Detracted claws always scratching the dry ground, Ilea paced back and forth, back and forth, back and forth on the forest floor. She would pace and then spun around briskly, in the fashion of her clan, by swinging her foot behind her to the other side of her body and shifting her hips. The few, small movements turned her quickly, and quietly, which was what her clan had been known for.She knew! That vixen knew! She had to know! And if she hadn’t known then, she definitely knew now. But the question was: how much did she know?
With frustration, Ilea flicked her hood back, exposing her head. It was obvious that the vixen knew that she was a wolf, so the hood was pointless now. She decided it would be better to keep it out of the way so her vision wouldn't be obstructed by it if she got in a gruesome fight with Sella or more of those strange ferret guards.
The caws of the same two crows that’d followed her and Sella down the path before, brought her out of her thoughts. Those crows, they’d practically given her wolf identity away several times before. She was always followed by at least one crow, if not more, and they wouldn’t leave her alone. She turned towards them with a snarl, “Salga!” But the crows just sat on the high branch, perched in their loftiness.
Snorting, Ilea turned back around and began pacing again. Would Sella turn her in? There was a high bounty for bringing in a wolf, not as high as the one on the Furet’s head, but still high. Add to that the charges of assaulting an imperial officer and she had quite a reward on her head.
Rubbing her shoulder, she realized she wasn't wearing the old cloth band around her upper arm, hiding her tattoo. The fox had to have taken it off to wrap her arm in the sling. She had seen the tattoo! But...did she know? Could she know what it meant?
Ilea gulped, scratching her furry throat with her black claws. She thought about Sella’s association with the commander Ben-Noel, and why it upset her so much. Those eyes… that face… Was it just her imagination, or was her mind’s assumption of a connection between the two something real? It had to be something to do with the memory; that thought she couldn’t remember.
Filled with frustration, anxiety, anger and fear, Ilea picked up a sharp stone and lugged it at the crows! It popped one of the crow’s right smack between the eyes, sending him stunned to the ground. His companion only fluttered his wings and cawed once.
Served him right. Ilea snorted at him then walked back into the woods towards Sella’s camp, where the bodies of the bounty hunters had been buried. Her reflection had not been very forthcoming, but at least that was one less crow to worry about.
A sudden, burning pain in her shoulder caused her to clench her teeth. The fight with the bounty hunters had aggravated it. Whatever that vixen thought, Ilea knew she had to be wrong. She just had to be. She probably thought that the dislocation was what the problem was.
Then a sudden thought hit her! She could just see how much the vixen knew by asking her about her arm, or starting a conversation about it. At the age of three, her and the other children’s bones and joints had been manipulated so that when they were older, they could pop their bones in and out of joint at will and quite painlessly. The purpose was so that they could escape capture. Few people outside of her clan knew about this, and it would be the perfect way to find out if the vixen knew too much!
Her mind quickly made up, she swallowed down her fear of the fox and began strolling towards the smell of the fire. She glanced up at the trees as she heard the crow flapping behind her. He would soon catch up.
Sella stared up at the bright stars through a hole in the makeshift lean-to’s canopy. She sighed, fiddling with her small knife as she laid back against the fallen tree. Ma Chere was nearby, settled down for sleep. She could feel the vibration of his movements through the ground. Against the darkness, his massive girth made him appear to be a white-ish bear. Rayo was further away, beating the ground with his hooves. He seemed even more wild and restless than he had during the day.
Taking another stick of dry firewood, Sella tossed it on the fire to keep it going through the night. The smoke would help keep away the mosquitoes, and the fire would help keep away the dangerous night creatures.
Turning her knife so that the blade tip was on her finger, she began balancing it as the fire reflected off the shiny metal.
Ma Chere’s sudden bay caused her to flip her knife and grab its hilt. Her ears flattened as she peered into the dark woods, muscles tense. At the first noise, she jumped from her seat against the log and grabbed the hilt of her sword with her free hand. A split second later a squealing rabbit, followed by Ilea, bolted from the woods!
Lunging, Ilea hurtled forward and nabbed the small critter, holding it by the scruff of its neck with her right paw! She glanced up at Sella, who stared down at her with both weapons unsheathed, her body taut. With a slight smirk, Ilea stood to her feet, fat hare still in tow. She backed up from the vixen, satisfied that she'd scared her, or at least forced her to be on her guard.
Sella let out her pint up breath and sheathed her sword and knife. Her narrowed eyes followed Ilea as she walked around to the other side of the fire. The wolf’s movements were like those of a bred stalker.
The crow, seeing the poor rabbit squirm in the wolf's grasp, flew down to perch on a lower branch that hung over the camp. It was meal time.
Hunching down on her toes, Ilea sat on her legs in a folded fashion, holding the rabbit between her knees. Then with her right hand, she quickly broke its neck.
Forcing down her animosity, Sella raised an eyebrow. “Midnight snack?” Her voice was clipped.
“Breakfast.” Ilea answered, tearing into the raw rabbit with her fangs. She quickly downed most of the hare in a matter of minutes, tossing what was left of the carcass over her shoulder.
