[Mkguild] Spies and Assassins (10/10)

[Azariah Wolf]

Minor editorial note, the last scene of part 9 is being moved until 
after the end of this part to aid the flow of the storyline.

-LurkingWolf

___

The ermine huddled in the shallow burrow, trying to calm itself while he 
could still scent the predators that were seeking it out.Its state of 
mind was not aided by the fact that the burrow was clearly unfinished by 
its former occupant.It was deep enough to be safe from most creatures, 
but the single hole that was both entrance and exit made the weasel 
nervous.At some point, he would have to leave his sanctuary, and he had 
no way of knowing what awaited him on the surface.

He tried to curl up and force himself to rest, but his mind was in an 
uproar.Something in the back of his mind kept trying to force its way 
forward, only to be turned back again and again.Despite its repeated 
failure to emerge however, it added just one more element of chaos to 
the ermine's muddled mind.

Finally abandoning all hope of sleep, he began to balance the pros and 
cons of attempting to escape his newest domicile.There were still whiffs 
of predators beyond the tunnel's exit, but they were clearly 
fading.Whether the stoat could trust that they were not still lurking 
nearby was uncertain, but remaining where he was hardly seemed more 
inviting.

The ermine made his way slowly towards the mouth of the burrow, taking 
the time to be certain that he could not hear anything in the forest 
beyond.He finally worked up the nerve to make a quick dash outside, and 
he acted on that decision too quickly to easily change his mind.By the 
time he realized that there was a trap set at the mouth of the tunnel, 
the simple contraption had already closed behind him, trapping him within.

He gave a series of indignant cries as he whipped around and tried to 
struggle against the cage's bars.Though they were thin, however, the 
tree they had been crafted from proved exceptionally resilient to his 
escape attempts.He could nick their surface with his teeth and claws, 
but doing anything further proved beyond his depth.Squeezing between the 
bars was similarly impossible, although he did manage a few reasonable 
attempts.After a few moments of struggle, however, everything went 
black, and the ermine did not even have a view to an escape.

***

Lucy covered the cage with a dark cloth as soon as she confirmed that 
the former assassin was safely enclosed within the bars.It did little to 
quiet his protests, but she hoped it would help stop him from struggling 
more quickly.Alex was down from his perch in the tree soon afterwards, 
while Julian remained where he was, though he now stood on his perch, 
looking out into the deep darkness of the surrounding forest.

"Can you quiet him?" Alex asked."We need to be moving, and if there are 
any lutins about we do not need him alerting them to our presence."

Lucy stooped over the cage and wove a simple spell over the cage.Soon 
afterwards, the chirps and churrs that had been coming from its occupant 
were silenced, leaving the forest once again in a deceptive state of calm.

"Julian, is there anyone coming?"

The moondog quickly descended from the tree, barely slowing his fall on 
his way down, although he made a silent landing at the bottom."No one 
nearby, and the sounds of the forest have returned.I think we are safe 
for now."

"Why wouldn't they be following us?" Lucy asked."They must know that 
there was some outside interference involved."

"Perhaps not, if all witnesses are dead," Alex noted."They might think 
that it was simply an accident.It came from the shaman's tent, after 
all, there's nothing saying that a spell didn't go wrong and take his 
tent with it.That does still beg the question of why everyone left their 
posts to attend to it, but I suppose that may just be testament to his 
influence.Let's not leave anything to chance, though.We need to get back 
to Hareford tonight."

The prospect of such a journey was not particularly desirable to any of 
them; not only had their mission been delayed until after sunset, but 
they had also been forced to wait some time for Lois to emerge.The 
journey back to Outpost was not a short hop, and they were all on the 
point of exhaustion.Still, something about the prospect of sleeping in a 
bed inside of the fortress instead of the middle of lutin-controlled 
territory made them more agreeable to it.All present nodded their 
agreement, and no one delayed as Alex began to move.Julian took the cage 
as they left, and dutifully carried it, even as he felt the futile 
struggles of its occupant through the cloth.

The pace of their egress was much slower than that of their journey in 
the opposite direction, but they still made good enough time that the 
ermine was still struggling, if far more weakly, when they arrived at 
the Dike.They had no encounters along the way, but Alex still called a 
halt, and moved forward himself to be certain that the road was clear 
for his companions to continue through.

The lynx kept an arrow nocked and ready throughout; their relatively 
good fortune was making him paranoid.Still, all of the suspicious 
shadows proved to be nothing more than that, and he motioned Lucy and 
Julian on as soon as he had set himself at ease.He kept his bow and 
arrow at the ready as they advanced through the ruins of the Dike, but 
the silence hid no lurking threat, and their journey continued unhindered.

As the walls of Hareford appeared before them, Alex sighed with 
relief.He was not certain if it had just been luck, or if some friendly 
deity had seen fit to bless them with an easy path on their way, but he 
was glad to see that they had managed the journey without any further 
complications.He still worried about what would become of Lois, but they 
would at least have the advantage of outside help as they tried to 
answer that question.

Their reception at the walls was slightly less reassuring.

"Halt!Who goes there?"

"Alexander hin'Valius and company."

"Where are you traveling from?"

"We have just returned from a patrol in the North.Please, we need refuge 
and assistance."

The men on the wall consulted among themselves for a few moments.Alex 
turned and looked at Lucy, but she just shrugged silently.There should 
have been very little verification required for the men on the walls to 
be certain of his honesty, but they were forced to wait for quite some 
time as their request was considered.Finally, however, the gates were 
opened.

A nervous man met them within, looking them over with a distrusting 
gaze."You're fortunate that one of the men on the walls recognized your 
group," he stated."We're not letting a great number of people through 
with news of a plague at the Keep."

All remaining members of the patrol felt their blood run cold at the 
news."A plague?" Alex asked quietly.

The guard nodded with a sigh."The city is under quarantine for the 
foreseeable future, and we're on high alert.If a case of the plague is 
found here, we may just be forced to close our doors as well.Regardless, 
do not expect to be leaving these walls anytime soon."

Alex looked at the covered cage that restrained Lois.Shaking her head, 
Lucy said what all of them were thinking.

"Let us hope we do not have to."
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