FSE

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Here we go, the second chapter in what I'm actually hoping will be a long-running series! (Provided I have the time that is...)

Obviously all characters are copyrighted to me, figured I should add that in because everyone else seems to.

Anywho, I hope you enjoy! (And as always, comments/constructive criticism is always appreciated!)

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I didn't dream during the night, but then, I never usually did. My younger years weren't the greatest, even after I joined the Cleric's Guild. Painful memories kept me from aiming too high, so dreams never entered into the equation.

My eyes fluttered open, and I took in the rather eerie scene before me of a heavy blanket of fog swirling around the trees we had camped under. It was surreal to look upon, and that feeling of being in a dream was added to by the strong, lithe arms wrapped around me. Not to mention the leg draped over my own.

I turned my head as best I could to see Miles sleeping soundly behind me. The coyote had wrapped himself around me almost protectively, and with that, I began feeling happier than I ever had before in my life.

That happiness quickly turned to a burning blush in my cheeks as the coyote shifted slightly in his sleep, causing a very large, very erect, shaft to press and grind against the small of my back.

Leaving the warm embrace of Miles was out of the question, I was effectively pinned underneath him, not to mention I _really_didn't want to leave where I was.

Evidently, the shiver of pleasure that ran up my spine in addition to the turning of my head was enough to stir the coyote out of his slumber. He nuzzled gently into my neck, licking through my fur as he squeezed me, and all of my embarrassed emotions vanished.

"Morning!" Savrum's voice called happily from the mist just before the fire ignited and lit up our campsite.

And there was my embarrassment again...

The shark was merrily stoking the fire, building it up so it banished the fog around us leaving myself and Miles completely exposed.

The coyote, of course, didn't so much as bat an eyelash. He gave my neck one last lick and crawled over me to stand up and stretch, his erection pointing out proudly before him.

I know I should have blushed harder when he turned around and offered me his hand to help me up, but all I could do was grin stupidly as my arousal tried to ignore the chill of the morning air. Luckily though, the object of my desires wandered off towards the edge of the escarpment to join Jack, who was presently looking over his map.

"Miles is one lucky dog." Savrum chuckled, noticing me watch the coyote as he walked away. I turned to the shark with a smile on my muzzle.

"I'm the lucky one." I said, sitting down next to him to help prepare a soup for breakfast. "I never would have expected to join a group like this in a million years."

"Mark those words." Savrum laughed. "We get into sticky situations, not always the good kind either. Injuries, near death experiences, pain, it's all part of the job when you're out on a mission."

"Don't threaten me with a good time." I smiled. I didn't know just how honest Savrum was being, but even if I did, I wouldn't have wanted to undermine the position I had found myself in among the group by letting myself appear afraid.

Being alone with the shark got me to thinking about where he had come from. The Black Guild didn't exactly have a sterling reputation as upholders of the law after all, and after essentially being raised by clerics, my views were incredibly biased.

"So..." I said, pausing a moment to try and phrase my question in a way that wouldn't end with me getting berated. "You, forgive me for saying, don't really act like what I expected from a member of the Black Guild."

"Oh?" His voice didn't sound offended or angry, but then, he _was_able to hide himself in plain sight well enough to be invisible. Surely control of his emotions took no effort. "And what did you expect?"

"I-I don't know." I was getting nervous, fearing that I had indeed just ticked him off. "I-I just m-mean that, you're so jovial, and kind... I j-just didn't know..."

Savrum laughed as he draped an arm over my shoulders. The gesture was made purely for comfort, but given how nervous I was, that part of my mind saw it as incredibly threatening.

"You're more used to those people that claim to be part of my guild." The shark began, keeping an eye on the pot of soup bubbling away above the fire. "In truth, we're a tiny guild, and we don't just go around assassinating or stealing on a whim. We deal more with situations like this mission that we're on; retrieval."

I was feeling a lot more comfortable as he explained what he actually did. It was apparently a common misconception to assume a pickpocket or murderer was automatically associated with the Black Guild.

"What about the assassination part?" I asked, not quite as afraid as I had been to start with.

"Say someone scheduled to be executed escapes from prison," Savrum said, reaching forward to stir the pot. "We get hired to track that person down. One of our guild's rules is to offer the person a choice; return to prison and meet their end honourably, or face their death within two days of our visit."

"It's a big Empire, Kris. There are a _lot_of sick people out there." The shark sighed, and for a moment, I could almost feel the weight of everything he must have seen during his life.

It was the first moment since meeting him that I saw Savrum be even slightly less than cheerful, and to be honest, it hurt. In spite of my earlier apprehensions about being alone with the shark, I wanted to comfort him.

