Greykin Valley

| 3 | Humanoids

⥐ ⋞ ☽ ⋟ ⥐

| Sebastien, during the retreat |

Sebastien watched while Jackson and Julian helped Lalo out of his cage. Then, once the three of them joined him, he hastily led the way out of the hunter camp and into the trees. All they had to do now was get back to the van and wait for the rest of the wolf walker pack to join them. He just hoped that Damon managed to capture Wilson.

"Are we heading back to the van?" Julian called from behind.

"That's where your Alpha told us to regroup, so yeah," Sebastien answered, glancing back at them.

But his eyes shifted from Julian to Lalo. The brown-furred wolf was limping and struggling to keep up with them.

"We need to slow down," Jackson said and then looked back at Lalo. "Are you okay?"

Sebastien sighed to himself and rolled his eyes a little. But he couldn't sense any incoming danger, so he slowed down enough for Lalo to keep up.

Lalo panted as he responded to Jackson, "Y-yeah...just...been stuck in that cage a while. S-so...what's going on here?"

"It's a long story," Jackson answered. "But the short version is that we made a deal with the Venaticus, and in exchange for whatever we want, we need to help them find a laboratory."

Sebastien felt a little disgruntled. He wished he'd been as cautious as Jackson when he signed his deal with Lord Caedis. Now, he was paying the price for being an idiot...but at least he got what he asked for. Being stuck working for a demon god wasn't so bad, but it was at times like these he found himself wondering why he was there. He was a creature that could communicate with phantoms and spirits, not some chaperone.

"Do you need to stop?" Julian asked Lalo.

Sebastien snapped out of his thoughts. "No stopping. We keep going."

"We need to stop," Jackson insisted, slowing down.

Sebastien grunted irritably. He just wanted to get back to the van, but evidently, things weren't going to go as smoothly as he wanted. He slowed when the others did, and while he turned back and moved over to where they were, he said, "We can't hang around out here. Some of those hunters could come back at any moment."

As he wheezed and collapsed, Lalo shook his head. "N-no. If...if they're herding, n-no one's getting away. Alpha...Damon's herding technique, it's...it's perfect."

"Are you all right?" Julian asked worriedly. "You...don't look too good."

Lalo huffed and puffed as he rested his head on his paws. "I just...need a minute, that's all."

Sebastien grunted as he looked around cautiously. A minute could be all it took for something he couldn't detect to pounce out of the fog. He might not be able to smell or hear anything rotting coming their way, but he'd seen enough surprises to be so naïve as to think everything was going to be fine.

And there it was. That rotting, disgusting stench.

"Shit," he growled, setting his sights on Jackson, Julian, and Lalo. "We need to move now!"

Lalo tried getting up as everyone prepared to run, but he fell again.

Sebastien growled angrily, "We have to leave him." There was no other way. He wasn't going to risk losing a valuable asset because of some weak wolf.

"What?!" Jackson exclaimed. "We're not leaving—"

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Sebastien yelled. He moved closer and stood in front of Lalo. There wasn't any time to argue, and if Jackson wouldn't leave without this guy, then he'd have to do something he vowed never to do in front of people. "Shift back."