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The Missing Lynx, Part 6

What's the Worst That Could Happen?

The beasts were upon them just before sunset, with rage in their hearts and hunger in their eyes. They moved with a singular purpose - a purpose given upon them by the divine word of The Bitch Queen, their creator. They were bloodthirsty creatures by nature, bestowed with unnatural strength, speed, and endurance through the darkest magics, and they outnumbered their prey by a factor of four to one.

But it wasn't sunset yet, and Elin was entirely oblivious to anything happening in the Blood Woods. Rather, she was more concerned about the fact that a dragon - a beast of legend - seemed to have taken an unhealthy interest in her well-being.

Or, rather, she HAD been concerned, but her initial unreasoning terror had slowly faded over the past hour or two as the massive beast had poked and prodded her incessantly. Azura had asked her all manner of questions, mostly involving her anatomy, her lineage, and her fairly uninteresting life. At first the lynx had answered every one of the dragon's queries and carried out every one of her requests without pause, but now...

Well, it was starting to get a little tiring. Azura vas Kupra - or just 'Zura', as the dragon kept insisting - seemed both friendly and obsessively intent on ensuring the beastkin's comfort. Elin was certainly still a little scared and more than a little stressed out, but at the very least she had finally managed to convince herself that the dragon was harmless.

Or, er, no. 'Harmless' was probably a bad word for it. But, uh...

Elin shook her head, one slightly over-sized hand set to her forehead as she forced that thought from her skull. That kind of thinking would just cause her to backslide into a pointless panic again, and she really didn't want that.

Especially not now, because she was just starting to feel like a REAL adventurer.

"So," Zura leaned in close, her head tilted ever so slightly to allow her eye to draw a scant inch from the feline's chest. "What can you tell me about those necklaces you're wearing?"

The beastkin blinked, and she instinctively leaned back. She was used to people staring at her cleavage, but it felt... strange... to have a monster doing it. And, er, not just a monster, but a dragon. Or, no, a dragoness. Did that make it weirder? After a fleeting second's worth of thought, she had to acknowledge that it kind of did.

"I, uh..." Elin hesitated, then glanced down at her chest. Her eyes flicked from pendant to pendant, one familiar and one all too new. "Which one?"

Zura's gaze twitched upward, and she quickly pulled her head away. There was no sense in terrifying the little beastkin again, not after she had put so much work into lulling her into a more relaxed demeanor. There was also no sense in tipping her hand, figuratively speaking, so she opted to lead with the less interesting of the two.

"The silver one, shaped like a little cat."

The lynx glanced back downward, breathing just a tad easier now that the dragon had drawn back out of her personal space. She gingerly dipped one hand into her cleavage, brushing the glassy pendant aside - and Zura held her breath - before lifting the indicated figurine in the palm of one paw.

"Oh, um, this one was a gift." Elin glanced back up toward the dragon, one ear twitching forward as she caught an odd look in the beast's eyes. Was she-? Well, no, it was gone now. For a split second the creature had almost seemed nervous, but now she was back in neutral, showing polite interest in the beastkin's antics.

Zura forced a slight smile, careful to keep her lipless lips close together so as not to display an excessive number of teeth. "From who?"

The lynx glanced back to the figurine. It was old and tarnished, and certainly nothing that would be mistaken for an item of any real worth. Still, it was precious to her. "From my mother. My, uh, foster mother, I mean. I never actually met my mother. Or my father. Or, uh, any of my blood relatives. Really, I think I've only ever met two or three other lynx's in my entire-"

The dragoness delicately arched one scaled brow, then smoothly interjected before the feline could continue her aimless rambling. It was a charming nervous habit, but it made it difficult to get anything useful from the beastkin. "It smells magical."

Elin paused, then gave an uncertain half-smile. "I, uh, yes. Yes it is."

Zura leaned in a bit, carefully veiling her sudden enthusiasm. "What does it do?"

"Er, well..." Elin glanced back down at the figurine, carefully rolling it against her palm. "When I was, um, growing up- I mean, when I was first... uh... developing..."

The dragoness furrowed her brow, but forced herself to be patient. Settling back against a particularly comfortable heap of gemstones, she bobbed her head encouragingly. "Yes?"

Elin sighed, gesturing vaguely with her empty hand as if to accentuate the curves at her chest and hip. "When I first got into my teens, I started... maturing. I mean, uh, a lot. I was a runt when I was a kit, but then I turned into... um... a very well-endowed woman."

Zura bobbed her head again, almost going cross-eyed as she turned her attention back to the tiny pendant. She had heard of artifacts that could cause that sort of thing. She had even met a few beastkin who gleefully collected them, for personal or professional use. They were generally in very high demand.

"And this necklace caused that?"

"Oh! Goodness, no." The lynx almost giggled, but she quickly caught herself. "I, um, did that all by myself. But it really threw my, uh, balance off. I was clumsy and, uh, my proportions were all... different. I mean, it was like I had lost the ability to see my feet overnight-"

Elin paused, stretching out one shapely leg to waggle her booted foot. "And, uh, I have really big feet. I mean, uh, they're not HUGE feet like yours, but-" She abruptly fell silent, her voice lilting to a squeak as she suddenly realized she might have just offended the dragon.

Zura rolled her eyes a little, but offered another tight-lipped smile. "Yes, I have big feet too. I'm a dragon. Everything about me is big. Go on."

The lynx hesitated, her eyes drifting over the beast's form. Elin had imagined meeting a dragon dozens of times in her youth - maybe even hundreds of times - but she had never quite imagined it would look like this.

The creature was large, of course. Zura easily stretched almost thirty feet in length, but much of that was her slender neck and tail. And she was quadrupedal, a fact that Elin was more than a little surprised by. Dragons had always been portrayed as bipedal in the novels she read. Er, at least in the novels that her heart-throb hero had written. But, then again, Saga had also always made a point of mentioning that female dragons had excessive curves and very ample bosoms.

Apparently, that wasn't the case. At least, not with THIS dragoness.

Elin cocked her head slightly, trying to get a better profile view of the beast. She could certainly see a somewhat elegant profile, and a vaguely delicate curve to Zura's claws and ridges, but there was nothing on the creature's chest. Or, ah, nothing but smooth scales and thick metallic plating.

In fact, those scales were quite possibly the oddest part of the dragon's appearance. The creature seemed almost entirely made up of literally tens of thousands of scales, in all manner of sizes. They ranged from the tiny, soft-looking scales that coated Zura's vulnerable-looking wing membranes, to the massive scales that ridged along her spine - each one as thick and heavy as a warrior's breastplate. And they were all the same shade of burnished copper, giving the impression that the entire beast was nothing more than a massive golem, or the work of a particularly ambitious artist.

It was all a little-

Zura leaned in again, her brow quirked. The lynx had been sitting absolutely still for a full minute now, silent and non-responsive. "Elin?"

"Oh!" The lynx started some, then laughed nervously. Had she been staring again? Damn it, she had been. She blushed a little, her whiskers twitching as she swiftly averted her gaze. "S-... sorry!"

The dragoness uttered a soft huffing sound, and it took the feline a second to realize that Zura was laughing. Still, despite her levity, there was a hint of very real concern in the creature's voice. "No, it's fine. I just wanted to make certain that you were still with us."

Elin blushed a little harder, bowing her head a little in acknowledgement. "R-... right. I, ah... I'm sorry, Zura, this is all... um... I'm still trying to cope with everything that's happened."

Zura uttered another soft laugh, her head bowing in turn. "Understandable. But, ah, please. You were telling me about your amulet?"

The feline paused, glancing back toward the silvery figurine. A part of her was justly concerned by the dragon's curiosity, but a much larger part of her felt that it was important to cooperate with the beast. "Right. Well, uh, it's a pretty basic charm. It's, uh, enhances my physical awareness of my surroundings and improves my coordination. To, um, counteract my clumsiness."

"Ah," the dragoness almost seemed disappointed. "That's it?"

Elin cocked her head slightly to the other side, her long tail curling until it almost looked like the upper half of a question mark. "Um, yes?"

"So it's not, say..." The beast's voice wavered slightly, her narrow tongue flicking over lipless lips. "An item of such power that it would disrupt potent necromantic dweomers? Just, ah, as an example."

The feline blinked, her head twitching to one side quizzically. That was oddly specific. "Not... not that I'm aware of, no. I'm pretty sure that my mom bought it from Ye Olde Discounte Magics. It's a shop on the southeast corner of the Bazaar in Karash."

Zura frowned a little, looking thoughtful. "So it's not legendary? Not even a little bit?"

The lynx arched both brows now, her head tilted a little further. "No? But, uh, it's important though. Before I had this I used to trip all over things. I almost died once, too, when I fell down three flights of stairs. There was a broken step, and I couldn't see it because- uh, well, you know."

Zura closed her eyes lightly, firmly quashing her urge to giggle. After a scant second she opened her eyes again, flicking her gaze to the other pendant. That was the one that she was REALLY interested in. "What about that one?"

Elin lowered the agility charm, her fingers instead brushing over the surface of that glassy black gemstone. The dragon froze, her breath stilled, but the feline didn't seem to notice. She slowly curled her furred fingers about the thing, as if to heft it in her grip. "This one..."

"No!"

Elin froze, her eyes widened at the sudden note of urgency in the dragon's voice. Or, uh, really she was just freezing because the beast had almost shrieked the word, and it was still echoing through the cavernous cavern. But there was also the urgency.

Zura took a quick breath, forcibly calming herself before she spoke more evenly. "Don't, ah... you shouldn't touch it."

The stone fell from the lynx's grasp, resting snugly against the upper swell of her chest again, but the feline's expression was quizzical. "But I'm, uh... I'm already touching it. It's hanging off my neck, and... um..."

Zura glanced away, almost seeming embarrassed by her outburst. She certainly felt a little silly about the warning, after the fact, but her metallic complexion left her incapable of actually showing it. "Ah, yes. Of course. Carry on."

"Er..." Elin looked unconvinced, but after another moment's hesitation she continued. "Well, I don't really know much about this one."

"Why not?"

The feline hesitated again, her gaze quickly averting. She could lie - in fact, she kind of WANTED to lie - but that probably wasn't the best idea, given the circumstances. Elin sighed, her voice small and meek. "Well, I kind of... stole it..."

The dragoness leaned in a little, her long neck stretching out. "What was that?"

Elin sighed, and spoke louder this time. "I said I kind of stole this necklace."

Zura's brows rocketed skyward, surprised enough to forget that she was trying to keep her expression neutral. "You STOLE it?"

The lynx fidgeted, suddenly looking very self-conscious. She lowered her head, her large ears skewed as she mumbled defensively. "K-... kind of."

Zura snorted, the corners of her mouth quirking downward and her voice distinctly dubious. "Kind of?"

Elin drooped further, her voice fading to a barely audible whimper. "Kind of sort of."

The dragoness still sounded incredulous, but she again tried to focus herself. As bewildering as it was to imagine that this odd, clumsy little thing was a master thief, there were more important details that still eluded her. "From who!?"

Elin sighed, her gaze fixed firmly to her lap and her hands wringing against each other anxiously. "From, uh, Ray-Lynn the Soaring."

Zura blinked, even more bewildered. "From the book? But he's a fictional character."

"I, uh, mean Rhaelyn." The lynx hastily corrected herself, her ears twitching forward. Even though she had met the panther in person, she was still having a hard time thinking of him as anything other than the character from her novels. "Rhaelyn fa Soren. He's, um... he's a wizard."

Azura quieted for a second, her eyes twitching to one side as she looked thoughtful. Her confusion dissipated, and her thoughts were quickly recollected. Things suddenly made a good deal more sense, but...

"Hrm," she rumbled, half to herself. "Curious. I didn't think HE was the one who had it..."

Elin blinked. "What?"

The dragon glanced back toward the beastkin, "Mm? Oh, ah, nothing."