The waiting crow immediately swooped down to the hare carcass and began tearing away at it, as a couple more crows came swooping from the surrounding trees with loud caws. Soon there was nothing left of the hare but a couple of fuzzballs tangled in the grass.
Ilea sat back on her haunches, picking her teeth with one of the hare’s rib bones. She stared down at the fire, watching its red glare on the dirt and grass around it.
Sella crossed the camp and sat back down on the ground, leaning up against the log. Ignoring her partner and turning her eyes up to the stars, she listened to the sounds of the night: the crickets in the brush, an owl far away, Ma Chere and Rayo snorting at each other.
Her ears twitching at the sound of the crows flapping back into the trees, Ilea noticed that Sella wasn’t surprised by the crows. That was one indication she knew she was a wolf. Next, she would have to see just how much she did know. So she stood up and walked over to the river. Taking the top bandages under her sling off, she soaked them in the water. Then she walked back over to the fire and sat on her haunches.
Taking black powder from one of the many pockets in her robe, she tossed it into the fire, sending flames up in a large ball! Then the fire burned back down again, the flames being hotter than before.
Walking over to a nearby black oak, Ilea snatched off a green leaf. She could feel the vixen’s eyes on her. She walked over to a balsam fur, and picked off a couple lumps of sap from the bark. She walked back over to the fire, carrying the wet bandages, leaf and resin. Hunching down close to the fire, she held the leaf underneath the bandages, until it was just as soaked. Then she set the two on her knees and pulled several herbs from her pocket. She smoothed the balsam resin on the bandage, then sprinkled on several small pieces of common alder, wild strawberry, wintergreen, and witch hazel leaves. She wrapped the bandages around the herbs, and tied the large leaf around the bandage bundle. Then holding the tips of the tied leaf, she hung the bundle over the heated fire.
After a few minutes, she brought back the bundle, unwrapped the dried leaf, and carefully unwrapped the bandages. Then she quickly rewrapped the wet, warm bandages on her arm, so that the herbs were against her fur and skin.
Sella idly watched Ilea work while she whittled at a piece of firewood with her knife.
Munching on the black oak leaf, Ilea pulled out a slice of willow bark and began chewing on it for her headache. She thought while she chewed, trying to come up with a way to start a conversation with the vixen without really starting one. This would be the perfect time to learn more about her target. She sat for nearly fifteen minutes, trying to think of something to say so that Sella didn’t suspect anything, but came up empty.
Frustrated again, Ilea set her jaw, stood up and walked away from the camp. She strode into the dark woods to find more herbs for her pounding head, leaving Rayo nickering as he pulled against his halter.
She was going to go out of her mind! Ilea picked up a cold river rock and held it up against the back of her head. That stupid, no good...vixen! Glancing back at the camp, she saw Sella sleeping, or at least acting like it. Not far away stood Ma Chere, his eyes plainly on the “partners”. Ilea put down the rock where she’d gotten it and picked up another one to use as a cold compress. She stared wide eyed into the woods, wishing she were traveling, or just merely moving on. She had to have action, and the slow pace and secrets were driving her mad! And while she impatiently waited for them to move on, Sella just rested away in the camp.
With a huff, Ilea walked angrily back to the camp and stood at Sella’s side where her sword was sheathed. This way Sella would have to unsheathe it away from Ilea, giving the wolf time to counter. Or she could always step on the sword and sheath if she had to.
One of Sella’s eyes opened, peered upward and narrowed.
“Are you just going to sleep all del night?” Ilea snorted, raising her right hand to motion towards the dark woods.
“The thought had crossed my mind,” Sella frowned. “Why?”
Ilea gritted her teeth. “You sleep en las noches?”
“Yes, I sleep in ‘las noches’,” Sella growled sarcastically, opening both eyes. “What is it to you?”
Taking a deep breath to try to stay calm, Ilea made it a point to remember Sella’s sword at her feet. “I sleep during siesta.”
Fingering the hilt of her knife on her other side away from Ilea, Sella narrowed her eyes. “Good for you. Now, do you mind?” With that she closed her eyes and snuggled in the grass for a light sleep.
Ilea clenched her fists and spoke in a slow, low tone, “Fine. I will jus go en ahead y wait for you to catch up.” Then she turned and stormed away, through the woods.
Sella gave a half angry smile and opened her eyes to watch Ilea stalk away. She was giving back what she’d received from her ‘partner’ in the past few days. She hated to admit it, but it felt awfully good. Then she blinked and frowned. Ilea had mounted Rayo and was tearing off into the woods. She quickly sat up and called after her, “Stupide! We are not supposed to be separated, rappelez-vous?!”
Ilea halted Rayo not far from the camp and shouted back, “Un poco space wouldn’t hurt! Unless you are scared of la dark!”
Sella’s fur bristled and her blood boiled at the incorrigible wolf, “Space?? You want SPACE??” Catching herself slipping into a temper, she tried to calm down but couldn’t keep anger from slipping into her voice. “Fine! But next time you nearly get yourself killed, do not expect me to save your life!” With that she angrily stood and threw more branches into the fire, causing it to flame up.
