The Dragon's Rogue

Chapter 4

I prepared myself, I would change back to wolf if I had to. Lone Shifters could not always be trusted. They were lone for a reason, after all. And then I watched him.

He definitely saw me. How could he not with my white self plastered against that dark trunk? It was when he moved that I decided things weren't all as they seemed.

He stepped forward, right arm raised in a gesture of peace, showing me he held no weapons. And then he stumbled to the ground.

I righted myself, stretching to see where he had collapsed. It was no use though, it was too dark. I strode toward him, determined to help. It looked as if he had been injured perhaps. And he was out in the forest alone instead of somewhere he might protect himself. Maybe he had a death wish, or maybe, I thought as I neared, he has escaped from whatever was snatching stray wolves from the forest.

"Where are you going now woman?" the Dragon Lord reached my side before I took my second step. "I thought you had agreed to come to the Amber Aerie, which, is a great distance the other direction."

"Wow, not everything I do is centered around your great presence Dragon Lord," I snapped. "And stop calling me woman, it sounds as though you are calling your dog. My name is Lis."

"Alright Lis, what is it I have done to deserve your ire? You are pricklier than a rosebush stripped of it's leaves. And if we are doing names then you may use mine, I am Cillumn."

"You want a list?"

"A list...?"

"Of things you have done that I am angry about."

"Er...no, I guess not," he shook his head. "Can I at least know why we are stalking off into the dark forest in a direction that seems to go nowhere? I do not want to render you unconscious once more."

"And you won't. Ever," I growled. I could hardly stop him, if he chose to do so, but I figured sounding certain that I had a choice would be far more likely to dissuade him. I turned so that I could study him in my periphery. He watched me, but not with malice or ill intent. More like a strange new creature that required careful observation.

I sighed. Was I used to that look.

"There is a shifter over here, he collapsed a moment ago. I am checking on him."

Cillumn's head whipped up. His eyes glowed amber, and he stalled a moment, searching the forest ahead of us. "Are you certain?" he whispered. "I do not sense anything."

I snorted. "Your wouldn't sense anything." A dragon might have the adaption to detect the emotions of those around them, and sometimes lies as well, but it was a weak ability, and easily fooled. The real, physical senses were far more reliable. It is hard to trick a wolf's nose. "Besides I saw him."

Cillum looked back toward the tree I had started at. "You saw him? From that distance, in the dark?"

I didn't answer, we were approaching the area the shifter had collapsed in. I could smell him better now. I tilted my head. Something wasn't right. There was no sign of illness or injury in the air.

"Look out!" I cried, an instant before a figure, the Shifter, leapt from the shadows behind us and landed, hard, against Cillumn. So much for my superior senses.

Cillumn was fast though, turning instantly when I spoke so that when the Shifter met him it was not his back the attacker faced. They tangled to the ground with a series of grunts and meaty thuds.

The battle was short lived, however. After the initial surprise of the attack, and a few blows the attacker rolled away. He rose partially, one hand braced against the ground, his chest heaving.