Elvenwolf

His hands shaking with excitement and nerves, Max carefully poured the molten gold down the floor drain.

"There's nothing like a good bachelor party," he said, shouting over the sound of the helicopter blades so he could be heard by the large group of wolves and elves who had assembled before him.

Now elves don't usually ride wolves but then again sorcerers don't usually fly helicopters. And yet here we are. The towering wizard ducked beneath the rotor blades and carefully approached the lead elf. You knew she was the lead elf because her wolf was giant, with gilded fur.

The wolf's name was Kenneth. He was 237 years young, an avid curling fan who had met this elf, Meryl, at the 2046 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. It was a chance run-in at a concession stand.

Kenneth and Meryl immediately became inseparable. The sight of a wiry elf alighting the back of a lean gray wolf became a common sight at the beginning of curling matches across British Columbia—and beyond.

But as winter turned into spring, and the curling rinks grew wet and mushy, Kenneth and Meryl realized they would need to figure out something else to do.

It’s a tough business, preparing elite curling champions for the Winter Olympics. The off-season’s long and the athletes’ tempers are short. Some years Ken and Mer agreed they’d made poor life decisions. And yet if it weren’t for this mercurial sport they might never have met.

Sometimes, Ken wondered what his life would have been without Mer in it. How many mountains would he never have climbed? How many rocks would he never have curled? How many calzones would he never have eaten?

Ken found a small lake, pulled a single gold coin from his fanny pack and howled quietly to himself. He flung his head, then watched the coin skip across the water's surface.

Just then, he was nearly blown away by a giant gust of wind.

With his last bit of strength Ken grabbed a tree branch and swung himself to the ground. After struggling a bit he managed to free himself from the suction of wet mud below. When he finally looked up he couldn’t believe what lay before him.

AN ANGRY TIGER. Ken took a deep breath to steel himself... then charged.