“I won’t!” Ilea shouted back, nudging Rayo into a brisk gallop around the camp site. Hopefully he would tire and get some sleep tonight. After the run, Ilea dismounted Rayo and stood in the darkness, trying to cool herself down. Rayo nudged her bad shoulder, prompting her to grit her teeth with pain. He didn’t mean to hurt her so she quickly forgave him and began stroking his head.
Sella stood glowering by the fire, and at the sight of the cause of her anger, she growled, “You are the most ungrateful, stingy creature I have ever met in my life!”
Ilea easily ignored the comments since she had heard them many times before. Setting her left hand on her hip and turning towards the angry vixen, Ilea acted like she was nearing sleep, just in case the vixen would attack her. “Thank you,” she returned sarcastically. She hoped the vixen would leave it at that, since she knew she’d be angry the rest of the night if the fight went on.
The vixen did not leave it at that, however. Instead she flattened her ears and said, “Yes, you would think that is a compliment, would you not? And little wonder. You have so little morals the word ‘good’ has no place in your vocabulary!”
At that, Ilea lost it. “You should talk! You fox!” she retorted, spitting out the last word like a curse. “You foxes know less about ‘bien’ than I do!”
Head tilting to one side and ears flat against her head, Sella crossed the campsite and practically got in Ilea’s face as she glared her down. “You think I am bad? You think that?” Her words were soft at first, then gained volume, her eyebrows raising to punctuate her words. “I am not the one who has been trying to kill her PARTNER!!”
“Oh, I feel sorry for you, fox. You y your emperors have mi sympathy.” Ilea’s words were filled with angry sarcasm. She was trying not to get any angrier so her headache wouldn’t worsen.
“Sorry?” Sella threw up her paws and looked around at the forest with a short laugh. “She’s sorry! Who’d have thought! The wolf actually feels SORRY!”
“You know absolutely nothing of what you speak and fight about, fox! Your ignorance is sickening! But who could blame you? With scoundrels for emperors! You’re all ignorant!” Ilea growled.
“And what AM I speaking about, wolf? Goodness? Animalamity? Morals?? You would not know about these things! I may be ignorant, but at least I have a conscience!” Sella retorted.
Ilea snarled, “Y what would I do with una conciencia?! I certainly couldn't use it en esta world! My conciencia died un long time ago! Y I'm glad it’s gone!”
Rayo stamped the ground nervously behind Ilea, sensing the tension and hearing the angry words and animal-like threats.
The fur on the back of Sella’s neck was raising and she clenched her fists to keep down her rage. “You are glad? You are glad you turned into these SCUM of society? These people who have no qualms about taking homes and inheritances from helpless children!? You are glad you are like them!?” The vixen’s eyes narrowed and her voice went dangerously soft. “Well, if that is the case, you should be proud of yourself. You turned out wonderfully by their standards. Just do not trip on your way to the underworld.” With that, Sella turned and stalked back to the camp.
Standing there, Ilea watched the vixen walk back towards the flickering light of the fire. Then she turned and led Rayo away from the campsite and to the nearby stream. There she let him take a drink and then took a long draw herself. The water was cold and fresh and tasted extraordinarily good.
After his drink, Rayo went to stand beside Ilea, even though he was bursting with energy. Ilea stopped lapping up the water and stared down at her reflection. The wolf in the stream stared ruefully back at her. The vixen’s words echoed in her mind, “...at least I have a conscience...”
Ilea pursed her lips and looked up at the canopy. She could see the lights of the moons faintly peering through the trees. It was like the light of her own conscience. If her family was still alive things would have been different. She still had a conscience, but she didn’t listen to it very often. What good would it do anyway? She couldn’t get close to anyone, couldn’t be around them because they hated her, and all because of what she was. Why should she try to be nice to such animals? Her family had been nice, and followed the Narja Code and Scrolls of the ancient writings, and what did it get them? Happiness? Peace? No. A quick and cruel death, and for something they hadn’t even done. One of them had made a mistake and so all of them had paid.
It had been on that night so long ago when the Tory Clan of Narja were massacred by the fox Emperor’s royal soldiers and guards. When she had watched her family of nearly two hundred die at the hands of the fox. When Ben-Noel had struck down her father and killed her mother, sisters, brothers and close relatives. She still remembered when her dying father, the Jefe, handed over the leadership of the clan to her with the picture of the Middle-East Dew Drop Vine on the band, and his sword, handed down through the generations. She still remembered when Ben-Noel loomed overhead, his body bloody and his sword in his hand, when she closed her eyes and stood straight, waiting for the blow. It had been that night when she decided not to follow the Code anymore.
The foxes had murdered the only thing dear to her. They would get no good treatment from her.
Ilea untied the light brown band from her head and pulled it away. Laying it on the dry dirt, the flower design on the inside was clearly visible. The Middle-East Dew Drop Vine.
Whipping out her knife, eyes locked on the design, she began to trim her hair. There was no point in letting it grow long in the narja jefe tradition, since there was no remnants from the narja except her. There was no clan for her to be the jefe of.
