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A flash of white streaked out at the intruder from under
the bed, but was too late. The prowler was gone out through the open window into
the dark night, taking the still silver form with him.
Isilme hissed in angry frustration as
her mistress dissolved into the blackness outside. She had to do something.
"Morgan! Wake up! Sssshe hasss been
sssstolen." Morgan rolled over sleepily and tried to ignore the annoying
hiss in his ear. "Caesssiusss isss gone. You mussst wake up." The words
finally penetrated his sleep dimmed mind and he sat up with a jolt.
"What?!" he exclaimed staring at the pale
coil of scales on his pillow. She couldn't be gone. They were supposed to be
safe here. Everything was supposed to be going their way.
"Tell me what happened." Morgan's voice
quivered slightly as he said this, but he remained calm.
"We have to move fassst if we are to
catch the assssssailant. I am afraid for her life. Sssshe was very ssstill when
I lasssst sssaw her. I will tell you while you prepare to leave." Morgan
nodded and got out of his bed quickly. Thoughts of sleep were no longer on his
mind.
"I wasss asssleep under the bed when
I heard a noisssse. The wasss a ssstruggle of sssome kind, and I sssmelled a
foul evil sssmell. I heard Caesssiusss gasssp and cry out. Then there wasss
sssilence. I tried to attack the intruder, but he wasss too fassst. Caesssiusss
wasss not moving asss her attacker carried her away."
Morgan felt cold with dread. Cassie had
been taken away, most likely by Pravus or one of his minions, and Isilme was
unsure whether she was alive or not.
"Isilme, come with me. We need to get
going. You can help me find her."
Before leaving, Morgan went to talk to
the war leaders. Fortunately, the scarred Lupe who had sworn allegiance to Cassie
was still up. Morgan told him what had happened. The Lupe was shocked by the
news.
"I will wake the troops. We will follow
and kill who ever has stolen her!" he cried angrily.
"No, you mustn't," replied Morgan. "That
is what Pravus want us to do. We have to hold to the plan. I will find Cassie
myself. It will be faster that way, without an entire army. Besides, Cassie
wouldn't have wanted the army to be diverted just because of her."
"You are right," the Lupe agreed after
a brief pause, "I will lead the army to the north. We will meet Pravus there
as planned."
Morgan left the settlement with a feeling
of dread seeping deep into his bones. Why had this happened? What had gone wrong?
How had she been taken from her room, and out of the city with out one of the
city guards noticing and raising the alarm? Morgan was beginning to suspect
an inside job. There were too many coincidences and anomalies for it to have
been.
He followed Isilme through the undergrowth
with a tormented mind. They had to find her. She would be alright.
The scarred Lupe watched the spotted Zafara
fade into the darkness of the night. He had to rouse his troops and get a move
on. They would have to beat Pravus to the plains so they could plot out the
land and get the best possible advantage. Without Cassie, they would need it.
He told his second in command to prepare
the troops for a hard march, and then went to see the mayor. He needed to explain
what had happened and request the promised troops.
When his knock went unanswered, the Lupe
took the liberty of entering the mayor's room unbidden. He stepped through the
door way and closed the door behind him.
He was in a large open room. To the left
of him, a crack of light shone underneath the door. Maybe the mayor was still
awake. The Lupe stepped forwards and knocked on the door.
There was a scuffling noise from inside
and a sharp high voice called, "Who is there? What are you doing here at this
time of night? Have you no respect for a creature's privacy?" Though the voice
sounded annoyed, the Lupe detected an undertone of panic. Something was wrong.
"Sir, my name is Dewrder. I am one of
Caesius's captains. This is an emergency. I need to talk to you." The Lupe listened
to an odd scraping noise, and then squinted as he was led into the brightly
lit room.
"What is your emergency? Are the sleeping
arrangements unsatisfactory?" Despite the sarcasm, Dewrder noticed the Aisha's
eyes dart anxiously towards the large closet then down to the floor. He was
not acting like a normal person who had just been interrupted in the middle
of the night.
"Caesius has been taken. We need the troops
now so we can leave as soon as possible," Dewrder said eying the white Aisha
suspiciously. The small mayor looked up, but it wasn't a look of surprise.
Now he knew something was wrong. No innocent
creature could be disturbed late at night and hear news like this with out having
some kind of surprised reaction. Dewrder felt he had to be on his guard around
this Aisha.
"I'm sure that you are overreacting. Besides,
I don't think you really need my troops. They are needed here more than they
are needed with you. I'm sure you understand." Dewrder couldn't believe his
ears. This sniveling whelp had just withdrawn his offer of help.
"What are you playing at?" the Lupe snarled.
This was no time for politeness. He lunged at the Aisha, knocked him down, and
threw open the closet door. Cold eyes stared at him from an elaborate mirror.