And she smiled, twisting about to knead at her sharp, rocky bed. Hundreds of gemstones tumbled about, and she settled back against them contentedly. "So, why did you steal it?"

Elin sighed again, her head rolling back as she stared ceiling-ward. "Ugh, it was stupid. I, uh... do we HAVE to talk about this?"

"Yes."

The lynx swallowed hard, her fur suddenly standing on end. The dragon's expression was still friendly, and her posture was as unthreatening as possible, but there was no mistaking the steely certainty behind her firm response. Apparently the beast was very, very, very interested in the topic.

"Er, r-... right." Elin took a quick second to gather her thoughts, before trying to explain it in the least embarrassing way possible. "Well, uh, I was trying to impress him. Rhae- I mean, uh, Ser fa Soren was recruiting an adventuring party, and I wanted to find a way to make him take me seriously..."

Zura quirked a brow again. "By stealing from him?"

Elin slumped, her muzzle planting against her hands. "I told you it was stupid."

The dragoness indulged herself in the softest giggle, the sound burbling up like acid in her throat. She leaned in, though, her mind racing as she tried to think of something that might comfort the poor little thing. "Oh, it's not so bad. You know, that's exactly how I met my last boyfriend."

"You stole from him?"

Zura hesitated, then smirked. "Ah, no. He stole from me."

"And..." Elin skewed an ear, her eyes darting back up to the dragon's face. "And you didn't eat him?"

The beast almost seemed coy, her eyes rolling to one side as she rumbled. "Well, he WAS my boyfriend, so-"

Elin skewed her other ear as well, her expression deadpan. Honestly, for a fleeting second it was almost as if she were back in The Cat House, trying to have a conversation with her elder sister. "I mean, like, for dinner."

The dragoness curled her lip, disgust creeping onto her scaled visage. "What? Ew, no! That's disgusting!"

Elin paused, her ears twitched forward. "It is? You, uh... you mean you don't eat people?"

Zura's tongue flicked out, briefly lolling from her toothy maw. "Ugh, gross. No. Beastkin are filled with rancid goo and disgusting organs. Gods, why do people always assume that dragons EAT people?"

The lynx's head cocked, her lips pursed and her brow furrowed. For the slimmest moment, her confusion outweighed her apprehension. "Um... sorry? I, uh... I guess I wasn't thinking. What do you eat, then?"

Azura smiled, gesturing vaguely with two coppery claws. "Oh, you know, the usual. Fruit, bugs, diamonds. Things like that. Oh, and there's a delightful sulfur spring just a few miles from here, right on the edge of my territory..."

Elin's whiskers twitched, her brain struggling to grasp what the beast was telling her. Fruit seemed normal enough, if odd for a creature the size of a dragon, and diamonds? Sure, why not. At the very least, it would explain why dragons hoarded so many riches. But... "Bugs?"

"Well, only the toxic kind," Zura smiled. Her tone was even again, and the bemused gleam had returned to her eyes. "Scorpions, acid beetles, and so on. They strengthen my poison glands."

The beastkin blinked slowly, still trying to digest this information. "Oh."

Azura smirked. "Also, they're delicious."

"I, uh..." Elin wavered. "They are?"

Zura's smirk broadened, her long muzzle tilting toward the feline. "Oh yes. Very tangy. Would you like me to go get you some?"

The beastkin squeaked. "N-... no! No, uh, thank you. Um... I'm not very hungry."

The dragoness chuckled, bobbing her head amiably. "Of course. Well, if you change your mind, just let me know. Or you can help yourself to some gemstones. I have plenty of those."

It took a second for that comment to really sink in, and then Elin's jaw dropped. Her eyes scanned over the rolling hills of precious stones, and she wavered again as if she were on the verge of fainting. "R-... really?"

"Of course, Elin" The dragon purred. "You're my guest. Visitors are rare, so I always like to keep them... happy."

"I, um... okay!" The lynx glanced back to Zura, then quickly scooped up a handful of gems before she could change her mind. It was only then that her ear skewed, a new realization dawning. Gods, of all the days to wear an outfit with no pockets.

"I have some gold, too, if that's more to your taste."

Elin cleared her throat, her eyes wide. "N-... no, the gems should be more than enough." And a pause, as something clicked in her brain. "Er, I mean... maybe. Um... I guess it wouldn't hurt to maybe look at the gold a little, before I make up my mind..."

Zura closed her eyes again, smiling to herself. This was going to be far easier than she had thought. Honestly, beastkin were so easy to manipulate sometimes. "It would be my pleasure, Elin."

The lynx brightened, her large ears perked.

Zura's smirk returned, one forelimb stretching out to gingerly flick the gleaming gems out of the feline's hand. "But first..."

Elin sagged, her eyes flicking to her freshly vacated palm as she echoed the dragon meekly. "But... first...?"

"But first," the beast purred, "How much do you know about the wizard, Rhaelyn fa Soren?"

The lynx hesitated, then frowned. Well, so much for getting any treasure. She had barely met the man, and she certainly hadn't gotten to learn much about-

No, wait, that wasn't right at all. Elin had spent the past ten years of her life reading about every one of the wizard's adventures, as penned by the greatest hero in all of Skarn! Granted, there were probably a few liberties taken in the narrative, but still...

She purred right back at the dragon, her thick tailtip twitching back and forth with glee. "I know everything about him!"

Azura resettled, lacing her forelimbs and resting her head atop them as she made herself comfortable. "Oh, good."

And her gaze settled onto the lynx firmly, steady and unblinking.

"Then tell me everything."

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

"Um..."

Twenty or so eyes were fixed squarely to the fox as he mulled over the scenery. It was a little disconcerting, and the shadowy figure looming just inches behind him did nothing to lessen the pressure he was under. Honestly, the wizard had hired a dozen soldiers of fortune, and he was the only one with tracking experience?

Kavah took two steps to the left, crouching to run a finger along a wide, flat stone. Raising his hand to his muzzle, he sniffed lightly at his fingers, then flicked his tongue over the blunted clawtips.

"Hrm..."

He glanced back toward the others, and his gaze was met by a dozen impatient beastkin. Or, well, eleven impatient beastkin. That disgusting tiger, Gange Southpaw, was too busy scratching himself to pay attention.

The fox looked back to the abandoned campsite, slowly circling to the other side of the cold firepit. He stretched out one leg, nudging the ashen logs with his clawed toes. It crumbled a little at the touch, but the wood was cold.

Kavah scanned the surroundings, his keen eyes playing over every tree, bush, and rock in sight. But try as he might, he could pick out no trace of passage. It was obvious enough that the campsite had been recently occupied, but there was no trace of where the campers had gone.

No, wait. Almost no trace.

His nostrils flared, his head tilting back slightly as he sniffed at the air. Tracks could be erased and signs of passage obscured, but some things weren't so easily hidden.

"Hn," he grunted to himself. "What IS that...?"

Kavah's eyes flicked back to the firepit, and he leaned down to nudge the charred logs a bit harder. One of the hunks of wood was displaced, revealing a well-gnawed and splintered bone. His fingers lightly raked through the ash, quickly turning up more of the inedible bits of detritus.

His whiskers twitched and he sniffed at the air again. Of course! That smell was freshly cooked venison - and a lot of it. His gaze cast out further, to a single scrap of discarded wax paper near the forest's edge, and then further out toward a slightly bent branch.

He hesitated for a split second longer, before pointing confidently toward the west. "They went that way."

The shadowy thing drifted across the campsite, it's cowled visage twisting one way and then the other. The necromancer left no footsteps in his wake, and his movements were utterly silent. He came to a halt next to the fox, and the shorter thief shivered as an unnatural chill ran through his lanky frame.

The dark wizard's voice was so soft as to be almost inaudible, but every beastkin present could hear each word with perfect clarity. "You're absolutely certain?"

Kavah hesitated again, but then hastily nodded. "Er, yesser. I'd stake my life on it."

The robed thing remained frozen for a long moment, but for the slightest rustle of it's cloth folds. Finally, it uttered a guttural sound, thick with bemusement. But even that mirthful sound was chilling, like the sound that a sadistic torturer might make before setting back in with a flaying knife.

"Heh."

The foxkin blanched, his ears skewed. Almost imperceptibly, several of the other mercenaries slowly edged a few steps away from him. "I, uh, I mean... I'd stake my reputation on it, ser."

"No," the dark wizard moved past the thief, blindly studying the treeline for a scant moment. "You were right the first time."

Kavah worked his muzzle silently, trying to find the words for a reply. He glanced back toward the others, and one by one they each averted their gaze. Honestly, he couldn't be the first one having second thoughts about this job. Or third thoughts. Or fifth thoughts. Or tenth thoughts, for that matter.

Only the noble lion, Royce, met Kavah's nervous glance with his own. The two weren't exactly friends, but they seemed to be the sanest of the lot. That was a small comfort.

The dark wizard planted the end of his skeletal spellstaff against the ground, pivoting about. He gestured with one gloved hand, pointing toward two of the mercenaries. "You will remain here, and wait to see if our prey doubles back. The rest of us shall follow Kavah's lead to see if his... tracking abilities are as adept as he seems to believe they are."

The indicated sellswords, a coyote and a weasel, quickly split off from the rest of the group. The others quickly moved back toward their waiting horses. Kavah moved to follow them, but his path was suddenly blocked by a length of runed bone.

"Kavah," the wizard hissed. "Don't disappoint me."

The fox paled again, his jaw working. "I, uh... r-... right-"

But the robed thing was already gone, more than a dozen yards across the campsite. The necromancer's skeletal steed dutifully lowered itself before him, and the dark wizard drifted onto it without breaking stride.

Royce Silver-Heart wheeled his own living mount about in front of the speechless thief, trailing the foxkin's own horse behind him. "Are you alright?"

Kavah shuddered lightly, trying to shrug off the unnatural chill that was sapping at his bones. "I, rrf... y-... yeh. Just, ugh. Wizards, y'know? Seriously."

"Hn," the lion grunted noncommittally, but his head bobbed in the slightest show of agreement. He glanced back toward the rest of the group, where the dark wizard had taken up position at the rear of the procession.

"Come on," he murmured. "We shouldn't keep him waiting."

The foxkin sighed, then clambered unsteadily onto his mount, wincing as the sting of his still-fresh bruises rekindled. "Nf... right, no pressure."

Gods, this job almost wasn't worth it. Almost. But just a few more days of this, and he'd be whole again. Just a few more days.

Now he just had to survive that long.

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

They were still on foot, but they were making good time.

For all his misgivings, Rhaelyn had to begrudgingly admit that the cheetah was an exceptional scout. Her senses were keen, her movements were whisper-soft, and her knowledge of the terrain was unparalleled. Unfortunately, none of that really mitigated how annoying she could be.

Fortunately, she had given up on being annoying a few hours earlier. They had been on the road for much of the day now, and the first two hours had been pure hell. It had only taken a few moments for Raffina's feline curiosity to outweigh her supposed professionalism, and then had come the slow but steady trickle of probing questions.

First she had interrogated the panther, although that had really involved more teasing than actual questioning. When the mage had proven uncooperative, Raff had moved on to the gryphon - but Kira was being uncharacteristically sullen and silent.

Finally, the cheetah had turned her attentions to the Amazonian, and much to Rhaelyn's chagrin Veridia had seemed eager enough to talk. She was thankfully evasive on the more embarrassing queries, but the husky had been more than happy to talk about her time with the panther. The adventures they had gone on, the battles they had fought - both with and against each other, and even some of their more private moments.

Er, not that they had really shared many of those. They were friends, and good friends at that, but certainly not lovers. Veridia had always been more of a physical creature, while Rhaelyn was an intellectual one. Not to mention, of course, that her species made even the thought of anything beyond a casual relationship taboo.

But that certainly didn't seem to be curbing Veridia's tongue. She seemed intent on convincing Raffina that a poorly veiled romance existed 'twixt the panther and the half-breed wolf, and Rhaelyn couldn't fathom why. He had intervened once, to protest a particularly lurid and ham-fisted innuendo, but a single harsh look from the Amazonian warrior had silenced his tongue.