So, taking into consideration the company I was with, I leaned against him and gave him as good a sideways hug as I could. It seemed to work at least; Savrum's long powerful tail swept side to side happily behind him as he returned the gesture.

"Someone's getting comfortable." Savrum said in a teasing, sing-song voice.

"It's hell." I chuckled as we broke the embrace to dole out portions of soup into four bowls. "I'm so far out of my comfort zone, but I'm loving every minute of it."

"Oi, Jackie!" The shark called out as our two other party members walked back to join us. "One tent tonight!"

I couldn't help but blush again, but the smiles on everyone's faces told me that I had nothing to be worried about. _'At least not in the conventional sense.'_I thought.

Breakfast was a quick affair consisting of us eating our soup, cleaning the dishes, then packing everything away into our packs before starting our journey anew.

Miles, of course, didn't need to get dressed, and soon after we started off, he disappeared once more into the forest around us. It was at least getting brighter despite the thick canopy above us, illuminating all kinds of flora that seemed so alien to me.

Jack was leading us, the heavy shield and sword strapped to his back not seeming to hinder him in any way as we meandered over massive roots and around thick shrubs.

Savrum took it upon himself to point out certain edible plants, and large, colourful mushrooms that were apparently best avoided. I knew enough about herbalism to make a dozen different potions, such things were taught to every cleric no matter their trade, but here across the ocean, everything was new.

I vowed to spend time after this mission studying and experimenting with these new reagents, knowing that the more I knew, the more use I would be to the group should the worst happen.

We stopped once or twice to rest our feet; mine were taking quite a beating considering I had never gone on a journey like this before. The forest was so beautiful, and the company so great, that I had quickly lost track of time, not to mention where I was walking.

I bumped into Savrum from behind and gave a quick apology, only to be shushed by the shark as he brought his index finger up to his lips.

I was confused at first, but when he held his hand out flat and lowered it along with his body, even I understood that I was meant to follow suit. As I lowered myself to the ground, I heard voices coming from the forest around us.

Savrum's ears were aimed to the right, but he was far better trained at this than I was; to me, the voices were coming from every direction at once. My stomach pressed against the ground, but I was certain my heartbeat could be heard thudding within my chest as I closed my eyes and tried to calm myself.

"-hree damn days out here." A gruff voice split the quiet air, followed by heavy rustling from a nearby thicket. "Haven't seen a single animal."

The voice belonged to a massive brute of a horse, his heavily scarred face twisted into a frightening scowl that was more unsettling than the large two-handed axe strapped to his back.

I had to fight back a whimper. The horse was no more than fifty feet away from me, but my mind was screaming at me to flee. After all, I was a white cheetah lying amongst a sea of dead leaves and small green plants. There was no way he wouldn't be able to see me if he came any closer.

"Has it occurred to you that the reason we can't find anything is because of the noise you make?" A strong looking tigress stepped out from the thicket. She was wearing battered looking armour which I noticed was shared by three others that followed in her wake.

"I think the animals know what's going on." A tired looking fox said. To say he looked haggard would be doing him a disservice; the canine's eyes were sunken, his fur matted and dirty, and his steps seemed more like staggers.

"Don't be stupid." The badger next to him growled as the group came to a halt, sitting themselves down against the trees around them. "Nothin's goin' on. You're just paranoid."

"I can't be the only one hearing that screaming at night." The fox visibly shivered. "And what about the group that went in to check up on things? None of them have been right since."

"None of us have been right since we took this job." The fifth member, a male tiger sighed as he bit into a tough piece of dried meat. "Before this, no one would have even thought of deserting. Now we're what, half strength? Less if you count the higher-ups basking in our hosts hospitality inside."

The group continued talking, and I began to feel safe enough to turn my head to look towards Savrum, but the shark was nowhere to be seen. The only thing taking up my vision was dead leaves and greenery, and the black form of Jack sitting behind a large tree stump thirty yards away.

The wolf caught my attention by waving his paw towards him, obviously telling me to make my way over to him.

'Is he bloody mad?' I thought to myself. Fear had effectively paralyzed me when the mercenaries appeared from the thicket, but if Jack was telling me to move, well, it didn't matter how little I knew him; he was the expert.

As quietly as I could, I picked myself up, slowly moving along on my hands and knees while I kept myself as close to the ground as I could. My eyes were fixed ahead of me, carefully scoping out where my hands should move to next when I realized just how quiet the forest had gotten.

I paused, and my ears perked up trying to pick up any sound they could while my nose twitched away a mile a minute. I could smell ample amounts of sweat and musk just before a booted foot drove into my side, sending me flying a few feet from where I had stopped.

