�Where is she?� hissed the king, standing in front of Aaran. The whole search for the dragon-girl had been a complete fiasco. All of them had chased what they thought was the girl down the crowded street. Then, when they finally thought they had trapped her in an alley, she had pulled her hood down to reveal her featureless face and promptly vanished in a wisp of smoke. It was then that Marsibadd had started cursing himself. He had sensed something farther back and had even stopped to look around, but since she hadn�t made herself obvious, he had followed the group. Mistakes of that magnitude were expected of underlings, but certainly not of the leader. Thus, he had told no one about their near-capture.
Instead, he had rented out all the rooms in a run-down inn once it had grown too dark to search for the fire-mage anymore. Naturally, Marsibadd himself had commandeered the best room which was where Aaran was now sitting, listening to his liege rant.
�We saw her. I almost hit her with a spell and still she managed to get away. With the mage-power in this group, someone should have sensed her, even with all the other conflicting auras. So, where is she?� Marsibadd was pacing now, angrily tossing his hands into the air.
�I�m not sure, my Lord. We could look for her tomorrow, if you wish.� Professor Aaran replied in a calm and quiet tone.
The king was not pacified, �Look for her tomorrow? She�s already gone! We need to go back to the King�s City and find out where she is now, then go out and capture her! This girl cannot escape us. Do you realize what it would do to the Order�s reputation if they were foiled by one little dragon-girl?�
�Yes, my liege, I do.�
�You were there; you know how hard it was to make the people of this wretched town believe that we had captured her and sent her back to the School for questioning. Even now I don�t think they really believe it.�
�Yes, my liege, I know.�
�Then why are you making such stupid comments such as �we can look for her tomorrow�?� he bellowed.
Silence reigned in the room. Aaran thought carefully about how to phrase his next response as it could mean the difference between him walking out of here and becoming a black smudge on the floor. �My Lord,� he began slowly, �I am sorry. I spoke without thinking. What do you suggest we do about this nuisance?� The professor kept his tone carefully neutral, keeping any emotion that could be misconstrued as patronizing out of his voice.
For a sickening moment, Marsibadd said nothing. He stared at the other man as if trying to decide if Aaran was worth sharing his opinion with. Finally, he sighed, �I don�t know. I�ll tell you what the plans are in the morning.�
That was a dismissal if Aaran had ever heard one. He stood and bowed, murmuring a final �Yes my liege� before leaving the room. As he closed the door, the piercing sound of wood splintering followed him out.
* * *
Tavia stopped and leaned over, bracing her arms on her bent knees. She panted, the breath coming forcibly through her throat and out her mouth. Sweat beaded on her forehead and upper lip, reflecting the dying sunlight and making her skin glow with a red sheen.
She had trained to build her stamina at Shavasta, but this was much more than she had ever done. The fire-mage had run, walking quickly whenever a carriage passed, away from Orrin all day and into the night. It had taken all of her willpower to not look furtively over her shoulder every few minutes and even then she jumped at every shadow or rustle in the trees.
The fire-child stood, looking anxiously down the road before tuning and stepping off it. In front of her rose a black metal fence, stretching down either side of the road. Spikes rose from the top, exuding a menacing and dangerous air, but Tavia�s eyes were fixed beyond the fence. A stand of trees stood behind the dark metal of the barrier; probably a private hunting ground for some rich aristocrat who kept it stocked with game to supply their entertainment.
The forest stood proud and calm like the trees of the Forest of Memories, yet somehow, it seemed very sad at the same time. Perhaps it was only the time she had spent with the elves that affected her views of trees and forests, but she felt sorry for the majestic plants, trapped behind the iron gates. It was too much like a prison for her tastes, but right now, the prison was her best sanctuary.
Stretching a tentative hand forward, she touched the cold metal of the black fence, running her hand down one of the bars. She could melt it, but that would leave tell-tale signs that she had entered even if she did re-make the bars. And then, there would be the potential for being trapped if they surrounded her. There was only one other option if she couldn�t go through the obstacle. She would have to go over it.
Sweeping her eyes back down the road and then up it, she stretched all of her senses for any sign of humans approaching her. Once Tavia was satisfied that she was alone, she transformed into her dragon-form quickly and leaped into the air, pumping her wings in one powerful sweep. She was launched upward, following the rise of the bars until she reached the top where she pushed off the spike closest to her and propelled herself into the forest.
Drifting slowly back to the ground, she turned to peer carefully out of the bars and down the road. Still, no one came. The fire-girl breathed a sigh of relief and dove into the forest, relishing the cool touch of the shadows on her baked skin. After living in the climate controlled environment of Shavasta, the huge amount of unfiltered sunlight was getting annoying and downright painful.
Once inside, Tavia had to pause to allow her eyes to adjust to the dark shade cast by the boughs above her. The trees were planted well-spaced and in unnaturally straight rows parallel with the fence behind her, forming paths artfully covered with low undergrowth. The whole effect was oxymoronic. Man-mad wilderness where hunting would only have the appearance of a challenge but the hunter would be certain to bring home a kill. Small creatures such as rabbits would have a hard time hiding among these manicured paths, and that difficulty would be increased among the larger animals such as deer.
This is not hunting, the fire-child thought with disgust as she stepped farther into the �forest� the animal has no chance of getting away. But then her stomach growled loudly and she decided that she might as well take advantage of the situation. It would serve them right if a few of their animals went missing.
Throwing down her pack and sword between two trees, she stepped quietly through the trees. Her booted feet made soft crunching noises as she walked, so she sat down and took them off, tying their laces together and swinging them around her neck for safekeeping. Now completely silent, she stretched her senses outward as far as they would stretch. She heard the soft chewing and smelt the musky scent of a deer not too far from her, but at the same time, she sensed its contented feeling through her empathy. She couldn�t kill a creature that big without the death affecting her, so she moved on, searching for smaller prey.
Eventually, she came across a rabbit, its bright black eyes peering at her through the undergrowth. Moving slow so she didn�t startle it, Tavia reached down to pull her knife out of her belt. Once it was securely in her palm, she feinted toward the rabbit, making it break its cover and bolt away from her but also into the open. With a flick of her wrist, the animal was dead with her knife buried in its side.