Eventually, though, the cheetahkin had gotten her fill of teasing and scandal. She had retreated into the brush, utterly vanishing from sight under the guise of 'scouting ahead' - 'though the others had no way of verifying that. She really was like a ghost, and the second Raff had flitted out of sight it was as if she had ceased to exist.

Again, Rhaelyn was forced to admire her talent, if not her tact. And at the very least, she was much less annoying while absent.

Now, though, the group marched on in awkward silence. It had been almost four hours since anyone had even uttered a word. Rhaelyn was left to his own thoughts, and Kira to hers, and as for Veridia - well, she was displaying the uncanny ability to read and walk at the same time. The novel was like some child's toy in her large hands, tiny and delicate, but she seemed intent on finishing it before the day was through.

It was Kira who finally broke the silence, once she was certain that the dogkin was too absorbed in her reading to eavesdrop. The hour was late, and they would be setting up camp soon, but the gryphon really wanted to speak with the mage before they were sharing a tent again.

Her pace quickened, and she loped into position next to the pantherkin. "Um, Rhae?"

He glanced sidelong to the hen, then tossed a quick look about his surroundings. Raffina was still nowhere to be found, and Veridia had dropped back a dozen paces with her nose still buried in that accursed book.

Content that they had some small modicum of privacy, the feline looked back to the hen. "Kira?"

"Can we, um..." She faltered, her beak lowered slightly as she fumbled with the words. "This is kind of, uh, awkward, but I need to talk to you about something."

Rhaelyn uttered a faint sigh, slowly releasing the breath he hadn't even realized he was holding. Gods, this was the conversation he had been hoping to avoid. Perhaps not forever, but at least for as long as possible. Indefinitely would have been nice. But no, that just wasn't how things ever went in his life. Nothing was ever convenient.

"Oh, ah..." He glanced away, his tail flicking sharply. "I really don't think this is the time for it."

Kira frowned slightly, her wings ruffling with slight agitation. "No, this can't wait. It's... this is important, Rhaelyn."

The panther slowed half a step, his gaze flicking back over his shoulder again to re-verify the husky's position. His ears flicked back, his tail lashing harder as he tried to curb his irritation. "It is, Kira. This is a very important conversation, but it's not the kind of thing we can talk about here and now. There are other equally important things to tend to, like saving an innocent girl and preventing the deaths of untold thousands."

He paused, drooping just a little as he spied the disgruntled expression on the hen's beaked face. His tone softened, dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "We can talk about our sex life later. When we're alone."

Kira scowled, her head drawing back as she darted a much sterner glare back at the feline. She struggled for a moment on how to respond to that, but finally her own irritation got the better of her. "This isn't about how we slept together, you idiot! This is about-"

'You two did WHAT!?'

The hen winced, shaking her head slightly as she tried to push that voice aside. The mental exclamation had been so potent as to- well, it didn't hurt her ears, but it did prompt the slow throb of a burgeoning headache in the back of her skull.

"Kira!" Rhaelyn hissed now, looking scandalized. "Keep your voice down!"

The gryphon winced, her head shaking a few more times before she caught herself. Tossing another backward glance, she briefly met eyes with Veridia, and the obviously embarrassed canid quickly dropped back another half-dozen paces to give the two some more space.

'Kira, listen to me. I need to know what-'

She growled, her eyes closing to slits as she tried to drown out that insisting voice. "Rrg, shut up!"

Rhaelyn frowned. "Excuse me?"

"Not-" Kira scowled again, uttering a ragged sigh as exasperation set in. "No, not you, Rhae. I'm talking to-" And her head shook again, almost coming to a halt. "This is what I need to talk to you about. Not the, uh, sex thing, but this."

The frown remained firmly etched into the feline's muzzle, but he hesitantly bobbed his head in acknowledgement. He was confused, of course, but the hen's tone seemed urgent enough to buy her some leeway. He slowed as well, then glanced toward the warrior.

"Veridia," he cleared his throat, quickly coming up with an excuse for the delay. "It's almost nightfall. Would you and Raffina start scouting for a good place to set up our camp?"

The husky peeked over the top of her book, nodded, and hastily made her exit. She might have been close to twenty stone worth of dense muscle and dangerously hair-triggered reflexes, but she wasn't an idiot. She was more than happy to give the two a few moments of actual privacy.

Rhaelyn sighed again, looking back to Kira. "So, what is it that you wanted to-"

"Rhaelyn," she blurted out hastily. "Do you ever have a... a little voice in your head?"

That gave the panther pause, and after a few seconds of thought he responded with a question of his own. "Ah, could you repeat that?"

Kira frowned again, her gaze averted as she tried to hold onto her patience with both taloned hands. It was a tenuous grip, at best. "A voice. Do you ever have a voice in your head that, uh, tells you what to do. That- rrf, that you have to fight with, and argue with, and that never leaves you alone until you agree to do what it says?"

The mage was silent for a long moment, his expression blank. Before long, the hen began to grow anxious, worried that she had said too much.

Then Rhaelyn laughed. It wasn't a thick guffaw or a polite chuckle, but more of a sound of relief. There had been so many things that he had already imagined the hen saying, many of them gut wrenchingly horrible, but this? This was nothing.

"Oh, Kira." He laughed a bit more, one furred hand quickly wiping a mirthful tear from the corner of his eye. "Is that all?"

The gryphon stared at the pantherkin as if he were insane, but she managed a dumbfounded nod. "I, uh... yes?"

Rhaelyn chuckled, shaking his head with bemusement. "You mean to tell me that you're just struggling with, what, your conscience? Your anxieties? Or, ah, perhaps you're trying to say that you're feeling guilty about something?"

'Oh, Gods, this is so stupid. Is he serious?'

Kira grunted, her eyes rolling. She wasn't sure what a conscience was, nor an anxiety, but she certainly knew what guilt was - and this wasn't it. Her patience slipped, and her words were clipped sharply as she snapped her beak in agitation. "No you idiot, it's not that-"

Rhaelyn smiled, settling a hand lightly against the top of the hen's head as he gently stroked his fingers through her feathers. "Kira, it's fine. I struggle with the same things. Perhaps not all the time, but lately... more often than not. I have doubts, and fears, and anxieties - but I don't let the little voice in MY head dictate how I act or what I do."

Her beak gaped and her eyes narrowed, the gryphon's head slowly tilting to one side. She still wasn't quite certain that they were talking about the same thing, but it sounded like...

"Er, wait," she chirped. "You're saying that YOU have a voice in your head, too?"

The mage gave a slight shrug, trying to put the hen at ease. "Of course, Kira. Everyone does. Some folks even have more than one."

Kira furrowed her brow. "And, uh, those voices tell them things?"

Rhaelyn chuckled. "I would imagine so, yes. But it's up to each individual beastkin to know when to listen to that voice, and when to ignore it. Personally, my little voice sounds like my father, and he constantly chastises me for not living up to my potential."

That gave the hen pause. She was trying not to lose momentum, but the panther's comment seemed patently absurd. "I-, uh, Rhaelyn, you're a wizard. And... and you've saved the world."

"Well, yes," the panther smiled faintly. "But I don't act like a proper noble. I haven't toiled away for my entire life, trying to find ways to advance the standing of my clan. I'm unmarried and, as my mother would put it, I'm... unrefined."

Kira was silent for a moment, before arching a feathered brow. "Does your father talk to you often?"

Rhaelyn blinked, peering curiously down at the gryphon. "What? No, of course not. My father has been dead for almost ten years now."

"Oh come on, Rhae." Kira rolled her eyes, pushing back to her feet as she began to pace back and forth. "I mean in your head. Does your father talk to you in your head a lot?"

The mage set one finger to his muzzle, pondering on that. "Well, yes, I suppose that would be one way to put it. Figuratively speaking, yes, my father does talk to me often. Perhaps too often. Mostly about how I should behave, or what I should be doing with my life."

"And-" Kira continued on, trying not to lose momentum. "And, does he teach you things? Like, when you're confused? About... about science, and magic, and monsters, and..."

The panther hesitated, his train of thought promptly derailed. "Er, what?"

Kira pushed on without pause. "And did it teach you how to read? Because mine did, and it's really kind of starting to freak me out."

Rhaelyn quirked one corner of his mouth downward, his hand stilled against the hen's skull. "Er, Kira, what are you trying to-?"

'Oh Gods, shut up Kira. You honestly have no idea what you're doing right now.'

She shook her head more violently, trying to drown out that voice. Her tone was more insistent now, her words tumbling out with greater speed. "I mean, it's always been there, but it used to be so quiet. But now all of a sudden it's so much louder, and-... and it tells me to do things. A lot of things. And sometimes I know those things are wrong, like when it wants me to kill or maim people who don't deserve it, but-"

'Kira,' the voice growled, 'I really don't want to have to hurt you.'

"Hey," The panther dropped to one knee, his hand settled to the hen's beak know. "Stop. Just... stop, Kira. We can talk about this. I just need you to calm down."

The gryphon's beak snapped shut, wavering slightly. She almost felt a little faint now, and breathless too, as if she had just sprinted a mile over rough terrain. Still, it felt good to say it all out loud. It helped her think, and even now it had helped her come to a conclusion.

'Kira, you're an idiot.'

She snorted, and fixed her eyes on the mage. "Rhae, I'm starting to think that there's really something wrong with my brain. I-... I might need some help."

Rhaelyn was silent for a moment, his paws set gingerly to either side of the hen's beak as he tried to look her in the eye. When he spoke, his voice was soothing and laden with very real concern. "Of course, Kira. Anything. Just tell me-"

"I hate to, like, interrupt whatever the hell THIS is-" Raffina faded into view, a vaguely quizzical expression on her muzzle. It vanished quickly, though, to make way for one of alarm.

"But I thought you might like to know that we're surrounded."

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

"If we're not careful, we'll be surrounded."

Sheenah peered blankly at the map in her companion's grasp, looking from the odd markings to the archer's studious face, and back. The wyvern at her side shared her expression of complete incomprehension.

Chenna glanced toward the other bounty hunter's puzzled expression, then sighed. She really did miss working with some of the more intelligent members of her former troupe. Sheenah Redfang was a powerful warrior and a cunning tracker, but she was also as dense as a stone when it came to the finer points of The Hunt.

The archer cast her wistful gaze back to the map, her calloused hands brushing against it's vellum surface as she tried to smooth it out against the stone beneath. 'Though she had found satisfaction in domestic pursuits, she did miss her former life at times. And more than that, she missed her old friends - her sisters. The always brilliant Gamedea, the sadistic Celaeno, the reserved Vraka, and even the traitorous Veridia.

But Celaeno was dead now, that much Chenna knew for certain, and Gamedea was probably dead as well. Veridia was certainly no help, not after her very public defection so many years ago, and Vraka was apparently locked away in one of the most inaccessible dungeons every built. So that just left Sheenah.

Sheenah Redfang was strong and loyal, of course, but hardly ideal for this kind of job. Gods bless her, the wolfbeast was many things, but she just wasn't that bright. Not anymore.

The warrior, a rust-furred wolf of truly Amazonian proportions, tried to feign at mulling over the map again as she sensed the archer's disappointment. It was nonsense to her, of course, but she really did want Chenna's approval. She had had it once, a long time ago, when she had been someone different. She had been smarter then, before Cygna had ripped her apart and remade her into something stronger and faster and...

"Hn," Sheenah grunted. The memories were too distant and muddled, and she had been ordered once by Cygna herself not to dig too deep. She pushed the map aside, her head shaking slightly.

"So what?" The wolfbeast grumbled. "Then we kill them all."

Chenna frowned slightly, her flat tongue clicking against her front teeth. Her tone was patient and firm, as if she were talking to one of her children. "No, Sheenah, that's not an option. We might be able to kill ten of them, maybe even twenty, but by then we'll have lost the element of surprise. Then they'll overwhelm us, hack off our hands and feet, and dump us in a cell right down the hall from Vraka."

