Written In Her Echoes

Chapter 5

I knew the space was strange before the tendrils that made up my fur told me so. This surface wasn't the ground. It was far too flat, too smooth, too clean. It wasn't ground at all. It was floor. Stone beaten into submission. Just another thing humans made to separate them from the earth.

Tension around my snout made my eyes snap open. I scowled with a growl that vibrated clamped teeth. They'd muzzled me. Twine was wrapped around my jaws.

Looking around the room, to make sure I had no audience, I traded my paws for fingers agile enough to unweave the twine from my snout.

The space around me smelled of hundreds of different places. I could nearly taste the sap of the Highland Maples, the water of the River Nine, and the ash of the Eternal Fires. This place had to have been cast of stone from across the known world. Either that or the stone's were so laced with time they no longer held a scent of their own. Instead, they cast their identity from what walked within them.

This idea made me shudder, that man had spread so far that they not only worked but lived in most every place.

I scoffed at my thoughts, rubbing the ache from my nose. As if man could simply "pass through" anywhere. How foolish could I be?

They had me within a cage. More metal cast into the shapes they willed. Below my paws was the stone I smelled so sharply. One of the walls was made of the same. There, I could almost taste the world on the other side. The three walls left were barred metal. They stank of iron and I chuckled to myself, the sound coming out like a growl.

The familiar smell of soot twisted me into hatred. The same taste still tempted my tongue. The man who'd intervened. The Deceiver. I felt my eyes take on a glow. I was meant to be dead, a right which he had taken from me and I wasn't feeling particularly forgiving.

I approached the latch on the furthest wall of bars. Rising to a human height, I examined it. A simple bolt. I smiled, What? No lock for me? Sure it would burn a bit but that was hardly going to deter me. I reached my hand through the bars. My skin sizzled at the iron, leaving a black residue behind as I opened it.

I dropped back to my fours, shaking the fox into place.

My hind leg grabbed with the change, bringing me to a stop. I scowled. I'd thought myself restored but looking now, a ghastly ashen line still encircled my leg. It wasn't terribly troublesome. At least, it shouldn't have been. I found myself limping as I tried to trot down the hall. I could only bear minimal weight with it.

I pressed on, holding my leg off the ground to avoid the displeasure of the pain.

This place was lined with cells, each one the same as my own (plain with straw strewn about). A few held their own captives. Men, dirty and tired looking. Men who used sweet words to try to coax me close. But they are just men, none of them carried the scent that I'd fixed my attention on.

I hadn't noticed it had been dark until I came around a bend where a torch was lit. I felt myself grin at the primitive source. These people had struck me as more than that. Perhaps I had misjudged them.

A line of stone stairs, spiraling up into nothing, were ahead of me. I tensed at the sound of footsteps cascading down them.  They had only just started. The way, short. If not, I'd have heard them sooner.

I exhaled with a huff that rang uncomfortably off the walls. I started up the stairs to greet them.

Our paths crossed only moments later and we both came to a halt as if only now knowing of the other's existence. He was a young man, at least half the life of the Deceiver.

The Deceiver's smell dappled him, but it wasn't him. No, this one's smell was of musk and dirt. The same which muddied the smell of the cages behind me.

I placed my hind foot on the ground, trying to show neither hostility or weakness.

The youngling's eyes narrowed from shock to amusement. He lowered himself, crouching to have our eye levels meet in the confined space.

"Hey big fellow," he mused softly through the torchlight. I could hear the meadow breeze off his tongue. "How did you get out?" he asked, reaching his hand toward me.

I flicked my ears back. Having already been tricked by a man once, I was not entirely willing to trust one so quickly.

He retracted his hand just as slowly. "It's alright, I'm not gonna hurt you," he promised. "I was just coming down to check on you. The King wanted to make sure you were improving." He tried reaching out again, but my eyes darkened at the mention of a 'King'. Just where was I exactly?

"Now, now," he hummed, taking the smallest of steps so that his foot hadn't yet slipped down to the next stair. "It's okay," he exhaled moving closer still.

I couldn't decide how best to respond. My instincts wanted to snap at him. Dig my fangs into that hand he'd been foolish enough to offer me. The other half of me was irritated at that behavior. This one was barely a novice. Acts of violence seemed uncalled for. He knew not what I was. Had he possessed that knowledge he'd never have offered his hand to me. He'd never have left the latch unlocked.

I allowed my ears to rise slowly. I let my gaze leave his to examine his pale skin and small fingers. There was an old smell that stuck to his hand. Peppermint perhaps?

I let his echoes tell me his story as they danced against my skin. He was definitely young, with an interest in mechanics, animals and one of the serving girls in court.

My eyes went back to him and he smiled. "See?" still with that childish grin, "Nothing to worry about."

I let my ears flick back.

"What? You don't think so?" He chuckled at me. He tilted his head and let his foot slip down the stair, leaning closer.

I shook. Friendly, I reminded myself. I'm being friendly.

I moved my weight to my front paws, accepting his touch as he ran a hand across my fur. He was gentle as he scratched my ear, taking the opportunity to close what little gap remained. He scratched my head with both hands.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked, keeping my gaze.

I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes. What? I suppose you expected me to just wait for rescue? I found my lip curling at my own thoughts and shook again to hide the action.

He placed his hands back on my head, bringing one to my shoulder to brush my scruff. I growled and he stopped. "It's alright," he reminded me, stroking my head. "I just want to get you back downstairs."

And with that, I was gone. The narrow space under his bended knee was all the room I needed to push past him. He shouted something I didn't hear as he toppled out of my way. A wolf's grin crossed my jaws. I sprinted onward, ignoring the crash of his unhindered descent and the regular stab of pain that shot from my leg.