Episode 9 - Wolves in My Mind

 As darkness falls across the wilderness, Borkum and his weary companions are being hunted by the relentless dire wolves. In this gripping episode of Borkum the Battler, the party trudges through freezing waters in a desperate attempt to conceal their tracks and survive the night. 

With exhaustion clouding their senses and fear pressing in, Borkum turns to the gods—old, new, and unnamed—for help. What follows is a haunting blend of hallucination and hope, as salvation arrives in a most unexpected form. 

In Episode 9, titled “When the Gods Send Hooves”, the line between reality and dream blurs as Borkum faces what he believes to be certain death. But are the monstrous beasts approaching truly wolves… or something else entirely? 

This episode explores themes of survival, divine intervention, trust, and mental resilience under pressure. Expect powerful narration, tense wilderness atmosphere, and a heart-wrenching moment of revelation that may change everything. 

🔸 Keywords: fantasy audio drama, Borkum podcast, dire wolves, survival in the wild, Dungeons and Dragons podcast, fantasy adventure series, dramatic voice acting, hallucinations and hope, gods of the Arcane Isles, emotional fantasy storytelling, wilderness escape, divine intervention story 

🎧 Perfect for fans of The Witcher, Critical Role, Lord of the Rings, and dark fantasy audio dramas. 

Transcript

Borkum Season #2

Episode 9

The silver moon was just over the horizon when I woke everyone. Heavy clouds were rolling in, soon to cloak the land in deeper shadow. Under normal conditions, darkness would have concealed us well—but the dire wolves stripped that advantage away with their unnerving skill in tracking and hunting. 

I had an idea that might help us slip away.

My friends were punch drunk exhausted. “Splash some water on your faces, and drink. Drink plenty,” I said. The cold stream would help revive us, but what we truly needed—what we all needed—was sleep. Deep, uninterrupted sleep.

I drew them in close so my voice wouldn’t carry. “We’ll use the stream to hide our tracks. Follow it downstream as far as we can. Stay in the water if you can manage it. Don’t touch the creek’s bank. It might mask our scent, maybe buy us more time.” Everyone nodded. They understood. 

“Lykxnzzl, I want you to take point. With your elf eyes, you can be our scout going forward. I will bring up the rear.” I instructed my friend.

Lykxnzzl nodded. 

“All right everyone, let’s get going.”

Using the stream as our path was more difficult than I expected. Several people stumbled and fell into the stream, when they stepped into the soft mud. Brindle had to be lifted and carried across some of the deeper sections. But everyone could drink and get their fill of water. It wasn’t sweet, but when you’re parched, famished, and half-dead from exhaustion, cold stream water tastes like ambrosia.

After about two hours Lykxnzzl stopped the party and turned around, I could see the fear in his eyes. “Listen” he whispered as he held his hands to his ears. 

Everyone stopped in mid-step and cocked their heads upwards straining to hear what had spooked Lykxnzzl. And, then moments later, we heard it. The baying of the dire wolves. They were now a few hours behind us. I prayed to the gods my up the creek trick would buy us a bit more time.

“Damn it all,” I muttered under my breath. “Everyone—move.”

We stumbled along the stream till daybreak. A solid ten hours of slow, wet slogging. Everyone was wet and shivering.  With the sun rising it was a welcome respite from the utter darkness and coldness of night. I could feel the warmth of the sun’s glow radiating across my body. It was like a tap of energy that had been turned on, and normally, it would have renewed my spirit. But, I was just as physically exhausted and as wet as everyone else.  

Brindle turned to me, and with exhaustion emitting from his every pore, asked with all politeness, “Please Borkum can we rest a bit?”

I looked about at my companions, and saw the utter exhaustion they were experiencing.

“Of course Brindle. Everyone, get some sleep. I will keep watch.” My companions threw flung themselves onto the ground and were asleep before their heads struck the ground. 

I crawled up onto a high bank of the shoreline and looked upstream from whence we came. I did not see the giants. Lykxnzzl joined me and stared across the horizon for ten minutes without saying anything. He then turned to me, “Old boy your stream trick just might have worked.”

I knew it had not worked. It had just bought us a little precious time. A few more hours of life. Eventually those wolves and giants would find the right track and then set upon us with their fury.

I smiled back at Lykxnzzl. “Get some rest my friend. Get some rest.”

“What about you? When do you rest?” Lykxnzzl asked with concern.

“When we are safe. Or, I am dead.” I replied. My bravado had taken a dark turn.

Lykxnzzl nodded and laid down right there on the bank and instantly fell asleep. 

I decided to use this moment and ask for help. Divine help. I knelled down and lifted my head up high, and I prayed to the old gods, the new gods and the gods not yet named, and asked for their help. I didn’t whisper—I begged. Not for myself, but for them. For the ones who’d trusted me to get them through this cursed adventure.

As I kneeled their praying for divine intervention, I could feel the exhaustion overwhelming me. And, not moving was the worst thing I could do. My weakened mind began to play tricks on me.  It kept telling me to lie down, get some rest, close my eyes, we were safe. My eyes despite my commands to the contrary, slowly closed. I could not keep them open any longer. Just a few minutes was all I needed. But it was delusion overtaking me like a night fog. It wrapped itself around me and I could not free myself from it. 

I forced myself to stand back up, shaking my head. I hit myself in the face several times. I even moved back down to the stream and splashed water onto my face. I was so tired, I staggered about. And, as I looked about, I could see several large beasts walking towards me. “Wolves,” I muttered, “Wolves”.

These great beasts were drawing closer and closer, rushing towards us.  I had to sound the alarm, get everyone up and moving. 

These beasts towered, twice the size of any we wolf had fought before. Monstrous. Terrifying. They moved with purpose, and I raised my maul to meet their charge. I was now mortally afraid. I had not expected these wolves to be so massive, and so bold.  They kept coming towards my group and I lifted my maul to the fighting position. “Everyone wake up!” I yelled, “Everyone wake up now!”

The beasts were a mere twenty feet from us. I hoisted my maul high above my head; I would not go down without at least taking one of these foul beasts with me.

“To arms, to arms, the wolves are upon us!” I screamed out loud.

I then swung my maul downward at the first wolf who was now but a mere few from me. The great beast showed no fear as it descended upon me. It would soon learn the error of its ways.

My maul was stopped by Hawk Tuah, just before it struck the wolf in the head. She held it tightly preventing me from striking.

“By the Gods, woman, what are you doing! Stand back and arm yourself!” I yelled.

“Borkum, these are horses, snap out of it! Snap out of it! You are hallucinating!”

I froze. Was she right? My eyes darted from one “wolf” to the next. Ears pricked forward, not flattened. No fangs. No growls. Just soft nickers and gentle hooves on the soil. My heart thundered in my chest.

Hawk Tuah held my maul in place with both arms outreached and held above her head. She was using all of her available strength, which was greater than I knew. She had never been so close to me, and I could smell her musk. It was both repulsive and exciting to me. I yelled at my inner self, to “wake up, wake up!”

I looked Hawk Tuah in her eyes; great brown eyes, almost black in color and of an endless depth. 

“You are okay Borkum.” She said softly. “You are okay. And we are okay. It’s our horses. They have come back to us in our hour of need”  

I fell to my knees, laughing through tears. The gods had answered. Not with thunder or fire—but with hooves, and hope.