Throughout the entire affair with the hunters, a lone man sat behind an oak about thirty or feet away. Markus, an apprentice mage at the Seleron court, at first hoped to find fellow travelers when he sighted fire, which was rather daft of him since he might just as well walked into the raider scouts. As he approached the light, however, he heard the sounds of barking and the yelling of hunters and the clapping of hooves, so he hid in the grass, uncertain whether it was safe to interfere and be mistaken for a beast (and he heard many a tale at court about a foolish squire or some unfortunate traveler ending up with an arrow while roaming the wilderness). Crawling behind a tree, he witnessed the two women defend the "pup" (probably the greatest understatement he had ever heard), and the hunters fall back in fear of the blue-eyed woman. "What was she?", he thought to himself, "Not a witch, their powers feel different. Was that canine teeth poking out in front of her beautiful mouth. And the storm...I wonder."he calmed down, his heart no longer beating so hard and allowing him to breathe normally. He pulled a piece of cloth from a leather satchel and wiped the sweat from his forehead, and then ,eyes closed, he listened carefully. The second woman, red-haired and roughish in appearance, proceeded to help the injured black wolf. "She has medical knowledge", he thought, lightly surprised, "might actually be able to help me with the search". Unable to decide whether to approach or not, Marcus waited still for a while, observing and noting. The woman ate, and he felt hungry himself, and took our a piece of old bread, his nourishment since the beginning of the unfortunate journey his master sent him on.<br/>The wolf woke up later, and seemed to communicate without uttering a sound or requiring the same from his protectors. The group was getting ready to move on.<br/>Marcus, realizing he is probably better off in company, jumped up on his feet and proceeded with caution to them, making sure he is seen to be unarmed and harmless (first being technically true, as all he had was a rusty old scythe, blunt and crude for anything but herbalism, and the second being partially untrue, as he possessed poisons as well as herbs and medications, and handy with a spell or two as well). They were quick footed, and it took some time to catch up.