Happy New Year! I must admit, this is my favorite time of year. A time to reflect on the old year and decide on the new. I renew my resolution. I am required to try it. I am not required to like it. Life is meant to be lived and I will take opportunities as they come!
On with the story. Remember, you haven't seen the poison yet. (that sentence tickles my brain. I asked you to forget the poison...) To the rescue!
************
This feels right, Martin thought as he and the small rescue team ran through the thief way. That constant itch to help faded the moment Gillian agreed to let him go out. Martin felt relieved. This was what he was trained to do.
Glen ran beside him, his uncovered eyes scanning the tunnel with distrust. Not that Martin blamed the thief. His cousin was among the captured. “Martin,” Glen panted. “Are you sure they’ll be at the mansion?”
“Meriss wants to talk to Gillian,” Martin answered, pausing at an intersection before signaling them down one. “He and the prisoners will be in a place where we can find them. Now, be quiet. We’re getting close to the entrance.” The thief fell silent and continued to run with his eyes now forward. He frowned.
“Martin?” he said uneasily. “Is that the tunnel entrance?”
The spy frowned at the thief before straining his eyes to see what the matter was. “Trenton. Go ahead and see what’s there.” The older man nodded and dashed ahead of them. He reached where the entrance was.
“This isn’t good!” he called out. “It’s blocked!”
Blocked? Martin wondered. He and the others soon arrived and saw that the tunnel was indeed blocked. Rubble of stone, shelves, and broken bottles. The others started to argue as Martin ignored them and approached the trap door.
“Now what?” Trenton asked. “This would have been the best way to get in.” Martin picked a piece of glass from the rubble, sniffing at it. The glass was still sticky with wine.
“We could use one of the other tunnels in another building,” Waite suggested.
Is that blasting powder I smell?
“So they can see us coming?” Skidmore snapped. “Those Seacats will catch us the moment we come out.” Martin leaned closer to the trap door, noticing the scorch marks of an explosion.
“I don’t see you coming up with a plan,” Glen growled.
“This isn’t the work of Seacats,” Martin suddenly announced, stepping back and gazing up at the blocked entrance.
“Does it matter?” Trenton asked.
“For me it does.” This was Tracker’s work. The Seacats wouldn’t have touched the wine cellar; Gillian had been clear that the creatures steered clear of alcohol. And the blatant destruction of the cellar was done by someone who liked to cause personal pain.
“Besides,” Martin went on, shrugging. “This tunnel’s been blocked for a while. I’m guessing it’s been blocked since they took over the Stand.”
“So how does that help us?” Waite asked, folding his arms.
“It doesn’t,” he answered truthfully. “It makes my job harder. But enough of this. Waite is right. We need to use another tunnel to get inside. Glen, are there any more trap doors into the mansion?”
The thief shook his head. “Just the one. Lord Cantry is on the constant search for our tunnels. We’re always having to build a new one for the one he’s patched up.” Martin rolled his eyes. The one time the lord took energy to stop the thieves caused them problems.
“We’ll wait for night fall,” Martin concluded. “These suits work better in the dark. In the meantime, I’ll like for us to spy on the Seacats. Let’s see if we can’t find out where they’ve locked up our team.” The rescue team nodded in agreement.
“Alright,” Martin went on. “Everyone break up into pairs. To avoid getting spotted by the Seacats, enter the buildings surrounding the mansion. Do not leave the buildings. Use your spyglasses to look into the building.”
“What if our people aren’t near any windows?” Waite asked. “That way they wouldn’t be able to escape.”
“They are most likely in the basement,” Martin said, rolling his eyes. “But we can still rule out the upper levels. Besides we need to know their strengths.”
“Wow,” Glen said, impressed. “There’s a lot more to spying than I thought.”
Martin rolled his eyes. “And it’s not glamorous either. Break into pairs. We’ll meet later tonight in the mansion across the street.”
*********
The afternoon of spying on the enemy revealed that the prisoners were somewhere without windows. The others seemed discouraged by the news, but Martin ignored the setback. They needed a plan. They gathered together in the mansion Martin designated earlier. The faint buzzing of the others arguments didn’t reach his ears as he stared out at the mansion. His eyes lingered on the garden gate he jumped over two months before. The metal gate had been taken away.
“I know a way in,” he finally said. Behind him, the arguments came to an abrupt stop.
“What do you mean?” Glen asked; he had been the most frustrated of the lot.