The kick had landed right in my gut, and the pain I felt was matched only by the urge to vomit.

"So we've got a little cat out in the wilderness all alone." It was the tigress standing over me, and when my eyes cleared enough from the haze of pain I noticed she was grinning down at me.

"Must've been sent to find out what happened to the guards." The badger said as he walked over, a savage looking short sword in hand.

"Well he wasn't sent alone." The horse rumbled as he pulled his massive axe from its holster on his back. "Kid this small this far from any town looking clean and well fed? No, you're not alone, are you?"

He knelt down, embedding the head of his axe into the ground right beside my trembling leg. I winced as his breath hit me, which only added to the tears of pain that were already running down my cheeks.

"Kid, you best start talking before one of us starts cutting off parts of you." The tigress sneered as she pulled out a shining dagger. I had no doubt in my mind that she'd make good on the threat, even without the visual aid.

"Don't start lopping off just anything." The tiger stepped forward. His hands were empty, but it was easy to see why; he was fumbling with his belt, trying to open the front of his pants.

The pain in my gut and the stinging side of my face instantly retreated to the back of my consciousness as I watched him open his pants and pull out his half-hard, six inch cat-hood.

'_Miles... Miles where the hell are you...'_My mind began pleading to Drysen, Nature, any god that was willing to listen, but most of all, I prayed for Miles, Jack, and Savrum to save me.

I was wrenched up from my sitting position and forced against a tree, my backside curling between my legs as I felt a hand slip underneath my belts to take a rough hold of the waist of my pants.

"Start talking or he won't be the only one!" The horse shouted into my ear, but his words were lost on me as my mind scrambled to protect itself from what I knew was about to happen.

Some part of my mind was screaming that the brute was about to strike me again, but before I could even fully acknowledge the fear of more pain, there was a shrill whistle followed by a thud. I didn't want to look up; as far as I knew the sounds were just my mind's attempt to distract me from the inevitable pain of torture and death.

The grip on my pants was gone though, and I was no longer being held against the tree.

"What t-" I was fairly certain that voice belonged to the badger, but it was hard to tell through the gurgling sound issuing forth from where he stood. Another shrill whistle followed almost immediately after, and I heard what sounded like a sack of potatoes striking the ground.

I cried out as a strong pair of black furred arms wrapped around my chest and hauled me back from the tree. I wanted to scream more, I wanted to fight, to kick and bite and claw as hard as I could, but my brain refused to function out of sheer terror.

"You're okay, Kris." Jack's smooth voice penetrated the cloud of fear that had settled in my mind. His soothing voice didn't seem to fit with his battle-hardened image, but his words in addition to the strong hands gently rubbing my arms and chest relaxed me enough to be able to focus on what had just happened.

The fur under my eyes was still soaked from my tears, but I had at least gotten my sobbing under control thanks in no small part to the gentle whisperings of the black wolf now cradling me against his chest. After a few moments of rocking, I felt brave enough to turn my head.

Four of the five mercenaries were dead. Two of them had obvious open throats, their hearts still weakly squirting blood from neatly slashed arteries, and the other two had arrows planted firmly through their skulls. One arrow had punched through hard enough that it had pinned the badger against the tree he had been standing in front of.

Seeing the four bloody messes around me didn't shake me. After all, they_were_ about to kill me, and the sight of blood was nothing to a cleric, but I was still certain that the only reason I didn't lose my lunch right then was the shock of having survived the entire ordeal.

"You're okay." Came the wolf's soothing words again.

"You lot with the thief that stole the focus?" I turned my head again to see the fox tied up to a tree as Jack held onto me, his size doing wonders to calm my heart and make me feel more sedate. Savrum was standing in front of the panicked fox cleaning the black metal of his daggers with a piece of the mercenaries torn shirt.

Instead of answering, the fox just began to sob, slumping underneath his bindings.

Savrum simply sighed and reached out, taking a hard grip of his neck and wrenching it back up so they were eye to eye.

"You've hurt a friend of ours," The shark said flatly, though the words coming from his mouth were dripping with menace. "I suggest you tell me what I want to know or I can't guarantee your end will be either quick or painless."

"P-please..." The fox whimpered. A dark part of my mind took satisfaction in the sight knowing what his group was about to do to me. "Please k-kill me..."

That comment piqued everyone's interest.

"Now why would you want me to do that?" Savrum asked. Clearly he had been trained to interrogate, because while the fox's death wish threw myself and Jack off, the shark simply went back to cleaning his daggers. "Your boss the type to kill the troops that fail him?"

"N-no..." The fox replied, his eyes still watering. "B-but the lord of the manor would bring me inside."

