Ferox Femina

Two - Thoughts

Days passed, and he still wondered about the strange were-cat he'd been attacked by on that night. Her eyes a striking silver and shockingly bright blue, her hair black as the night sky, her claws sharper than any sword he'd come across.

He was back in that room, sitting in a heavy wooden chair and sipping ale when Felix returned from his mission.

"Lord Cato," the vassal greeted, bowing in respect to his leader.

"Ellery. Report?"
"We scouted the area as requested, sir. We only found one unusual thing to report."

Cato raised one eyebrow at the smaller man, waiting for him to continue.

Ellery took a deep breath. "Tracks, sir. Not werewolf tracks, something else. No claw marks, and the dogs couldn't pick up any scent whatsoever."

With a sigh, Cato stood up, setting his cup down and stretching his shoulder. The scratch on his hand had caused his entire arm to become sore, greatly inconveniencing him, especially since it was taking a long time to heal.

"No ideas as to what it may have been?" he asked, walking out onto the balcony and looking out over the forest that stretched before him.

"No, sir. The only other information we have is that the tracks ended at trees on multiple occasions, before we would find another set deeper into the forest. The locals made no comment."

Cato rubbed his temples in frustration, sighing once more. This creature had been causing problems for his troops stationed on the other side of the river, and he had to get to the bottom of it or risk losing more men outside of battle.

"Leave me. I'll talk to you more later."

"Yes sir," Ellery replied. A few moments later the heavy door closed with a clang and Cato was left in silence once more.

His mind had continually returned to the woman he had nearly been killed by. For one thing, her eyes and her peculiar behavior and looks had shocked and intrigued him, as well as the fact that every time he felt pain in his hand or arm he was reminded of the sharp claws that had inflicted his wounds. She had caught his attention, leaving him quite distracted for the few days that had passed between her attack and Ellery's return.

He stood and paced the room a few times, finding himself standing on the balcony after a few minutes. He looked out over the forest that stretched before him for miles, his mind occupied by thoughts of the mysterious woman. Looking off to the right, he could see the edges of the city protected by wide stone walls, the same ones that protected him in that very moment. He watched as the sun set beneath the trees on the horizon before turning and returning to his chair and his ale.

When would the thoughts of her end? When would she cease to plague him?

Meanwhile, Myla spent her time stalking around his war camps, following his men closely in order to gain information. She was contracted out to a small group of werewolves, who presumably worked for the Alpha of the area, Sylvanis, but she didn't know the dog personally.

Her opinions on the werewolves weren't the greatest. She made most of her money off of them, of course, but that didn't mean they didn't stink. Their stench overwhelmed her senses each time she had to meet with them and she had to admit it wasn't getting any easier. Just the other day she'd broken into the castle to catch a glimpse of a map for them, and they didn't really give her anything special for risking her life in that way.

Thinking about that night in the castle sent a shiver down her spine as she crouched in the brush. That man, Lord Cato, had really shaken her up. His touch on her arm sent sparks flying and when she looked into his eyes, those brilliant, multicolored eyes, she saw reflections of her own emotions in them. She'd never met another anything with eyes like hers, and it was truly something that unsettled her enough to keep her awake at night. Well, when she wasn't out spying at night.

Just as she had that thought, a loud crash sounded from the camp and her eyes focused in immediately. She watched as the idiot soldier poured water on the grease fire he'd started, only spreading it more. Another soldier, presumably of higher rank, came out of a tent and smacked the dumb one on the head. Myla struggled to contain her laugh.

"Dumbass," he said exasperatedly, kicking dirt over the fire to absorb the grease. Myla watched as the flames slowly disappeared under the dust, the small amount of light they'd provided flickering away. Then, the man turned and walked off. Dumbass was still sitting in the dirt, looking forlorn, when a horn sounded that startled him and Myla alike. There were attackers. Why didn't those wolves tell me they were attacking? Myla wondered, slightly pissed. She had to get out of there.

Leaping to her feet, she grabbed the bag she'd been using as a pillow and turned to run. Just as she turned, though, more wolves came crashing through the bushes in front of her and raced into the camp behind her. Thinking quickly, she leapt onto an overhead tree branch and watched their silvery fur streak by beneath.

She didn't usually give a rat's ass what happened in those battles, but when she saw Dumbass pinned to the ground by a rather large wolf, something woke within her. She quickly took her bag off, not caring for her clothes, and jumped out of the tree with her claws and fangs beginning to show.

She clawed viciously at the werewolf, whom she did not recognize, until he ran off howling. Then, she looked down at Dumbass.

"Thanks," He breathed, "Now please don't kill me." As if to further his statement, he put his hands over his face in a feeble attempt to protect it. Some soldier he was.

She huffed, almost laughing at that. Who was this Cato guy recruiting for his army? "Pathetic," She said with a sigh, turning and stalking off towards the woods.

"Hey! Jak! Who's that? Arrest them!" A voice suddenly boomed over the ruckus. Myla knew instinctively that they were referring to her and she picked up her pace. Jak didn't say anything.

Moving quicker now, she headed towards the tree she'd stashed her bag in, but she could hear the footsteps getting closer and smell the men's disgusting breath as they approached. Deciding her bag could wait, she took off in the direction of home. They would never keep up with her, not with her knowledge of the forest and definitely not on foot.

The problem was, they suddenly had horses, and even Myla with her increased speed and knowledge couldn't outrun a horse. She was fucked.