Sheenah rolled her eyes, a snarl welling at the back of her throat. "The won't."

The archer chuffed slightly, and her wyvern emulated the sound. Not that Skye could actually understand the conversation, of course. The monster just liked to emulate her master.

Chenna sighed again, scanning over the map for something - anything - that she might have missed. It was a rough map, and it only covered the surface level of Stonegate Prison, but it was the best she could get on such short notice. She had shaken down all of her old contacts, threatened and cajoled them to the utmost of her ability, but the simple fact of the matter was that Stonegate was largely unknown territory.

Only the Pangolians came and went through Stonegate with impunity. If anyone other than a Pangolian found themselves in that forboding place, then it was almost certainly because they would be remaining there for the rest of their miserable existence.

The aptly named Stonegate Prison was on the outskirts of the Pangolian Empire atop their most fearsome mountain, hewn into the sheer cliff-face by a thousand slaves over a period of one-hundred years. It was almost unreachable, virtually impenetrable, and guarded by no less than a full company of Pangolian elite.

But, nonetheless, Chenna was expected to somehow free one of the prisoners.

She sighed again, tracing her fingers over the numerous watchtowers that flanked the prison on every side. Each one was crowned by some kind of massive construct - like a crossbow, but a dozen times larger. The Pangolians were natural warriors, eschewing the use of magics, but their more cunning mechanical weapons nearly rivaled those produced by any enchanter.

"They will defeat us," she repeated firmly. "I don't see how they won't. We're outnumbered at least a hundred to two-

Skye snorted, somehow understanding enough to object to Chenna's statement.

The archer smiled slightly, raising a hand to lightly pet along the wyvern's jawline. "Right, sorry. A hundred to three."

She looked back to the map, her fingers drifting to the massive stone gate - the only access point to the prison at ground level. That much could be avoided, at least, given their aerial advantage. They could go up and over the walls, but they'd still have to worry about being shot down by the dozen or so weapons batteries.

Sheenah whined faintly, sensing the halfbreed Amazonian's reluctance. "No worrry, Chenna. The Queen will guide us."

Chenna Vichi sighed, half-heartedly pushing the map off of the stone she had perched it on, and leaving it where it fell on the muddy ground. It was worthless. There was nothing to do but move into position and wait, and in just over one day they'd find out if The Bitch Queen was sending them on a suicide mission or not.

"She had better, Sheenah." The mongrel rubbed lightly at her temples, her thoughts briefly drifting to her family - so distant now. Her farm was a hundred miles behind them, along with her husband and two pups. At the very least, her pointless and painful death would hopefully spare them a similar fate.

"Because if she doesn't, then we're dead."

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

"So they think they're all dead, right?"

Zura bobbed her head, her reptilian eyes wide and her attention focused fully on the smaller beastkin.

Elin grinned, curling one of her hands into a fist as she swiped at the air for emphasis. "But they're not, because Rhaelyn used his magic to rip a big hole in the ground. Then they all piled in just before the landslide could crush them."

"Ooh," the dragoness crooned. "Smart. Geomancy always WAS my favorite type of magic. Then what happened?"

The lynx gestured broadly, her fingers wriggling as if she were digging out of the cavern she was still sitting in. "Well then they were trapped, buried alive in a pit in the ground, and Rhaelyn was too tired from using his magic. So Grunt-"

Zura quickly corrected the feline, "Garant."

Elin nodded. "Right, so Garant used his crazy barbarian strength to wedge one of the boulders out of the way just far enough so that Saga and Solan could climb free. They went back to Gallow's Haunt to fetch Oliandra, but they were set upon by bandits before they could get there."

The dragoness uttered an exaggerated gasp, the sound almost comical coming from such a massive beast. "Oh no!"

"Oh yes!" Elin lashed her fist again, as if to add weight to her words. "The same bandits that they'd been tracking, before they had stumbled onto The Dark Wizard's plot! A dozen brigands, led by the brutish Steel Toe, and Saga was still injured from his earlier battle against The Dark Wizard's demons!"

Azura smirked ever so faintly, her eyes lidding as she adopted a faintly coy tone. "Oh yes, his... injuries. So ironic that such a clever and masculine hero would be blindsided quite so many times by that succubus. He was willful enough to resist her charms, but not quite foresighted enough to predict that kick to the crotch."

The lynx paused, then sniffed a bit defensively. "Well it's... it's his weak spot. It helps build character if the hero has a weakness. It's just no fun to read about someone who's infallible in every way. I mean, if there's no struggle, then what's the point?"

"Yes, yes," the dragoness snickered, the acidic burble tickling the back of her throat. "We all know about Saga's weak spot. So what did they do? Surely that wasn't a fight that the two of them could win alone."

Elin grinned broadly, her large ears slanting forward as she turned her paws upward and flexed her fingers. "They tricked them! Solan hid in the shadows, and Saga pretended to be a wizard!"

Zura blinked, genuinely caught off-guard. "Really? How?"

Elin purred smugly, as if the Alleycat's supposed exploits were somehow her own. "Saga made a speech about how powerful he was, but they didn't believe him. So then he pointed at one of them, and at the same time Solan threw one of his poisoned needles. It knocked the bandit unconscious, but they all thought that Saga had done it with his finger!"

"Oh," the dragoness bobbed her head. "That IS clever. But I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Saga always WAS a clever little thing."

"So then the bandits were all too nervous to rush at Saga, and Solan started sneaking around the edge of the road. While Saga kept their attention, Solan used his assassin training and took them out one by one, until Steel Toe was the only one-"

The lynx abruptly froze, her mouth hanging open mutely as she stopped in mid-sentence.

Azura tensed, her claws planted to the ground and her head raised alertly. Had Cygna somehow reasserted her will, and again possessed the poor little beastkin? "Elin?"

Elin's eyes snapped wide, until the orbs threatened to roll entirely free of her face. "Oh. My. Gods. You know Saga!?"

The dragoness relaxed, slumping back down against her comfortable bed of gemstones. She was more than a little relieved, but she tried not to let the feline know that. "Of course. Who doesn't?"

"But-" Elin's eyes narrowed, her mind racing at a thousand miles an hour. "But Saga's only ever met three dragons, and only one of them was-"

She froze again. This time, Zura took it in stride, waiting patiently for the lynx to snap out of her stupor.

One finger stabbed out toward the dragon, the other heavy paw slapping over the feline's muzzle as she gasped breathlessly. "You're the Dragon Queen!"

Zura chuckled again, her eyes sparkling with bemusement. "Please, Zura is fine. I haven't been called the Dragon Queen in years."

Elin drew in a deep breath, and for a second it almost seemed as if she was ready to start hyperventilating again, but with monumental effort she managed to calm herself. Her ears twitched upright, and her thick tail flick-flick-flicked behind her gleefully. "You and your brother grew up alongside The Bitch Queen in the heart of Amazonia, acting as her moral guides until she used her foul magics to corrupt both of you!"

"Well," Azura frowned a little. "I wouldn't quite put it like THAT, but..."

"And-" The Lynx showed no signs of stopping, instead gushing onward. "And then she made you the first generals in her evil army, and you used your magics to help her enslave all the dragons in Skarn so she could begin her war on everything good and decent!"

"I, ah..." The dragoness cleared her throat, her head drooped a little. "I guess that's not... not ENTIRELY wrong, but..."

Elin clapped her paws to her muzzle, her ears suddenly slicked back. "But then you turned on her, after she sent your brother to his death against the wizards at The World's End. You spent months slowly undermining her power, pretending to fight on her behalf while secretly aiding the Beastkin Armies!"

"Rrr," the growl began at the back of her throat, whisps of acrid vapor leaking up through her slit nostrils. Azura leaned back, her jaw briefly clenched before she reigned in her temper. Elin was a cute little thing, and surprisingly knowledgeable, but she had a tendency to ramble on. Still, enough was enough. Zura curled her lip, clearly displaying a dozen or so razor-sharp teeth as she uttered a rumbling warning.

"Elin."

The feline got the message, shrinking back so quickly that she almost seemed to deflate a little. Her paws stayed over her muzzle, and her voice faded to nothingness.

Zura sighed, her coppery wings flexing behind her as she resettled. She forced herself to speak evenly, almost-but-not-quite concealing her obvious irritation. "And this is all written in those books, you say? The ones that Saga wrote?"

Elin nodded meekly.

The dragoness turned away, her long tongue flicking over her lipless lips. She had never quite been friends with the Alleycat. Enemies once, and then allies of convenience, and for a very brief period they had even been casual lovers - but never quite friends. "Hn, he always was a clever little thing. Perhaps a bit TOO clever."

The feline remained silent, and after a long moment Azura turned back toward her. Her voice was soft and soothing, but with a lethal hiss underscoring each word. "What... elssse did he write about me?"

"W-well," Elin stumbled over her words, but the thoughts came easily. She had read through every one of Saga's novels a dozen times over, and the stories were firmly engrained in her brain. "Um, the books say that Cygna never discovered your ruse, because you continued to feign loyalty. You, uh, coordinated her spies and- and, um, you foiled at least three assassination attempts-"

The dragoness couldn't help but sound a little smug. "Only the ones that would have failed anyway."

"Er, right." Elin hesitated again, but at the monster's goading she continued. "And... and then you met Saga and the others. You tried to kill them, but they were too strong, so you started helping them instead. And then on the final day of the Amazonian Campaign, you guided the heroes-"

Zura snorted. "Who?"

The lynx faltered, but quickly recovered. "Oh, um, Saga. Saga and Rhaelyn and... uh... the others. Veridia, Solan, Nightengale, and Oliandra. You led them to the heart of Old Amazonia, and let them slip past The Bitch Queen's elite guard, so that they could... kill her."

The dragoness narrowed her eyes, her spine curling as she slowly drew her head back. Finally, she snorted again, emitting a small puff of poisonous vapor. "Well, I suppose that part is true enough."

Elin uttered a soft sigh of relief, continuing as the massive beast made a little gesture with her equally massive claws. "Without Cygna to lead them, her armies crumbled. Her, uh, generals turned on each other, and the Beastkin Armies claimed the territories she had captured for... uh... for their individual lords and-"

Zura gestured sharply with one finger, the claw cutting through the air so harshly that it almost whistled. "What about me? What did Saga write about me?"

"Oh, um..." Elin glanced away, uncertain about just how much she should be sharing. This was clearly a sore spot for the beast. The massive, metal-scaled, acid-breathing beast. "Well, he wrote that you were captured by The Eight, but that they spared your life as reward for the part you had played in Cygna's downfall."

"Hn."

The lynx hastened on, her love of the story briefly besting her restraint. "And, uh, they banished you instead. They, uh, stripped you of your powers and forbade you from ever leaving the blighted wastes of Old Amazonia. And, um... that... before you left, you spent one last night with Saga, and..."

"Ergh," Zura slapped one scaly palm to her muzzle, with a sound not unlike a drawer full of silverware being hurled against a wall. "He WROTE that? He wrote that we slept together? That mangy little-"

Elin nodded again, her ears skewed. "W-... well, he also wrote that you looked, um... that you looked a lot different than you do now. That you, uh, were only seven or eight feet tall, and that you had..." She traced her paws outward again, as if framing her own curves.

Azura rolled her eyes dramatically, and for a split second she almost reminded the lynx of her eldest sister. "Yes, well, I could still shapeshift back then. Before, ah... before The Eight layered all those curses and enchantments onto me. And, you know, I really felt as if I owed the stupid little Alleycat, after I had nearly killed or castrated him a dozen times over."

The dragoness grumbled, her voice trailing off until it was almost entirely indistinct. "... would have castrated him, too, if I'd known he was going to WRITE about it..."

