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Chapter 1

Aconite

" It's beautiful blue hood is but a deception for what hide underneath"

A herbal shop, battered with age, stood tall at the edge of the market place alongside many other shops. A few weapon and armor stores, their coal fires still burring hot inside the smelters, the work benches had a few tools of the trade still on them. The scent of fresh meat and produce along with baked goods flowed down the streets, from various shops, as the wind blew; making any passerby's muzzle water and stomach growl with hunger.

The jewelry stores along with a few banks, were of the most expansive, their windows barred with solid iron rods, all had some sort of guard standing on duty, most of them were wolves, bears, even a few boars or some other strong species, all of them shared a few key features, they were all buffed and carried bows and arrows, alongside a long sword.

A few were shirtless, their muscles thick and strong, bulging under their fur. All of this was mostly to deter any would-be thief.

A broken and cracked stone road that spanned in many directions, lead down many different alleyways and side streets. It was not uncommon to see a weed growing in-between the cracks in the road. All the stores looked to be of a uniform design, all were built around the same time, all with the same pale gray stone, all battered with age. The stone walls that made up the building had some lush green vines growing along them; some of the stores had flowers planted outside of them; no doubt that these were the homes of the richer store owners.

It was late in the afternoon most stores were closed for the night; either the owners of the stores had gone home or were in there living chambers above their store.

Outside one of the stores, lush green vines grew along the walls, almost reaching and covering the roof. A sign hung, it read "Nature's Delights" faded with the sun and age, its bright green background and yellow letters, dull and faded, with a leaf, mortice, and pestle carved in relief above.

Inside the herbal shop, a young orange fox, wearing a long, dark green robe stood proudly. His natural fox musk was barely noticeable, his fur was clean and nicely groomed. He seemed out of place for such an old shop, in an old city: if no one knew better they would assume he was the son of the store owner. He was not, nor did he father any children.

Shade had a secret: he was all but immortal. He could still be killed by illness and injury; but not by old age. His immortality was not natural, but rather was through special cocktails and rituals he discovered through his years of research: a benefit of being the sole owner of his herbal shop.

Shade stood behind the wooden counter. The shop was filled with the smells of various herbs, spices, and plants along with the smell of the cedar shelves and boxes. Various glass and clay jars lined the walls, all filled with miscellaneous plants and plant parts. Some of the jars contained poisonous plants, some for healing and others for pain and pleasure.

The walls and floor had cracks in them all brought on by age and the elements. The floor creaked every time someone stepped and moved about the shop. A few yellow windows lined the store front. Well behind Shade there was another room, covered by a long red curtain with a golden ribbon that curved and made a spiral pattern as it followed down the curtain. A crack of light came out from the bottom, along with some escaping heat.

Late in the afternoon, a visitor came; the bell above the door rang. Shade greeted the visitor with a nod and a smile. He did this to all that came, as a gesture of good will, in hopes that it will increases his business and that whoever came would buy more than they intended to.

The visitor's species was foreign to Shade; so he sniffed the air, taking a deep breath; he could tell the customer did not have fur; rather he was covered in scales, with no other natural species musk or scent. This lack of scent confused Shade. The visitor smelt quite clean, an uncommon

accordance for most that came this late in the day. As the customer walked in he had to bend down to enter the herbal store. His height was close to seven feet. He walked with a bit of thud, more or less to intimidate the young fox, the floor boards creaked beneath him, they all sounded like they were going to give way.

Approaching the counter, he kept his face covered by the hood of his robe, showing no sign of his age or gender, his long and thick tail dragged behind him. Shade could see the customer more clearly now, he could tell his species was a Lace-Montour, light sandy-brown in color. His robes looked brand new; white with a light blue draping over the shoulders, and hood. It was remarkably clean, another unusual fact.

Shade felt a slight discomfort, since he couldn't see the face of the Lace-Montour, the fact that he was quite clean and did not smell like a man who did a days work and that his clothing was brand new and clean. Shade did not allow this to get in the way of business.

"Hello, and welcome to Nature's Delights. How may I help you? Sir." Shade said, trying to hide all traces of discomfort from his voice. "67.2 of Destroy Angel." The Lace-Montour said with a strict, military like tone as his tong flickered slightly while speaking.

Shade nodded and reached for the dagger, underneath the counter top, outside of the view of the Lace-Monitor. He quickly tucked it in to the sleeves of his robe, he hooked it in its specially sown sheath hidden in Shade's sleeve.

Shade let out soft hum while looking over his shelves. "Destroy Angel? I just so happen to carry that." his ears flickered and tail wagged in frustration, he didn't want to leave his spot, with the counter between him and his new client; let alone cross the room to get the requested mushrooms.