The spy nodded down at the missing gate. “We’ll sneak through the gardens and enter the kitchen. The kitchen is central most part of the house. We get in there, split into two different groups, and search the house until we find our men.”
“But we’re likely to get caught!” Phillis protested. Martin smirked, though they could not see it behind his mask. “That’s why you’re here with us, Phillis. You need to create a distraction for us.”
**********
They had taken away Jathiers. Tyler and the others sat in their makeshift cell, huddled in a corner while they awaited their fate. The Seacats had taken the precaution to tie their hands and feet together; the Seacats took pleasure in the activity. Tyler tried to give the others words of encouragement, but felt that his words were hollow.
His speeches didn’t help him either.
His shoulders still ached from when the feline attacked him. Tyler shivered. Over the last two months, he had heard stories of what happens to a sailor if he got caught by a feline Seacat. The details had made him blush and cringe.
This is not what I wanted for a vacation. Tyler wondered if his superiors knew he was trapped at the Stand. They must. There had been several Aeternan war ships that arrived to try to take the Stand back, but the Venter mages kept some sort of shield over them. No one could enter. Or leave.
Screaming filled the room, a wrenching sound of despair and pain. Jumping, he glanced up where the sound was coming from.
“That sounds like Jathiers,” Brown whispered, shivering. The others muttered that the voice was the same. “What are they doing to him?”
Tyler glanced up to the ceiling again. “I don’t know,” he whispered, pulling his legs close to his chest, wishing his arms weren’t tied behind his back. “But it doesn’t sound good.” What have we gotten ourselves into?
“Oh, come on,” purred a soft voice. “All I want to do is play with him.” Tyler’s breath caught in his throat. It was the feline from before! He glanced around himself, looking for something to free himself with. The others pulled back, fear and pity in their eyes. They knew what was coming for him.
“You heard Meriss, Carice,” the tomcat said, stiffening as the feline approached. “You’re not to play with them in that way.”
Carice rolled her eyes, coming into the view of the prisoners. Tugging on her tight vest, she looked her fellow Seacat over through her long lashes. “Meriss is dealing with some trouble outside. Besides, orders can be changed.”
“Not that I’ve heard.” The tomcat smacked his spear on the feline’s middle. “Now, get going.”
“You’ll pay for that!” Carice yowled, springing on the tomcat. Tyler and the others froze as the two tumbled out of view. The sound of their fight was nothing like he had heard before. Instead of cries of pain, it was of pure pleasure.
These Seacats aren’t normal!
“I hope the tomcat wins,” he wished aloud. “I don’t want to deal with her.” The rest of the team laughed weakly with him.
“Ah, ha!” Carice jumped back into view, smiling at him. Pushing the makeshift barred door aside, she slinked into the room, already unbuttoning her tight vest. Tyler tried to scoot away from her, but his back hit the wall. He shivered uncontrollably as he gazed fearfully up at the feline “Come on, sailor,” she purred as took hold of his hair and yanked him to his feet. Tyler shivered as she ran a sharp nail down his face and neck. “Let’s go play.”
I’m doomed!
“Hey, Seacat!” a new voice called. “Try playing with me!”
Frowning, the feline turned around to see who challenged her. Splat! A slime ball landed on her face. Yowling, she let go of him and scratched at her face. Tyler stumbled back then looked at the door. He laughed with relief at the sight.
Five men dressed in the stealth suits stood in the doorway. A rescue team! The front most rescuer pulled a knife out of his belt and threw it. Tyler yelped as it buried itself between his feet. Shocked, he pulled his legs apart. The man had cut his bonds with a throw from that distance?
“Come on!” one said, dashing to them and cutting their bonds. “Let’s go!” They didn’t need any more prompting. Jumping to their feet, the prisoners ran to the other rescuers. Behind them, the feline managed to pull enough slime off her angry face. She shook with anger.
“That wasn’t nice,” she sneered, pulling a short blade from her belt. “Come fight me, human! You’ll pay for that!”
The rescuer with the good aim took up the challenge. Ripping two knives from his belt, he charged the Seacat. Tyler felt his jaw drop as the human fought the feline. Never had he seen any human move like that! He dodged every swing the Seacat threw at him, ducked in close to injury her, and moved fast enough to get away again.
“Say,” Brown said, watching transfixed like the rest of them. “Isn’t that Martin?”
“It is.” Tyler finally placed the voice. Spinning, he grabbed his cousin.
“Glen,” he sobbed. “Thank you for coming!”