"Oh do tell." The shark continued with his questions, proceeding as if he was having a casual conversation in a café. "From what we heard, going inside the manor would be a blessing with all that food and shelter and warmth."

"Anyone who goes in doesn't come out." The mercenary said quietly. "A group went in to see our commander. But when they came out they told us that everything was under control, but none of them have been right in the head since."

"How do you mean, 'right in the head'?" Savrum asked. It was then I realized that Miles had rejoined us and was now standing beside myself and Jack. When he caught my eye, the coyote gave me a smile that nearly returned me back to normal.

"They talk in their sleep." The fox explained, his eyes red and watering as he just stared at the ground. "Well, whenever they _did_sleep. They wouldn't talk about what they saw inside, but they just kept saying that we needed to leave. They'd have nightmares in the middle of the day, bad fits that made them froth at the mouth and scream bloody murder. All but one ended up clawing out their own throats."

The prospect of going to the manor was a _lot_less appealing than it had been before. Savrum didn't seem terribly concerned with the story, but then neither did Jack nor Miles, which made me only slightly more comfortable.

"All but one?" Savrum asked, calm as he ever was.

"Jerod gouged out his own eyes. Went on screaming that he could still see_them._"

"How many of you are there at the manor?" The shark asked as he inspected his blades, ensuring each one was spotless. He didn't seem too concerned about the last part of the fox's story, myself on the other hand, couldn't supress a shiver.

"Thirty left." The fox sighed, his sobs growing silent. "Out of our original sixty. But that was three days ago before we went hunting."

"Patrols?" Savrum continued.

"We were the only ones that were willing to leave the camp to look for food." The mercenary replied. "We clustered together at the north and south ends of the manor's perimeter. Safety in numbers considering the sounds we heard at night."

Savrum looked back to us, and I felt Jack nod his head above me while I just stared at the dishevelled fox we had tied up to the tree.

"Thank you for your information." Savrum said as he turned back to the canine. "May whatever god you follow guide you to your appropriate afterlife."

The shark drove his dagger into the fox's chest. Even I knew that it was a near instant death as the mercenary slumped down one last time. I wanted to feel something. I wanted to be glad the male was dead after what had happened, but all I could feel was pity.

Whatever had been going on at the manor had clearly shaken the poor sod enough that he _wanted_to be killed. I shuddered to think of what could have been bad enough to make him that desperate.

"Come on, we've got a few hours of walking still to do." Jack gave me a gentle squeeze before letting me go and returning to our original path towards the west.

I stood quietly for a few short moments before Savrum gave my shoulder a squeeze.

"We couldn't take him with us." The shark said softly. "And he wouldn't have survived long in this part of the wilderness."

"I know." I said quietly as I turned from the five slain mercenaries and began to walk with him. To be honest, I was feeling both comforted and unsettled at his cold use of logic, but I knew that I was safe with him.

I didn't notice what had happened to Miles after that encounter, but I could only assume that he had simply returned to prowling the wilderness on his own, keeping a watchful eye on us from afar.

We ended our second day of travel on top of a large hill overlooking a lush green valley. The trees around us were thinned out enough that we could see two towers of red brick jutting out from the trees in the center of the lowland. I was no expert, but it looked as though we were only a few hours walk from the manor itself.

That thought sent a chill down my spine.

Fortunately for me, the chill was replaced with warmth as Miles appeared behind me and wrapped his arms around my midriff. If it weren't for the ominous look of the manor's spires standing above the trees, I'd have felt completely relaxed.

A gentle lick to the side of my muzzle was enough to snap me out of my fearful thoughts and instead, I focused on the warm heart beating against my back, and the panoply of colours fighting for dominance in the sky as the sun set behind the trees on the far side of the valley.

"I can see why you guys prefer to stay out of the cities." I said as I set my hands over top of the coyote's.

Miles responded by sitting down behind me, pulling me down with him as he went so I was now sitting in his lap. His bare lap... In spite of being recently captured by violent psychopaths who wouldn't have thought twice about torturing and killing me, my mind went wild with every fearful insecurity and lustful craving I was capable of having.

The canine simply held me there though, resting his muzzle on my shoulder and hugging me tightly as we watched the sky.

Well, Miles watched the sky. I was too busy trying to keep myself from grinding my backside against him. Trauma does weird things to you, but good company seemed to fix it blindingly fast. Thinking of just how much I owed these three so far was enough to calm me down enough that blood began circulating around my body again instead of just in my groin.

Perhaps the near death experience gave me fresh insight into life; how I shouldn't be so strung up on simple things like how sore my feet had gotten during our long trek, or more complex things like my comfort level around these three adventurers. It was hard to explain, but despite all of the baggage I had on my soul, I was finally starting to feel alive.

