I travel through the forest with what feels like a party which could conquer the world. With Sirocco providing air cover, Komodo and Fenrir as our venomous tanks, quick damage dealers with Bastet, Lathani, Storm, and Ninja, Catch and Poison providing melee power, and magic from yours truly as well as windblades from Hades and Persephone, it feels like we could at least stand up to any threat below a Tier three which attacks us. And I’d give us good odds at being able to at least escape from a Tier three too. I hesitate to say we could kill one since my experience has taught me how dangerous they are, but I reckon that we’re a far more powerful group than the one I led against Raven. Perhaps we’d stand a chance against a weak Tier three.

  I'm uneasily aware of the two creatures which are following us. One travels on the ground and is a sort of weasel much like Marty used to be, and the other swings through the trees similar to the reptilian monkey-like creatures I once killed on my way down to find Lathani.

  If they had been waiting to attack us, that would have been one thing. As it is, it's clear that they’re following us and I'm sure I know the reason why. I will have to be careful about what abilities I show and what I say out loud. Although, to be fair, it's unlikely that either of them – or, rather, the intelligence behind their eyes – will understand what I'm saying. She might understand my samuran Bound if they speak aloud, however.

  We've recently entered the area of the forest which has been forbidden to the Unevolved, and we’re now searching for any sign of the Beast or its pack. Sirocco is, of course, scouting ahead and the rest of my Bound are split between staying near me and fanning out to search for tracks. Catch and Poison refuse to leave my side, but the others continually move away and return to check in every few minutes.

  I found something, Fenrir tells me with eagerness in his voice. A scent like sister Bastet’s.

  Everyone, converge on Fenrir, I command the group. We’ll follow this together.

  On reflection, it seems inevitable that the other Tamer will realise that we have some sort of mental communication, but maybe she has that with her Bound as well. I don’t intend to handicap myself just to conceal that one of my abilities. Not when dealing with a Tier three.

  It’s not long before we are all following the trail, though we don’t do so all as a big group. Obviously, Fenrir is leading us, but Sirocco is ranging ahead in whatever direction the scent takes, Pride and Komodo are travelling on the peripheries and the kiinas are travelling further behind. Lathani is staying as hidden as possible which, with Shadow Hop and Shadow Shaping, means that I barely catch sight of her – and I actually know where she is thanks to our Bond.

  I decided to split us up like that because if we walk into an ambush or trap, hopefully those outside the group targeted might be able to turn it to our advantage.

  As we walk, moving slowly so as not to either spook our targets or run into a trap which we could have otherwise avoided, I start seeing small signs on the trees around. The scuffs and scratches are highlighted with the low-level Inspect I’m keeping active.

  The Inspect doesn’t do much, which means it doesn’t use much mana – in fact, I regenerate as much as I lose. What it does do is enhance my powers of observation in an area about ten metres in diameter. In this case, small scratches which I might otherwise have missed are now highlighted with a faint golden light.

  Equally, our two followers are far more easily observed as they are highlighted in a purplish colour – I would guess my Inspect is unable to definitively identify them as either foe or friend. That’s probably because I’m not certain in my own mind whether they’re there to signal that we need help, or to spy on us. Or it could be that the Skill itself knows better than I do that their presence offers a mixed blessing.

  The same low level of Inspect warns me when we approach a small group of beings, hidden in the trees around us. I see their forms outlined in faint reddish purple. The colour interests me – I would have expected it to be purely red considering that this is our first contact with them and the hostility they’ve apparently shown. Presuming these are linked to theTier three we’re searching for, that is.

  The scent is very strong, Fenrir tells me earnestly. They are close.

  Thanks, Fenrir, I tell him as those of my Bound who have not yet detected the presence of the potential enemies stiffen.

  At the same time, I’m now convinced that this is a group of raptorcats. Although the highlighting doesn’t show me the form of the creature completely perfectly, there’s enough hinting there to indicate the six limbs which I would expect from a raptorcat. Additionally, this particular ambush formation is probably exactly the same one Bastet’s pack used on me when we first met – and before they sent me running for my life through the forest.

  Switching to a slightly more mana-heavy Inspect, I send out a probe at the hidden beasts, still prioritising stealth over detail.

  I nod unconsciously as the information comes back. Raptorcats indeed – three Tier ones with two Tier twos. Not an easy target if it comes to a fight, but as long as we’re not stupid about it, we should all make it out alive.

  Alright, Bastet, Storm, Ninja, you’re up, I say mentally to them. They send back an acknowledgement and then step forwards carefully.

  Shall I scout around a bit? Lathani asks.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Sure, good idea, I tell her even as my eyes are focussed on my three raptorcats, alert to any movement from the potentially hostile raptorcats around.

  Bastet starts making a clicking sort of call, her bearing relaxed and easy. For a long moment, nothing happens. I find myself holding my breath and force myself to release it.