“We’re not out of danger yet,” Glen said, prying himself free. “Hey! Let’s go!” he yelled into the room at the spy.
The spy didn’t say anything in reply. Instead, he grabbed another slime ball out of his belt pouch and smashed it up into the feline’s face. The Seacat screamed again, dropping her blade.
“Let’s go!” Martin said, spinning to join them. The Seacat behind him screamed again. Reaching out, she somehow managed to grab the back of the spy’s mask and pull it off. Martin scowled and knocked the feline down with a kick. She landed with a thump and looked up at him amazed.
“You’re the one we’re looking for,” she said, amazed. “The one with no reflection.” Tyler frowned. What did that mean?
Martin gritted his teeth and yanked his mask from the feline’s stunned fingers. He put it on as he joined them.
“Well?” the spy snapped. “Let’s go!” He started running down the hall to the stairs. Seacats lined the halls; all of them too busy trying to get the slime balls off their faces to pay any attention to their escaping prisoners.
“But…” Glen said as he caught up with the spy, pointing back to the room. “What did that Seacat mean back there?”
“A question we’ll have to answer later,” Martin snapped. “We need to get out before the rest of the Seacats come back.”
“They took someone!” Brown suddenly cried. “They have Jathiers somewhere on the main floor. They were torturing him!”
Martin paused at the bottom of the steps. “Alright,” he said, turning to Glen. “Get everyone back to the fort. I’ll go after Jathiers and try to catch up with you.”
“But, Martin!” Glen protested. “If it’s you they’re after…”
“I can get away,” the spy snapped. “Now, get going! I’ll be fine.” Before anyone could offer up anymore arguments, the spy dashed up the steps, taking them two at a time. Tyler exchanged glances with his cousin.
“Are we going to let him do that?”
“What choice do we have?” Glen asked, sighing. He started up the stairs. “Let’s get out of here.” He paused and turned back, and Tyler had the impression that his cousin was smiling. “Unless you want to stay and play with that feline.”
Tyler sprinted up the steps past his grinning cousin. “Not a chance!”
***************
Martin had to get away from the others. Especially after they heard what that feline had said. Turning a corner and leaning against the wall, he tried to catch his breath. The suits keep them from seeing me, he realized, his hard breathing calming down. But they know I’m here. He knew he should have escaped with Glen and the others, but he didn’t think he could deal with their questions right now.
Hopefully they won’t tell anyone, he thought, taking a look at his surroundings. The last thing he needed was for Gillian and the rest of the council to learn it was him the Seacats were after. No one else at the fort knew of what the Venterians wanted; the decision was made to protect whoever it was.
I can’t deal with this now. Martin gritted his teeth. The Seacats still had a prisoner; he had to rescue him. One of them said that the captured, Jatheirs, was somewhere on the main floor. He didn’t believe it. From what they observed of the mansion that afternoon, there was very little activity on the main floor. Most of the Seacats were on the upper level.
Carefully searching the main floor anyway, Martin considered his options. The distraction Phillis created, a rather large explosive that had taken out the stables behind the mansion, would have been investigated by the Seacats by now. They were most likely done searching for the long-gone saboteurs and were coming back. It was only a matter of time before realized their prisoners had escaped and would begin searching for the rescuers. He didn’t have time to search the mansion.
They said Jatheirs was being tortured, Martin thought, pausing at the stairs and glancing up to the floor above. I just have to follow his screams. He had heard screaming earlier, though he had hoped it wasn’t one of their men. About to take a careful step up, Martin froze. He hadn’t heard any screams since the rescue. In truth, he hadn’t heard anything since he ordered the team to leave him there.
“What is going on?” he asked softly.
“Yowl!”
Martin jumped at the sudden laughter. “That’s a great trick that Tracker brought us,” the tomcat’s voice drifted down, his tone still humored. “I wonder what it’ll cost us to get the secret of it.”
“He won’t sell it,” a feline snapped. The tomcat’s voice hissed; Martin assumed the feline had scratched the other Seacat. “We don’t have anything they want, except for our eyes to see that man they want. And we haven’t even been able to catch him! I don’t think Tracker will sell it.”
Sell what? Martin wondered, retreating back down the hall in case the Seacats came down. He glanced briefly to the stairs. Jatheirs was upstairs and he needed to find him quickly.
They can only see magic, he thought. Maybe they won’t notice me feel for emotions. He wasn’t sure it that was the answer he needed, but it was the only one he had. Besides, the mages already knew they had trapped him in the city; using his abilities for a short time wouldn’t reveal his position. Right? Taking a deep breath, Martin let down his barriers and sent his power out to search for Aeternans.