I certainly didn't spend too much time worrying about how shy I was as Miles led me back to the tent Jack and Savrum had erected in a small cluster of trees. The thick blankets covered the ground, and two more were set at the sides just in case it got too cold at night. I figured that with four of us sharing the small den, the cold wouldn't be a problem, especially when I saw Jack already lying down inside.

The black wolf was on his back, once again completely nude, with his large soft pride lying back against his abs and his hands linked together behind his head, but Savrum was nowhere to be seen. I shrugged and pulled off my clothes, underwear included, and set them neatly into my backpack before crawling over to rest beside Jack.

My newfound appreciation of life drove my confidence through the roof as I pressed myself right up against the wolf's side and rested my head on his chest, and any worries that might have plagued me at the perceived risk of offending Miles were instantly dispelled as the coyote wrapped his arms around me from behind, pulling himself close.

"Glad to see you're getting comfortable." Jack chuckled. The dull thudding of his heart making me purr quietly.

"Can't help it." I mumbled, unable to supress a smile. "A _lot_changed today."

"I'll say." One of the wolf's strong arms wrapped around both Miles and myself. "You didn't even hesitate to cuddle. Or go nude for that matter."

That made me blush as my consciousness caught up with my body's actions. I was now sandwiched between a lithe, naked coyote, and a powerfully built, naked wolf.

I knew that if I offered myself, the two wouldn't hesitate, and Savrum would definitely appear from wherever he presently was to partake too, but given what had just happened to me...

"Go to sleep, Kris." The wolf gave both of us a squeeze as if he could feel that the remnants of my ordeal still hadn't worn off. "Big day ahead tomorrow. You'll want to be well rested from what we're going to be doing."

If anyone else had said that to me, I would have begun to panic; but this was Jack talking, and it was easy to convince myself that he would keep me safe.

As I happily nestled between coyote and wolf, exhaustion from the day's events set in. I yawned widely, earning a chuckle from my partners before my eyes closed. Thankfully I was asleep within a few minutes.

My slumber was again uneventful; Drysen must have taken pity on me and prevented the previous day's events from haunting me in my sleep.

When I woke up, I felt like I was ready to take on the world. The strong arms wrapped around me from behind only solidified the feeling of security that had been so badly shaken the day before.

I reached down to run my hands along the muscles of the arms, surprised when I didn't feel fur, but tough smooth skin. When I turned my head, and looked up, Savrum was quietly smiling.

"About time I got a turn to cuddle with you damnit." The shark chuckled as he gave me a squeeze.

I couldn't bring myself to feel embarrassed or uncomfortable. Instead I just joined in with a chuckle of my own.

"I'm honestly just surprised you weren't groping me in my sleep." I said as the shark sat up, pulling me into his lap. I tried my best to ignore our nudity and the feel of certain parts pressed into my backside; it was going to be a big day, and I didn't think any of us could afford to spend the time or energy to for such thoughts.

"Tsk tsk tsk." Savrum flicked his head away in mock indignation. "I didn't expect you to think so lowly of me. After your harrowing experience, groping you is the last thing on my mind!"

When he turned back to look at me, I gave him a quick peck on the cheek and a tight hug. The surprised look on his face was priceless.

"Thank you." I didn't have anything else to say or do to express just how thankful I truly was, not only to Savrum, but to Miles and Jack, for saving me. It was at that moment that I swore I would do everything I could to keep the three as safe as I could.

"Heh, I said groping was the _last_thing." He chuckled, but made no move to fondle me or grind into me as I would have expected he would have done just a day before. "There are plenty of other things on that list that I want to do to you."

A small pebble bounced off the shark's nose, eliciting a quiet yelp from him as he let me go to hold on to the end of his muzzle.

Jack was standing a few feet away with two steaming bowls of soup in his hands, while Miles was grinning and shaking his head.

"Why does no one trust me being alone with someone?" Savrum whined as we took the offered bowls and began eating.

"Find anything out about the manor last night?" Jack asked as he sat down just outside the tent, resting his back against a tree. The wolf didn't seem to be in a terribly playful mood, but I couldn't really expect anything less considering the task ahead of us. It was still slightly unnerving to see such a drastic change from his calm and soothing demeanour the previous night.

"Well, the merc was right." The shark began as he let me climb out of his lap so we could both enjoy our soup unimpeded. "I didn't run into anyone patrolling. Everyone is grouped up at either the north or western entrances. They don't seem terribly concerned with keeping lookouts posted either, considering how few of them I saw outside of the tents."

