He had no family to speak of, never at any point had he felt inclined to seek out answers in his adult life. A family that thought so little of him to abandon him didn’t deserve the time or money(which he also lacked) to find them.

Both windows were down, and the cool, early spring air ripped through the well-kept cab of the Toyota, rustling the wolf’s shaggy head unbrushed hair. His thick, greyish-brown coat of fur—still heavy with his winter fluff—swayed against the breeze like an endless field of wheat. 

His destination was Brickhedge, a small town he just randomly happened across one night while seeking out potential housing opportunities. It had no social media presence. Barely a listing on Google, and no searches within Facebook showed residents with it listed as their Hometown.

He just knew that it was a nice-looking little town in the mountains that was within reasonable driving distance of a major city and the coastline, among other things.

Advrik had called the number on the voice mail an hour into his drive, making contact with the local housing office-slash-town hall. The receptionist was polite and well-spoken but had a sense of power behind her voice that told the wolf she wasn’t one to be pushed around. 

He’d confirmed with the woman on the other end that he was well on his way, assuring her that he’d be there slightly after noon, barring any issues on the road.

Now he flew up the interstate, breeze in his hair, ‘Walking on Sunshine’ blasting from his car’s speakers as he pushed his paw to the pedal, spurring the aging vehicle close to eighty miles per hour. Despite that, the car purred as if it were freshly off the assembly line.

L A S T  T A I L

As far as the wolf species went, Advrik was a subpar example. Standing well under six feet tall, he was six inches below the average height of wolves and far less broadly built as well. He’d been picked on relentlessly by an older orphan: a hairless, jet-black wolf with golden eyes that had the bulk and the stature. His only truly striking feature was the glistening blood-red color of his irises.

The bully had been adopted somehow, much to the smaller wolf’s delight. Strange, though, he thought. That particular part of his life hadn’t crossed his mind in decades.

He shrugged. What a weird memory to suddenly have come washing back.

In the distance, the wolf spotted a Sheetz gas station.

After a quick fill-up, a stop-in at the restroom, and the purchase of a meat stick and a blueberry muffin GFuel, Advrik was back on the road. The GPS app on his phone showed that his destination was still two and a half hours away, ensuring him that he’d arrive there shortly after 1pm.

The altitude steadily increased as his adventure took him up increasingly higher inclines that led into the mountains of—

A truck lugging a shipment of sickly looking Chimkens honked its horn as it flew past in the opposite lane. The smell of the small, feathered monsters mingled with the choking odor of the vehicle’s diesel fuel.

Signs for local towns started appearing on the left and right sides of the highway. “Visit Bethlehem!” one said, something he may do in the future once he gets situated in his new life. The website the local government had produced for it made it sound nice enough but was well out of the affordable living range for a working-class beast.

Had the friendly yet stern beast from the local offices not given him exact directions on where to find the turn-off for Brickhedge, he would have easily missed it. There was a large, hand-carved sign tucked away behind an overgrowth of trees and shrubs that read “WELCOME TO BRICKHEDGE” with a smaller sign held aloft by chains reading “Population: Growing”.

The GPS app on his phone lost its signal somehow; having zero idea of where he’d gone, it quickly tried redirecting his course and sending him back to the highway. Peculiar as he thought it was, he’d just follow the directions given to him now and make his way into town that way.

Disabling the app and tucking the phone into his messenger bag, Advrik took in the sights and sounds of the slow drive up the snaking road that led him up the mountain, at one point coming across a drop-off outlined by concrete barriers and a smattering of parking spaces.

Noting the time, he was ahead of schedule and could afford to take another quick pit stop to take in the scenery and cleanse his lungs of the city air for good.

Stepping out of his car, the wolf draped the strap of his messenger bag around his shoulder, crinkling the well-worn Powerbeast emblem on his shirt as he did. 

Stepping up to the barrier,  the wolf took in the breathtaking sight. It had felt somehow warmer here than it did before the turn-off. The foliage and flora were much greener here as well; the sights and smells of dozens upon dozens of different wildflower varieties covered the untamed rolling fields and pastures far below.

It was almost as if spring had somehow arrived earlier here despite it still making its way up from the south. Or whatever it was Edwin Way Teal had said.

Being in such a place, surrounded by so much beautiful, untamed wilderness, the thought occurred to him that monsters were likely a way of life around here just as much as the coming and going of seasons, neither of which were felt much in the cities.

Stretching out his arm, he summoned a weapon from out of the ether: Blue and white magic sparks appeared and disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving a sheathed sword in the wolf’s grip, handle cushioned within the pads on his palm and fingers. Taking the sheath in his other hand, he drew the blade from its protective confines and allowed the sun to glisten against the sword’s blue metal.

“Ah, Fenrir, it’s great to see you again.” He said to his sword, his birthday gift to himself the previous year. He’d applied Magitek to it while out on a trip outside of New York, where magic was still prohibited, making it so the weapon would always be at his side whenever he left the veil of a Silence field. A magic-blocking apparatus designed to keep politicians, celebrities, and other potential targets for loonies in check… to a degree.

The sword’s grip was a cheaply crafted coil of blackened steel that ended with the shape of a wolf’s tail while the opposite end reflected the wolf’s head, with the blade jutting out of its mouth.

It was a heavy weapon that could be used in one-handed and two-handed stances. Advrik had practiced both and could switch styles on the fly to suit his needs should the occasion arrive. “Better to be prepared for any situation,” he had told himself once, sitting in that lonely old, mildew-stained apartment back in New York.

An hour later, just as the clock struck 2pm, Advrik rolled into the Brickhedge city limits. His directions were to have him go to Main Street, where Town Hall was located, but first, he’d need to make his way through the outskirts—finding humor in the street names, which were named after vegetables. He finally found his way off of Potato Street and onto Brickhedge’s Main Street.