"Lintereg, has everything gone as planned?
Is the Storm on her way?" Dewrder held back a gasp of shock and horror at seeing
the black Uni. Pravus couldn't see him, this was obvious as he thought he was
talking to Lintereg, but the surprise of seeing Pravus in the mayor's closet
was horrible.
"Yes my lord," came the weak reply from
somewhere behind Dewrder.
"Good. I will have more instructions for
you later." Then the image was gone, leaving the reflection of a stunned Lupe.
Recovering himself, Dewrder turned to Lintereg
and growled. The weak-minded mayor had a lot to answer for. He advanced; teeth
bared, hackles raised.
The cowering Aisha gave a small gasp of
fright and looked imploringly at the imposing Lupe. "Spare me! Spare me! You
can have all my troops! They do not know Pravus. They will follow you! Please
don't hurt me!"
Dewrder spat at the pitiful white shape
cringing in a huddled heap on the floor. "I will take the troops now. Before
I do, I will lock you in here and," Dewrder looked towards the closet, "I will
destroy that mirror. Your days of betrayal are over."
Morgan was beginning to panic. He had
been following Isilme for over two hours, and he had seen no sign of Cassie,
or her abductor. Isilme was still moving quickly through the grass intent on
their scent, but Morgan feared he would never find her. Without her, the troops
would be disheartened, the captains would have no leader, and they would have
no way of beating Pravus. They needed Cassie.
Aside from those things, he needed her.
He could not bear to think of what would happen if he were never to see her
again or, worse yet, if he were to find her dead and lifeless.
The thought of those bright vibrant eyes
unseeing and cold was too much to think about. She had to be alright. They had
to find her and bring her back safely. There would be no other option.
"The ssscent isss getting ssstronger,"
Isilme hissed softly. "If we move fassster, we will catch them soon." This
news both heartened Morgan, and made him afraid of what he would find.
They traveled on in this way for two more
hours. Isilme hissed instructions and comments, and Morgan followed close behind.
Soon there efforts paid of. Isilme told him that they were only about ten or
so minuets behind. They would catch him.
Morgan began to be cautious. The last thing
he needed was to let their quarry know they were coming. That would endanger
all of them, and possibly ruin any chance they had of saving Cassie. They would
have to be careful.
"Wait here. We are almost upon him."
The statement made its way to Morgan's ears from the undergrowth near his ankles.
He did not want to wait, but he didn't want to jeopardize Cassie's safety either.
Isilme sensed that here command was being
followed, so she slid through the grass following the foul smell that lingered
there. She slithered into a small clearing and hissed softly when she saw the
massive WereLupe snoring softly on the ground.
She hurried back to Morgan and related
the news. "I have found the assssailant, but I sssaw no sssign of Caesssiusss."
Morgan didn't want to hear this. "Are you
sure that this is the one who took her? Are you sure you haven't mistaken his
smell? Maybe the one we want is farther on."
Isilme focused her green eyes on Morgan
in what he took to be the serpentine equivalent of a disdainful glance.
"Of courssse I'm sssure. There isss
no other sssscent like that foul odor that I have been tracking all night."
"Lets go look again just to make sure
you didn't miss her," Morgan said, trying to sound more confident than he felt.
If Cassie wasn't with her abductor that would mean that… he didn't want to think
about it.
Isilme lead the way into the clearing.
It was as she had said. A lone WereLupe was sleeping soundly on the ground.
There was no sign of a silver Zafara anywhere. Morgan's heart sank. She was
gone.
Anger suddenly burned within his chest,
and a dull throbbing made his head ache. He would get revenge on the one who
had taken Cassie from them. Nothing could keep him from it.
He started forward, but was unable to go
far because Isilme had wound herself around his legs. "Do not be rasssh.
Asssk questionsss firssst. Besssidess, if you attack him now, he will probably
kill you if you don't kill him right away. When you are done asssking him about
Caesssiusss, I will bite him, then he will not harm either one of usss in a
battle." Morgan could not argue with the snake's logic. He consented to
waking the monster and trying to find out as much as he could about what had
happened to Cassie before letting Isilme bite the Lupe.
The WereLupe awoke with a dagger at his
throat, and a Magtile on his chest. Unwilling to provoke the poisonous reptile,
the WereLupe merely growled at the spotted Zafara holding the dagger to his
throat.
Morgan was to angry to be pleased that
everything was going smoothly, and he let that anger show in his voice as he
spoke, "Where is she? What have you done with her?"
The WereLupe looked slightly confused,
but covered it with a dark chuckle. "You must be after the little silver package
I took form Fancirith. It was to be a gift from the esteemed mayor to Lord Pravus.
I am afraid the delivery must have failed." The WereLupe was enjoying tormenting
this Zafara, but his enjoyment ended as two sharp fangs found there way into
his neck.