The two sat awkwardly for a moment, the cavern silent but for the rhythmic grinding that sparked up as Azura plucked two round-cut opals from her hoard. They were large, each easily the size of an apple or perhaps a pear, but just a few spastic twitches of her clawed fingers was enough to crush them against each other until they were reduced to glimmering powder.

It was a waste of a perfectly good snack, but at least it made her feel a little better.

Zura flopped back heavily, sending out waves of gemstones in every direction. Even the feline, two-dozen feet distant, was pelted by a cascade of the valuable treasure.

"Rmf," the dragoness grunted. "Then what?"

Elin blinked, picking an errant emerald out of her cleavage. "Then what...? Then what what?"

The dragoness rolled slightly, one baleful eye studying the beastkin. "Then what? What happened to me after I was 'banished'?"

Elin furrowed her brow, seeming at a loss. "Uh, nothing I guess. You- um, I mean your character was never seen again. I think Saga mentioned visiting you a few times, between books, but he never went into much detail."

Zura arched one scaled brow, her irritation vanishing. "Really?"

Elin nodded. "Um, yes?"

"And no one else knows where I was banished to?"

The feline thought on that, before shaking her head. "Well, no. I mean, there's The Eight of course. And, uh, Rhaelyn, because he was apprenticed to one of them. And The Dark Wizard, I guess, since that was mentioned later in The Missing Saga."

"Hn," the dragoness glanced away, thoughtfully. "The wizard from the story you were telling me earlier? The bearer of The Black Cowl?"

Elin nodded quietly, and the dragon caught the movement from the corner of her eye.

Zura looked back to the beastkin, her irritation gone and curiosity blooming in it's place. "Was there anything in the later books? About Cygna returning, and trying to contact me?"

"Oh," the lynx cocked her head, absently digging another emerald from her cleavage. "Well, Cygna did appear again in Revenge of the Lich Queen, but there wasn't anything about you in there."

Zura mulled that over for a scant moment longer, then rolled onto her side as she made herself comfortable once more. "Well, that's something, I suppose. Ah... please, Elin, continue with your story. The, ah, other one. Saga and Solan were just facing off against the bandits."

"Um," Elin twitched her ears slightly, but then gave an eager nod. "Okay! Well, Steel Toe finally lost his temper and ordered his men to attack, but Solan had already subdued them all. So then..."

The dragoness refolded her forelimbs, her head resting lightly atop them. Her eyes closed to slits and the thrum of the beastkin's droning became little more than background noise. She was still half-listening to the rambling tale, but her thoughts were focused elsewhere.

Azura needed to think. She was over a century old, well-used to taking months or even years to put her plots into motion. And this time, well... this time things were all coming together a little too quickly for her liking.

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Rhaelyn blinked, his ears slicked flat against his skull. He was normally swift on the uptake, but this was all coming together a little too quickly for his liking.

"Wait, what do you mean we're surrounded?"

The cheetah's voice dipped, her gaze flitting to the hen and then back to the panther. "There are twelve of them. Five ahead of us, and seven more behind us."

'No,' the voice murmured in the back of Kira's head. 'That's not right. There are fourteen of them. She missed the two who are circling around the creek bed to the south.'

Kira shook her head slightly, trying to cast aside her earlier uncertainties. She felt off-balance and far too vulnerable, but she was a gryphon. More than that, she was a mercenary. She was well-practiced at compartmentalizing, and she shunted aside all of her emotional baggage with minimal difficulty.

"No," she hissed, echoing the voice aloud. "There are fourteen of them."

Raffina scowled. "What? No there aren't. There's twelve."

The gryphon crooked one taloned finger, pointing the tip to the south. The cheetah glowered in that direction for a few scant seconds, then looked back to the panther.

"Shit. Okay, there's fourteen of them."

Rhaelyn scanned the surroundings, but his senses weren't nearly as fine-tuned. Still, he had long since learned to trust the word of his adventuring companions, whether new or old. His hands clasped together, his fingers playing across the many rings that graced them so that, one by one, he could disable the magical safeties that prevented him from 'accidentally' burning people alive.

"We need to move into a defensive position," he murmured. "Ah, what are they? Did either of you see?"

"They're wolves, I think." It was Kira who spoke first, her head twitching back and forth as she tried to scan in three different directions simultaneously. "Or, uh, wolfkin."

Raff growled, slinking back toward the treeline. "No," she uttered. "Wolfweres."

Rhaelyn spit out a quick curse, the vulgarity masked by his use of a long lost dialect, and he reached for his coin pouch. "Lycans. So that means silver. Magic and silver. Kira, give me your hands."

The gryphon blinked, setting back onto her haunches and dutifully raising her forelimbs. "Uh, what?"

But the panther had already siezed ahold of her left hand with his own. In his other hand he held five silver coins - enough to buy a rich meal, or to rent a decent room at an upscale tavern. His fist curled about the money and he murmured a few soft words, light gleaming from between the cracks of his tightly clenched fingers. A second later, rivulets of liquid silver dripped out over the hen's talons. He retrieved a few more coins and quickly repeated the process with Kira's other hand.

Kira marveled at the transformation, holding her argent talons up to her beak to study them. Part of her brain couldn't help but wonder why the liquid metal wasn't white-hot, and another part of her brain was busy wondering how she could still flex her joints when her fingers were encased in silver.

By the time she looked back up, Raffina had vanished and Veridia was just now crashing through the brush.

"Rhaelyn!" The husky shouted, wrestling her way through a particularly stubborn thicket. Dog and bush briefly contested each other, and the dogkin won handily. "We're surrounded! I think it's-"

The wizard nodded, his sword already in his hand. The blade gleamed a lustrous silver as well, similar to the sheen that already coated the gryphon's hands. "We know! We'll take them on the same way we fought that horde of ghouls in-"

Recognition swiftly dawned in the warrior's eyes, and the husky moved behind the panther in three swift strides. Her backpack - well, Rhaelyn's backpack, really - was cast aside into a bush, and Veridia unshouldered her massive war mace. "Ragnar's Crypt. Sure thing, Rhae."

Rhaelyn set his empty hand lightly to the gryphon's shoulder, his voice lowered - he could hear the beasts approaching, now. They were close. Very close. "Kira, follow our lead and only attack when there's a good opening. You'll only be able to hurt them with your talons, so be careful."

Kira nodded sharply, and a split second later the pack was upon them.

The two surging in from the south were the first to break the forest cover, decidedly humanoid but still charging on all-fours. They were wolf-like in appearance, but there was no mistaking them for beastkin - they were too savage, too feral, and their muscles bulged unnaturally as they closed the distance between beast and kin with remarkable swiftness.

Another form slipped from the brush, this one decidedly friendlier. At first Rhaelyn thought that the cheetah might have emerged too swiftly and lost her footing, but it quickly became apparent that her sliding was intentional. The heel irons on her boots gouged deep furrows across the dirt trail as she tucked into a well-timed roll, and out came the blades.

She tumbled neatly past the advancing monsters, then flipped back onto her feet as she reached the other side of the overgrown path. Her wrists flicked, and the blood slicking her single-edged knives slid off and spattered the grass at her feet. Behind her, the two creatures stumbled, both clutching at their hamstrung legs.

Then, just as quickly, the cheetah vanished back into the brush.

"Wow," Kira mumbled. Okay, that was impressive.

'Tch, whatever.' the voice muttered. Apparently it was less impressed.

There was scant time for admiration, however, for before the word had even finished slipping from her beak another half-dozen of the things had appeared. They were coming from two sides, now, and somewhere in the distance more bestial voices raised in a chorus of hungry howls.

Then the first of the beasts fell onto them. The mage deftly struck one down, it's furred flesh sizzling angrily at the touch of his silver blade, then he turned and set another of the beasts ablaze with his free hand. Behind him Veridia's entire body rippled with exertion as she swung her massive bludgeon, and two more of the creatures were hurled bodily back into the brush.

Kira reacted a second later, the shock of the sudden assault wearing off. One of the wolf-things was approaching from the panther's side, so her wings flared and she pounced upon it. It twisted past her quickly, though - much more quickly than she would have thought possible for something so large - but not before she had bucked against it to lay it open with her hindclaws.

The creature growled, doubled over some as it clutched its scored stomach, and then just as quickly rose again. Even as the startled hen watched, the gashes she had torn were closing back up without a trace.

Rhaelyn paused as he saw the gryphon's predicament, and he called to her. "Kira, use your talons!"

The mage grunted as more of the beasts emerged from the brush. He set his guard as one drew far too close, but the cheetah appeared again as if by magic. Spotted hands reached out and grasped the creature by it's brawny neck, wrenching it off the path and into the brush. A blade flashed, and the struggling ceased for a moment.

Raffina disappeared once more.

Kira panted, kicking out at another of the wolfweres away with both hindpaws - a faint smile on her beak as she heard the pitched yelp that confirmed she had been RIGHT on target. Regeneration or not, the beast had certainly felt that one, and the blow had been firm enough to send it stumbling a dozen paces away.

Still, there were more appearing with each second, and the beasts seemed instinctively drawn to Rhaelyn and Kira's side of the battle. Given another scant moment, the panther and the gryphon were apt to be overwhelmed.

"Kira!" Rhaelyn hissed. "To me!"

She darted back to the panther's side, and the wizard made a grand gesture with his empty hand. A gleaming iron ring on his index finger glinted and dulled as he channeled power through it, and the ground rumbled beneath the gryphon's feet. Hundreds of rocks, some no larger than pebbles but others as large as bricks, erupted from the earth to form a crude stone barrier that circled halfway about the combatants. It stood almost ten feet tall, and held off the ever-growing horde for a few precious seconds.

"Cover me, Veri!"

The massive warrior grunted again, her head jerking slightly in confirmation, but she never stopped swinging. Her own weapon wasn't silver, but it was heavy and solid and metal. Each time the weapon whipped through the air it found another target, breaking bones and sending beasts flying through the air. Some swiftly bounced back, but others collapsed limply where they had landed and remained unmoving.

The panther shoved the tip of his sword into the dirt path, abandoning it for a moment to free both hands. He clasped them together, his thumbs set to the matching pair of crystal rings that graced the first finger of each paw. Instantly the sky darkened, and a frozen wind tore through the woods with such force that it shredded the brush and upended small trees.

The wolves on the other side of his makeshift barricade were hurtled away, briefly wiping the entire northern half of the battlefield clean, and one particularly unfortunate lycan was frozen almost solid as the brunt of the unholy gale crashed down around him.

But it barely slowed the others down. Within seconds they were rushing back, picking themselves out of the broken foliage and tearing at the stone wall that blocked their path.

Rhaelyn waited a few seconds, until three of the wolfwere's had clambered halfway over his makeshift barrier. Then he gestured broadly with both hands, magically disassembling the wall with all the elegance of a hurricane. Stones erupted outward like tiny, jagged bullets, sending the startled monsters back to the ground as they were pelted and torn. His iron ring, overtaxed, exploded into a thousand tiny flakes of rust.

Eager to take up the advantage, Kira lunged over the crumbling wall and leapt onto the wounded lycans as she brought her silvered talons to bear.

Veridia was panting hard, now. She had bought the panther time to perform his trick, but at a cost. Her arms, even as powerful as they were, were already burning with the exertion of the twenty expert blows she had doled out in rapid succession. But for every three of the creatures she had struck, only one stayed down, and more just seemed to keep coming. She was bleeding from a half-dozen wounds, but thankfully none of them were deep.

"I'm back," Rhaelyn shouted as he once again took up his sword. He flicked it lightly as if it were a wand and a bolt of electricity shot from the tip, cutting through two more of the creatures. They both staggered to a halt, their fur smoldering and standing on end, then turned tail to flee back into the woods.

"Oh," Veridia gasped, a tired grin on her muzzle. She paused for a split second, striking one of the wolfwere's soundly on the forehead with the pommel of her weapon. As it stumbled dizzily, her enchanted boot came up and caught it firmly between it's spreadeagled thighs. "Good, 'cuz I was all worried there fer a second."

