FSE

Furry search engine

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"Wheel tracks," Svara muttered. "Where are the wheel tracks?"

"Over here," Asar commented, pointing to the ground. Indeed, right where the painted dog was pointing, the wheel tracks remained. The accursed wheel tracks.

"I still don't quite buy it," Svara said, shaking his head. "Those wheel tracks could belong to anything! For all we know, Drysenn himself rode up to the battlefield in a carriage."

"But wouldn't that mean he also rode away?" Asar asked triumphantly. "Ergo, the tracks are our best bet."

Svara cursed and kicked the dust, but the thrice-cursed painted dog was right. Again. Svara hated being proven wrong. He hated Asar. And he most definitely hated when Asar proved him wrong. A lowly bandit, outwitting an assassin?"

"Uh, guys?" Ari quizzed. Everyone turned to look at her, and the young otter pointed heavenwards. There, gathering above them, was a mass of clouds, rolling and grey.

"Curses," K'eyush muttered. "That storm's getting close."

"No!" Asar panicked. "If the rain hits, the water will wash away the tracks! Then we'll have nothing to go on!"

"Process of elimination, Asar," K'eyush reminded him. "So far, the cart's been sticking to the road. And we know it's going to Parai. So, we follow the road. But I hope we find that the cart turns off soon."

"Why?" Svara asked curiously.

"Because if it doesn't, we're going through Winterwrath," K'eyush answered grimly. A large, fat drop of water landed on the ground, big enough to make an audible splash. It was soon joined by another, and another, until it was a downpour, with rain beginning to soak the landscape.

"Get to shelter?" Svara quizzed.

"Move," K'eyush agreed. "Let's get to a dry area!"

The group broke off the path and ran to cover, finding a small cave in the side of one of the hills. There, the entire group huddled, watching the rain drum on the forest. And, as expected, it was a downpour.

"There goes any hope of finding the tracks," Asar said glumly.

"Don't worry," K'eyush said, clearly down as well.

"There's got to be a cave around here somewhere!" a new, foreign-accented voice exclaimed, sounding close.

The entire group looked to the cave mouth, as first one Falskin, then a second one staggered in. The two reptilians immediately, upon reaching the dry cave, turned around and looked outside.

"Damn," one of them said. "What a downpour."

"We'll never find those Ch'kiliil in this storm. They're probably going to hit Parai by tomorrow, and we'll be in trouble with lord Drysenn."

"As opposed to in trouble by us?" K'eyush asked, putting a blade around the neck of the one Falskin. Svara too, put a blade on the second one's throat, ready to slit it if needed. The two Falskin stiffened up.

"What luck, eh boys?" Asar laughed sarcastically. "You found us!"

"Damn," one of the Falskin muttered. The two individuals turned around slowly, hands above their heads. K'eyush, who'd drawn a sword in the time, levelled the simple blade to the chest of one, with Svara keeping his weapons.

"Spare us," the one Falskin said. Though both Falskin were green in colour, which was probably why they'd been recruited as scouts, they looked different enough to tell they weren't siblings.

"Give me one good reason, Scaleback," K'eyush said evenly, sword point not wavering in the slightest. "Tell us: where did the cart go?"

"What cart?" the one asked.

"The one with the siblings," Asar said, stepping forwards. "Tell us. Where's it going?"

The two Falskin glanced at each other, and K'eyush moved the sword forwards slightly, the sharp point digging into the leather of the one's armour.

"Tell. Us."

"Man'ahjit," the one said finally, slumping. "The Sanvar'a were sent to Man'ahjit."

"What?" Ari and Wraith asked in unison. Both of the former slaves heads spun. To rescue their friends, it would require they head back to the very hellhole they had tried so hard to escape. And this time, Kar'na wasn't with them.

"You're bluffing," K'eyush scowled. "Why would they be sent to Man'ahjit? It's hardly a prison..."

"Since the mangy fleabags escaped, Drysenn ordered the place turned into a veritable fortress. All the slave mines are being revamped, with slaves from different mines building the walls. Man'ahjit was the first one finished."

"Drysenn sent the siblings there to have the twins suffer an irony," the one Falskin said. "He felt it would be a fair punishment."

"You two seem really well-informed for simple grunts," Svara said suspiciously. "Why would that be?"

"Wait," Ari said, brow furrowed as she stared at the one. "You look...familiar..."

"I'm impressed you remember me," the Falskin said, looking evenly at the otter. "The last time I saw you, you leapt off a cliff."

"You!" Wraith said, suddenly recognizing him. "You're the guard on the cart! The one who was asleep! What'd Kiri say your name was? Mor...Miir..."

"Merva," the Falskin said. "My name's Merva."

"You fell asleep on duty?" the other Falskin asked. Despite their current situation, he seemed amused.

"Shut up, Havara," Merva hissed.

"Both of you shut up," K'eyush snapped distractedly. The two Falskin complied, standing there silently as the lynx thought. Finally, K'eyush's eyes lit up with a thought.

