Dreams of the Oracle

Chapter 8

With a snarl, he sent a torrent of red fire into one of the walls of the house tearing a huge flaming hole into it and causing the whole structure to erupt in flames. Jack walked a short distance and stood silently, watching the house burn. The smoke smelled sweet as it rose from crackling red flames.

The Rashaka appeared next to him again, touching his shoulder and beckoning him behind the burning house. Jack followed but continued to watch the flames dance as they consumed Abdiel's home piece by piece.

"We have the scent again," said the Rashaka.

"Where did they go?" hissed Jack.

The thing in human form pointed, "The man and the girl's scents go that way." Then it turned and pointed in the opposite direction, "The son and the girl's scents go the other way."

Jack's eyes flashed with impatience, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"The girl's scent is with the man we seek to kill and a younger man in separate directions."

"But that's impossible!"

The Rashaka nodded and hissed, "They have doubled her scent...they must know something of Rashakas."

"Abdiel," growled Jack. "You send half your number after the girl and the boy. I am going after him."

The Rashaka nodded again and walked into the woods, vanishing. Another one appeared, walking towards Jack, leading Milady's horse. It handed the reigns to Jack and turned away, allowing the shadows to swallow it up. Jack mounted the horse, his mental threats to kill it forgotten, and took off galloping down the road in Abdiel's direction.

Almost immediately, the horse reared up, stopping dead. Three Rashakas stood in the middle of the road blocking his path. They were all crouched down with their backs to him.

"What's going on?" shouted Jack.

The three Rashakas seemed not to have heard him. They walked all over the road in random circles. Jack wondered if they had all inexplicably gone mad at the same time. Then he noticed what they were doing; they were sniffing the air.

They had lost the scent.

His red magic flaring, feeding off his explosive emotions, Jack dismounted and stalked over to the Rashakas who had formed themselves into a line. One turned to him; irritation shone across its tight features.

"The scent has vanished."

"You mean you have lost it!" said Jack.

"No, it has vanished."

"Vanished?" asked Jack incredulously, "how?"

"We do not know," it paused, "This man knows us and he knows how to fight us. How is that?"

Jack knew. Oh yes, he knew how Abdiel knew about these cretins. He looked at the creature before him, "He is part of an organization that makes it its business to know about such things," he replied.

The Rashaka seemed to consider him for a moment. Then it turned away. "Doesn't matter. We can still hunt him, even without his scent," it said.

With that, they all walked into the shadows and vanished save one. It crouched to the ground and its human guise lifted from it like smoke. It became something like a monstrous wolf, nearly as big as a horse and covered with thick black fur. The beast had large shoulders and thick heavily muscled limbs. Patches of black scales glistened here and there in the creature's hide, but its eyes were the same yellow green eyes that it had possessed while in its human form. Its long snout opened to reveal rows of glistening teeth. Bending its head low, it read the ground. Jack watched as the creature picked out the tracks of its quarry and lunged forward.