Traitor to the Crown

Chapter 4

Manx was wide awake, after trying to sleep for a few hours after she had set up her sleeping bag next to Vaskin. Not too surprisingly the great dragon TaaNa'Roq was a very quiet and sound sleeper. It was a combination of the thoughts itching at the back of her mind, the fact that she didn't trust the dragon, and that Vaskin talked a lot in his sleep that kept her up. She was still upset at Vaskin for misinterpreting her words to think that she didn't have feelings for him. Truly, she did have very strong feelings for him, but it was so hard to show it, and she didn't understand this whole dating thing. Ever since she had answered yes to the first time he had dared ask her out, he had wanted to hold hands and hug and kiss, and she wasn't sure she could take it at times. It was not that she didn't like giving and receiving affection, but she had always been skittish about physical contact because of the beatings and manhandlings she had received growing up in a dungeon. Her past there had left her emotionally and physically scarred, though the physical scars never showed up because of her golden fur and the fact that she made sure to dress modestly to hide any trace of scars there might be. Vaskin muttered something in his sleep and Manx rolled her eyes, hoping that morning would come soon. She could see perfectly in the dark due to her kind's natural night vision and the fact that her powers allowed her to control the shadows themselves.

An owl crooned off in the distance, and Manx noticed its eyes through the blanket of night. She looked up at the sky through the gaps between the trees, noting every star. Frogs croaked noisily and the swamp air was humid and chilled. There was a sucking sound coming from under the mud nearby, and she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye. Something had just dove under the mud and muck. Manx silently got to her feet and walked in the direction of the sound, not sure what it was. She saw it surface not far from where she was standing, but did it see her? From what she could tell, it was unaware of her presence. It looked like a large lizard, with a flattened paddle like tail and its skin looked as if it was made of a glossy blue-black ooze. It turned its head and looked at her out of glowing green soulless eyes and opened its wide mouth to reveal rows upon rows of sharp serrated teeth. It licked its slimy chops and sank back into the mud, but she could see it swimming towards her through the muck and mire. She stepped back as it leaped at her, its fleshy feet held close to its sides as it leaped over her head.

"Foolish beast." Manx muttered under her breath, slowing her breathing and focusing on the shadows around her. The creature suddenly shoved her from behind and she fell face first onto the ground. She regained her composure and focused on summoning a weapon. She felt the shadows bending to her will, forming a long sharp spear. The next time the creature struck she had it skewered through the chest, droplets of something sticky oozing down the spear and off of its flesh. The creature squealed and writhed on the shadow spear, and Manx pushed against it as she got to her feet, pinning the creature on its back. It was nearly twice her size, and yet somehow she had managed to lift it. There was a bubbling hissing sound, and the creature writhed and twitched so much it was hard for her to concentrate on keeping the spear's physical form. Suddenly, it stopped moving and it somehow had escaped her spear. Then just as it had appeared, its body oozed into the swamp never to be seen again as if it were just a figment of her imagination. Manx released the shadows, letting the spear dissipate into thin air. Dismissing the encounter as nothing more than the attack of a dumb animal, she sat back down on her sleeping bag next to Vaskin. She had easily scared it off, and if it came back she'd show it who's boss.