Guide to Taming Desert Wolves
A guide to handling desert wolves
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Do you laugh when you see desert wolves? Do you think they are big, dumb cousins of normal wolves? Then you are stupid. Desert wolves are cunning and deadly. To them, your laughter says, "I am the next thing to fill your belly." Alissa laughed at desert wolves once. Now Alissa has one ear.
Alissa is no longer stupid. Now Alissa is beastmaster of Dragonsrest, the city-state with the desert wolf banner. This is why Alissa spends much time taming desert wolves.
You may think it impossible to tame desert wolves. This is true. Predators cannot be tamed. Not really. But if Alissa called this book a "Guide to Making Desert Wolves Eat Your Enemies and Not You," none would purchase it. Or purchase it for the wrong reasons.
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First thing. A desert wolf looks like a wolf. It moves like a wolf. It smells like a wolf. But it is not. It is a giant wolf.
Sounds easy, but easy to forget.
A wolf needs a pack. A wolf with no pack is vicious. It is afraid to be alone. With effort you can tame a wolf. Give it food if it is hungry. Make it think it is part of your pack.
A desert wolf needs no pack. This is because a desert wolf is one whole wolf pack. It is vicious only if it wants to be. It is not afraid to be alone because it is a desert wolf.
You cannot tame a desert wolf like a wolf. If it is ever hungry, you are food. It needs no pack but itself. You must show it you are a pack as well. Show how your pack and its pack should travel together for more food. A desert wolf understands this because it eats as much as one whole wolf pack.
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Second thing. A desert wolf has a long memory. It is like a clan-mother with grudges from forty years ago. Don't give it reason to hate you. Alissa's sister Gracelynn once slapped a desert wolf for eating off her plate. This is how Gracelynn lost a thumb and learned manners at the same time. Gracelynn doesn't visit Dragonsrest anymore.
If a desert wolf comes to hate you, do not back down. Do not cower. Show it you know its hate. Show it you don't fear its hate. This shows respect. Then give it much food to smother the hate.
Alissa thinks this is why Dragonsrest puts the desert wolf on its flag. Dragonsrest does not forget. Dragonsrest respects those who show it respect. And Dragonsrest will smother its hate if you throw its people many banquets.
Sometimes the desert wolf still hates you. Then you must kill the desert wolf. Do not do so in sight of a desert wolf's mate or it will hate you too. Just like people.
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Third thing. Scratch the belly. Scratch behind the ear, but not in the ear. Scratch where the tail meets the back. Top part of tail only! Scratch below the chin.
Do not scratch the paws. Desert wolf paws are sensitive, like Nature Elves. Also they have sharp claws. When a desert wolf thinks you want to take its paws away, it will come to hate you.
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Last thing. A desert wolf is clever but it doesn't understand magic. So use magic. Scrolls are cheaper than a false hand. Don't try to tame a desert wolf like in the stories. Don't be stupid.
Alissa's sister Bryana says this is cheating. That a desert wolf made tame by magic is not a desert wolf. Alissa calls Bryana many names. Bryana does not back down, earning Alissa's respect. Then Bryana sends Alissa boiled scorpion eggs.
Alissa says if even Bryana can learn, so can you.
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