The wizard winced at the sound that made - the dreadfully familiar 'crunch' of impact as the beast was lifted a good three paces from the ground, and thrown howling backward another ten. It hit a tree, it's body bending awkwardly around it, and then it collapsed to the ground where it desperately clutched at itself. Yes, that one probably wouldn't be getting back up any time soon.

"Wow," Kira echoed again, this time in a reverent whisper. She was busied with her own opponents, but she couldn't help but be a little distracted by the sight of that kick. For the first time in her life she found herself wishing that she could wear boots.

'Yeah, okay,' the voice murmured nonchalantly. 'I'll give you that one. That was pretty impressive - but pay attention to what you're doing.'

Kira glanced back downward to the creature that she was perched atop of. Her talons were dripping with it's filthy blood, and one of her clawed hands was planted to its chest to keep it from rising again. It was still squirming, though, so she clenched the fingers of her other hand into a silver-plated fist before punching it right in the eye. The blow didn't kill the thing, but it certainly dazed it. Satisfied, the gryphon hopped lightly off of the fallen wolf-thing.

And just like that, the assault ground to a halt. The three beastkin - Veridia, Rhaelyn, and Kira - stood in a triangle surveying the suddenly stilled battlefield. A dozen of the wolves were felled around them, groaning and squirming and clutching at their wounds. Two lay entirely still, one that Rhaelyn had run through and another that Veridia had struck right in the neck. Neither the panther nor the husky were foolish enough to think them dead, though. Wolfweres were notoriously hard to kill, even with silver.

As they gasped for breath, trying to steady themselves, another beast strode casually from the sanguine woods. It was a lycan, like the others, but at the same time it was very much not like them. It was male - that much was obvious, since none of the wolfwere's wore a single shred of clothing - but it was also over twenty hands tall. It's muscular frame was slicked with pitch dark fur, it's claws a glistening black and it's eyes - no, it's one good eye glowed a sinister yellow.

"Well," Rhaelyn grunted. He knew that the beast was making every effort to intimidate them. It was far from the first beast that the mage had seen using fear as a weapon. "I guess that would be the leader of the pack."

Yet more wolfweres emerged behind their alpha, but a single gesture from the black beast warded them back to the edges of the path. They fell into pace behind him, growling and snarling like feral dogs, but they made no move to attack the adventurers again.

"Uh, Rhae?" Veridia murmured. She glanced over her shoulder at the slowly growing pack, then in the other direction. Already, several of the creatures they had struck down were stirring. Any wound which hadn't been wrought with silver was already stitched, and broken bones were swiftly knitting back together. Of the twelve they had felled, eight were already stumbling back to their feet.

The ebon wolf smiled, his sharp fangs prominently displayed in the gesture. He flicked his clawed fingers again, and the wounded wolfweres that had risen quickly fell back as well, growling and literally licking at their wounds. They made no move to retrieve the other fallen wolves - the ones that hadn't risen - but instead simply stared at the cornered party.

"You fight well," Arvesk snarled. He was still smiling, but the look in his eye was pure murder. His words were slurred - the familiar bestial tongue that both Rhaelyn and Veridia had heard so often during the wars. The lycans forged by Cygna had not learned to speak the beastkin tongue, but rather the knowledge had been seared right into their brains when they were cobbled together from still-living wolves and beastkin. It was like hearing a dozen dogs growling in unison, with the noise somehow forming gutteral words.

"As do your kin," the panther murmured carefully. Another of the lycans had risen - the one whose throat had been slit by Raffina at the edge of the path. It uttered a hoarse growl, rubbing at it's neck, and quickly fell in line with its brethren.

Veridia curled her lip, the metal head of her war mace set heavily to the ground. "We have no quarrel with you, curr." She gestured with one hand, pointing north toward the distant Amazonian Wastes. "Why have you left your lands to hunt us?"

The beast snorted, his ears twitching. His eyes darted to the husky's throat, where the brand of The Bitch Queen peeked out from behind the edges of her carefully positioned collar. Then his eye drifted to the panther, and his own lip curled in derision. "We need no reason to hunt traitors and god-killers."

Rhaelyn scowled a little at that - on the one hand he was flattered to be remembered, but on the other hand it certainly complicated things. The silver tip of his blade darted through the air, cutting a swift pattern. "Cygna is long since dead and gone, ebon one. The war is over. Let that which is dead stay buried."

Kira perked a little, her eyes half-closed. She was listening keenly to the banter, but most of her attention was focused on watching the wolves. She didn't like being surrounded, and she liked fighting immortal monsters even less. She was hard-pressed to think of a way out of this.

'Oooh,' that little voice crooned in the back of her head. It didn't sound particularly perturbed. 'An elder lycan. We can use that.'

"Hrn?" she grunted. She knew better than to start speaking out loud to herself again. Even in the best of circumstances, everyone stared at her like she was crazy. Who knew how these monsters would react if she suddenly started to hold a one-sided conversation?

'The big one is going to challenge your group to the rite of combat,' the voice murmured. 'Win or lose, you should try your best to get a chunk of him. We could really use his blood.'

The gryphon blinked, her gaze flicking to that massive, snarling beast. Well yes, she could probably bite him, but hadn't the wizard said she needed to use silver? And her talons were already-

'Would you please just trust me for once?' The voice chastised her, heavy with scorn. 'Believe it or not, I've only ever tried to help you.'

"Very well," the dark wolf smiled, an odd and intense look on its bestial face. It's muzzle split into a jagged, ugly leer. "You can go on your way."

Rhaelyn hesitated, exchanging glances with Veridia. That didn't sound terribly likely. "Ah, really?"

"Yes," it continued simply. "If you can defeat me."

"Hardly a sporting battle," the panther scowled. "You outnumber us four times over."

"They will not interrferre," the beast smiled. Arvesk gestured again, nd the lycans reluctantly lowered their claws. Some kept their teeth bared, but it seemed obvious that they were blindly obedient to their elder. Either that, or it was a particularly cunning ploy - but wolfweres were rarely known for their cunning.

The ebon wolf stepped forward, his own clawed hands flexing, a rivulet of drool running from one of his long canine fangs and trickling down his jaw. "I want to feel yourr insides rrunning acrrross my tongue," he growled gleefully. "And taste the blood of those who would kill a god."

Kira took a step back, glancing uncertainly toward her companions. Was this thing for real? And here she had thought that GRYPHONS were a little unhinged...

The husky remained silent as well, but her gaze was set firmly on the creature. The ebon wolfwere. It looked so familiar somehow, but she had hunted alongside so many wolfweres in the past. But it had been years since she had hunted alongside any of the creatures, before she had turned against her own kin and helped stop the march of the Amazonian armies across Skarn. Years since she had helped kill her own mother, and then kill her again when she had cheated death with her foul magics.

But this thing. This abomination. It definitely looked familiar.

"Rrraaaagh!" Raffina broke the silence, the cheetah erupting from the broken boughs of a tree just above the creature. Her blades glimmered in the light of the fast-fading sun, both knives angled downward as she plunged them toward the monster's spine.

"Hrr," Arvesk's face split into satisfied grin. He twisted about fluidly, catching one of the feline's wrists in his hand and swinging her about as he redirected her momentum. Halfway through the motion he released her, and the scout crashed through twenty feet of brush before landing flat on her back. "Challenge... accepted..."

Rhaelyn stepped forward, his empty hand leveled. "Raffina!"

The floodgates burst, and a torrent of flame spilled from his clenched fist. The Ring of Eternal Fires vomited up a horizontal column of whirling death, and the beast made no move to avoid it. The inferno washed over Arvesk, engulfing the wolfwere completely, and burned so hot that the very air around the conflageration sparked and crackled as well.

"Hrf," the beast grunted, brushing ash from its shoulders. The flames subsided, and it stood almost unscathed. Even as they watched, heat all but shimmered off of his fur, and his scorched flesh healed. He seemed unimpressed.

Veridia gaped for a second, then looked to the panther. It was impossible, but she knew where she had seen the beast before. She had personally ended him when she had first turned on The Queen - or so she had thought. Apparently it took more than a silver-plated knife through the eye to get the job done. "Rhae, that's Arvesk. He's one of The First."

Rhealyn spat a curse, but promptly shifted his stance once more. His sword was planted into the ground again, his ring-clad fingers spread as he focused his energy through the deadliest weapons in his arsenal. "Then I'll finish this quickly."

Arvesk laughed, and darted forward like an arrow loosed from a bow.

"I've got him!" Kira lunged past the mage, surging forward on all-fours as she came in low for the pounce. She would come in below the creature's guard and gut it, or perhaps she'd target those exposed genitals that were just hanging there. Either way, she would make this-

Arvesk snorted, one leg lashing out to catch the gryphon just under the beak. She uttered a surprised squawk, her head snapping back violently. The blow almost lifted her from the ground but somehow she just barely managed to keep her footing. Stumbling unsteadily, she was driven firmly into the dirt as the lycan struck her again.

"Ah, Kira!" Rhaelyn stepped forward now, quickly recovering his blade. The gryphon was too close to his target, and that made his magics worse than useless. He could loose a ball of flame, a cloud of hailstones, or a hellstorm of lightning, but none of those were precision attacks. Every one of them carried a very real chance of striking the wrong target.

Veridia hastened to keep pace with the panther, planting one hand to the mage's shoulder as she hefted her bludgeon in the other. "Rhae, we can't go at him one at a time. We hafta do this together."

"Tch," he hissed between clenched teeth, but the mage held back. "Damn it."

Arvesk looked amused, and he held his position. He tossed a glance over his shoulder toward the fallen cheetahkin - but she was still winded, gasping against the dirt path - and then looked back to the other adventurers. "Yes, come at me all at once. Let me see your best."

He chuckled, hooking one clawed foot beneath the fallen gryphon before kicking her toward the other two beastkin. Despite her weight and dense frame, the wolf managed to roll her about as if she were a toy. "But no more magics, or my pack will tear you apart."

Rhaelyn curled his lip, but he remained silent. Half-crouching, he reached down to help the hen back to her feet, and the three again readied themselves for an assault.

"Nf," Kira grunted. "That was humbling."

"Sh," Rhaelyn hissed in response. "We have this. Just follow our lead." And then to the husky at his side, he spared the faintest smile. "Veridia, we'll take him just as we took Jorundr the Ancient One."

The canine smiled, bobbing her head slightly. Oh yes, she liked that plan.

The three darted forward rather suddenly, Rhaelyn in the lead with Veridia just behind him. Kira was the last to act, caught off-guard by the sudden rush, but she caught up as swiftly as she was able.

"Hrn," Arvesk grunted. "Interesting."

The panther struck first, his blade lashing out to one side as if to drive into the wolfwere's ribs, but Arvesk was too fast. Black claws met the silver blade, and neither won. Still, the parry was delivered with such force that the sword was almost torn from Rhaelyn's grip.

Veridia was still just behind him, the dogkin's large frame blotted out by the swiftly moving panther's billowing cloak. It seemed impossible to hide a warrior of the female's muscular girth, but somehow the two had managed it, and the underhand swing of the Amazonian's massive war mace seemed destined to impact right between the wolf's legs.

"Nn-" Arvesk grunted again, one powerful leg jerking upward to catch the mace before it could crush into his groin. His foot jerked back downward, pressing the weapon to the ground so hard that metal buckled and wood snapped.

And then Kira was upon him. She came in high this time, bounding over the crumpled weapon at his feet and flaring her wings to take her to the beast's face. Her silvered talons swiped across his good eye, and she actually made contact, but her claws barely seemed to cut into his flesh. The slightest lines were scored against his hide, but they were hardly enough to impede the monster.

"Awk!" Kira gasped as Arvesk's other hand came about, catching her by the throat so harshly that it almost snapped her neck. Black claws dug into her flesh and she was used as a living weapon, swung about in a sharp arc before crashing into the wizard. Both panther and gryphon were sent careening to the forest floor, with Kira landing awkwardly on top.

