Fate’s Pawn

The benefit of being chased by an eggbeast as opposed to a smaller creature is that there is no need to look back to see if it is gaining on you.

- Caravan Jack, Traveler Extraordinaire

Raziel tore through the forest at breakneck speed, the eggbeast's breath hot on his back. He should have been terrified. His hand should have been in horrible pain. He was grinning ear to ear and his body sang with energy.

The eggbeast's footfalls thundered behind him, but he could hear them receding as he outpaced it. Hoeru was in front leading them. Miles had been close to him but was falling behind Roland. He tripped on a root and went sprawling. Raziel put on a burst of speed and dragged Miles back to his feet with his good arm.

They ran together, up and down hill after hill. How far had they actually run? Miles was pale, covered in sweat. The eggbeast was closing in on them. Distracted, Raziel didn't notice a loose rock until it was underfoot. He didn't just fall, he went tumbling. He rolled past Miles, plummeting to the bottom of the hill. Bruised and disoriented, he landed upside down and backwards.

Miles dashed past him without even slowing down, nothing but abject terror in his eyes. The eggbeast was not graceful, rolling down the hill like a furry landslide that made embarrassed hooting noises. Raziel threw himself out of its path and only narrowly escaped its open maw.

Back on his feet, he tore away from the creature, leaving it spitting dirt. It wasn't long before it was coming after him again though. The fall had taken a toll on Raziel. He wasn't in pain, but his body wasn't responding to him.

Hoeru led the group up a hill, and Raziel wasn't sure he was going to make it. That should have terrified him, but he couldn't stop laughing. It was all just too much fun. The eggbeast was right behind him the whole way up the hill, but he managed to stay just ahead. He just barely managed to reach the crest; going down the other side was easier.

By the time he was at the bottom, he could tell something had changed. He couldn't hear the eggbeast behind him. It hadn't followed him over the hill.

Raziel fell to his knees panting and turned back. The eggbeast stood at the top of the hill looking down at him. It let out a chuffing sound almost like a bark and looked around warily. It seemed nervous.

"Hey. You alright?" Hoeru asked, startling Raziel. The changeling was standing at his side and also looking at the creature.

"Yeah. What's it doing?"

"The smart thing. See that?" Hoeru said, pointing to one of the nearby trees. The tree itself was large. It had to be big in order to be able to carry the claw marks that were dug into it. Long lines of wounded wood covered the tree. The marks were large enough that Raziel could have fit his whole hand into the furrows. Now that they were stopped, Raziel could smell something acrid in the air as well.

"This is something else's territory," Hoeru continued, his gaze still fixed on the eggbeast. It was still at the top of the hill, pacing around, whining like an anxious dog. It would take a step or two towards them and then immediately back up.

Raziel pried his eyes away from the creature to check on Miles and Roland. Miles was red faced, on his hands and knees, shaking as he gulped in air. Roland wasn't in such bad shape, but he'd put Keira down and was bent over with his hands on his knees. Raziel caught Hoeru eyeing him, an unspoken question in his look. Why aren't you as exhausted as they are? Raziel didn't have an answer, so he asked a question of his own.

"So what do we do now?"

"We can't wait here. He'll just sit there and watch us until we go somewhere he can come after us."

"Okay, that's what we can't do. So what are we going to do?"

"We're going to have to go deeper in," Hoeru said after a long pause. Raziel glanced back at the scarred tree. Specifically at just how high up the claw marks went. Some of the marks were easily more than twenty feet up.

"Deeper into the territory of whatever did that?"

"Yeah."

Raziel's heart had still been pounding from the exertion, and it lurched again in his chest at that. But he still felt an excited smile creeping over his face. He couldn't help it.

"What happened?" asked a confused voice. Keira was sitting up and looking around like someone who'd been woken from a deep sleep. "Where are we?

"Why. Did you. Explode?" Miles asked between breaths.

She covered her reaction well. Miles was too busy trying to breathe to catch it, and neither Roland nor Hoeru were looking at her. But Raziel saw her eyes start to go wide and the awkward way her mouth opened and then snapped shut on her first answer.

"I don't know. The last thing I remember is running from goblins."

"You killed them. Then the eggbeast came after us and we had to run," Raziel said, going along with her story before anyone had the chance to question her on it. Her secrets were hers and this wasn't the time for questions. "We need to get moving."