Replacing her knife and settling back on her haunches, Ilea’s mind went back to the vixen. After tonight Sella would be expecting an attack even more, and Ilea still hadn’t learned what the vixen knew of her. She shook her head and ran a paw through her cropped hair. It didn’t matter now. The vixen would either turn her in, or not. Ilea didn’t care anymore. Maybe if she was turned in, they would kill her quickly and put her out of her misery. Death would be a merciful thing.
Ilea put her bandana back on and stood. Her eyes fell upon her unfeeling reflection in the water. Those eyes... They had once been full of hope and life. Now they were cold and bitter. She had become what the outsiders had first thought her and her clan to be: Cold, heartless killers.
Turning from the water, she began pacing along the river, her head pounding.
Rayo began to walk behind her. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.
It was going to be a long night.
***
Sella’s eyes slowly opened and she stifled a yawn. The fire had died out in the night. Sella followed the trail up to the canopy and blinked at the pink sky. It was about five o’clock in the morning and the top of the sun was probably just barely peaking over the horizon. The thick mass of forest obscured her view of what must have been a beautiful sunrise.
Rolling to her feet, she began stretching her arms, then her abdomen and legs. The exercise helped her to wake up and become alert. She had slept very lightly last night, or not at all, and that made it seem to take forever. She was glad it was finally time to be off.
Placing her knife and sword back in their scabbards, she scanned the campsite. Ma Chere was fast asleep near a group of trees and Rayo stood with Ilea perched on top on the very edge of the clearing.
Sella studied her partner for a moment and then stepped up to the fire to make sure it was out. The blackened wood had quit smoldering sometime before. That was good. Smoke in daylight would give them away. Whistling for Ma Chere, she scattered the firewood and kicked dirt and leaves over it. Going back to the lean-to, she picked up her pack and slung it over her shoulder. Then, with a well-aimed kick, she knocked the roof off of the shelter. It was made of bark, leaves and random sticks and blended in with the forest floor. No one would be able to tell they had been here unless they looked. That done she walked over to Ma Chere, who had awakened and was blinking away sleep. He went down on his front knees and allowed her to climb into the saddle. As he stood up she turned him south and prodded him on with a touch of the heels. Rayo and Ilea joined them as they entered the forest and the quartet trotted along in silence.
Sella’s eyes roamed around the changing scenery, smelling, listening and watching for any sign of enemy soldiers or citizens who would give them away. Ilea had practically fallen asleep atop Rayo as he clomped along. She had actually gotten her horse to sleep some during the night, but she had been in too much anger, pain, and energy to do the same. As she sat slouched in the saddle with closed eyes, her ears constantly turned in all directions, she dreamed.
The aristocratic fox sniffed with disdain as he eyed the dirty, rugged inhabitants of the tavern. He had chosen this spot for the meeting because of its obscurity, but he was beginning to wonder if the price for concealment was worth it. He touched a handkerchief to his nose and tried not to breath in the foul air.
The door to the tavern opened with a gust of cold air and a large, muscular hyena in a gray cloak entered. The fox sneered and licked his lips at the sight. The Colonel of the Emperor's Royal Guard was a powerful ally, but he wasn’t just the fox’s ally. He was under the fox’s command. The feeling was delightful.
The hyena crossed the room to where he was and stood at attention. “Sir.”
Waving at the chair opposite him, the fox asked in a low voice, “What happened to the mercenaries?”
The hyena sat and cleared his throat. “We have not heard from them. I believe they failed their duty.”
The fox sneered. “I should have guessed as much. But what about you, Alek? Do you think you can catch them?” He raised a thick eyebrow.
The hyena, growing indignant at the remark, puffed up his chest, “Dah, I do, m’lord. I will catch them. The question that should be asked is how do vi want them?”
The fox idly toyed with his fur gloves. He had gotten them compliments of one of his late serfs who had been unable to pay rent. Power was a nice thing to have. “I want Sel- er, Ange de Venger alive. The condition is not important, as long as she is still alive.” He paused, waving a jeweled paw in a noble manner. “I care not what you do with the other, whatever she is.”
The hyena’s mouth curved into a smile as he spoke with a heavy hymen accent and deep voice, “As vi wish, my lord. Vi get de Venger, a I get Ilea.”
“Good. Just see that it gets done before they return to Renard.” The fox nodded, then dismissed the colonel.
Standing and clicking his heels together in the hymen fashion, Alek turned and walked off with a perfect posture and a strong gate. He would soon be General of the Royal Guard, especially since the rank of general had been open for several years now and needed to be filled. Following the fox’s orders would surely land him the title. They had a deal.
Besides, the prey were assassins, wanted for many assorted crimes and murders. True, most of the their victims had been scoundrels and criminals, but the fact that they were killers still stood. They had to be brought to justice.
The fox watched Alek walk out and laughed to himself. The Renard army was down to a few thousand men, due to the unwise attack on Furet several years ago, and the Renard emperor would soon follow. The little bit of the power that the country had was in his hands already and he now lived in unimaginable wealth. The only thing that stood in his way of becoming the next emperor was Sella, the famous Ange de Venger, and she would soon be in his grasp.
