Once Lost Lords (Royal Scales, Book 1) (11 page)

“Take your things then, you’re ok to travel here for now.
Just behave. We’ll steer clear.” He said.

“Thanks.” I kept the eye contact a little longer than I
should have, but the man felt extremely controlled compared to the
others. Hopefully, he understood the thanks was for more than packing
my stuff.

“Don’t be surprised if someone checks in on you while
you’re out here.” The pack leader stated.

“I’d expect nothing less,” I shrugged.

“Good, and next time?”

I nodded for him to continue, figuring that the next part was a
verbal backhand.

“Warn the pack ahead of time, Mister Fields.” He threw
out the comment in an offhanded manner. Worry crawled across my mind
as he slipped away. Their Alpha had known my name.

Shit.

I stood there trying to puzzle it out. There were only a few people
that knew my last name. Fewer still were aware I could track. As I
walked away from the slowly rising sun I tried to puzzle out how
exactly he knew me. The woods were far enough north that the pack was
probably different than the ones back home.

Was it Daniel sending someone to keep tabs on me? Perhaps. He was the
only person I knew locally. So much for thinking I had been sneaky in
my escape. Daniel might have set out feelers to every contact he had
in the area to track down the elf. An elf I still didn’t know
the name of.

My shirt was exchanged for something fresher. Scratches on either leg
were carefully washed out then bound with torn strips from the old
clothing. I had expected worse. Nothing here would leave a scar.

While walking it occurred to me how pointless this entire trip had
been. Me, trying to track an elf into the forest. Not only could he
outrun me, he would out-survive me. Clever, if his goal was to
escape, then a forest was the perfect place.

Wolves’ inability to smell elves was typical. They had hyper
senses, but elves moved through nature without many traces. Entire
packs had been decimated due to forest ambushes during the civil war.
My advantage was tracking. The distance between the elf and I had
lessened yesterday.

Tracking could lead me home too. My apartment was an unerring and
nearly ceaseless pull. The four years away had been tough. I had been
sitting in a studio that I rented by the week when my memories of
home flooded in out of nowhere. I was on the continental bus home
before my brain had fully registered what was happening. As for this
current situation. Another day or two wouldn’t hurt. This elf
was mine to hunt.

Autumn’s onset created a colorful landscape to travel through.
Hours later there was a deliberate crunch in the fallen leaves. I
carefully looked towards the source of the noise. A furry face stared
back. There was a patch of darker fur over his right eye. It didn’t
look familiar so I grunted and kept moving. My tail had arrived and
was likely reporting back on my position through whatever pack mind
wolves possessed. That tidbit wasn’t exactly common knowledge,
but I had friends and enemies in the right places. Julianne had given
me that advice after one of my earliest jobs put me up against a
small pack instead of a lone wolf. My asking around had given him a
heads up.

Got my ass handed to me. Things evened out in the end. Pack finds out
you’ve gotten them involved in bad debts and some of their more
civic minded members solve the issue.

My tail, correction, the wolf and his tail were never very far from
sight. His eyes stared unblinking at me nearly every moment of the
journey. I found a stream to drink from. The drink barely reduced
growing hunger pains. Two days without water would have been
detrimental. Two days without food was bearable. Starvation wasn’t
new. There had been hungry days while I traveled.

“Did the boss give me a time limit?” I asked.

No yip, no bark or howl. The wolf did manage to tilt his head and
glare. His fur didn’t look familiar to anyone I remembered.
Similar markings ran in a family. Patches here, patterns, colors,
shades. Dog breeders could spot literal family members in a pack with
unerring accuracy. Pack members hated dog breeders as a general rule.

“No?”

The wolf sniffed and wandered off, vanishing behind a tree.

My large dumb self hadn’t thought to bring any food before I
started this little venture. I assumed, in error, once I got into the
woods the elf would come running up and answer all my questions. Had
he been lying to me? An attempt at separating me from the law
enforcement so he could off me? It could be a trap. One that I was
dragging someone’s family into.