Then it hit him.
The vision was of a soldier, fighting in a battle along side his fellow Aeternans. “I have to keep fighting,” he breathed as he thrust his sword into the belly of a man in a Venter uniform. “I promised to protect them!” The man thought about his aging father, his sickly sister, his young wife, and his newborn daughter. He fought for them, he fought for their freedom! He was brought back to the heat of battle when he realized his sword wouldn’t come out of the soldier he had just killed. Yanking hard, he tried to free his sword. Someone screamed before him. Looking up, he realized it was too late as another Venter soldier brought his sword down on him. He screamed as the blade took off his hand, separating him from his stuck sword. He fell back, cradling his bleeding stump. Through his tears, he watched horrified as the Venter soldier was about to kill him in the same way he killed the other soldier. Suddenly an arrow appeared in the enemy’s chest and he fell without another cry. The Aeternan soldier began to sob. How could he protect them now…?
Martin gasped as he was finally released from the vivid memory. Stumbling back, he had to bring his own hand up to assure himself it was still there. He felt the sword take his hand. He felt that man’s pain.
“What was that?” the feline’s voice hissed from above.
“I don’t know,” the tomcat replied. There was a creak of wood. “Let’s go see.”
Martin snapped back to the present, aware of the danger he had just found himself in. “Great,” he muttered, dashing away from the stairs. His eyes quickly searched the hall. There were several doors, but he didn’t dare take any. He couldn’t waste a moment to test a door to find it locked.
He quickly came to an adjoining hall. Glancing back at the stairs, the Seacats had reached the bottom. Time to disappear! Taking out a smoke bomb, he threw it at the floor, the plume immediately obscuring him from view. The Seacats hissed angrily.
“Come on out,” the tomcat growled. “There’s no way out of there, human.”
Martin ignored the command and ran down the other hall. If he remembered the floor plan correctly, there was a servants’ stairs down this way. Hoping there were no Seacats in his way, he broke through the smoke cloud and saw the stairs he knew were there. Behind him, he could hear the Seacats coughing as they tried to search through the smoke.
Knowing he bought himself a bit more time, he ran up the stairs two steps at a time. Sometime during the vision, he was able to sense exactly where the missing man was. What was with that vision? he wondered, quickly checking the second floor before heading up to the third. The visions were never like that. Before, the flashes never lasted long, never had been specific to one person’s thoughts, and never involved pain. They had always been harmless and unmeaningful. And as much as Martin wanted to deny it, the visions were another clue. He had seen into the mind of another Aeternan. Something only Santers were rumored to do.
I can’t think about this now! he snapped at himself. He arrived at the third floor, where Jatheirs was being held. His duty was to rescue the poor man, not worry about his powers. His magical sense pointed him to the next hall over. Taking a deep breath, he cautiously snuck to the other hall. He peered around the corner and found the hall empty. The Seacats were still busy with the smoke bomb he set off below.
At least something is working with me, he thought, moving silently and quickly to a door farther down the hall. Martin tried to open it but found it locked. Snorting softly, he knelt, taking out his lock picks, and make quick work of the lock. The satisfying click was moments later and he slid into the room, closing the door behind him. He waited a moment, listening for any noise outside. He couldn’t explain why he knew Jatheirs was the only one in the room. Deciding there was no one following he turned around and froze.
Jatheirs whimpered in his sleep, tossing and turning on a thread worn cot with no blankets to cover him. Sweat glistened on his forehead and his suit seemed drenched. It seemed as if the man was suffering from a nightmare. But that wasn’t what made Martin freeze.
His left hand was missing.
Martin’s own left wrist tingled uncomfortably. He rubbed absently at it as he knelt beside Jatheirs’ side. “Jatheirs?” he asked softly, gently shaking a shivering shoulder. “Wake up.”
“No,” he sobbed. “How can I protect them?”
Martin shivered. That was the same question in his vision. “Jatheirs,” he whispered more urgently. “You need to wake up. Come on. We need to go.”
“I need to protect them,” he kept muttering, his closed eyes searching for something in his dreams. “I promised to protect them.”
He won’t wake up, Martin realized, frowning. Why? He glanced around the room, looking for a clue as to what was wrong with Jatheirs. The Seacats had called it a trick that Tracker had brought. Knowing the Tracker as he did, Martin knew it was some new form of torture. But what kind of torture?