Everything was going smoothly now. There would be no one in the palace to protect the fox emperor, and no one to stop the new era that he, Count Ramond DeLuc, Duke of Eddenfield, personal advisor to the emperor, would usher in.
Sella lay on top of Ma Chere, staring out at the blackness of the forest. They had not even bothered to light a fire tonight. Earlier that evening Sella had become increasingly apprehensive, a sign that she had long since recognized as an instinctive warning that something was wrong. Shortly after they had picked up the scent of ferrets and had moved with extra caution ever since. When night had settled they did not light a fire, since it would alert any patrols to their position. And so they waited in the darkness to move again.
She could hear Ilea and Rayo shifting impatiently to her right and guessed that they were not used to traveling in the day. The fact did not surprise her; the wolf was obviously someone who avoided life at all costs- or intelligent life, anyway. How unfortunate it was that her assassin duties drew her out of confinement into society, Sella thought wryly. She shifted onto her side and stared out at the dim silhouette of the pair. She wondered what it was that had made the wolf so miserly. She remembered their heated bout of words the day before and thought, Surely she hasn’t been this way all her life. She shook her head. Of coarse not. Even the worst of men had been innocent children at one time or another. The image of the aristocratic fox filled her mind and she pursed her lips. It was hard to imagine the cold killer as an innocent child.
Rolling away from her partner, she suddenly gasped and shot up bolt right, nearly falling off Ma Chere’s broad back in the process. Chest heaving, she peered into the inky blackness of the forest and tried to discern what she had just seen.
“What is it?” Ilea’s voice asked. Irritation laced her words.
“I thought I saw...” she paused, narrowing her eyes at the dark in a vain effort to see. “...Eyes... watching us.”
Though her eyes were naturally equipped with night vision, she could not make out anything other than trees and brush around them. There was no breeze and therefore no scent of whatever it was, and neither partner heard anything other than the usual night sounds.
Finally Sella shook her head. “Whoever or whatever it was is gone now. It was probably nothing... an owl, perhaps.”
Ilea didn’t reply, but scanned their surroundings distrustfully. It was going to be another long night.
***
Alek crouched in the high grass, peering ahead at the large wall. A heavy gray-green coat cloaked the bright colors of his red and white uniform and helped camouflage him against the terrain. His soldiers were fanned out in the deep grass around him, armed to the teeth and draped in the same type of mantle. Most were foxes, but there were a few other species mixed in. Renard was, after all, the economic center of the sphere.
Ducked down in the grass, they all watched with rigid attention as a pair of mercenary assassins scurried across the field. The assassins had not even noticed the hidden soldiers and were doing a poor job of stealthily approaching the wall. They had just arrived at the boundary of the deep grass when one of the wall guards spotted them and gave a shout of alarm. Instantly arrows were released at the two, and before anyone had time to blink their bodies were filled with the small spears. The sight reminded Alek of his mother’s pin cushion.
Alek wrinkled his nose as the two assassins toppled over, dead before they hit the ground. He shook his head at the poor fools. “A simple death for simple beasts,” he whispered to no one in particular. Turning to the second in command, a young fox lieutenant, he said, “We move on mój signal.” He paused to look back up at the wall. The guards were relaxing and joking about the kills they had just made. Soon they would be completely at ease, and thus unsuspecting and off guard. It was a normal night for them. They had gotten used to killing assassin idiots that dared to come near their wall, and had become confident in their ability. That was what Alek was planning to take advantage of. Their confidence and comfort. Removing his sword from its scabbard, he lifted its tip above the grass and brought it quickly down. That was the signal.
As one, the soldiers slithered through the grass on their bellies, moving to the border of the grass where it became cropped. There were five columns of three, and every third soldier at the end of each column was equipped with a quiver of arrows and a long bow. As soon as they stopped at the edge of cover, the third soldiers notched an arrow into their bows and moved into a crouched position. This done, the two front columns quietly jumped to their feet and dashed for the wall, pulling grappling hooks from their belts and swinging them in circles to gain momentum before launching them at the bulwarks.
When the archers saw the wall guards notice the soldiers, they let loose their arrows and picked them off before they could alert anyone else. Meanwhile the Renard foxes climbed up the walls via hooks and ropes. Once on the top, the soldiers burst into the gatehouse and killed the last of the guards there, then opened the heavy gates.
The gates were hardly up when yet another band of fifteen soldiers galloped over the hill, where they had been watching and waiting. They led the horses of the first squad, which Alek and the archers quickly mounted. Together they rode noisily under the open gates, leading the extra ten horses behind them.
Once they were beyond the wall the soldiers on top closed the gates and repelled back down. The archers covered the soldiers as they mounted their horses, watching the walls for any sign of furet guards. When everyone was mounted up, the whole part of thirty Renard soldiers galloped into the forest before they were discovered.
***
Yawning, Ilea rubbed her eyes with her right hand and peered at the narrowing path ahead. She hadn’t gotten that much sleep last night... or the night before, or the night before that, but who was counting?