The wolf reappeared behind some trees, padding a path parallel to
mine. I shouldn’t bother being suspicious, I wasn’t
clever enough or observant enough to be any good at it. My choice at
this point was to stop, turn around, and say screw it. Or chase an
answer and an undefined cut of a quarter million.

Tomorrow might see me close enough. Maybe the elf would have food.
Maybe I could catch a rabbit. There was a small dose of lighter fluid
and matches in the bag. Not that it was specifically for a meal, I
occasionally had other uses.

I woke up to talking and a painful reminder of how hungry I was. It
was from near by, more like someone was having an external monolog
and didn’t really expect me to wake up. It was an unremarkable
voice, one that I could never pick out in a line-up.

“Why are you out here?” Someone new was speaking. My lips
started to respond, but the voice went on without waiting for an
answer.

“You seem familiar, but I don’t know you. Pops knew you.
Something in his eyes when he stood there.” He didn't wait for
me to speak or respond.

“Then being in our woods. That’s a lie isn’t it?”
The voice paused again, and time seemed to slip by. “Because
you’re out here in our woods, with two items of silver. You
don’t look for an elf with silver.”

Another blink of time.

“Why are you really out here?” The last bit was hostile
and almost joking. “You gonna to sleep forever, Princess?”

I jerked awake with a start, worried about how much time had passed.
Quickly I scrambled for my focus, trying to figure out how far away
the target had gotten. Yesterday it had been within easy distance to
the west as if the elf had been walking slowly to let me catch up.

Only now it was far, far to the north and more than a few days away.
Two days had vanished during my last time warp. Had it happened
again? Already? The wounds under my makeshift bandages had healed. I
bundled up the torn fabrics and put them into a pocket of my duffle.

The elf was too far way to get a proper fix. Trying for another weird
spirit conversation was out as well. If the wolf was anywhere around
and still watching then I might be able to ask him.

My choices boiled down to heading north after the elf. Heading west
where I’d felt the elf a few days ago. Or going east and
heading home, which meant starving unless I walked through the night.

“Hell.” I muttered and hefted my bag over a shoulder.
Half a day’s walk was closer than all the other options. I
might find some sort of clue. Maybe even a freeway. Perhaps the elf
had hitched a ride north. That must be it, there was a freeway or
road close. Maybe he had found a bike and peddled.

Wilderness was never completely quiet, but there was a sort of
stillness in my immediate area. Like everything hushed for a moment
as I passed through. Nature’s collective breath released as
soon as my feet moved far enough away.

A few hours later I found the road. Too bad it was barely that. The
path couldn’t have been wide enough to fit two cars at the same
time. One direction wove through trees and faded into the distance.
That was the direction I turned for.

Near high noon, I started getting too hungry to concentrate. Early
hunger pains and dizzy spells were tolerable. Now it was getting near
impossible. Things blurred, the world tilted uncontrollably. Stupid,
stupid me. Food had always been an issue.

I stopped, set my bag down and dug through for anything that might be
useful. A knife, sure, I could skin an animal. There was fluid for
starting a small fire to cook. Nothing in here would serve as a
snare. Trapping was a skill I had never learned. Daniel would know.
He was a Scout.

Could I use my other senses to find something? Not a deer, though my
hunger would probably see me through a good portion, but something
smaller. A rabbit, hopefully a fully plump one getting ready for
winter. The idea of meat set my mouth watering. I sat down and was
trying to flip that mental switch.

This area was mine. I owned it.

No.

Not mine. I couldn’t picture myself as a forest creature. I
wasn’t a wolf, wasn’t an elf, just human. Granted an odd
one, but nothing special enough to fit in out here. I felt amazingly
out my depth. The only thing that had helped me focus was a simple
mission of ‘Hunt the elf’. My head rattled side to side.
Negative thoughts, disbelief, those things were useless. I had to
reset my thinking and start over. There was something closer I could
focus on instead. An entire bag of belongings.

The pack was dumped out in shaky desperation. Leftover scraps from my
shirt were strewn about quickly. Miscellaneous contents gained new
homes under bushes and next to tree trunks. What little wood lore I
possessed told me the smell would probably scare wildlife off. In my
mind, there was a faint memory being roused. A hint on how to get
food. Perhaps providence would be with me.