The Lupe let out a howl of agony, and began
to thrash about on the ground. Soon his movements were reduced to slight twitching.
Then he was still.
Isilme slid out from behind the lifeless
bulk and spat in disdain at it. Morgan looked slightly shocked. A few days ago,
he had had a smaller dose of that same venom flowing through his veins.
When his alarm wore off, it was replaced
by a deep despair. She was gone. The WereLupe had said as much. Why hadn't he
suspected something when the mayor had consented so easily to sending his troops
into war? Why hadn't he kept a closer watch on Cassie? He could have prevented
all this, but he hadn't. He hadn't.
These words rang silently throughout his
whole body. He had let her down. He hadn't done all he could to protect her,
and now he would never get the chance to fix his mistakes. Never.
A sharp hiss from Isilme cut through his
thoughts. "Ssshe wasss here."
Morgan spun round to look at Isilme. How
could she be alive if her captor had just as well told them that she was dead?
The WereLupe had said 'I'm afraid the delivery must have failed.' How much clearer
could it be?
"What do you mean, Isilme?" Morgan asked
grasping onto any shred of hope he could find.
"Ssshe wasss here. What elssse need
I sssay." Morgan looked at her, astonishment loosening the knots in his
stomach. If she had been here then that meant there was a chance, however small,
of her being alive.
Morgan looked back at Isilme. "Is there
a trail leading away from here?" He hardly dared to hope. The answer came like
a rush of cold water.
"Yessssss."
Morgan dashed after Isilme scarcely breathing.
She could be alive. She might have escaped. His heart beat hard in his chest,
as if it was a bird fighting to escape. She might be alive.
He almost stepped on Isilme when she stopped
in front of a burnt out oak tree. The snake reared up and swayed as if pulled
by a string. She then slithered around to the other side and entered through
a gap near the base.
There was silence for a moment, and then
a cry of surprise. To Morgan, it was the most beautiful noise in the world,
for he recognized the voice that he thought he would never hear again.
"Cassie? Is that you?" he asked, though
he already knew the answer.
"Morgan!" came the muffled, yet happy
reply.
Cassie wriggled out of the tree and rushed
over to him. Isilme was once again in her usual place around Cassie's neck.
Everything was as it should be.
"How did you find me so fast? I didn't
think anyone would notice that I had gone until after daybreak. Oh! The army!
Where are they? They haven't come with you I hope, because we…" Morgan quieted
her and then told her what had happened.
"Isilme saw the WereLupe leave through
your window. She tried to stop him but was too late. She told me and we followed
you here. I told the Army to go on with out us. I knew you wouldn't want the
campaign to fail because of something like this. Oh Cassie, we were so very
worried about you. I mean, Isilme said you weren't moving when she last saw
you, and the WereLupe made it sound like you were…" Morgan couldn't finish.
He never wanted to relive that feeling again.
Cassie filled in the blank for herself.
She went over to Morgan and hugged him tightly. "It's okay, Morgan. Thank you
for everything. I'm alive and well so you don't have to worry any more."
They stood there for a while not wanting
to break the silence. Morgan finally suggested getting back to the village.
"You can tell me what happened while we
walk."
"Okay, here goes."
Cassie's first thought when she had regained
consciousness was of how much her head hurt. Her next thought was the realization
that her paws were firmly bound, and she was being jostled around while being
carried on something's back.
Still a bit groggy, she had fought to
recall the chain of events leading up to this point. She remembered the party
and the loyalty of her troops. She remembered going to bed, and then she remembered
the assault. She remembered the terror as the air stopped flowing to her lungs.
Now she was here, wherever this was, being trounced around on the back of what
was probably her assailant.
Her face was bruised under her fur where
the rough paw had pressed into her face. It hurt badly as her face hit the armored
shoulder that supported her. She grimaced slightly as her head smacked into
the iron plating, and wondered if the bruise would show through her fur.
Not wanting to alert the kidnapper to
the fact that she was awake, Cassie lay still and watched the ground pass below
her in the moon light. What was to happen to her now? Was she being taken to
Pravus? Considering the circumstances, this was very likely.
After a while, she became very sore and
stiff from her rough ride, and began to wish that she could be set down somewhere
solid and firm. A bed of granite would be a welcome relief compared to this.
Her mind began to wander in a vain attempt
to ignore the pain. She would have to get out of this mess on her own. No one
would even notice her absence until the morning, and then it would be too late
to track her. They might send out the whole army looking for her, but it would
do no good. They would never catch her captor.
Her plans were ruined. If the army didn't
meet Pravus in the grasslands as planned, then they would never have another
chance before her time ran out. Pravus couldn't possibly know this, but he had
effectively destroyed any chance of her saving Agrestis. That is if the army
hadn't continued on towards the plains as previously planned.