His gaze settled on the box beside him. A small vile the length of his palm lay on its side, the wood cork keeping a fine blue powder inside it. Martin picked it up, holding it up to the hanging lantern. Frowning, he opened it and carefully whiffed it. There was no scent.
A new poison? It wasn’t a poison he recognized and he knew most of them. Replacing the cork firmly, he tucked the vile in his belt. He would let the Healers at the fort deal with it. At the moment, he had to get Jatheirs out. Hefting the man to a sitting position, Martin hauled the sleeping man to his feet.
“Alright,” he grunted, adjusting his hold on the man and dragging him across the room. “I hope you’ll forgive me later, but right now I need to get you downstairs.” In a mansion this fine, Cantry would have dumbwaiters. They were above the kitchen and the room seemed like a seating room for waiting guests. At least, the fine broken furniture gave him that impression.
It took a minute to get Jatheirs into the dumbwaiter, and Martin had little doubt that he would be sore once he woke up, but the spy managed to get him in and closed the door. He lowered the dumbwaiter enough for him to climb on top of the box and close the door into the room. Feeling around in the dark, he grabbed the ropes and started to pull it down to the kitchen. Noting the light of the second floor door, they slowly came to the kitchen. Once there, he let the box be lowered more than the door so he could put his ear to the wall. There wasn’t any sound.
Opening the door, he found the kitchen as silent as he had always found it. He jumped out and pulled the box back up. He struggled to get the sleeping man out again, but he managed to get him back on his feet.
“Sir?” he muttered, his eyes opening briefly. “What’s going on?”
“I’m rescuing you,” Martin answered, trying to pull him forward. “But you need to help me. I need you to walk.” Jatheirs didn’t respond. Glancing at the man, Martin realized he slipped back into sleep. He sighed. This wasn’t going to be easy.
Looking back up, he saw it was full dark now. He had no idea if the Seacats would be outside searching for them or inside searching. Not that he had much of a choice. The tunnel entrance in the mansion had been destroyed. The only way to get to the thieves way was by another building.
There’s no helping it, he thought, stumbling outside and grabbing a few smoke bombs out of his belt. If they spot them, the Seacats would suffer the consequences. He managed to get them through the garden gate when the alarm was sounded.
“Prisoner escape!”
Suddenly three Seacats appeared in the street. They hissed angrily. Martin watched them warily, knowing the closer they got, the more potent the smoke would be.
“Come on, human,” one sneered. “Play with us.”
“Not happening!” Martin threw the smoke bombs at the ground. The Seacats howled and dropped to the ground. Knowing he didn’t get another chance, Martin dragged Jatheirs to the mansion he and the others used earlier. The tunnel entrance was in the stables and Martin was forced to shove the man down.
“Sorry,” he apologized for the third time, picking the man up as he jumped down into the thief way. This man was going to have more sores and burses because of him than what the Seacats had done. Moving to a larger tunnel, Martin threw more smoke bombs to cover the entrance to keep the Seacats from following. Jathiers’ head kept bobbing in and out of consciousness the entire time.
Martin dragged the man down the tunnels. The unsteady man stumbled, taking the spy with him. Martin grunted as he fell. Breathing deeply, he got back on his feet and tried to get Jathiers’ on his. “Come on,” Martin said, pulling him forward. “We’re getting there. Just stay with me.” It was going to be a difficult journey back to the fort.
***********
“What do you mean?” Tracker demanded to know, focusing his wrath on the feline. “You saw the young man?!”
The black Seacat licked her wounded arms. “Yes, I saw him,” she hissed, narrowing her eyes. “But not good enough. I had slime in my eyes at the time, but I know my magic. He had no reflection.”
Tracker wanted to rip his knives out and slit the feline’s throat. Instead, he grabbed his hair and tugged madly until it felt like he was going to rip his hair out with his scalp.
“Things are falling apart,” he growled. Not only did they loose the prisoners and their threat over them, but one of the rescuers had gotten away with some Nightmare Dust. No doubt he would have given it to the proper authorities; it was only a matter of time before the Aeternans worked out an antidote. He whipped around to Meriss. The leader Seacat had been leaning against the door frame of the cell, his tail twitching irritably. No doubt he also wished to punish the feline for her actions.
“I’ve wasted two months here,” he growled, slowly approaching the Seacat. “My time here is up. Terk wants me back; he wants to know how well the Dust worked. I am disappointed in how you’ve dealt with this mess.”