Sella lazily let her body move in sync with Ma Chere’s plodding movements, permitting her eyes to roam around the changing scenery. The shrubbery and grass had turned to large and thick, leafy plants growing in the sides of the path. Vines hung everywhere, as the trees grew taller, wider and stronger. The canopy thickened and heightened, blocking out much of the bright sunlight. The air smelled of fresh rains and mist, and the ground was moist with daylong dew. Calls and voices of strange jungle animals were constant as the two moved cautiously through the new vegetation. It was obvious that the wood was giving way to a vast rainforest.
Feeling a sticky substance suddenly latching onto her, Sella realized that she had just run into a huge spider web. She grimaced in disgust and began wiping it off. Then she noticed a black spider, the owner of the web, crawling on her chest and quickly plucked it. Though she had a healthy respect for spiders, she decided this one didn’t look too friendly and promptly killed it.
Ilea’s eyes were closed for more sleep, since it was still the hottest part of the day. As she shifted into a more comfortable position nap on Rayo’s back, she decided to ignore the squishing sound that had just permeated the air. She didn’t even want to know.
Her eyes hadn’t been closed very long when Rayo’s alarmed bray erupted in the otherwise quiet jungle. At the same time something strong and sinewy, like a thick rope, entwined around her upper body and yanked her over Rayo’s head! Her eyes snapped open and she fell forwards in a half roll, slamming the ground on her back and continuing forwards to stand up. Grabbing her sword hilt, she felt something snake up from below, winding around legs, tail, waist and arms! She was only able to unsheath her sword before she was overtaken, dragged across the jungle floor and pinned against a large tree so tight she could hardly breathe. At first she thought that the rope-like creatures were some sort of boa constrictor, but she quickly saw that they weren’t snakes at all. They had no heads or fangs, or so it appeared, and they dangled freely thirty feet from the jungle canopy, their ends disappearing into the thick brush above. Then it hit her. They were vines! The idea seemed incredulous at first, but their texture and appearance soon convinced her of it. Her attention was taken from these observations by Rayo’s whinny. Glancing sharply in his direction, she saw that the vines had wrapped around his legs and caused him to topple over. He had hardly touched the ground when they were sliding over his body, binding him securely down.
At the same time, Sella was having her own problems. The vines had seemed to jump out at them from the jungle, snaring Ma Chere first with such speed and efficiency he hadn’t had time to move before he was wrapped in their strong coils. The vines then went after Sella, but going after Ilea first had given her a small amount of warning. Leaping from Ma Chere’s back, she flipped through the air and landed on the ground beside him. At the same time she swung her double-bladed sword in an arch and cut the first advancing few that that tried to entangle her limbs! Their numbers grew, however, and they came at her from all sides, including the ground, wrapping themselves around her waist and pinning her arms against her chest.
As the vines began to encase her, she flipped her body around and laid a powerful round-house kick on the biggest vine she could reach, snapping it in two. The vines suddenly tightened their hold while more dropped from the treetops, wrapped around her and launched her upwards. By this time Sella was both desperate and angry. Yelling angrily in French, she managed to wrench her sword arm free and swing the sword below her feet, cutting the vines that were trying to encircle her waist and strangle her. Her momentum didn’t stop as she carried the swing through. The sword blade whistled through the air as she brought it above her head and sliced the vines that were carrying her into the canopy. For a moment she dangled as the vines went limp, and then she fell from the height with a crash, her eyes locked on the fast-approaching ground! She prepared to meet the ground and roll, but instead, she went into the ground with a slight ‘slush’!
Still grasping her sword, Sella stared down at the soggy earth with wide eyes. “Horrors!”
She’d just fallen into a pool of mud and quicksand. The mire was beginning to pull at her boots, pulling her into its dark depths. She felt herself slowly sliding downwards and quickly looked around for something to grab onto. She soon discovered that the hard ground was further away than her arms could reach, and the more she reached, the faster she sank. Soon the quicksand was up to her waist, and she was no closer to reaching safe ground. She grimaced and held her sword above her head as she glared down at the murk. How am I going to get out of this mess?
Struggling against the vines, Ilea found that she couldn’t move and the vines only continued to tighten around her body. She tried to yank one of her arms free so that she could cut herself out, but more vines shot out of the ground and from the canopy and entwined themselves around her arm. She finally quit struggling, since that only seemed to make things worse, and peered over at Sella, who was only a couple yards away.
Sella held very still, aware that she had very little time left, and glowered at Ilea. Ma Chere, who might normally come to her rescue, was caught by the vines and unable to help her. All of her other options were wasted as well. All of them except one, that is. There was still a chance, however small...
Raising her voice so Ilea could hear, she asked, “If I cut you loose will you pull me out?”
Ilea raised an eyebrow, “Y just how would you do that?”
“If I threw my sword I could cut most of the vines holding your arm,” Sella replied. “You would have to do the rest, however.” Her grip on the sword hilt tightened automatically at the thought of anyone else handling her beloved weapon. The idea was revolting, but if it was the only way to escape death it would have to be done. And soon, by the look of it. The mud had just passed her waistline.