"There's one or two sections of crumbling wall that we could make use of to get into the yard on the eastern side of the property, but given how there aren't that many trees, I wouldn't suggest trying to get us all in during the day."

"We can wait until nightfall then." Jack said as he thumped his head back against the tree. "I don't suppose you found any kind of cellar entrance or something along those lines?"

"'Fraid not. The only upside is that after three hours of watching, I didn't once see a guard inside the walls." He said as he finished his soup. "I didn't even see any lights turn on in the manor itself."

"Normally I'd say ambush," The wolf said, scratching his head. "But no one knew we were coming, and the mercs wouldn't be so lax in security."

Throughout the conversation, Miles stood where he was, his ears swivelling back and forth with a troubled look on his face.

"You look worried Miles." I said as I set down my bowl. The others looked over to him as well, taking note.

Before Jack could ask what was wrong, the coyote held up a hand, obviously asking for silence.

We sat where we were for five minutes without moving before I broke the silence. "Where are the birds?"

For whatever reason, we hadn't noticed the complete absence of sounds one would expect to hear constantly in the middle of such a vast forest, which was quite unsettling to say the least.

"That's new." Savrum said as he looked around. "Come to think of it, I didn't hear much in the way of conversation or snoring last night when I did my rounds. Something's awry."

"Pack everything up. We'll all go down so we can take advantage of any opening we can." Jack said as he stood up and picked up the straps holding his sheathed sword. "Kris, you stay with me. Sav, Miles, you two do what you do best. Try and find us an opening."

The next ten minutes was spent packing away our tent and blankets, ensuring the campsite looked just as it had when we first arrived. Savrum eagerly helped me ensure that my belts and pouches were synched tightly so as to eliminate the noise they would make from bouncing around, and then, we set off.

As we moved through the trees, I made sure to follow the shark's exact steps. I didn't want to be the reason we got caught, especially after what had happened the day before.

The most unnerving part of our stealthy excursion was how quiet everything around us was. There were no birds, no sounds of squirrels or whatever this continent had in their place, even the sound of our footsteps seemed muffled.

I didn't know what to make of it all, and when the three of us stopped next to one of the crumbled sections of wall just two hours later, I could see that Jack and Savrum were just as put off.

With a brave smile I assumed was meant to calm me down, Savrum headed off along the wall, instantly disappearing as he passed behind a large dead tree.

I needed to learn how to do that...

"How are you feeling?" Jack's whisper made me jump a little, but I had the decency to keep quiet.

"Nervous." I lied. In truth, I was downright terrified. "I didn't exactly think my first mission would wind up like this."

"Well you're not the only one." The wolf said as he sat down next to the wall. There wasn't much either of us would be able to do unless Savrum or Miles needed us, so I joined him. "None of us have experienced something like this. It's new, and I don't really like not knowing what's going on before going in somewhere."

"Heh, you'd be the last person I'd have expected to be nervous." I said, not really thinking about whether or not my words would offend Jack. Luckily the wolf just chuckled.

"It doesn't happen often." He said as he put an arm around me and pulled me to his side. "It's especially rare when I've got Sav and Miles around."

"How did you all come to adventure together anyways?" I asked, keeping my voice as quiet as I could. "I've heard some of Miles and Savrum's stories, but nothing about you."

"Well, I'm obviously from the Warrior's Guild. I specialize in the sword and shield as you can see." The wolf started. "I was out on my first mission to guard a noble family while they made their way from Janesport to a town on the frontier. As per the typical story you hear, we got surrounded by brigands."

"You were on that mission alone?" I asked incredulously. Sending someone out for their first time without any backup just seemed stupid.

"That was the last time any new recruit was sent out alone. Now it's common practise for two or three to team up even for seemingly simple missions." Jack said with a smile. "Fourteen highwaymen versus just me. Luckily enough though, Sav had apparently been tracking the group for a day or two after giving their leader the offer."

I recalled the shark mentioning his guild's rule to offer their targets the option of returning to jail or getting killed within a few days of the meeting.

"I took some hits, but between the two of us we managed to kill them all." He finished.

"What about Miles?" I asked, curious to see how the coyote had come into the group.

"After I got patched up, Savrum offered to join us on the rest of the trip and we got to know each other pretty well." Jack explained, smiling as if remembering a particularly fond memory.

"An hour later we were just outside of town when we found Miles on the side of the road, nearly dead. We figured he was the victim of that same group of highway men we had just dealt with, but he didn't get nearly as lucky. He had lost a lot of blood from a wound to his throat, which explains why he never talks."

Thinking about how close I was to never having known Miles made me shudder. The cruelty of some people was one of the reasons I was happy just working in the guild forge, enchanting armour and helping to heal the injured.

