"Nightfall watch!" The cry came from above their heads. They had just made it across the drawbridge when the great creaky chain winch began hoisting the bridge and lowering the portcullis. "No more cross bridge dealings. No more wayfarers, travelers, players, peddlers, vagrants, nomads or soldiers of fortune. No more wandering this night!"
The edict was given and the thick oak doors inside the walls were slammed shut and a sturdy beam thrown in place. A keyed padlock the size of a man's head was locked with an oversized black metal key. Meruself studied the barrier with an apprehensive consideration. Hopefully they didn't find it necessary to flee. The only way over the wall would be to fly; and unless Meruself or Wolf sprouted wings that would be impossible.
Unease prickled along Meruself's spine. She bent down and picked up Wolf who was so tiny now that Meruself could easily hold the little body in one hand.
Meruself stifled a laugh. "You are so tiny now you're a pup. Be careful or you'll disappear in a teeny puff of fur."
Wolf made a sound that was somewhere in the vicinity of a growl, mewl and a squeak. The big bad wolf had become the sweetest puppy ever and was so small Meruself wondered if she would fit in a teacup.
"Oh my Norns, you are so cute I can barely stand it," Meruself said, unable to suppress the laughter that was bubbling up inside her. "No one will ever suspect how dangerous you are."
"The ruse is necessary. I'm glad you think it's funny." Wolf's tone was curt but Meruself could sense the underlying mirth.
"State your business!" A gruff voice demanded from the darkness just before a hastily lit torch was thrust in front of her face. Meruself stepped backwards quickly, wanting to save her eyebrows, lashes and her miniature direwolf's fur. The now Little Wolf let out a tiny growl.
"I have business with Helga and Bjorgen at the Apothecary," Meruself answered in a firm voice.
"What business?" The sentry asked, not caring if it was intrusive and not really any of his concern.
"Business of the Apothecary kind," Meruself said, intentionally vague. The man's face went a dangerous shade of purple.
"I do not like your smart mouth, girl. Perhaps a visit to our hospitable dungeons will make it less smart," the burly man threatened. He stood to his full height but he was still a head shorter than her and this seemed to make him even more irate. Meruself knew that this was a mean bully who was always able to frighten those at his mercy into submission. Men like him ruined this world. He stepped closer to her and touched her cloak, rubbing the finely woven material between rough and dirty fingers. "And perhaps I will come visit you in those dungeons and we shall see how smart you are once I leave you."
"Perhaps you shall visit me. And when you leave me there will be less of you. So how smart are you, miscreant? Time to use your smart mouth," Meruself said in a venomous soft whisper, her dagger pressing against the bulky protrusion of his soft belly.
The man understood her meaning all too well. She watched the greasy sweat roll down his forehead and temples, watched as his Adam's apple bobbed up and down half in fear and half in indignation.
"Do not let me catch you on the streets beyond twelve bells, girl," he said with false bravado, trying to salvage his authority while simultaneously backing away from her and her dangerous blade. He eyed her with malicious intent, contemplating whether or not she possessed any real strength. "I won't be so kind to you next time."
Meruself sheathed her deadly blade with practiced ease and nonchalance. Her eyes never left his dull brown pits of cruelty. Her own eyes flared with bright violet light for the slightest of moments, and she wondered how frail and fragile she looked to the sentry now. The surly guard's eyes widened in alarm and he retreated hastily, disappearing down the barrack lined streets and into the dark.
"What happened to not drawing attention to ourselves?" Wolf chastised her mildly.
"I can't abide a bully," Meruself answered, her tone blithe.
"You have made another enemy and you have only been within the gates of Saga for less than two minutes."
"Another enemy? I have more than one then?" Meruself said in a half-joking tone.
"Have you already forgotten Craven? I do not think he has forgotten us, Meruself."
"This is why I live alone. In exile. In a haunted forest. Where a terrible beast roams terrorizing all who live and enter there."
Hasty footsteps came up behind them in the dark and Meruself felt a brush inside her cloak against her side where a purse would normally be. Her hand reached out quick as lightning and snatched the arm of a slender waif. The orphan looked up at her in surprise, her mouth falling open but no sound of protest came out. She stood frozen for a moment, snagged like a hare in a trap, staring at Meruself, fear flickering to life in her pale, pale blue eyes. Panic swelled and was instantly and ruthlessly squashed and the would-be pickpocket began to struggle, trying to escape Meruself's tight grip.
"Unhand me! Unhand me before I call the Vultures!"
Meruself was puzzled. "The Vultures?"
"The Watchmen. Let go before I call out for help."
"I do not think you want to draw attention to yourself. I do not think you will call for aid. I do not think that there is anyone to help you. There is only you and only me here. And my direwolf," Meruself said in a stern tone, gesturing to Wolf. The waif glanced down at the tiny blonde pup, doubt flashing across the ashen face. Amusement was tugging at Meruself's mouth and dancing in her eyes.
The thief was a girl, no older than twelve summers, hollow of cheek and gaunt of frame. Her height gave her the appearance of someone a lot older and more imposing, but upon closer inspection Meruself could see just how alone and vulnerable she truly was. Her golden brown hair was dirty and hacked short, her clothing thin and frayed, and her feet bare. Meruself saw the fight leak out of the girl's thin frame and felt her body sag. She stopped struggling yet Meruself could see her nimble mind working, trying to find a way to escape.
"I never stole nothing from you, Lady. The street's crowded is all, I bumped into you. Let me on my way," the waif pleaded.
Meruself studied the girl. Was that shame she heard hidden within the pleading words? Meruself felt a tingle begin behind her eyes; a long dormant sensation that was beginning to become more and more familiar, a thing she was beginning to remember, a sensation she was remembering to trust. The tingle became a stream of fire and worked its way swiftly down her arm. A spark stung the tips of her fingers and surged into the waif's body. The moment Meruself's burgeoning power touched her, the waif's body stiffened, shocked into a state of fleeting paralysis. It surprised Meruself as much as it surprised the girl.
"What — what are you? Let go!" The girl almost yelled and began to struggle in earnest.
"Stop!" Meruself hissed, urgently trying to quiet the girl before they drew unwanted attention upon themselves. She locked onto the girl's eyes and the waif's struggles instantly ceased.
"What are you called?" Meruself asked, yet the voice was and was not her own. It was fathomless, commanding and filled with an unknown power that drew its force from a wellspring that dwelled within both Meruself and Wolf, binding their lifesparks together as it grew. Time slowed around them, locking them in a bubble of silence where only the three of them existed.
The answer came, but not from the waif's lips. It was as if Meruself reached into the heart of the girl and pulled it out.
"Kitsura. I am called Kitsura." As the name dropped from Meruself's tongue it felt foreign yet also familiar somehow. Stunned, Meruself released the girl named Kitsura and they both fell back, barely keeping to their feet as the power that coursed through them was finally released.
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