What laid out before him as he idled at that Stop sign looked like it was out of a dream. The buildings were clean, and not a single broken window in sight outside of that rundown townhouse with the overgrown yard that stood out in jarring contrast between two similarly built houses.

The streets were clean, and the sidewalks were in near-perfect condition besides the occasional chalk drawing and the children that made them.

Numerous businesses could be seen where he idled, from antique and jewelry shops to tailors, butchers, and even an old-fashioned soda shop! Where buildings didn’t stand were well kept yards, outlined with low walls made up of red brick where beasts young and old hung about, enjoying the warm early spring sunshine.

Between the picturesque slice of Americana that laid out before him and the gobsmack feeling he got as he drove past an active, fully-functioning Super K-Mart on his way into town, he was almost convinced he had been in a wreck on his drive up here, and this was the final images his brain was firing off as it died.

That trailer carrying all those chimkens must’ve hit him!

It wasn’t until the car behind him, which he failed to notice in his astonishment, blew its horn and snapped him out of his reverie that he flipped his signal, made a left turn, and headed for Town Hall.

He pulled his Camry up to the curb and parked it beside a meter. Dropping a single coin into the slot, he made his way up the small flight of stairs and into Brickhedge Town Hall.

The main area was clean and well-kept but felt muggy despite the comfortable temperatures outside. To his left and right were sitting areas, eight chairs, each with healthy-looking house plants and Coke and Pepsi vending machines on either side. 

Sitting at the heavy pine wood desk was a cockatoo. Busy typing away on an actual typewriter. “Has to be a show,” Advrik thought to himself as the bird looked up from her work and smiled somehow. 

Beasts that had bills or beaks just had a way about them that, even though they lacked the facial muscles that mammals possessed, still had a unique way of expressing their emotions

“Well, hello there. You must be Mr. Drahcir; we’ve been expecting you, dear.” Her voice was motherly and well-spoken, with a slight southern twang. She wore a modest brown secretary suit and a thick, blue ribbon tied around her chest, the tails of which resting on her ample bosom. Her hair was cut in a way that harkened back to the Karen hairstyle that rowdy customers typically kept.

He shivered internally.

“Yes, ma’am, but you can call me Advrik. And you are?”

“I am Missus Kinkaid; it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, pup.” She said, the crown of feathers on her head raising slightly through her hair.

“No first name?” He absentmindedly asked.

“That is my first name. M-I-S-S-U-S,” she spelled out. My parents were a bundle of odd feathers that they were.” She laughed an infectious, hardy laugh, spurring Advrik into joining her. 

Then, the door behind the main office opened, and a new face stepped out. Advrik thought he’d seen another figure sitting within, much bigger, with dark blond fur.

“Oh! Mister Mayor, your second appointment is here.” She rose from her seat, gesturing the new beast in the direction of the wolf. The mayor’s identity became clear: It was a horse of the Clydesdale variety. He wore a bowler cap and a pair of black suspenders over a vertically striped white and blue shirt.

Wolf and horse exchanged pleasantries over a firm handshake, making some small talk and sharing a few laughs and even a drink from the vending machines before the duo stepped outside.

“Mayor Filbert, I just want to thank you again for this opportunity—“ 

The horse raised his hand and said: “Oh please, son. I havetuh say; it was an absolute thrill for me to finally hand this property over to somebeast.” The two walked side by side out onto the sidewalks, heading back the way in which the wolf had come. They stopped beside the car, the mayor looking it over.” This your car? The wolf nodded, and the horse dropped another quarter into the slot.

“We take care of each other here in Brickhedge, pup. And while the general beast population is a lively, friendly bunch, they can get mouthy. Particularly when blemishes on the town aren’t being properly tended to, ya see…”

 Advrik was content with listening to what the horse had to say. 

Knowing that the mayor was leading him to the whole reason for his journey here today: A piece of property, house included, was being offered up at an incredibly steep discount. The only stipulation was that it had to be bought sight unseen.

He’d been assured that it would be liveable once some work had been done on it.

It’s just…

When the wolf originally discussed the listing he fatefully stumbled upon that night, he had asked why this was even available and why nobeast in town had snatched it up. It was too good to be true, he thought. A single-bedroom, two-story townhouse located smackdab in the middle of Main Street? There HAD to be some sort of catch.

Shortly after that, he received further communications from the town hall and then that voicemail from this morning confirming his acquisition.

It wasn’t until now, however, that the sight-unseen aspect of the whole deal dawned on him as they stepped up to the broken, rundown townhouse that he’d frowned upon on his way into town. Complete with its broken windows, boarded-up front door, overgrown, trash-littered yard, and rusted iron fencing.

“Well, here it is, Mr. Drahcir.” The mayor said, gesturing widely with his arm as if revealing a brand new car on The Price is Right. “A bit of a fixer-upper, but you won’t find anything else like it at the price you paid for it anywhere else in the country, that I assure you.”

The horse handed him a small box and a document containing the property deed and keys to the front and back doors. “I wish I could stay with you and help you get into the place, but I have a rather important meeting to attend at Town Hall that I must return to.” He said, walking up to the gate and unlatching it, the hinges creaking like claws on a chalkboard as it swung open.

“But I do have one last gift for you. Do you see that box there beside the stoop? That, and the contents within, was a donation from the tool shop just down the way. I figured you could use some help prying off these old pieces of plywood and whatnot. Now if you’ll excuse me. I will swing by later in the day after the office closes.”

And like that, Advrik was not only the owner of a rather decent piece of land situated in the heart of one of the most beautiful little towns he’d ever laid eyes on, but the big crack den-looking house that also stood upon it.

And yet…

Despite that and the amount of work that lay before him, he was the happiest he had ever been.