"I can honestly say I was surprised that Sav hung around after that. He was the only one that wasn't injured or nearly dead, so he could have left at any time." Jack went on, giving me a squeeze when he noticed how disturbed I was at the thought of Miles nearly dying.

"But he stuck with me, and because we saved his life, Miles joined in too once he was healthy enough. Been taking jobs and travelling together ever since."

It wasn't necessarily comforting to have Savrum's earlier words about their group facing death and injury every time they went out set in stone, but to see that they had made it this far together certainly was.

Maybe with me around their risks would be mitigated a lot more, ignoring the fact that for that to happen, the risks to myself would skyrocket.

The next two hours was spent with me leaning against Jack's side as the wolf quietly told me about previous missions the three had been on. A few situations actually made me laugh, albeit quietly. The thought of Savrum masquerading as a chambermaid made my sides hurt.

As time passed, the sky grew darker, which began making me feel a lot more worried about what was going on in the manor, but a few rumbles of thunder later and the strong arms of Jack wrapping around me as I sat in his lap, convinced me it was just a regular thunderstorm.

I was just about to nod off when Miles appeared from the trees with Savrum following quietly behind him. The coyote made a few hand gestures, motioning up to the sky almost urgently.

"It's going to be a big storm isn't it?" Jack asked, earning an earnest nod from the coyote.

"If we wait for it to start, we can use the wind and rain to cover us while we get inside." Savrum mentioned as he expertly pulled himself up the wall. It was only about four meters high, so the shark was still able to talk to us without raising his voice too much.

"How long until we start getting poured on?" I looked to Miles, who gave me an approving smile. He held out his index finger.

"One hour." Jack said as he looked up to the darkened canopy. "We'll wait for it then. Do you have an idea for a point of entry?"

"I found a servant's entrance just around the corner from the main doors." Savrum said from his perch atop the wall. "I haven't seen anyone use the door, and it sounded quiet inside, so it's our safest bet."

Despite the situation, my mind took a moment to chuckle internally, once again picturing the shark dressed as a female.

"Smiling was the last thing I expected you to be doing, Kris." Jack must have noticed my vacant gaze as my mind replayed his earlier story.

"Just remembering that story about Sav." I admitted, blushing slightly under my fur. Instead of getting berated and told to focus as I had expected, the wolf just chuckled quietly to himself.

"Fair enough." He said with a smile. "It's certainly an easy way to ease the tension."

"What story? What did you tell him?" Savrum asked from the wall, looking down at the three of us quizzically. "Jack, I swear to the gods if you told him about that night in Innsville I will end you."

His words were accentuated by the low rumble of thunder, which, surprisingly, only made me chuckle harder.

"Nothing about Innsville," I said with a grin. "But now that you've mentioned it, I'm looking forward to hearing about _that_one later."

As we chuckled and joked and, in Savrum's case, threatened, for the next short while, the

rumbles of thunder grew in volume and number. Soon after we donned our dark cloaks, the first raindrops were dripping through the leaves high above us, making an incredibly soothing sound as we began climbing up the wall.

We left our cumbersome backpacks hidden in the brush at the base of the stone barrier, making the climb much easier for me, and as I reached the top along with the others, I got my first good look at the manor we were about to break into.

The stones were light red, but as the rain picked up and soaked them, they turned to a deep crimson. Few windows were visible, but those that I could see were tall and arched, made of stained glass set at regular intervals along the second floor.

The wall we faced was about one-hundred and fifty yards long, with nothing in the way of decorations like a garden, or even vines climbing up the wall, and at either end, the walls were topped with turrets. This manor looked more like a small castle than a regular house. From where I sat, I could easily imagine it having a courtyard within.

As my gaze moved up towards the sky, I got a good look at the tall towers we had noticed from the hilltop the previous day. They certainly didn't look like what I had expected they would; four flat windowless sides rose up a hundred yards into the air with nothing seeming to cover the tops.

A barely visible wisp of light grey smoke was rising out of it to be almost instantly swept away by the rising winds. I pointed it out to Savrum.

"Well, it certainly wasn't a guard tower, that much was for certain. Good eye." The shark's compliment boosted my mood quite a bit as my tail twitched happily behind me. "Maybe an underground furnace for a forge? These kinds of places always have underground sections."

The wind was quickly picking up steam, forcing the trees to groan and sway violently above us. The change in weather was so abrupt, we could actually hear a wall of rain sweeping across the valley; it was closing in fast.

Savrum leapt down from the wall without a word, landing with an expert roll before bounding forward to hide behind one of the few small trees that dotted the yard of the manor. The shark looked left, right, and up at the windows, making sure that there was no one around that might spot us.