"Raz, do you have your dad's map?" Hoeru asked. Raziel flicked a glance at Keira, uncomfortable with another person knowing about his father's book, but it wasn't the time for that either. He nodded and pulled it from a pocket.

"Miles, help me out here," Hoeru said. Miles nodded, and stood, clearly still winded but no longer gasping. As he passed Raziel, he avoided meeting Raziel's eyes, though Raziel couldn't think why. The two conferred over the book, heads close together, both pointing at features from time to time. Raziel moved closer to Keira.

"You alright?" he asked. She twitched a nod, her eyes distant at first. She glanced at him, down at his hand.

“What about you? That looks pretty nasty."

He lifted his injured hand. It was still swelling and turning an ugly shade of deep reddish purple. But it didn't hurt. Raziel shrugged.

"I'm good."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. Doesn't hurt."

"That's weird."

"I guess," Raziel said, glancing back at Hoeru and Miles, anxious to be moving. The two were nodding, and a moment later Hoeru gave Raziel the book back.

"The fort isn't too far from here."

"Great. Let's go."

"You sure you're alright?" Hoeru asked pointing to Raziel's hand.

"Why's everybody making a fuss about my hand? My feet aren't hurt. Let's go."

"Wait, fort? Why are we going to a fort?" Keira asked.

"To get away from that for long enough that it doesn't find us again by our scent," Hoeru said pointing up the hill. The eggbeast was still there, though it had laid down and had its huge furry head resting on its forelegs. Keira's eyes went wide at the sight of it.

"Fair enough."

As they walked away, Raziel couldn't help but look back at the creature. It didn't look frustrated or angry that they were leaving. It looked anxious, like a big dog whose master was leaving. Hoeru went to the head of the group and stopped for a moment to put his nose in the air and take a few exploratory sniffs.

"Stay quiet and follow me," Hoeru said a moment later.

They walked in silence for the better part of an hour at least. Maybe two. Raziel wished the others would quit giving him anxious looks. He couldn't possibly look that bad. Even Keira was shooting glances his way, and she'd been unconscious not long ago. Worse still, Miles wouldn't look at him at all. Raziel could tell something was bothering him but had no idea what it could be. The minutes crept by, and it wasn't long before Raziel's hand was finally beginning to hurt.

Raziel wanted to say something, anything to break up the tension. He hadn't noticed it until they'd been walking for a while.The forest here was deathly quiet. There were no birds. There were no squirrels. Even the wind brushing through the trees seemed to be trying to tiptoe by without a sound. He desperately wanted to ask Hoeru how much farther they'd have to go before they reached the fort, but he could see the tension in his friend's movements. The way he would twitch his head from time to time as if trying to pick up a noise too faint for anyone else to hear or the way he'd stop them every now and again to sniff at the air. The changeling's gaze lingered on particularly thick patches of bushes and on the occasional cave entrance. Raziel wasn't sure if he was waiting for something to spring out of them or wishing to hide himself in them.

The sun was well past its crest when Hoeru finally began to relax. Only when they caught the first couple notes of some bird's song did Hoeru let out a sigh of relief.

"Alright. We've left its territory. We should be safe now. Well, safer anyway. Safeish."

"As long as the eggbeast doesn't find us again," Keira said.

"It shouldn't. Besides, there's a lot worse things that could find us."

"How much farther is it?" Raziel asked.

"Shouldn't be much longer. You can all talk. Just don't be loud about it."

Despite that, they were still mostly quiet. There didn't seem much to talk about. Hoeru was busy picking out where they were going. Keira looked annoyed, though that might just have been her face. Roland was Roland.

Miles, though, was bothering Raziel. Miles had progressed past pointedly avoiding looking at him and was instead glancing at him like he wanted to say something and then snapping his head in a different direction the moment Raziel started to acknowledge him. Miles was hanging towards the back of the group, his furtive looks like a fly buzzing by Raziel's ear.

As they went Raziel fought with himself about asking Miles about whatever it was that was bothering him, but there was no way they could talk without being overheard. Eventually he managed to tune Miles out and just focus on the path ahead. They were walking through a winding valley when he caught sight of something poking past the treetops at the crest of the hill.