My things, my stuff in this area. It was my area now by virtue of a
smattering of belongings. A home. A temporary stay. Two nights passed
out on these woods. Slowly things clicked.

World is dim. Unfocused. Vibrations weak. Mind tries to unwind.
Feel tangle of brush, leaves curl against each other. Diffuse trees,
tops dim. Too far. Packed dirt of the logging trail. Low branches
weighed down by discarded armor. Wires wrapped around trunks.

This was extremely tenuous. Nearby a low growl shattered everything.
The growl switched to a male voice shouting.

“What the hell are you doing?” His words were hard to
understand past the hunger. It was probably the same person as
earlier.

“Hunting?” I said.

“No, you weren’t. You were doing something.” My
head hurt too much to argue with some cocky wolf.

“Either find me dinner or shut it.”

“Excuse me?” The former fuzzball asked.

“I’m very hungry, help or shut up.” I tried to
emphasize the very. Getting close to violent and hungry.

“I’m not paid to help you, princess.”

It took the last bit of my sanity to shove my response deep down
where it wouldn’t get me in trouble. If I wasn’t so
hungry. If I hadn’t been so deep into pack lands. If I didn’t
have other shit to do.

I went back to what I was trying to do before he showed up. It was a
slightly quicker connection the second time. All my senses switched
to looking for food.

Hungry. Life everywhere. Plants. Thready. Roots reach down.
Worms wiggle. Disgusting. Birds fluff and stare around. Too little.
No meat. Pathetic. Tiny wings. Something moves. Fat. Pauses in
confusion. Fur stands out against the air. Moving closer. It’s
nearby. Not as hard to see. Dinner. Easily mine, hunger makes it
mine.

The connection grew stronger as I focused. This was not on a link
like when I was tracking. My mind was honing in on the concept that
this living breathing meal was mine. The more I thought about it the
hungrier I grew and the easier it was to see it.

Back shudders. Body unfurls. Feels good. Burning travels from
skull to waist. Muscles long dormant, finally being used. Feel
shoulder blades tense up. Mental arms spread. Cowering tiny furry
creature. It feels me. Can’t see me. Doesn’t run. Starts
moving towards my body. As if herded. Not controlled. Doing what is
expected. Obeying the will of my hunger. Presenting itself.
Prostrating.

Closer still. Within arms reach. I didn’t even hesitate, my
hands lashed out and twisted. Only a second passed before the life
collapsed out of its broken body. Those extra senses collapsed
inward, satisfied that my hunger would be solved.

“What the fuck did you do?” The voice was back again,
only this time there was more to it then the judgmental tone.

The dead rabbit and I had no answer. How had I known to try in the
first place?

“I said what the hell did you just do?” The voice was
demanding. My watcher took a step closer. Naked, of course, damned
wolves didn’t seem to consider wearing clothes a requirement
half the time.

“I have no idea.” I said.

“Tell me what that was.” He was demanding answers like I
had some to give. Like I had sat in the middle of the wilderness and
called for animals before like some sort of delivery pizza.

Had I?

The wolf, whoever it was, turned and shifted in a hurry then all but
bolted into the woods. No doubt going to report on my actions. Wolves
may share a communal bond, but it wasn’t as good as a cell
phone. Smart packs kept pants somewhere back near the tree line, and
a phone in a plastic baggie.

Not knowing what else to do, I set about lamely trying to skin the
poor meal that had offered itself to me. The meat was edible, but no
hamburger. Both hands hovered over the burning fire, soaking in
welcome heat as it burned out. Now I knew starving wasn’t an
issue. In fact that charred rabbit had been better than most meals I
had ever eaten.

How long had I been out here? Two days? Three? I couldn’t very
well justify my time with this little tidbit. Kahina would be furious
at the extended absence. Returning home would also put me at odds
with Julianne. Women were hard for me to deal with. Best not come
back empty handed.

Hell.

Northward it was, towards the elf. My pace was slow and steady along
the dilapidated road. Running would exhaust me. Soon I would be close
enough to call on that elf again. My thoughts started getting choppy
in delirium.