I hoped that no one saw us from the windows, situated as we were on top of the crumbling wall. Overhanging branches and the grey of our cloaks would have to be enough to make us look like just part of the stone scenery.

I was nervously content, which turned into just plain miserable as a torrent of rain came crashing down on us. It only took a few seconds for my cloak to get soaked straight through, but in that time, Jack and Miles had begun to climb down the wall. I shook myself to attention and began following suit.

The descent wasn't from a particularly high place, but I didn't want to end up falling too far and spraining something because I didn't know how to land properly. Contrary to what I had expected would happen, I didn't slip and fall; the climb was actually surprisingly easy, even for me.

Sheets of rain and wind buffeted us, cutting down our visibility so much that I couldn't even see the manor just a few dozen yards away. Luckily though Miles grabbed onto my hand and guided me up to the wall where Savrum and Jack stood.

We didn't stop there. As soon as we joined the others, the shark sped off along the wall to the north and we followed without hesitation. Before long we came to the corner of the manor, which led to the right in an 'W' shape before continuing on around the bend to the main doors.

Set into a small nook in the wall was a dark brown door, marked by a stone plaque as the servant's entrance. From the number of weeds that had gathered at its base, I was put under the impression that the door hadn't been used in quite some time.

We huddled in front of the door, the corners of the building doing little to keep us sheltered from the wind and the rain that continued hammering at us from above. Savrum produced a small vial from one of his pouches, and I watched with interest as he placed the end of it against the rusted hinges, slathering them in some kind of oil.

After replacing the vial, the shark proceeded to expertly fiddle with the keyhole using two lockpicks, managing to click the door open after just a few seconds. He looked back at us and nodded before pushing the door open and stepping inside, the oiled hinges barely making so much as a squeak.

When the others didn't move in after him, I got confused, but Miles grabbed a hold of my hand before I could give voice to my questions. He smiled despite the whipping rain and held his other paw out, gesturing for me to calm down and wait.

As he did so, Savrum's long orange and white tail slid through the small opening of the door, and pulled it open the rest of the way.

I suppose that was our cue, because Jack immediately moved inside, followed quickly by Miles and myself...

And I instantly wanted to go back out into the pouring rain storm.

Even the others looked like they were about to retch at the scene before us; bodies hung upside-down from rusted meat hooks attached to the ends of long chains suspended from the ceiling. Some appeared to have been flayed, and judging from the sheer amount of blood painting the walls, I wasn't entirely sure they had been dead first.

Several more bodies were splayed out on large tables, the presence of bloody butcher knives and gore-filled pots and pans denoted this room as the manor's kitchen. I stood in horrified fascination of the room, shocked beyond either words or movement. I didn't think I could have even thrown up at that stage.

I had seen bones poking through flesh when a fellow cleric got too into their sparring in the training field. I had seen victim's of a minor pox outbreak with weeping sores cough up blood. Perhaps it was this experience that let me recover faster than the others.

"There's no flies." I said, taking a trembling step forward to inspect the cadavers. "No maggots. No sign of decay... But these are old bodies."

I'm sure the others thought I was incredibly morbid, but at least my words seemed to shake them out of their stupors.

"How did the mercenaries let this happen to their own?" Jack said after shaking his head to clear his thoughts. His stoic calm took a few moments to return, but he still looked like he was about to be sick.

"Who says these are the mercenaries?" Savrum asked as he aimed his eyes at the ground, trying to avoid stepping in any of the numerous dark stains on the ground. "They could be previous owners of this place. Got their focus, refused to pay up for the protection?"

"No point in figuring out who they were," Jack's resolve had returned as he moved towards the door on the far side of the wall. "Let's get that focus and get the hells out of here."

Something in the air was setting me on edge. It made my teeth vibrate almost imperceptibly, which wasn't an unfamiliar feeling. I felt it when I was close to Savrum's daggers, and to Miles' bow and quiver.

There was some kind of magic involved in all of this, and while I was no mage, even I could feel the signs.

"Something was summoned." I said as we gathered around the door.

Everyone looked at me, obviously unnerved at the prospect of dealing with something from beyond this world. There might also have been some apprehension at the fact that I could feel something that they clearly couldn't.

"Might as well un-summon it then." Savrum tried to put on a brave face, but his hand hesitated for a moment at the handle of the exit.

The shark inhaled deeply to calm himself before pulling the latch, forcing the old wooden door to creak open...

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And there she be! Chapter 2!

Let me know what you think! I didn't go through my normal editor, (Sorry Klaus!), instead I just posted as soon as I finished...