"Hoeru, is that—"

"Yeah," Hoeru said turning back to him with a grin. Raziel practically thrummed with energy as he forced himself not to dash up the path ahead of the others. The walls of the fort were made of imposing dark stone and rose with the trees. A pair of doors made of very thick, solid wood were set into the walls. They were tall, absurdly so. Not even orcs needed gates twenty feet tall to walk beneath. Rising beyond the wall, Raziel could see the tower. He recognized it like an old friend and felt his heart pounding in his ears at the sight.

Hoeru was still cautious coming up to the fort, stopping to look around and sniff the air several times, while Raziel bit the inside of his lips to keep from telling him to hurry up. Hoeru held up a hand to keep the rest of them still while he approached. His steps were slow and halting as though something might leap out of the ground at any moment to attack him. But he reached the gate without incident.

Hoeru waved for them to come closer. He rested his hand on the door, and Raziel wanted to scream. This was taking so long, and he was so close. But he held it in.

Hoeru began to push against the door, just with his one arm at first. Then with both arms. The doors were huge, but it wasn't strange for Hoeru to think he'd be able to shift them easily. Changelings were far stronger than humans who weren't using magic. As he shifted to put his back in to it, Raziel saw the door beginning to move. Hoeru's feet dug in, and he let out a grunt of effort, but while the gate seemed to want to open, it wasn't quite enough.

Raziel was beginning to worry that they wouldn't be able to get the gate open and was looking at the walls to see if he could find any portion that looked climbable when Roland stepped up beside Hoeru and put his shoulder against the wood. The changeling gave him a considering look and then nodded.

"One, Two, Three!" Hoeru chanted and they pushed together. The gate groaned as enormous hinges that hadn't seen use in gods only knew how long began to grate together. The gate shifted slowly, but once it was in motion, it seemed easier for the pair to keep it moving.

The moment the opening was wide enough, Raziel dashed inside. He didn't know exactly what he'd expected, but it was a little underwhelming. There were four weatherbeaten, vine covered square buildings around the tower in the center. Grass grew on most of the grounds within the walls except for gravel paths that spread out from a stone circle that formed the base of the tower. The walls had stairs that lead to the ramparts, but he didn't see a guard station or anything like it. And that was it. Even so, knowing his father had once stood where he stood, Raziel felt his heart quicken and his mouth go dry.

"How long are we going to stay here?" Keira asked.

"You're all staying here until I get back," Hoeru said. All four of them turned to face him in surprise. The changeling looked for a moment like he wanted to shrink back from their looks but he stood resolute.

"Wait, you're leaving us here?" Miles asked, panic creeping into his voice at the same time Raziel said, "Do you have to? I wanted to see this with you."

Hoeru looked pained by both reactions. Raziel could see a moment of internal struggle within the changeling, seeking a way to give in. Roland set a hand on Hoeru's shoulder, stilling the conflict for a moment.

"I understand," was all he said. Hoeru swallowed, seeming to take strength from that and nodded.

"We don't have a lot of time. I have to make sure there's a safe way to get you all home before dark. After sunset, there won't be any safe places."

"But what if there's something here?" Miles hissed. "Can't you feel the magic here? You have to know what that means."

Raziel drew his head back in surprise. He hadn't felt anything. Though he hadn't tried to use his magical senses. It probably wouldn't have even occurred to him to do so. He couldn't concentrate enough to do it now, though.

Hoeru was nodding agreement with Miles. He looked around and sniffed the air again. He glanced at Raziel meaningfully for a moment before turning back to Miles. Raziel hated when he did that. He wasn't very good at taking the right meaning from meaningful glances.

"Yeah. I feel it too. But this place has a good smell. You'll be fine. Besides Roland and Keira are here."

Miles looked dubious but Roland seemed to accept his role. Keira just looked annoyed.

"Look, if you need to go scout or whatever, go do it. The sooner you're back, the sooner we can go home," she said.

"Yeah," Raziel said, though with a lot less fervor. "Get going. And hurry back. And stay safe. And thank you."

Hoeru looked at him carefully. Raziel could see uncertainty there so he gave his friend a reassuring smile. Hoeru didn't return it, but the hesitance in him faded. The changeling nodded and turned back to the gate. He didn't say anything else but gave a wave as he left.