Ilea pursed her lips and thought a moment. Being strangled to death wasn't exactly the way she wanted to die. In fact, she still had a hankering to breathing. Still, she had a hold on the vixen. It was a very small hold, granted, but it was a hold nonetheless. Now would be the perfect time to get some information out of Sella, and see if she would call her bluff. She stalled a long time, acting like she was thinking so it didn't appear that she cared about living. She couldn't help but smile as she watched Sella sink down another inch. Finally she spoke. “I will pull you out... if you tell mi where you got esa sword.”
“My sword?” Sella’s repeated incredulously, wondering what possessed the wolf. Here they were, lingering before the jaws of death, and the crazy wolf wanted to know where she had gotten her sword! French insults passed through her mind but she refrained from voicing them as she sank yet lower in the mire.
“
Sí. Su sword.” Ilea would’ve nodded if she could.
Sella narrowed her eyes, her ears turning backwards. She normally would have asked some questions of her own, like “What’s it to you?” and “Why the heck should I tell you?”, but, as aforementioned, she was in a predicament and didn’t have time to play host to twenty questions. “It was my father’s sword!” she growled impatiently, “Now are you going to pull me out or what?” The quicksand had reached her chest.
“Sí.”
“You swear to pull me out?”
“Yes,” Ilea snorted.
“Swear that you will not try anything funny either, and that you will pull me safely out before I drown,” Sella persisted. She wanted to be absolutely sure before she gave up her sword and freed the wolf.
“I gave you my word!” Ilea snapped, growing impatient. The vines were getting tighter; it was getting very hard to breathe.
“All right,” Sella breathed, grasping the hilt of the sword with both hands and measuring the distance between them. She sincerely hoped, for more her sake than for the wolf’s, that she didn’t miss. Bringing her arms to her side, she coiled her muscles and tensed. Then she suddenly launched them forward toward the trees and let go of the sword! The force of the throw pushed her down into the quicksand a couple more inches.
The sword whistled through the air, twirling end over end. Ilea stared at it as it seemed to come straight at her, wondering for a fleeting moment if the vixen had been a bit off in her throw. Then the double blade sank quickly and deeply into the tree with a loud “thwack”, just beside Ilea’s arm, cutting it free of most of the vines that had it trapped to the tree!
Ilea was in action immediately. She yanked her arm free and snatched up her own sword, taking the blade up above her head, down along her side, and below her back paws in one sweeping motion! Then she pushed forwards off the tree and whirled to cut more vines that might attack her! She and Sella were both surprised when the vines, instead of striking, slowly withdrew back into the dirt at the base of the tree and the thick rainforest canopy.
There was little time to ponder what it meant. Sella felt the quicksand reach her armpits. “Hurry up! Pull me out!” she demanded.
Ilea ignored her and trotted over to the horses, the vixen’s sword still ready in her hand. She swiftly attacked the vines imprisoning Rayo and they retreated down into the dirt without a fight. Rayo stood up and nickered as Ilea walked over to Ma Chere and cut the vines around him. The large Clydesdale jumped up and whinnied, backing away from the wolf.
Sella watched, paws now resting on her mass of curly red and black hair, as Ilea calmly sheathed the sword in the black, hidden sheath on her back, under her cloak. Sella’s eyes were narrowed by the time Ilea trotted over to the pool of quicksand and stared down at her.
She felt herself getting hot and, though it was dangerous to do so, growled, “Going to ignore that conscious again, wolf?”
Ilea snorted, then turned sideways, setting her right foot at the edge of the quicksand, and her left back behind her. Then she leaned to her right side, bending her knees and ankles, and held out her right paw.
Sella watched her with contempt for few moments. I hope you’re happy with yourself, wolf, she thought savagely, because I am definitely not. Deciding the wolf wasn’t going to take advantage of the situation by killing her, Sella reached out and snagged Ilea’s paw. Even as she did she felt herself sinking another inch.
Digging her claws into the ground, Ilea braced herself and pulled Sella slowly out of the quicksand, backing up as she did so. As soon as Sella’s boots were on the ground, they let go of each other. Ilea immediately turned to trot back to Rayo while Sella slopped mud from her body. Company had gathered while they had been busy trying to trust each other, however, and it wasn’t a friendly company.
Alek and his thirty soldiers, clad in their spotless red and white uniforms, stood in a circle around them. The ten archers had their crossbows and longbows trained on them while the soldiers tried to control the partners' horses. Alek stood inside the ring, a mere feet away from the assassins, four soldiers flanking him.
Ilea’s first impulse at the sight of Alek was to snicker, and she did. A few soldiers blinked, a few more frowned angrily, but Alek just stood there, his arms folded as he smiled at the two.
“So, vi are the infamous Ange de Venger,” he observed, his eyes glancing over the muddy vixen. He then turned to scrutinize her sword, still stuck deep in the tree. “That’s a very nice sword. Vi there,” he waved at the soldier nearest the tree, “take it.” The soldier obediently wrenched the sword from the tree, though it took a couple tries since it was stuck so firmly. He then played his own sword towards the two assassins as Alek set his paws on his hips. “And, by the way. Good to see vi again, Ilea.”
One of Sella’s eyebrows rose at the wolf in question. Neither had the chance to say anything. “Now both of you disarm yourselves,” Alek barked, clasping his paws behind his back to watch sternly.
