Not born to be a princess

Part 12

"No way! A solo mission!?" I asked grabbing the paper from him excitedly. I'd only been allowed on singular missions so far, but the second I saw it I deflated slightly.

"This is a wanted poster...... For a criminal...... I'm hunting a criminal?" I asked, not so entriegued by the prostpect of being abounty hunter.

"No, you are going to hunt the criminal. He's a shifter and every time he emerges in a town he disappears leaving a string of murders in his wake. I believe he's gone feral and acting accordingly." He told me, pointing to the last few towns that were all backing up to a forrest east of here quite a ways.

"Ok, so I find him and force him to shift human or something?"

"Not quite, I want you to bring him here. The authorities refuse to hunt him given he's a shifter. So you need to do this alone..... Utterly." He added, rubbing his neck hearing how dangerous this sounded.

"FIne, but i'm eating my dinner before I leave.... I've been looking forward to this lamb for a week." I huffed, nodding as I turned and left to hurry home ebfore Igg found the lamb and decided to add it to the list of things he's eaten in my home.

"I will be fine, keep practicing small animal shifts and be prepared for the arrival of another male shifter, ok?" I asked, Carlos complaining as I told him I was hunting a criminal east alone that had already killed several others who were sent after him.

"I don't like this either. Why would he send you alone? You have only been in the guild what...... a month? Been on a series of tiny missions and now you get this? It's ridiculous!" Dani complained, glaring at me as she spoke.

"None of us like it, but he has a point. This..... Guy is a shifter like Carlos. He can't control himself and if we go at him in a group he will go insane. I think she's powerful enough she can do it no problem." Holly told me with a soft smile.

"Thanks, Holly." I told her with a matching smile before shrugging my bag higher on my shoulder, "I already accepted the job either way. I just wanted you all to know when I didn't show up to drink tonight. Let Ignis know for me ok?" I asked, shifting into a squirrel and pushing my clothes into the bag before reshifting into a dragon Helix.

"You are a terrible friend!" Carlos shouted after me, making me warble out a laugh before leaving them on the steps of the guild alone as I followed the imaginary compass in my mind east. The map in my bag etched into my mind and ticking off land masses as I flew over or around them. An odd flowing river, a village on the edge of a cliff, then a hill in the middle of nowhere growing no trees at all.

"Whew, any shifters here?" I called into the woods, making several animals chitter curiously as I decided to shift back human and pulled on a simple dress instead of my new leather one. Careful with every step I took ready to shift in a instant.

"Fear! We fear you!" A large amount of deer cried out as they hopped away over fallen trees and running as far away as possible in a short time. I nodded understanding them fearing someone like me, especially if a shifter was int he woods.

"Runa way! Run away human!" The birds chirped as I stepped into a clearing. I had barely ehard them before a vicious snarl interrupted them and sent them flapping away.

"Kill! Dangerous human!" The bear snarled, his fur tangled with blood. I raised a brow, slowly dropping my bag safely on the ground before my dress tore to shreds as I shifted into a hnter helix. black and white low tot he ground and stalking around him trying to talk sense into him.