Poisonous Fox

The valley offered plenty of cover while Muleater and I snuck.

The walls sloped upwards, forming a large bowl with a flatter bottom. We were currently towards the northern slope, which was the wrong end of the valley. We could have exited the valley there and gone around, but that would cost us hours, possibly days, given the fragmented nature of the terrain and the size of the valley.

And given that there was cover, from artificed condensers to vertical gardens, along with mounds pushed up for tunnels, Muleater made the tactical decision to sneak through the valley.

Besides, she was ‘itching’ for a weapon, or a sword.

I was itching for my loot.

We were creeping around one of the condenser units. The unit was like a weather vane, but with pipes running up and down and a scattering of scintillating glitter embedded on the bronze vanes. Mist was almost dripping down from the center, and drops of water condensed in a pool of water at the base. The pool was raised somewhat above ground level, so that there was about three feet of an embankment to hide behind. With the raised pool, and the broken sightlines from the weather vane’s tower, we had ample space to hide.

“Godstake them,” Muleater swore in frustration. I cringed at her voice, too loud. “Where d’you think they put it?” Muleater asked, referring to her sword, gear, or really anyone’s sword. I doubted she would be picky.

So far, we had yet to see any signs of patrols or infested, though that did not mean we could be so careless as to converse so loudly.

I put a hand on her wrist in warning and shook my head.

“Get off,” she snapped, shoving my hand off. “I need a sword. Can’t you use your scent tracking to find one? I thought you would have been scouting along while they took you off for your special one-on-one time, yeah?”

I sighed, and peaked up and over the edge of the pool, verifying that we were currently safe.

“Why do you need a sword?” I asked.

“What do you mean, ‘why’?” she scoffed. “How else will I defend us? Not like you’re gonna be doing any fighting. Unless you’re holding out still?”

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. She had shaken everything about my Talents and Spells loose. Though I managed to avoid telling her about the Gifts. To be honest, I tried ignoring the Gifts altogether, along with their connotations. However, despite the irritation I felt at her assertion that I might have been holding out on her, I found it hard to blame her. Afterall, I had held out for most of our journey, and only recently had I revealed my Illusions.

But still, she better not get used to me sharing.

Unless, she thought I was sharing everything while I kept something back?

It would depend on how long our partnership lasted. Thoughts for later.

“If we have to fight,” I pointed out, “Then they’ll bring reinforcements and we’ll be outnumbered.”

“So? Better to go down swinging.”

“It’s better not to go down at all,” I rebutted.

“Obviously.”

I refrained from arguing further. I was unsure what it was about Muleater, but her priorities seemed sketchy at best.

After I released a calming breath, and checked for any wayward infested once more, I pointed at a mound of dirt and broken slate that rose up from the ground. At the base of the small hill, I knew there would be a rounded tunnel that led deeper. Where it went, I was unsure. But I knew it was where my satchel had been, and I knew it was where the infested had brought the polished chest from while I was speaking to Emboru.

“I think it’s in there,” I said.

“Alright. Why?” Muleater asked.

As though she had not just given several reasons that I would have a clue. It was frustrating, and would be dehumanizing to point out that I had caught scent of it while on my way back to the ‘guest-quarters’ earlier that day.

Because humans typically cannot detect scents, not like that.

Rather than admit to it, I glared at Muleater.

She did not shy away, rather, appeared amused. “Woah, feisty cat. But if I’m going to head down into that godslovin barrow, then I better know why.”

“I saw the infested carry some gear out of there.”

Her eyes narrowed. “That wasn’t the truth, now was it?”

Not the complete truth, anyways. Her ability to sniff out deceit was incredibly frustrating. I hated it. But she was not letting it go. Her knuckles cracked.

“It wouldn’t happen to be a trap, yeah?” she asked suspiciously.

I groaned. “No, it’s not a trap–” her lips tightened and I hastily added “-at least not that I know of.”

“Then how–?” she started to ask.

Frustrated, I just admitted to it. “I caught a familiar scent trail when they brought me back.”

She eyed me for a bit longer, and I refused to look away. My ability to track by scent was an asset, and while it still bothered me, it would be foolish to have ignored it. Finally, she nodded, then smirked. “Well why didn’t you just say that?”

Inwardly, I swore. This mothersworn block head.

Outwardly, I mouthed, “Illusion,” and covered myself in a [Chameleon] effect.

Muleater waved her hand through the blur and whacked my bad side. Fiery pain shot up my nerves.

“Idiot!” I snapped, after gasping.

“Sorry, not sorry,” she said. “What’re you doing wasting Spirit?”

“Scouting ahead,” I replied tersely, after a moment’s breathing to calm down. “You’re not the sneaking type.”

She wobbled her head a bit as though in thought, before snorting. “I’m not letting you run off alone.”

“You aren’t the stealthy type.”

The thought of her lumbering around besides me left me feeling partially ill. My professional pride as a thief suffered.

“Normally I’d agree,” she said. “But here are the facts. One, you already told me that your spell doesn’t work to fool the wyrkwik.”

I nodded along, not liking where this was going.

“Two, you used it while sneaking away, which leads me to believe that you were using it on me.”

“I wasn’t–” I began protesting.

“Three, I can’t guarantee that you won’t pull something dumb like ratting me out. Or getting caught.”

“Your truth detection could–”

“And finally, if you leave, then your Trackless Tracks Talent will stop covering me.

“We don’t even know that it covers you as is,” I pointed out, somewhat overwhelmed by her reasoning.

“Maybe not, but why risk it?” She pointed out. “Besides, there’s no wyrkwik around to spot us.”

“Not up here at least,” I rebutted. “What happens if I need to squirrel away down there to avoid notice?”

“And what happens if they do find you?” Muleater snapped back, growing irritated.

“Look, we’re wasting time. I’m going with you, that’s final.”

I shuddered as a piece of me died, but in the end, I consented. At that point, I was wondering why I ever decided to go along with the plan. Besides the threats. And besides the curiosity. And besides–

“We doing this?” Muleater asked, dragging my by my arm towards the mound.

Surprisingly enough, there were no risky encounters as we crossed the open space. I never felt any eyes upon us.

Soon, we were standing before the hole in the side of the mound… it was not tall enough for even me to stand. It was clear the mucary were more than happy crawling through their network, or perhaps it was their smaller members that used this particular tunnel. I could not imagine a meohr fitting through it, that was for sure.

“You sure it’s down there?” Muleater asked, giving the tunnel a very dubious and concerned look.

I nodded. The scent trail from my satchel was far stronger here. And while I was confident in my own abilities as a sneak, I doubted Muleater would avoid attention.

“Well then, no use gawking. You first,” Muleater said, giving me a nudge towards the descending earthen tunnel.

It was pitch black a yard in, and I was forced to crawl on hand and knees. Of course, behind me, I heard Muleater grunt as she scraped along the walls and ceiling.

“Cramped,” she complained.

I decided that I could not treat this like a heist, otherwise my pride would not survive.

Blessings: Rank (1/9)

Body: 65

Mind: 75

Spirit: 49

Talents:

Athleticism (3/9):

Climbing I (1/9)

Featherlight (5/9)

Stealth I (4/9)

Trackless Tracks (8/9)

Alchemical Immunity (ineligible for growth)

Eschiver (3/9)

Evasion (6/9)

Spells:

Illusion I (5/9)

Touch (6/9)

Closed

Closed

Gifts:

Obsession (3/9)

Closed (0/9)

Closed (0/9)