The assassins glanced at each other.
Sella momentarily considered the notion of breaking for it, but the sight of ten crossbows trained on her didn’t do much for the idea. Normally Ilea would fight to escape captivity, even in bad odds, but thirty to two wasn’t bad odds, it was suicide. Both assassins knew that trying to escape at this moment in time would get them both killed, and so they complied and began to rid themselves of their weapons.
Ilea threw down her large knife and sword as Sella tossed down her bow and quiver of arrows. Their eyes met over the pile, and the same thought ran through their minds. They had both kept smaller knives and other weapons hidden.
“Come now, Ilea. I know vi have more than that,” Alek’s accented voice said in a tone one would use on a child. He shook his head. “Where are your throwing stars?”
With a snort, Ilea reached into her back leather pocket and pulled out a handful of flat metal stars. She dropped them on the ground in front of her. She’d left one throwstar in her back pocket. “So, you’ve actually caught up a me, Alek,” she smirked. “Who would have thought?”
“Once again,” Alek nodded. “Hope I have not interrupted anything.” He waved with his hands for the soldiers to move in, while the archers kept their arrows squarely on the two.
The soldiers circled the assassins and held them at sword point while two privates, carrying chains and shackles, stepped up to the two. Neither assassins resisted. The privates quickly shackled both of their paws in front of them and clapped iron collars around their necks. They then hooked long chains to the collars. This would allow them to control the pair without getting near them. While the privates shackled them two other soldiers picked up the discarded weapons and stuffed them in a large sack.
As soon as the soldiers thought they had the fox and wolf under control, Alek strolled up to Ilea and roughly grasped her injured arm.
She clenched her teeth but made no outside indication that it caused pain.
“Get into some trouble?” Alek sneered mock-sympathetically as he stepped back and laid eyes on Sella. “What is a vixen like you working as an assassin, with this fleabag?” He paused and when he received no answer, continued, “Well, I’d threaten that if one of you escaped, the other would be killed, but it doesn’t appear that either of you would care. So, I’ll say this plainly: vi, Ilea, don’t have to be alive at all where you’re going, and Sella, vi only have to be half alive. If either of you moves a muscle toward escaping, I’ll have you shot full of arrows. Now, get back on your horses.” He walked away as the soldiers dragged the two over to their raging mounts.
Sella murmured to Ma Chere and he lowered to his front knees. Ignoring the watchful eyes of the soldiers, she sat on Ma Chere’s saddle and he stood back up. Ilea had meanwhile mounted Rayo. Once they were on their horses, the soldiers proceeded to their own mounts. In the bustle no one noticed Ilea take a small key from her leather belt pocket and stealthily unlock her shackles.
Sella watched through narrowed eyes as the soldiers wheeled their horses and prepared to ride back to the Furet wall. She scanned them, evaluated them and the situation, trying to find a weak spot. Her emerald gaze paused on Ilea. The wolf was staring hard at her. Then she noticed a piece of metal in Ilea’s right palm out of the corner of her eye. Dropping her gaze inconspicuously, she saw that it was an old, small key.
The plan unfolded in her mind as clearly as if the wolf had been telling it to her.
In an almost invisible gesture, Sella nodded, then looked away and opened her paw. There was no noise as Ilea flicked the key through the air. It landed squarely in her palm and she quickly transferred it to the lock in the shackle. Covering the lock face and key with her other paw, she pressed hard and turned, all the while keeping her eyes focused on Ma Chere’s mane with a blank expression on her face. The key turned with her paw and she felt the snap as the lock opened. Within seconds the other shackle was unlocked and both were resting on her wrists, appearing to still be fixed. That done, she closed the key in her palm to conceal it. Now all they had to do was wait. As the party began trotting back through the jungle, Sella and Ilea’s eyes met over the tops of the soldiers heads.
Seconds later the jungle around them seemed to come alive as vines snaked out of the ground, trees and canopy to wrap around their victims. In mere moments twenty-three of the soldiers and their horses were either pinned to the ground or flung into the trees while the remaining soldiers fought frantically to avoid being caught in the plants’ grip.
In that same moment Sella and Ilea threw off the shackles and grabbed the chains attached to their necks! With hard yanks, the soldiers at the other ends were pulled off their horses and soon entangled in vines! The assassins picked up the chains and turned their horses back around as more vines ascended and descended upon the group! As they galloped past the discarded pack of weapons, Ilea leaned off of Rayo and snatched it up.
Ma Chere and Rayo took off deeper into the jungle, leaving the Renard soldiers behind to their entangled doom.
Alek, meanwhile, gripped the reins of his thoroughbred as it reared up in the commotion with a scream! The horse was soon overtaken by vines, which grabbed its head and forced it down, head over hooves! Alek was thrown from the horse, hitting the moist ground several yards away. He rolled a safe distance away from the soldiers and stood up to watch helplessly as the vines soon overtook his entire group. At the sound of hoof beats, he turned to see the figures of the assassins disappearing into the dense shrubbery.
A growl escape his lips and he waved his fist in the air as he shouted after them, “I’ll get vi, vi stupid lupine! I will never give up! Never!”