Leaving the counter, Shade walked over to the door and locked it, the floor boards creaked as he walked, his bare feet felt the coldness of the wooden floor. The Lace-Monitor, gave Shade a curious look, hard to see from underneath his hood, Shade assumed the lizards annoyances. "Just a pre-caution, since you did request Destroy Angel." Shade said, his voice void of all emotion,

without looking back at the Lace-Monitor. Walking back to the counter, Shade looked back "Right this way." The Lace-Monitor followed behind Shade. He lead them behind the counter and into the back room. "I do have to keep this, particular, mushroom... hidden. I'm assuming you know the nature of this. "The lace-Monitor said nothing and gave no sign of acknowledge to Shade.

The back room was made up of pale gray stone, with a wooden floor much like the store front, the only difference was it had no jars or pots filled with anything, no windows to allow any light in. Only a few book shelves lined with different books, some were for the identification of different plants and fungi, some were instructions on how to brew different potions, others for other purposes, a few scrolls laid on top if the shelves, yellow with age. Candles, of various sizes and thickness lit the room, their wax dripped off the ledges, there was thick build up of wax, un-cleaned for years. A table sat in the corner; on top sat a mortar and pestle, with a few bowls and various glass jars, all used for brewing. A few jars sat above, tied to a metal rod with thick leather straps a small iron pot, on top of a thick stone slab, some burnt out charcoal, sat in the bowls. Inside the jars there was some liquid left to cool down, the liquid was an earthy brown, with a tint of red to it; a mixed scent came from the jars, hard to identify to the untrained nose and eye. Both the Fox and the Lace-Monitor stood before the fire pit.

Shade knelt above the fire place, "Rus!" The fire went out. The room was notably darker; some of the coals in the fire pit still glowed, but gave off no heat. The Lace-Monitor let out a quite growl. "We won't be that longer, sir. " Shade said in a calm voice in an attempted to calm him down. The Lace-Monitor just shot an angry glare towards Shade. The fur on Shade's neck started to stand on end. Both the Lace-Monitor and the Fox crouched as they walked. One after another they walked through the fire pit. The other side of the fire pit revealed a room, quit small and a tight fitting, with narrow walls, it was uncomfortable with only one person inside, never mind two or more.

Now inside the hidden room, the Lace-Monitor continued to glare at Shade. With no obvious attempted to hide his anger, the Lace-Monitor said to Shade. "You better not be fucking with me Fox, present the Destroy Angel, or I will gut you, right here and right now."

Shade tucked his paw in to his sleeve where he had his dagger hidden, most if not all his fur stood on end now, he felt like a deer caught in the head lights of an oncoming car. The cold felling of the dagger reminded Shade of the dreadful night, he once had to go through, the feeling he wished he never would feel again, the memories of the blood, of how there was so much of it, why was there so much blood?, why did it smell so bad ? That crimson red blood, the iron scent; the scent of death.

The memories flowed through him; he felt sick. He started to question why he did it, did it make him a bad person? Why did he even sell the mushrooms, what could this Lace-Monitor want with them? Could he really be one of them? A bringer of death, stealer of lives, an assassin? All these thoughts ran through the Fox's mind, for what felt like forever. Shade started to sweat; he started to smell more like fear. His heart rate increased and his pupils dialated. "It-it's right here." Releasing his paw from the cold dagger, Shade walked over to a thin wooden shelf, with only a few clay pots on it. He reached for the one on the far top right; he opened it to show the Lace-Monitor.

Inside the jar there were about fifteen mushrooms, some still in the young stage of growth, others in the later phases. The young ones looked small and round, with thick balls on top and short and stocky stems. The adults looked quite different from the younger ones. There stems were much longer and thinner, with a cone like head, a few had some brown color to them.

The Lace-Monitor smiled, "Perfect." He said with a slight, cold hiss. With a bit of a tremble in his voice, Shade asked. "So, this is what you're looking for? Just come back to the front then. I'll weigh them." The Lace-Monitor said nothing. Shade lead both of them back to the front of the store, the smell of fear that was coming off of Shade disappeared and was replaced by the mixture of musks.

Shade placed the clay jar of Destroy Angel on the wooden table in the store front. He bent down and picked up a brass scale, he held this in one paw and in the other he held a few weights, Shade set up the scale and took out a set of metal tongs. Picking up the mushrooms one by one he placed them on the scale; weighing a total of eight. The Lace-Monitor watched intensely. "Sir, that will be thirty-five crowns." Without hesitation the Lace-Monitor reached in to his pockets and pulled out a small sack. "It's all there; you can count it if you don't believe me." He said this with a quite calm voice. Shade reached underneath the counter and filled a small cloth bag with the mushrooms. Pulling out a book, Shade wrote down the amount of mushrooms he had sold, along with the amount of crowns. "One thing before you go sir, I'll need your name... it's just for my records." Shades voice trembled with fear. Without looking back the Lace-Monitor said "You don't need to know that, Fox. Not now." His voice was cold; it lacked any signs of life.