Veridia snarled, wrenching her weapon away from beneath the lupine's foot. Rather suddenly she faced the beast one-on-one, and now her war mace was crumpled and crushed halfway out of shape. How strong could this creature even be? She had worked alongside it once, side by side, but she had never remembered it being-

How could it have grown so much more powerful in six short years?

Arvesk offered a suitably wolfish smile, a low growl grating at the back of his throat. He circled to one side, matching Veridia step for step as he growled out a crude taunt. "If you ssurrender now, perrhaps the Queen will not have us kill you. Perrhaps you could be a slave, instead, and then I could have you-"

"I would rather see you castrated," she growled in return. "And The Bitch Queen is dead, twice over."

The beast just chuckled, an ugly sound like a bone caught in a choking man's throat. She would know the truth soon enough, but for now-

A snarled warning came too late, and Raffina bounded onto the beast again. She had only found one of her knives - the other had gotten lost somewhere in the brush - but she clung to the creature's back and tried to plunge her blade into Arvesk's good eye. He was startled, but not so startled as to actually let the ploy succeed.

His muzzle darted up, his head repositioned subtly, and he caught the blade neatly between his teeth. A jerk of his neck ripped it from the cheetahkin's grasp, and he spat it into the dirt. Still smiling, he jerked his head backward, smashing the back of his skull smartly into the feline's muzzle and sending her to the dirt as well.

"Agh, you fucker!" she hissed. She landed awkwardly, her tail bent beneath her and a sharp chunk of freshly churned stone digging into one shoulder blade. Even as she tried to recover, to bounce back up to her feet, the creature turned and backhanded her down to the ground again.

Raff's head was swimming, and she swiftly tried to rise a second time - but something was scrambled in her brain. Up was down and down was left and left was east and east was seven o'clock. She managed to push herself up to all-fours, wavered, and then planted her muzzle back into the earth. Something was clearly wrong with gravity, and it was going to take her a moment to sort things out.

Veridia happily took the opening it provided, raising her weapon as if to strike, but then launching off a wicked front-kick with one of her magical boots. Unfortunately, Arvesk seemed to have been expecting that, because he just as quickly caught her upraised leg by the ankle and used her momentum to send the entire amply-framed dogkin onto her back. Rhaelyn, having just recovered his OWN footing, couldn't help but imagine all of Skarn shuddering beneath her as she fell.

He felt a little guilty about that thought, and quickly shook it from his head..

The panther pulled his sword from the brush, then moved in unison with Kira now. They had briefly exchanged words as they had disentangled themselves from each other, and the plan was clear. They would split up and attack from two directions simultaneously. As spry as he was, Arvesk was only one beast - he couldn't possibly ward off two attacks at once. Not when both of them were using silvered blades.

'This isn't going to work,' the voice murmured in Kira's brain.

"Shut up," she hissed, and she bounded over the fallen cheetah as she came in on Arvesk's blind side.

Rhaelyn struck a split second before the hen did, and the ebon wolf had clearly been expecting it. His silver blade sliced through the air so quickly that it was naught but a blur, but Arvesk caught it anyway. His powerful fingers curled about the blade, the edge scoring the flesh of his palm, and then he broke it off at the hilt.

The hen struck as he was distracted - or, well, she THOUGHT he was distracted. How could he not be? Plus, she was on his blind side, so that should have given her an advantage. But even as she moved in below his arm, her silvered talons swiping viciously at where she imagined his kidney would have to be, he was already reacting.

His other hand snapped about her wrist, gripping tight, and for a split second everything froze. He had sundered both the panther and the canine's weapons almost without effort, and he clearly planned to do the same with hers - except that HER weapon was part of her body!

'Bite him!' the voice shrieked, so loud this time that Kira could almost feel her brain bleeding. She quickly complied, almost without choice, her smooth-edged beak chomping down onto the wolf's forearm before he could start twisting her joints out of place.

"Ah!" Arvesk yelped in surprise, the snapping beak tearing into his skin. He was a creature of blackest magics, almost completely immune to harm, but the vicious bite somehow hurt him far more than it had any right to. Only the purest silver was supposed to wound him, and only the most powerful magics could even faze him, so just what was this thing?

The ebon wolf staggered, trying to shrug the hen off of himself, but she stubbornly clamped her beak and bore down even harder until she tasted his foul blood. The pain was impossibly sharp, and he had to make it stop. He lashed into the hen with his fist, striking her about the head and shoulders three times, and she finally relented. She loosed her prey and staggered off the path as quickly as her four legs would take her.

Rhaelyn, already over the loss of his sword, had taken the brief moment to scrounge for the first weapon he could think of. His knife was useless, his rings and other magics likely even moreso, but he still had a few silver coins. He heaped them in his palm and gestured smoothly over them, the money almost instantly losing form as it disintegrated into a thousand tiny motes of silvery dust.

He threw it in the wolfwere's face.

"RrrRRRr!" The suddenly blinded monster snarled impotently. It lashed out with it's free arm, the one that hadn't been savaged by the gryphon, but Rhaelyn had already darted back to a safe distance. He ducked back in, grabbing ahold of the dazed cheetah's arms and dragging her clear as well.

And then Veridia was there, having regained her own feet as well. Her weapon, half broken but still very much a weapon, was firmly clutched in her hands as she keenly eyed the opening in Arvesk's defenses. It was an obvious target, and one that anyone who knew her would expect her to go for, but it was almost always the most effective tactic at her disposal.

Her war mace came up, swung double-fisted in an underhanded arc, and it collided squarely against the struggling beast's crotch. Smooth metal, bent and twisted but still entirely made of metal, crushed into every soft bit or piece of the wolf that was caught between the weapon and his pelvis. It struck hard enough to send out a ringing sound, almost like a bell, and the bludgeon - already damaged - split entirely in half with the force of the blow.

"Nnk-" Arvesk uttered a half-whimper, the pain in his arm and eye suddenly and explosively overwhelmed by the pain that was erupting through his loins and straight into his gut. He could feel the air moving around him as if he were falling - where had the ground gone? Oh, there it was, hitting him in the shoulder. Had he fallen? He must have. But even blind, he was quick to regain his bearings, and he drove himself back up onto his feet-

"NnnghAH...!" He tried uttering a howl as Veridia quickly followed up, driving what remained of her mace's wooden haft against the wolf's skull like a club. The wood splintered with the force of impact, the wolf slamming back to the ground before he could even think to rise again.

This time Arvesk stayed down, his brain rattled and his nerves ablaze - but the dogkin wasn't about to let up. Even as the wolf tried to roll onto his side, she kicked him flat onto his back again. The second she spied another opening in his addled guard she drove the stiff leather heel of her enchanted boot into the creature's genitals once more, grinding whatever was left of them harshly against the lupine's pelvis.

That was more than enough. All at once, Arvesk's will broke, and his lilting yelp turned into a howl of pain. With the last of his strength he managed to force the vicious husky's foot from his nethers, and the beast quickly curled into the fetal position in a vain effort to protect himself. Veridia snorted with disgust, punting the whimpering beast in the side with the toe of her boot, and the blow struck with enough force to send him tumbling several paces along the overgrown path, almost to the feet of his gaping packmates.

The agony in Arvesk's nethers redoubled, and his brain finally caught up with the trauma he had just suffered through - that he was STILL suffering through. Regenerating or not, resistant to physical harm or not, he could still feel pain. Weapons still hurt, but he could normally tune out the brief sting before his wounds closed. But this... it felt like he had been hit with a tree.

"Damn it," Veridia muttered. She cast a baleful gaze at her bludgeon, now hopelessly shattered, and then dropped what little remained of the haft onto the ground. "That was my favorite mace."

She looked back to the fallen wolf, a satisfied smile gracing her lips as she studied her writhing foe. She shifted her gaze to the stunned lycans gathered just past the fallen alpha, and all six of them blanched, before promptly melting away into the woods.

"Heh," she chuckled. She looked the other way now, and the rest of the beasts vanished just as quickly, their tails tucked firmly between their legs. Her keen ears could pick out the sound of their rapid retreat. She wouldn't be surprised if they ran all the way back to the Amazonian Wastes, or where ever they had come from, without risking a single pause for breath.

Kira staggered back into the clearing herself, her footing unsteady. She was a little dizzy, but she had to assume that was just because she had been hit in the head a few times. Or maybe it was the adrenaline wearing off. That was the hardest she had fought in a long while, even when she had faced off with that scaled bitch back in the Gryphon Territories.

"Blech," she muttered, and she spit out some of the acrid blood that had spilled across her tongue during the fight. She had eaten wolves before - they were one of her favorite delicacies, actually - but they had never tasted like this. The black thing's blood was stagnant and foul, like an inky sludge, and the aftertaste was so bad that it was burning her throat.

'It's fine,' the voice reassured her. 'Just relax and let me do my work.'

Rhaelyn helped a bruised and beaten Raffina back to her feet as well, sighing as he surveyed the state of his sword. Well, this was why he had thought to bring multiple blades, wasn't it? He thumbed the catch on the broken weapon's hilt, removed the dual pins holding the fragment of sundered blade in place, and threw it aside. The silver was still technically worth something, but he was too tired to make room in his pack for it. It would just be a pleasant surprise for the next urchin that wandered along the path.

He cast his gaze about, spying the head of Veridia's discarded mace, and he swiftly claimed it. With a moment's effort he had magically reshaped it into a passable substitute blade, and affixed it to the hilt. It wasn't perfect - far from it, really - but it was functional. He would have to purchase a real blade later, once he'd found his way back to Karash.

Glancing to the cheetah, he smiled. "Are you alright, Raffina?"

"Ugh," she grumbled. She had spent half the fight on her back, so she wasn't in much of a mood for the panther's passive-aggressive bullshit. "Shut up, Rhae."

And, that said, she want to find her other knife.

The mage arched a brow, but shrugged. He was just trying to be polite, but he was hardly going to argue with the cheetahkin when she was in such an obviously foul mood. Instead, he turned his attention to the gryphon. "Kira? Are you alright?"

"Blech!" The hen repeated, her talons clawing at her tongue. Gods, it tasted awful! It tasted worse than awful! It tasted like she had eaten an entire beakful of fire ants, and they were all crawling around on her tongue and down her throat! "Water!"

Rhaelyn blinked, but promptly fulfilled the hen's request. He retrieved a light metal flask from one of his pockets - at best, a mundane flask of that size would carry only a pint of water, but he had bound a minor water spirit to this one. He handed it over, and the gryphon gratefully upended it to wash out her beak.

The panther suppressed a chuckle, then moved quietly away as he went to check on the husky. She was standing a dozen paces distant, her eyes fixed on the middle-distance as she scanned the surrounding forest. There wasn't a single wolfwere in sight.

"Where did the big one go? Ah, what did you call him?"

"Arvesk," Veridia grunted. "And they took him. The rest of his pack."

Raffina appeared from nowhere, triumphantly holding her missing blade aloft. Catching the tail-end of the dogkin's comment, she scowled. "And you just LET them take him? Should have killed him when you had the chance."

The cheetah wiped her blades against her shirt, then sheathed them both at her belt. "Fucking wolves are a menace."

Veridia snorted, not even looking at the disgruntled feline. The husky was half-wolf herself, but she was sure that the cheetah wasn't referring to her. Or, ah, mostly sure. "I ain't happy 'bout it either, Raff, but I didn't have much choice. You three weren't in any shape to help me take on the other twelve of'em."

Raffina hesitated, mollified, and she quickly turned her own gaze to the surrounding woods. "We, uh... we should probably get moving. Before the wolves find their spines again." And she spared the faintest smile, stepping quickly down the path as she called back over her shoulder. "Or their balls."

"Huh," the husky smirked just slightly. "I do think that gal is finally startin' to warm up to me." And then her mirth faded, her attention shifting to the panther again. "Rhae, d'you figger there's somethin' more to these guys takin' a run at us?"

