The Dragon's Rogue

Chapter 6

I scrambled along the branch toward the trunk, my intent to climb down and get my bag before that thing did. I studied its oozing as I moved. It didn't look fast.

Cillumn and Scet remained where they were, alarm in their stances. But for me the oddity of the creature wasn't enough to allow it access to my work. There were three of us and one of it.

I was on the ground before either of the men recognized I had gone. Cillumn would have stopped me again if he knew. The constant flouting of my plans was wearing on me, I was unused to being so constrained.

But that didn't mean I was going to be irrational and stupid. At the pace the creature was going I might easily have dashed past it to the satchel. But this thing was new to me, and it required farther study. I picked up a fist sized stone from the ground hefting it twice in my hand and then throwing, with all my might to the creatures side, away from my bag.

It cracked against a trunk and rustled the nearby leaves before falling silent. The thing's head whipped up and turned that direction, taking a deep audible sniff of the air. Then it flashed after the noise, beating across the forest floor using both its hands and feet. A ripple waved across it's damaged skin and I watched with horror as it transformed to a disfigured example of a wolf. Hunched and eyeless like its human form the beast emanated a savage insanity. Something terrible had happened to its lips leaving the long lines of teeth fully visible.

I shuddered. That thing was a Shifter. Or at least it had been once. Fear rooted at the base of my spine. It had been over a week since Adda was taken. What if this, and it seemed likely, was the result for those gone missing?

Not yet, I reminded myself. Whatever happened to my sister she hadn't faced such horrors yet. I would know of such things. But it left me little time to act.

The creature was easily fooled once, dashing off to where the stone fell, seeking some untoward traveler, or perhaps an enemy. I did not know what thought processes it might have. The second stone I threw, trying to lure him farther away into the shadows of the forest, was not as effective. He straightened, half transformed, so that his lower body was man-like and stood upright. The rest remained wolf. For long moments he looked the direction of the second stone, but he did not dash after it like the first.

He was learning.

I calculated my chances. A second stone did not fool it, so I had only moments before it either returned to the satchel or began a search for me instead. Either way quick action was necessary. Still, I had confirmed a suspicion. The beast could track by smell, but it hunted by sound. Silence was the key to retrieving my bag.

I began moving, quick, and yet careful of each footstep, making my way to where I had dropped the bag. It was more difficult than I expected with pants that were too large and half a blanket bound against my chest. The excess fabric wanted to catch on twigs and leaves as I passed, I spent as much time maneuvering the material as I did monitoring my steps.

About half way there the wind shifted, and I got my first true nostril full of his scent. Infection and raw wounds, the decay of healthy flesh were the prominent smells. Under that, faint, but still existent was a hint of the Shifter he had been. Not, I breathed a sigh of relief, someone I had known.

I stilled and crouched, following my instinct which told me if I could scent him so well he had moved closer.

And I wasn't wrong. The vegetation around me shifted. The undergrowth and long grasses covered me but he wasn't far off. I debated throwing another stone. All I had to do was reach the satchel, the items inside should provide me with an escape.

"Creature!" Cillumn's voice rose from a distance. I imagined he had watched my progress with some concern once I had slipped too far away for him to stop. The beast's nearness must have startled him now.