The lace-Monitor opened the old wooden door to "Nature's Delights" The door made a slight creaking sound, along with the door bell ringing. The fresh night air swept in, its clean crisp smell filled the room. The Lace-Monitor turned his head slightly as he left the herbal shop. "In the future, young fox; if you're going to hide a dagger, or going to use it, don't make it obvious, you tucked it under your sleeves." The final words he said were "The order watches us all". He let the door slam shut behind him.

Shade gasped for air, his fur puffed up and his pupils dilated. He thought to himself, how did he know about the dagger? It was impossible for him to know; there was no obvious attempt to hide the dagger, he must have known about it. A man like that would not allow him to hide a dagger would he? What was with the sudden personality change? Was it an intimation attempt? Who could he go to, the guards wouldn't help, and if they did what would they do if they found his hidden room? What would the guards do if they found out about who he really is-or once was? What if The Lace-Monitor, came back for his mate, a beautiful vixen? The Lace-Monitor's voice boomed in Shade's head. "I'll gut you like a pig". What could he do, no one would believe him, and if they did, what then? What he had in there was a death sentence, not a death Shade wanted to endure either; he could be subjected to the Wheel or worse, The Judas Crucifix. The thoughts gave Shade a panic attack, he fell to the floor, on his knees, paws on the floor, his dagger fell out of his robe, he was gasping more and more now. Sweat poured down the young fox's face. He closed his eyes, wishing it would go away.

After the panic attack stopped the fox got up. He left his dagger where it fell. Walking to the front of the store he locked the door. Shade walked over to the shelves not too far from the entrance, picked up one of the glass jars and sat it on the table. He reached in to his pocket and pulled out his wood pipe. Opening the jar, he smelt the dried balls of sativa; they were still fresh. Placing one of them inside his pipe he pushed it down, trying to pack it as tight as he could. He left the pipe on the table and returned the jar back to its place on the shelf. He walked to the door, and unlocked it.

The bell rang as Shade opened the door; he stepped outside and locked the door behind him, he quickly looked around to make sure the lizard from earlier was not there. He reached into the same pocket as his pipe and pulled out a flint lighter. It took Shade a few strikes but he finally got the sativa lit. Taking a deep breath, Shade let the herb relax him, and held it there. He wanted to get as much of the smoke in his lungs as possible. Leaning against the walls of his store, he stared at the night sky. He wagged his tail as he felt the effects of the sativa, he let out all the smoke that was trapped in his lungs and took a deep breath of air, the night air felt refreshing. Looking back at his pipe, Shade decided to take a few more puffs, and then he turned over his pipe and tapped it against the stone walls, pouring out any ashes and embers. Placing his bare foot on the embers, Shade snuffed out the potential fire. Now completely relaxed, he decided to walk back to his small house. He knew his mate would be wondering where he was.

Along the way, he passed by a brothel, the red lantern, hung outside of the door, its flame was bright. A young, female jaguar, possibly in her early twenties, stood outside; she laughed and giggled, waging her tail. Her clothes were made of a very thin cloth; the color was hard to tell without the any other form of lighting. "Care to join me, my lord?" She stood at Shade, he said nothing in response; he only kept walking. A bit of noise came out from the brothel, as a drunken solicitor, was thrown out by security, a tall black bear, growled and snarled at the deer. "Wh-wgat you doing t-tt-to-d-do, I-i- didn't even fuck em yet." The deer tried to throw a punch but it missed the black bear. Shade looked back, but kept on walking, this was not a night he wanted to stay out on, never mind watch a fight.

After a half an hour walk, Shade reached his home, unlocking the door. The house was expensive for someone in Shade's "known" line of work; he bought the house long ago with the money he got from his contracts. He quietly walked inside. Ani, a vixen whose fur was white, her eyes a sky blue, long dirty brown hair, she smelt clean, with a hint of roses. "Shade? What happened? I was worried about you." Ani said, her voice was filled with worry with a undertone of anger. Ani was dressed in her faded green night gown, it was freshly washed. "I-" Shade was cut off by Ani. "You also smell like - have you been smoking!? ... Shade, what happened?"

"It was nothing, Ani. I just need to get some sleep, hard day at work..." in a quieter voice Shade said. " And a panic attack..."

Shade walked towards his bed, taking off his robe, he placed it on the wooden hanger. Now naked he felt the cold draft come in from outside of his house; Shade shivered, he grabbed his night gown and got in to it. "Do you want to talk about it?" Shade shook his head. "Ani, I just want to go to sleep." He climbed in to bed and laded down. The vixen got herself ready for bed, completing her nightly teeth cleaning she walked over to a sink, she opened a bottle of alcohol, diluted it with a bit of water swished it around in her muzzle, spat it out and went to sleep next to Shade.

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