Falling Feathers Book I - Rogue Without Fear

Chapter XIX

>>> Soren Hawethorne <<<
More folks than just Alys had fallen sick, and some had already died.  It'd been four days since I watched Chase steal that apple, with Autumn by his side.  For most, today was a day of mourning.  Many had lost their family, they were either dead or dying.  However, on this day Peter celebrated.
Alys' condition was improving.  Although both Peter and the doctor insisted that they had not changed anything, she was healing up nicely. She spoke rarely, and when she spoke her throat was hoarse. She insisted upon having seen a wolf in her sleep, and a man who wore a wolf pelt who came into her room.  No one believed her, of course.  Nowadays no one wore animal pelts.  Rich might wear skins or furs, but not the whole animal's pelt.
The doctor thought with insanity was going to come with her recovery.  Every time Alys mentioned the man in the wolf pelt he shook his head and sighed dramatically.  Peter didn't mind it at all.  All he minded was that her physical health recovering, and that was good enough for him.
So while Peter celebrated and others mourned, I lay in my bed frowning to myself, thinking about Autumn and Chase.  It was early morning on a cool Autumn day.  What month it was slipped my mind, but I knew it was due to be Winter soon.  The weather showed it.  The temperature was getting to be quite chilly.  I found it to be a perfect day.  There was so much I could've been doing with a gorgeous day like this one, but instead I was in my bed, perplexed by the friends I now called strangers.  An old memory returned to me, as I lay there thinking.  The crazed old man who came into my tavern that one day.  "Check his -"  But I never heard the rest.  Check his what?  And why?  I wondered to myself. And even if I knew what to check, it'd be suspicious if I spontaneously looked at ... wherever it was.  I wondered if that old coot had returned to dust. Normally when someone died, the whole town knew. I found it hard to believe he'd died, but it was always possible that someone had left and no one knew.
How long I sat thinking about Autumn and that old man I had no idea, but I knew that lying in bed would do me no good.  If I wanted to know, I had to get up and go out there.  I had to see more, and watch them more closely.  Autumn had started noticing my watching her.  She started creeping out the inn at dawn, careful to close the doors with the utmost silence.  I'll have to be smarter, and quicker.  If only there was a way for me to get close to her without her knowing it was me...

>>> Autumn Rose <<<
    I looked around at the other people walking on the streets, as I made my way to the southern end of town.  Too many people are up north, I figured to myself.  I'd have better odds trying to get in through the tunnels.  Something about this day seemed ominous.  There was a chill in the air, despite the lack of a breeze.  If it was just a tad warmer I could almost call the weather perfect.  The sun was smiling brightly, but the temperature seemed to pay it no mind.  None of the birds were calling, and everything around me seemed to hush as I walked past.
    As I walked, I thought about my progress. I thought I was keeping up with my training pretty well, but that new boy who came in was somehow learning faster than me. His name slipped my mind at that moment. I thought for a bit, then remembered. Felix, that was it. He was catching along well with his training quite well.
     Something about that boy felt strange. Despite the fact that I was near three years older than him, me being twenty-one and him being eighteen, I felt as though I was younger. It wasn't his appearance, he definitely looked his age.  The way he acted made him seem so much older. He took everything seriously and rarely joked. When he wanted to perform a task he performed it with amazing precision. It was like he was born to be a werewolf, something I felt I wasn't born to be.
    I felt so comfortable around all of them. I felt as though in another life I knew them all. Not only the werewolves, but also that blonde vampire, the one who tried kidnapping me what seemed so long ago.  Her face seemed so similar to mine, her hair just as fine.  Was she really familiar?  Or was I going insane?
    "Just let it go," I murmured to myself.  Of course you don't know her.  After taking a deep breath, I became aware of the feeling that I was being watched, and that I wasn't sure of where I was.  Hesitantly, I looked around at my surroundings. All my thinking had distracted me from my location. I was near the tunnels, maybe a few feet away now. There were lots of oak trees around where I was, their branches were bare and their leaves on the ground. After looking around a bit, my ears caught the first bird call of the day. A raven had broken the silence, and it sounded close. After turning in search of the bird, I found it with ease.
    It sat in one of the oak trees, looking down at me.  Somehow it too looked almost familiar.  All ravens look the same, they're all black.  I shook my head.  I know that, but ... haven't I seen this one particularly before?  It tipped its head sideways.  Maybe that little raven has been watching me.  Maybe that's why I felt I was being watched.  After looking at me briefly, it proceeded to groom its feathers nonchalantly.  I stopped walking to watch the bird.  I'm not in a rush, I have time to spend a few moments with this raven.  It was grooming it's wings.  Then it moved on to its tail feathers.  The black shone when the sun struck it, a gorgeous black.  When the bird finished grooming its tail, it looked down at me with a look suggesting a lack of satisfaction.  I knew that birds couldn't develop thoughts as complex as humans can, but I had the queer feeling that it was also giving me a curious glance.  I felt like it was examining me with an air of distaste.  It was as if it had been waiting for me all along, as if the bird knew I would come this way.  You're a lunatic, I scolded myself mentally.  The bird opened its beak and let out a piercing call.  After giving me one more glance, it silently flew into the woods, out the east-facing gate in the south.  Now where are you going?  I wondered. After throwing a quick glance over my shoulder, and to much of my own comfort, I noticed no one else watching me.  At least, not at the moment I turned.  It would be hard to find a black raven in the woods.  At least, it would be for a human...  I figured to myself.  I went into the woods, in search of it.  Walking along the path, I heard its call again.  It came from off the trail, to my right.  I looked around and could see it in the distance, sitting in a tree.  There you are.
    It never occurred to me how insane it was for me to be chasing a bird.  I really had no reason to.  At the moment, there was nothing more I could think to do.  I'd completely forgotten my original destination - training with the stranger.
    For how long I followed that bird I had no idea.  I only knew that I wouldn't stop until I'd caught up with it.

>>> Chase Ashfield <<<
    I paced back and forth, half furiously and half with concern. An hour ago, she should've been here. What is she doing? I growled to myself. My hands were at my sides, clenched into a fist. Danny was next to me, tapping his foot impatiently.
    "She's late," He murmured more to himself than me.
    "She's never been late before."
    "She shouldn't be late ever."
    "Because you live a perfect life," I snapped back. There was silence for a few moments. "She could be in trouble."
    "You think they have her?"
    "I'm almost sure of it."
    "I thought they know that we have the key.  What good could the girl be to them without the key?"
    "Don't forget that a half-blood's blood is needed to get in as well as the key.  If we have the key but no half-blood, we can't get in."
    "True.  I suppose if they can't have the stone then they'll stop us, too."  Danny figured.
    "I'm going to look for her." Danny laughed a cold laugh.
    "How are you supposed to find her?"
    "I know her scent, I can follow it." I turned to leave, but Danny's voice stopped me.
    "Chase, even if you do find her," he murmured in a low tone, "if they have her, how do you plan on getting her out? She could be anywhere."
    "If they do have her, what can they do? She's already a werewolf.  The worst they can do is kill her.  I doubt they'd kill someone as valuable as her."
    "You underestimate them. They don't know mercy." I thought about Lux. She's shown me mercy before. I started walking out. After taking a few steps, Danny grabbed my arm and pulled gently. I turned around to face him.
    "Keep yourself safe, Chase." He muttered with the same tone a father addresses his son with. I nodded.
    "I always try."