“Don’t blame me!” Meriss snapped, his tail whipping back and forth. “It’s those stinking Aeternans and their murdering commander!”
Tracker snapped. Ripping out a concealed knife, he flung it at the feline licking her wounds. She gasped as it buried in her chest. Looking down as crimson blood blossoming, she emitted one cry of pain before falling over. Dead. A fate she deserved before she even tried to try for the Aeternan.
“That’s what’s going to happen to you if you don’t find that young man in the next month when Trek arrives to ask why you failed.”
Meriss hissed, hunching as the Venter spy stalked out of the room. He had no time for failure. By morning, he would be riding out of the Stand and to Trek’s army to report the miserable results of working with Seacats.
********
There were people waiting for them at the tunnel entrance. Healers immediately took Jathiers and gave Martin a quick examination. The spy didn’t complain as they checked for wounds or broken bones. He just sat down on the nearest chair and let them do their examination. For some reason, Gillian and the rescue team waited for the healer’s diagnostic.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised to see them waiting, he thought, the healer checking his eyes with a light. Without him, they wouldn’t have managed to free the prisoners. And Gillian didn’t want me going out anyway. Martin just couldn’t stand sitting around anymore, especially with that tugging on his mind from the people.
“He’s alright,” the healer announced, receiving a collective sigh of relief from the crowd. “He’s just a bit tired. Best if he gets to bed and get a good night sleep.”
“Great idea,” Martin muttered, rubbing his tired eyes. “I’ll get right on that.”
“I’ll escort him to his bed,” Glen offered.
“Me too,” Tyler said, joining his cousin as they both stepped forward. Gillian nodded.
“Very well,” the prison commander said. “Get our hero to bed.” He paused and gazed down at him with calculating eyes. Martin wanted to cringe. Did someone already tell Gillian that he was the man with no reflection? “Good night, Martin,” he went on. “We’ll talk when you’re rested.”
Martin cringed at that. Apparently someone had talked. At least the commander was willing to wait for him to get some rest before grilling him about what it meant. The cousins took either side of him and helped him to his feet. Staggering, they stumbled away.
**********
Meriss watched as Tracker’s lone boat was given passage through the magic barrier. The Seacat didn’t know what was worse. Being trapped in the city or out of it. Perhaps being trapped inside. At least outside the city they could pillage any city that wasn’t protected.
“Stinking Venterians,” Meriss muttered, briskly walking away. They should have never formed an alliance with Venter. At the beginning, it was very promising. Loot the same city Gillian had sworn to protect and also get a chance to kill the commander. And all the Venterians wanted was one man who somehow lost his reflection.
Now it had been two months, and as Meriss guessed, no one was happy with it. Not the Aeternans trapped in the prison fort. Not the Venter mages who kept saying they had other things to do. And certainly not the Seacats. We weren’t made for land. The sea was calling to them.
Meriss was giving serious consideration of ending the treaty with the mages. It had been fun while it lasted, but these humans were proving to be more bothersome than toys. The leader Seacat once again thought of how easily Tracker had killed Carice. Yes, the feline had defiled his will, but that was nothing new for felines. Meriss growled deep in his throat. Carice had been one of his best fighters. Now she was gone merely because Tracker was annoyed with her basic nature.
He made up his mind. We have to break the alliance. They had loot enough from the city and left enough damage to annoy the Stands’ citizens. Let the mages try to find that young man. Meriss purred at the thought. No doubt the moment they left, the young man would flee the Stand and leave the mages searching for nothing.
“Meriss!”
The leader Seacat blinked as his name was called. Looking up from his musings, he saw Flyer approaching at a fast pace. He frowned; what reason did the tan tomcat have for smiling? Tracker had just killed his lover earlier. “What?” he snapped.
Flyer grinned, showing of his pointed teeth. “There’s someone who wants to talk to you.”
“Who?” Meriss didn’t want to talk to anyone else this night; he was more likely to kill them if they brought more bad news.
“Someone from the fort,” Flyer laughed. “He says he’s had enough of our stay.”
“Well, so are we.”
“Ah,” Flyer purred. “But this man has information we need to get the mages off our back.”
It wasn’t often his ears twitched, and it made his ears itch, but it was because this news caught his attention. “What sort of information?”
“He can tell us who the reflection-less man is.”
Meriss grinned, his ears twitching excitedly. A new plan was forming. There was a way out of this mess.
*************
Ah, the end is approaching. I hope everyone enjoyed this. Until next week!
