Summary:
On the morning of their journey, Lawrence introduces Nora to a man named Liebert from the Remerio company who will be accompanying them. The group then sets out and has no problems on the first day. The second day of their journey takes them through more dangerous areas, and though Horo guarantees Lawrence’s safety, she’s unwilling to do so for the others. Lawrence is particularly worried about Nora in the case that this smuggling scheme fails, but this just gets Horo jealous. That night, right as Horo is falling asleep on Lawrence’s lap, both she and Nora sense something that causes them to go on alert. Though nothing ends up appearing, Nora nevertheless takes the precautions of adding wood to the fire and blowing on her horn. She tells the others that the wolves around here don’t howl or give any indication of attacking and instead just patiently watch, and Horo finds the howling thing the most strange.
The group arrives at Ramtora the next day, and Liebert goes into the town to get the gold. While he’s gone, Nora asks Horo if she knows a lot about wolves since she had noticed how quickly Horo reacted to the wolves the previous night. Horo attributes it to something similar to intuition, and she claims that she was alert was because men generally aren’t reliable. On this topic, Horo asks how Nora feels about Lawrence, and when Nora whispers her answer into Horo’s ear, she laughs. Nora also reveals that she had wondered if Horo was a shepherd and cites how her dog Enek had been very conscious of Horo. To Nora’s surprise, Horo says that this is because Enek has fallen in love with her because of how the dog needs to play with other people sometimes. Nora nevertheless loves her dog and wants to praise him as much as she can right now because she knows that she won’t be a shepherd for much longer.
Liebert eventually returns with the gold and the group starts on their return journey. It begins raining though, and this trip through the dangerous area, wolves appear. Nora is ready for them and maneuvers Enek and the sheep in a way that keeps the wolves from attacking, but one wolf breaks from the pack and chases after the horse that Lawrence and Horo are on. Horo manages to scare it off with a glare, and though their group tries to press forward, a great roar soon halts them in their tracks. It is at this point that Horo decides that she will have to handle this, and she gets Lawrence to tell Nora and Liebert to go on ahead. She knows that if she stays here, the wolf pack that is filled with young wolves won’t go after the sheep because that’s not their objective. With no other choice, Lawrence tells her that he won’t forgive her if she loses and holds onto her cloak for her as he gallops away from her. Horo soon gets surrounded by wolves and when she speaks with the giant one leading them, she observes how young he is based on how quickly he bares his fangs.
Lawrence meanwhile stops after traveling for a while and starts a fire to dry his clothes. He’s eventually found by three armed men who have been sent by Liebert, and when they hear that his companion isn’t with him, they tie him up. Lawrence thinks that the Remerio company is betraying him, but the three men call it insurance. The Remerio company is in a precarious situation, so they are looking out for their interests by taking out as many risks as they can. When they start talking about what they’re going to do with Nora, Lawrence panics and accidentally gets his face cut on one of their weapon. Pissed off, he tries to attack one of the men, but they punch him to the ground and continue talking about having to take care of Nora. As for Lawrence, they decide to keep him tied up and take his horse, leaving him crying to himself on the forest floor.
This week had the most action the series had shown since episode six, and we’re finally seeing the wolves that are hinted in the OP. I get the vague feeling that they won’t be actually showing a battle between Horo and the big wolf in the finale and will instead just show the aftermath. Hopefully I’m wrong about that, but this series hasn’t really lived up to my expectations in that regard, so I’m not expecting much anymore. Lawrence meanwhile gets betrayed again, reminding me once again that he’s not a particularly smart character and needs to come up with better contingency plans. It’ll be interesting to see if he can save himself this time without relying on Horo to come help him. In any case, there seems to be more than enough material for to wrap up in the final episode next week, and from the looks of the sole preview shot, things will be left open for a sequel where Lawrence and Horo continue their journey.
03-22-2008, 08:24 PM
Join Date: May 2007
