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'Not at all,' said Reza. 'I'm sure I speak for all of us here when I say that we're pleased by new company. Been going a bit stir crazy lately, you might say.'

The wolf was still pressing his head against Cisco's.

It was all too weird and sudden to process, but impulsively, Cisco couldn't help himself. He started petting the giant pupper.

Heh. The fella seemed to like it behind the ears a lot. He sat down next to Cisco's chair but was still so tall that he had to hunch over to stay around head level with the young man.

The horned man, meanwhile, was giving them a look and exhaling a weary breath. "Apologies for my friend here, cedo. He is a bit quick to become attached to young ones like yourself, and he has been starved for affection ever since we dropped Durendia off."

Cisco wasn't listening, though. He was too busy being awestruck. And quite pleased.

What species was this, he wondered? Judging by the relative height of the ears, length of the snout, and pure white coat, it looked like a Northern Ardoran wolf--perhaps a Jariki tundra wolf or a Katoa Mountains wolf, to be more precise--but this size was absolutely absurd.

Hmm, he supposed it could've also been an albino Western Eloan wolf--Dantean, maybe--but he thought albinism was associated with smaller-than-average sizes, not larger. Yeah, Northern Ardoran was the safer bet, he figured.

But still, he couldn't get over the enormity of this handsome fella. Wolves this size weren't supposed to exist. Not anymore, at least. It was like something out of prehistory, back when mammals were still competing with dinosaurs.

And what was that other smell, beneath the dirt one? Kind of ashy? Like smoke? Had this guy been near a fire recently or something?