The Dragon's Rogue

Chapter 8

"What is it?" he leaned back eyeing the prize that I held before him.

"A tool...and a weapon, and it is ready. Let's go." I stood from the stool and walked to the corner where I had stored my satchel. I hefted it up, fuller now than it was the first time I set out. Knowing that possessed creatures wandered the forests I had added to the list of necessities. It was getting heavy enough to be awkward though.

"Alright, but where are we going?" Cillumn had stood from his crouch and was watching me with a still readiness. I didn't like it, it gave me the impression that he was ready to pounce at any time.

"We are going to visit my mother."

I twisted the metal of my device, arranging the moving pieces so that they formed a nearly complete circle. A wrist band, the rest of the structure, the main bit sat along my forearm. I wriggled my fingers and when that proved stable I shook my arm, ensuring my device was secure.

Elated I added the two last pieces. A tiny capsule of concentrated moonblossom serum, and six darts.

"That looks dangerous," Cillumn noted watching my progress, his eyebrows raised. He had not changed from his blanket wrapping I noted. It was embarrassing that my people were so inhospitable. I had changed as soon as I re-entered my tent. I slipped on a tightly fitted top, hoping that having the material bound to my skin would keep it from catching on branches and vines in the forest. The skirts were another matter, I had nothing for sneaking and stalking. Many women of the pack hunted, but the activity never caught my interest, so I had none of the apparel. Instead I had adjusted my regular brown skirts so that they were more practical, cutting them above my knees and inserting a slit so that my movement wouldn't pull against the material, even if I ran.

"It is meant to be. When I designed it I thought to create something that my people could use upon the Quatori. We were at a distinct disadvantage when the Lords broke the old contract, physically we have no power to harm them. I wanted to change that, surely one of my poisons would affect the creatures. They have a physical body of sorts, and physical bodies die," I moved past him to the tent door.

"And now?" Cillumn fell into step beside me.

"And now I am forced to turn it on my own pack," I frowned sourly. I wished that I didn't have to do exactly what they accused me of. The alternative, however, was to let them fall prey to the situation. And so to save them I had to betray them. I tried not to sag with the exhaustion that pulled upon me. Get the glyph, save the pack, and then I could rest.

The morning sun beat down through the spaces in the canopy, the result of carefully trimmed branches and removed trees. The desire to remain hidden balanced with the need for light and protection.

But light wouldn't save us anymore, I reminded myself. If Quatori possessed corporeal creatures they might saunter through the protection the pack believed it had created. In broad daylight.

I frowned.

"If you keep scowling like that your people will suspect you are up to something," Cillumn advised.

"I am up to something."

We were well beyond my own tent, and that of the Alpha. Mother's tent lay on the far side of the camp, closer to the small spring that supplied the pack's water.

"Yes, but you do not want them to know it."

Unlike me Cillumn was walking with his head up. Alert and interested in the surroundings. He had probably never been in a purely Shifter settlement. Most lords did not interact much with the women and families of the Shifter warriors, and only associated with the warriors as much as was necessary for training or battle.