Rhaelyn mulled on that, his own expression grim. "I would prefer to think that they did it out of hatred. We're, ah... we're well-enough known to Cygna's followers, you and I. Well-enough known that they might hunt us down simply to see us die."

Veridia stooped, retrieving the panther's pack from where she had discarded at the fight's start. "But yer not actually thinkin' that's why they did it?"

The mage sighed, and shook his head. "No, I'm not. We already know that Elin was carrying the Phylactery when she vanished, and the soul of Cygna with it, so maybe The Bitch Queen has found some way to-"

"Nf," Kira grunted. She bumped into the panther's knees as if blind, then stumbled backward a few steps as she tried to compensate.

Rhaelyn arched a brow, his ears twitching forward. There was a hint of concern in his voice. "Kira?"

"Don't feel good," she mumbled faintly. Her fur and feathers were matted, and her eyes were dull and unfocused. She had dumped gallons of water onto her face, and none of it had helped to get rid of that horrid taste. What was worse, now the imaginary fire ants were gnawing away at her stomach, and spreading out from there. All of her insides burned, and her extremities tingled. In fact, she couldn't even feel her legs. None of them.

'It's fine,' the voice repeated in her head. 'Everything is going to be fine. I'm almost done.'

And then it murmured softly, it's tone a little more sympathetic. 'This might hurt a little.'

"I think, hf..." Kira wavered, her legs abruptly buckling beneath her. She rolled onto her side, her eyes fluttering shut. "Gonna... lie down..."

Rhaelyn was kneeling at her side in a heartbeat, his blood running cold as he gently cradled her head in his lap.

Veridia blinked, dumbfounded. "Rhae, what happened?"

"I don't know," he muttered, at a loss. "Just... set up camp. I, ah... I need to get her into my tent. I have to... to do something to help her!"

"Rhae..." Veridia's voice was soft and sympathetic, but the hand she set to the feline's shoulder was firm. "We can't camp here. They might come back."

The panther was silent for a few seconds, but finally he managed a slight nod. He steeled himself, and with the dogkin's help he pulled himself back to his feet. "I need to set up my tent."

The canine frowned, shadowing the feline as he started rummaging through his pack. "Rhae, I just said that we can't-"

Rhaelyn scowled, picking through the chaotic jumble of bottles and books until he had found the neatly folded tent. It was a thing of magic, larger on the inside than out, and when collapsed it was barely larger than a cigar box. "I know! I'm just- we can carry her easier, this way. And- and then we'll set the tent back up, once we've found somewhere to camp."

Understanding dawned in the warrior's eyes, and she nodded. Turning away, she quickly pursued the cheetah. "Raffina! We need to scout out a safe place to bed down for the night!"

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

"We'll bed down here for the night."

Kavah glanced around dubiously, scanning the torn underbrush and broken trees. It was an hour or so after sundown and some rest would be nice, but this hardly looked like an ideal spot. "Er, here? Izzat a good idea, ser?"

The robed thing turned slightly, it's face invisible 'neath the shadowed cowl, but still clearly looking right at the fox.

The scout shivered a little, his gaze averted. "I mean, uh, good idea ser. I'll tell the guys."

The dark wizard turned away, evidently satisfied with the foxkin's reply.

Kavah quickly scampered away, moving to join the waiting mercenaries. They had left two of their number behind at the site of the cold camp, but they still numbered ten strong. Granted, most of those ten were either brutish or insane, but at least they were on on the same team.

"The boss sez we're camping here fer the night," the fox announced. Most of the men took the statement in stride, and within seconds there were tents being pitched and bedrolls being laid out. But not all of them seemed so eager to obey the order.

Royce glanced around, his brow quirked with open skepticism. He leaned down, plucking a shattered blade from the ground. The blood on it was still fresh. "Kavah, are you certain? This is hardly an ideal spot. It looks like a battle was fought here, and recently."

The fox brightened, "That's e'zactly what I said! But-"

Royce looked to him, one hand raised to tilt his hat back. "But?"

Kavah paused, then shrugged reluctantly. "Orders is orders."

"Yes," the dark wizard murmured. Night had fallen, and against the shadowy backdrop of the broken woods it seemed as if he had appeared from nowhere. "Orders ARE orders."

The lion hesitated, then frowned. "Yes... ser. Of course. But Kavah and I were just saying that-"

The robed thing spoke again, one black-gloved hand raised to cut the swordsman off. "I know what you were saying, Silver-Heart, but I have my reasons. Our prey grows near, and we do not wish to overtake them. Not yet."

"I, ah-" Royce wanted to object further, but something stopped him.

"And we know that they fought with something here," the dark wizard murmured impassively. "So this is the one place they will not return to."

Royce exchanged a glance with Kavah, then finally and reluctantly bowed his head. "Of course, ser. That... that makes sense."

The shadowed thing studied the swordsman for a few seconds longer, then drifted away without another word.

The lionkin sighed, his neck twisting as he watched the wizard go. "I'm not going to lie to you, Kavah. I'm beginning to have second thoughts about this entire endeavor."

Kavah shrugged, already in the midst of dragging his own bedroll from the back of his mount. "Yeh, well, me too. But that's what happens when ya work fer a wizard. I mean seriously, wizards. Come on."

Royce bobbed his head slightly, his eyes still following the robed thing's movements. The dark wizard stood on the far side of their makeshift camp now, near his skeletal steed, and he was exchanging words with one of the other mercenaries.

"Yes, I..." the swordsman paused, glancing back to the sundered blade in his hand. "I suppose. But still, there's something about all of this that feels very wrong."

Kavah snorted, and shrugged again. "Yeh, well- oh, hey, izzat silver?"

The lion blinked, then glanced back to the blade. It was a finely forged sword once, but the silver plating was crudely applied - as if it had simply been plunged into a vat of molten silver without any thought as to the aesthetics. "I, ah, yes. I suppose it is."

"Can I see it?"

Royce glanced back to the grinning fox, then rolled his eyes.

"You can keep it." He flicked the blade to the ground, and moved to fetch his own horse. He still had some thinking to do, but there was no reason that he couldn't do that while sitting next to a roaring fire and enjoying some trail rations.

But still, there was something very strange going on. Very strange indeed.

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

"Are you sure that's them?"

Draev nodded eagerly, his lupine ears twitched forward. "Yes, princess! Three beastkin. Two cats and a dog. That has to be them."

Kai bit her lip, her arms crossed just below the curve of her chest. It was true, there were two cats and a dog, but they were part of a much larger group. That was strange. Very strange indeed.

Another wolf peered past her, spying on the campsite from their leaf-shrouded perch. "There's ten of them. That's more than four. I thought they said it was four?"

Venn snorted, shoving Griff out of the way. "Shut up you mutt. They clearly went to get reinforcements after they beat Arvesk's group. Right, Kai?"

The she-wolf glanced toward the princess for confirmation, but Kai still said nothing. Instead, the lycan seemed deep in thought, her gaze fixed on the campsite at the foot of the hill. It had only been an hour now since she had intercepted a few of her fleeing comrades. Kai hadn't gotten a chance to speak with Arvesk himself, but from what little she could gather this DID look like the group that had beaten her pack so soundly.

Not that it was easy to get accurate information from a lesser lycan. Especially not when it was in a blind panic.

Griff circled back around, moving to the edge of the group and standing just out of reach of Venn's claws. "Well, didn't he say there was a... a grriffin? Griff-on. He said there was one of those. I don't see it."

Venn scowled, and took a step toward her annoying packmate, but Griff quickly retreated behind the other male. She snorted, and simply bopped Draev on the nose instead. Both of the males were equally stupid, so punishing one was just as good as punishing the other.

"Ow," the wolf whined. "Hey!"

Venn looked back to the camp, scanning over the mercenaries and their horses, before finally pointing. "There. That thing. That's a griff-on."

Griff squinted, following the she-wolf's gesture. "I'm pretty sure that's a lizardman."

The female rolled her eyes, then pointed at something else instead. "Fine. Then that. That, rrr... that skeleton-horse thing. That's a griff-on. It's what the wizard was riding on, so it makes sense."

Griff seemed unconvinced, his ears slanted as he stayed safely behind Draev. "Are you sure? I don't think that's what a griff-on is. I think it's supposed to look more like, uh... me. I'm a Griff, so-"

"Are you calling me a liar? You flea-bitten little-"

"Agh, hey! Stop biting! No teeth! No teeth!"

"Would the two of you stop- OW, hey! Come on!"

Finally, Kai spoke. "Knock it off, you idiots. You're going to draw their attention."

The other three wolves froze, then quickly disentangled themselves from each other. At another glare from the princess quickly prompted Draev and Griff to dutifully lower themselves back into the brush.

Venn wasn't so easily cowed, though. Not even by a royal. "So it's them, right? It's totally them."

Kai pursed her lips, absently rubbing along her furred chin. "Yes, I think... I think it is. There's more of them now, but they match the description. There's the cat-thing with the sword, and the wizard, and the dog-"

"I think that's a fox," Griff quickly interjected.

Draev hushed his friend, holding a clawed finger to his lupine muzzle. "Ssh, a fox IS a dog!"

The princess sighed, setting one hand to her forehead. Idiots. Her entire pack was made up of idiots. Everyone but her. And Arvesk. And maybe Venn. Oh, which reminded her...

"Venn, darling, could you shut those two up? Quietly, please."

The she-wolf grinned broadly, and pounced onto the two younger warriors. They yelped and tried to flee, but she was faster, and within a second she had managed to pin one's throat beneath her knee and lock the other in a choke-hold with her nimble arms. They struggled a little, but they knew better than to really fight back. Griff made the mistake of squirming just a bit too much, and Venn's free hand swiftly laid claim to his unguarded pouch.

One quick twist of her wrist, and a bit of pressure behind her thumbclaw, and the younger wolfwere's protests lilted swiftly into a soprano squeal. Venn kept the pressure even, enough to make her point, but not enough to actually maim the creature. Not yet, anyway. She knew that Kai still needed the warriors in fighting condition.

Kai rubbed her temples now, smiling a little. "Thank you."

Venn nodded gleefully, but she didn't say anything. She was too busy gnawing on Draev's closer ear. She was careful not to break the skin, mostly, but it was important for the male to think she might bite it off at the slightest provocation. She actually liked Draev, but it was important to show that she was in charge. It was just the way their pack hierarchy worked. Still, she gave him a quick swipe of her tongue, right between his ears.

Now Griff on the other hand... that one she despised. She twitched her lower-placed hand again, shifting her body atop the wolf that was beneath her knee. Claws dug into the unfortunate male's most delicate organs, and the lycan's agonized moan was choked off as she bore down on his throat with her leg.

The princess smirked a little, but then sighed again. Maybe this was a bad idea. This group HAD beaten up Arvesk, after all, and he was the only lycan she knew of that was actually stronger than her. And in addition to that, Arvesk had been leading a pack of their strongest warriors, and SHE had nothing but a pack of stupid puppies.

As much as she hated to admit it, hunting adventurers might be something she wasn't yet equipped for. Not yet. Maybe in another year or two when she was older and stronger, and the rest of her pack actually took her seriously.

But then again, if she could succeed where Arvesk had failed...

"Oh," she perked. "That one! That one is straying away from the rest of the group!"

All three of her packmates followed her gaze, but only Venn was in any state to actually talk. "Oooh, yes. That one is alone. What would you have us do, princess?"

Kai's muzzle split into a wolfish grin, her tail wagging behind her. "Draev. Griff. You two go get the others." And she glanced back to the lone beastkin. The one that seemed so eager to distance himself from his companions.

"Venn and I are going hunting..."

Yes, she had to admit that it was risky, going up against even a single experienced adventurer - but she was the Queen of the Wolfweres. She was smarter and stronger and faster and cleverer than all of her kin combined, and this was just the way to prove it.

Honestly, what was the worst that could happen?