"You two know where the siblings are, yes?"

The two Falskin looked at each other, before another poke from K'eyush prompted Havara to talking.

"Yes," the Falskin said.

"And Drysenn?"

"Him too. Why are you asking?"

"I'd be willing to bet you two are just as familiar as we are, with how hard it is to sneak across enemy lands," K'eyush said confidently. "Which is why, you two are going to help us get to Man'ahjit, so we can free the Sanvar'a."

"Why would we..." Merva trailed off as K'eyush brought the sword point up to directly under the Falskin's neck. He swallowed slightly.

"You were saying?" the lynx prompted.

"Why...would we want to see the Sanvar'a suffer? Of course we'll help you, right Havara?"

The other Falskin looked over at Merva, before dipping his head in an affirmation. "We'll help you! Just don't kill us."

"It'll be hard," Svara muttered, with a roll of the eyes. "Considering that nothing ticks off an assassin more than begging."

Both the Falskin's mouths shut with an audible clop, and Asar had to supress a smile. And a grimace. If his mind only worked a little faster, he'd have been able to say that.

Asar knew that Svara hated him, and he returned the favour. The stupid fox was nothing, if not arrogant.

'Oh but he's changed,' they said. Pfft. If Svara had truly changed, he'd...he'd...

Asar now frowned visibly. Why couldn't he pin anything on Svara? The stupid fox had always been an arrogant little slime. Why would he change now? If there was one thing Asar knew, it was that people didn't change. He had to look no further than his own father.

Asar and Khayal, who'd gone with the other group, were interchangeable. Both were good trackers and experienced woodsmen. Both kept their cool in tough situations. Both were familiar with hardship.

Asar knew why he was given the more dangerous assignment. Not because he was expendable, no. K'eyush was too honest. He'd have told Asar if that was the reason, no matter how uncomfortable it would be to hear.

No, Asar had been sent to Parai to avoid a certain contact. The town of Greatwood, which was almost a direct line from the Assassin's Guild, was his old home. And considering his conniving bastard of a father had put out a bounty on his own son...Asar wasn't eager to return home.

He'd rather not die. He'd rather not ever see his 'father' again. Except for if it was at the end of his blade.

Asar never loved his father, and his father never loved him. Asar was just...different from the rest of the family, bearing a closer similarity to his mother than his father. And then, when he was older, he found the horrible truth. His mother, whom he still held in a special place in his heart, had cheated on his father, and he was the result.

Luckily, her affair was with another painted dog, so it was easier to cover up. Imagine if he'd been the result of her union with a cat? He'd look like that...Tea? No, Tai! He'd be like that Tai. Something akin to a witch's experiment.

"Asar?" K'eyush asked. The painted dog blinked and looked at the lynx. Everyone else in the cave was staring at him.

"Uh...yeah?"

"Did you hear anything of what I just said?"

"Not a word, Lynxy!" Asar smirked, trying to cover up his embarrassment. "What'd you say, since it apparently is important?"

K'eyush had to supress an eye roll. "I said that the closest path to our destination is through Winterwrath. Otherwise, we have to go an additional week out of our way to head up through Stormguard. Or, another month to go around Lake Sithi. Do you think we could make it offroad?"

Asar thought about it for a minute. That was a good question. No Ch'kiliil had set foot in Winterwrath since the city's destruction, as it was considered bad luck. Or a curse.

However, it was just a city. It would save a lot of time to head through. And the paths around Winterwrath were almost inaccessible, since they were thick with vines and poisonous plants.

"I doubt it," Asar admitted to the lynx. "The quickest and safest route lies through Winterwrath. Stormguard is a city of outlaws, and even _I'd_rather avoid that place."

"You've got a good point," Svara nodded grudgingly.

"So, since you've got your plan of attack, you'll let us go?" Havara asked.

"Nope," K'eyush said, turning to face the two reptilians. You're with us. When our friends are safely returned, you might get to walk away."

"Might?"

"Might."

Merva and K'eyush had a silent glaring contest, before the Falskin backed down, nodding slightly. Havara didn't quite seem to know what to do with the information, just standing there and blinking incredulously.

"Well," Merva said after a while. "If we've got to be stuck together for a while, can we at least get all your names?"

"I see no harm in it," K'eyush said after a minute. "I'm K'eyush. This is Svara, Ari, Wraith, and Asar."

"And are all of you assassins?"

"Naw," Asar shook his head. "I'm not, and neither the otter girl nor the quiet cat are either."

"I see," Havara said slowly.

"Enough talk," K'eyush hissed, looking out the cave. "The rain's almost over. We'll begin walking now. You'll stick with us, until we free the kids from Man'ahjit."

"Fine," Merva scowled. "But this seems like an awful lot of work to rescue two kids."

"We're not," K'eyush replied, a large grin on his face. "We're rescuing all of them."

He paused.

"Except Chach."