Poisonous Fox

While Muleater carried me across the shattered landscape, away from the mucary, towards the human encampment, I found myself in somewhat of a numb and shocked state.

We had escaped.

They had let us escape.

And tribulations were ahead of me, of this, I was certain.

We spent hours traveling. Even with Muleater’s quick pace, the human encampment was far off, and the terrain was broken, forcing us to navigate around erudite boulders, climb across chasms, and avoid slopes composed of broken shale.

The night passed. The perpetual overcast began to brighten. Dawn passed. Still Muleater pushed forward.

It was midday when the human encampment was within sight once again. The encampment also noticed us.

It began with a sentry calling out an alarm, just barely audible with the distance between us.

“Approaching unknowns! Two! Humanoids!”

The seemingly broken shouts revealed several things about the encampment. They were professional enough to have sentries, which was common sense this close to an enemy fortification. But they also had shorthand that apparently worked.

From the distance, I was unable to see the details of their uniforms, but they were relatively clean, with black jackets, trousers, and boots, complemented by red trim. They had some sort of decorative patch sewn in to the left lapels of their jackets, but I was unable to make out the design just yet.

That did not prevent Muleater, though. She apparently recognized enough to call it.

“Why’s Princess Marissa out here?” she grumbled, not even close to being out of breath, even after the hours spent carrying me at a rapid pace.

She slowed down after the sentry shouted the alarm, and now was walking calmly.

I wiggled a bit until she set me down, and I followed alongside her, moving under my own power. It would make a better first impression if I moved under my own power: it would demonstrate a level of independence, which I hoped would carry forward.

Also, in the slime chance that a fight broke out, I did not want her dropping me.

The camp had begun to buzz with activity after the sentry’s call. A group of soldiers had formed up in front of the camp, led by another soldier who wore additional decorations on his lapels, and a short cylindrical cap upon his head.

We were still a ways off, maybe a mile out. They seemed to organize and fortify their position, with their possible-officer shouting at them to, “Hold ready!”

“Seems decent enough,” Muleater said. “Wonder why they haven’t broken camp yet. They could make the valley by tomorrow.”

She must have been thinking out loud; I decided not to bother replying.

Afterall, I did not actually want the humans to obliterate the mucary. They still had my gear, and they would be unable to deliver upon their promise if they were obliterated. An emphasis on the ‘if.’ After traveling in the underground warren the infested kept, I had doubts that they could be rooted out. Although their infrastructure could certainly be sabotaged, which might make their logistics difficult.

I was lost in my thoughts when I heard it, a change in the wind.

Across the shattered wastes, the wind was always a constant whistle. It might pick up here and there, but it was always the same kind of whistle.

But this… it sounded like a ‘whoosh,’ ‘whoosh,’ ‘woosh.’

It was growing louder.

It was almost like an oversized bird?

I was just starting to look up when Muleater’s heavy hand landed on my bad shoulder, forcing me to stop.

“Wait,” was all Muleater said. She squinted her eyes as she watched the sky above.

A shadow formed on the ground before us. There was a final ‘whoosh.’ Something large landed, displacing a gust of air that pushed dust into my squinting eyes.

“Shit,” Muleater said, catching on to whatever it was that landed first.

I rubbed at my eyes, trying to regain visibility so that I would be ready to drop an Illusion and flee, or at least to determine if such action were required.

“Name yourself,” a domineering male voice rang out from above. The speaker was at least a head taller than Muleater, and he was facing us. Likely he had been the one to drop out of the sky.

“Lieutenant Janet Muleater, Lower Knight, Cityway Company dash Zero Zero Five, Southbridge,” Muleater snapped off, pounding her chest in salute.

“Your companion?” the male asked.

I finally cleared up my watering eyes. The speaker was indeed a male. He wore a white overcoat with a red gavel on his left lapel. His undershirt was black, and gaudily enough, there was gold thread tying it all together. Most notably however, were the shadows cast from his back.

He had wings.

Huge, gigantic, wings. They might have been gray and black like a molting pigeon, but they were broad enough to presumably carry the man through flight. Even with him folding them up behind them, tucked away as much as they possibly could be, they were still massive.

It was distracting, and I almost missed Muleater’s response to his question.

“An unlicensed kunbeorn that we claimed in our travels. She and another kunny were with us when we were captured by the wyrkwik.”

“And you are still… hale and healthy?” he asked, eyeing both Muleater and myself with suspicion.

The armed party of soldiers was about halfway towards us. If I were to make an escape, it would be now. But running now, of all times, would be absolute folly. I had made my decision, and I had to stay the course. Doing otherwise would jeopardize my position with the humans even further.

“Yes, Inquisitor.”

Oh. Inquisitor? I had heard humans refer to inquisitors prior, and never with positive connotations. Why was he here? Was it for me, because I was ‘Godsmarked?’ No. I could not allow myself to think that. I had never confirmed that I had been in contact with any god. And if the Inquisitor was to deploy a truth spell, then I needed to be able to truthfully say that I was not. I needed to believe that. Because it was true.

“Very well,” he said, considering us. Every so often, I felt waves of something washing off of him, and Muleater sensed it as well, judging by how she tensed or flinched every time.

I could only wonder what he was doing, what he was seeing. I wished I had been given telepathy by my markings. Because as it was, I could only watch a complete stranger make unknown observations while rendering judgements affecting myself, and all while they obeyed foreign motivations.

I hated it.

I also wondered if this man was some sort of kunbeorn as well, as he had animal features, namely, the wings. If so, then why would he judge me so harshly? Did he know something else? The amount of questions was maddening!

Nearer than before, the soldiers were nearly upon us, marching with haste and purpose. When they reached shouting distance, he called out to them, issuing orders, and confirming that he had been given some form of authority.

“Ho there,” he said, waving them near. “They are non-hostile, but also unverified. Take the lieutenant to command,” he said.

The soldier wearing the cylindrical hat, the same who seemed to be leading the soldiers, nodded, “Yes, Inquisitor. And the kunny?”

The Inquisitor narrowed his eyes at me once more, and I felt another wave of energy stretch out from him and chill my skin. Goosebumps prickled and my fur stood up.

“Bind the beast and accompany it to my working quarters.”

Muleater grimaced slightly. I turned to her for help. She caught my eye, and gave a minuscule shake of the head. “Be good,” she said in a low voice.

As the soldiers closed in around me, I gulped, wondering if it was not too soon to flee.

Blessings: Rank (1/9)

Body: 65

Mind: 75

Spirit: 49

Talents:

Athleticism (3/9):

Climbing I (1/9)

Featherlight (6/9)

Stealth I (5/9)

Trackless Tracks I (1/9)

Area Coverage (1/9)

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)