Her heart felt heavy as she though about
these things and she fervently hoped that despite her disappearance, the army
would continue on to the plains.
She tried not to think about the approaching
deadline that had been told to her by the Kau seer in the Palace, so instead
she turned her thoughts to that of escape. There would be no escape while they
were moving, unless she could free herself with out alerting her captor's attention.
She would have to make her move when they stopped, though when this would be,
she had no idea.
Her thoughts whirled around her head as
possibilities appeared, and were rejected. She would have to wait until her
captor fell asleep because there was no way she would be able to out run him,
even if she did manage to free herself from the cords that tightly bound her
paws. After escaping, if she could, she would have to find a place to hide.
Her aching limbs were too sore to take her far, so she would need a place to
rest and evade further capture.
Trying to find her way back would be another
difficulty she would face, assuming that she would free herself and find a suitable
place to hide. She was hopelessly lost because she had been unconscious during
the beginning of the trip. She had no idea in what direction she was being taken.
She felt weary, but continued to work
out of way to return to her troops and bring Pravus down.
Cassie was relieved when she felt the
speed at which she had been traveling slacken off. Her abductor was getting
tired, he would be stopping soon.
She was right. He stopped and slung her
of his back. She hit the ground with a dull thud.
Cassie quickly closed her eyes so she
would seem out cold. She felt a hot foul breath on her face, and opened her
eyes slightly so she could see her attacker. He was a massive black WereLupe
clad in dark colored armor. His green eyes had a vertical pupil like that of
a snake.
Fortunately he did not catch the slight
movement as peered out from under her long lashes. He snorted disdainfully at
her supposedly unaware form and curled up on the ground to rest.
This is my chance, she thought
as the WereLupe's snores filled the air. It was unfortunate that he had not
built a fire, because that limited her ways of escaping. Using a fire to burn
through the ropes had been one of her main ideas. She groped around in front
of her for a piece of flint of any sharp rock but found none. Discouraged but
not done trying, Cassie examined her bonds. They were made out of a thick twine
and tied with very complicated knots.
She sighed and began working at the knots.
Her hands were to numb to be of any use, so she used her teeth to untie the
cords that restricted her ankles. His was hard work, and before long, her teeth
ached, and her neck throbbed from bending over.
She let out a sigh of frustration and
lay back. She was making no progress. Then she saw it. Protruding out of the
Lupe's broad belt was a glint of steel. A knife. It was a knife. Cassie rolled
over on to her stomach and began to inch her way towards the Lupe. The blade
was keen and would easily cut through her bonds. The only obstacle was the sleeping
Lupe.
She carefully put her paws on the ebony
handle and began to gently slide it out of the belt. The Lupe grunted, but did
not wake. Inspired by this, Cassie became bolder and pulled it out a little
faster. She had the blade out of the belt and in her paws when an especially
loud grunt startled her and caused her to drop it. A metallic clang rang through
the night as the dagger hit a rock.
Cassie's heart stopped beating as the
echo reverberated in the still night air.
Cassie stood frozen for a second as the
ringing of steel faded from the air. The WereLupe stirred slightly in his sleep
but did not wake. Cassie took a few deep steadying breaths, and then began to
work on the cords that bound her wrists.
She freed herself quickly with the help
of the dagger, and sighed as the bonds fell away. Now it was time to make her
escape.
She briefly considered slaying the Lupe
while he slept, but determined it was too risky. If she managed to wound it,
and not kill it, it would be very dangerous, and her chances of escaping would
decrease sharply. It was better to get going while the going was good.
She stretched in a vain attempt to ease
some of the stiffness from her limbs, and then set of. Her paws were swollen,
and it was very hard to walk on them, but she kept moving, haunted by the fear
that her assaulter would wake up and discover her absence. She mustn't stop.
Not until she found a good hiding place, anyway.
A few years back, there had been a storm.
A bolt of lightning had shot from the sky and struck a large oak. The oak had
been killed, and all that remained was a hollow shell. This was exactly the
kind of hideaway that Cassie needed.
She crawled in through a narrow opening
near the base of the tree and prepared to wait out the rest of the night. Here
she would rest, and try to find a way home in the morning.
Feeling the exhaustion of the night's
events, she curled in to a little ball and fell instantly asleep.
They reached the village as Cassie finished
her story. Morgan looked slightly ill, but much better than he had earlier.
When the walked in the gates, the ran
into the Lupe, Dewrder. He stopped and stared at Cassie, then smiled hugely.
"We were all worried for your safety miss.
I am very glad to see you have returned." Cassie smiled back and thanked the
Lupe.
"I would love to find out what happened
in my absence," she said interrupting Dewrder a he began telling them what had
happened, "but I think I am going to fall over right here if I don't get some
sleep. I'm sorry, but I'll have to hear it tomorrow."
To be continued…
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