  And then, there’s movement.

  I tense and feel the rest of my Bound tense around me. But the other raptorcats don’t suddenly converge on my three vulnerable companions. Instead, I see one of the Tier twos carefully step out of the undergrowth around.

  For another long moment, the two raptorcats stand facing each other, communicating in the nonverbal way that they do. Tapping into Bastet’s Bond doesn’t tell me much more than my eyes do – it’s a language of tiny movements, of eyes, wings, and tail rather than the more fluent communication Bastet had had with the Tier three raptorcat matriarch.

  Bastet is calming, reassuring, and curious. The other raptorcat is wary, agitated, but also curious. And there is a sense of familiarity between them that surprises me.

  A thought which I had pushed away as unlikely to the point of impossibility rises once more within me. Of course, the familiarity could be that they both recognised each other as raptorcats, or perhaps it was that their packs had encountered each other in the past. But my instincts tell me that it isn’t as simple as that.

  But if this is the pack we encountered on our way to the cave where we killed the fellapodil, why are they here, so far from home? I’m sure they were on the mountain next to us, not this one.

  Bastet’s conversation with the other raptorcat seems to be going well – one by one, the other raptorcats all step out from the bushes too. Almost all – one still remains behind, perhaps attempting to be an unseen watcher. It would work too, if not for my Inspect.

  Bastet? Care to update me? I ask, keeping even my mental voice quiet so it doesn’t interrupt her too much if she’s concentrating hard.

  She doesn’t respond immediately, so I wait with as much patience as I can muster. Which, while more than it used to be, is far from limitless. Eventually, she responds.

  They are upset. They are missing members of the pack. Their matriarch is searching while they hunt for food.

  You seem to know them, I remark, my off-handedness concealing a keen curiosity.

  So do you, she tells me with surprise. Do you not recognise them by their scent?

  No, I tell her with amusement. My nose isn’t as good as yours or Fenrir’s. So this is the pack we encountered during our flight with Raven?

  It is, she confirms. I shake my head in disbelief. What are the chances? But then Bastet said something about them missing members of the pack. She didn’t say they’d died, though. Something tells me that there’s more to this than first meets the eye.

  Can this group take us to see the matriarch? I ask Bastet. She doesn’t answer immediately, but I see and feel her communicating with the other raptorcat.

  She will take us if we will promise to help, Bastet translates.

  Tell her that I promise to consider helping, but not to actually help necessarily.

  There’s a pause as Bastet communicates with the raptorcat.

  She says that that’s acceptable. She will lead us, Bastet informs me a moment later.

  Alright, good. Everyone, stay in formation – this shouldn’t be a trap, but you never know, I tell them. Anyway, even if it isn’t a trap designed by the raptorcats, that’s no guarantee that we won’t accidentally run into trouble. Because something’s telling me this is a trap for someone.

  With that, we take off through the forest, moving significantly quicker than previously. The raptorcats don’t seem to be bothered by the idea of potentially running into an attack; they’re apparently more concerned with covering as much ground as quickly as they can.

  But their apparent nonchalance isn’t as unfounded as it seems at first – it’s not long before I realise that they’re sending packmates one at a time to scout the path ahead, much like Bastet has done with me countless times even when I don’t ask her to. I now see where she’s got the strategy.

  I start to tire, my stamina bar entering its final quarter. Fortunately, we’re at our destination as the raptorcats leading us abruptly slow down. I quickly check that all my Bound are together and in the positions they should be, and then look ahead into a small clearing that appears no different from any other we’ve run through or around.

  A scouting Inspect reveals that this innocent-looking clearing is ringed by several raptorcats, all ready to pounce on us the moment we take a step into it. Needless to say, we wait for our guides to announce us.

  The small party of raptorcats we’ve been following step into the centre of the clearing and begin making a similar kind of chirping noise to what Bastet first used. Animal Empathy tells me that it’s a friendly greeting. Concentrating on the Tier two’s body language and using Animal Empathy to filter what I see, I get the gist of what she’s saying. Predictably, she’s telling her other packmates the basics of why she brought a group of others here.

  Looking through the clearing with a sharper eye, I see evidence of where they’ve made their beds in broken bushes and flattened ground-plants. I also see bones littering a certain area – where they eat, I guess. This is obviously their base camp, temporarily, at least.

  Reassured, the raptorcats crouching around the clearing on guard emerge one by one to greet the pack members who have returned, empty-handed as they are – or should that be empty-mouthed?

  Finally, another raptorcat emerges, and this one makes me flinch slightly in shock. Not because her appearance is so surprising, but because my Inspect didn’t detect any trace of her presence.

  This one even I would recognise, and that’s before she briefly releases her domain and a sensation of wildness washes over me. It’s only released for a short time, feeling more like an identifying greeting than an attack.

  “Hello again,” I say to the Tier three raptorcat matriarch, mistress of winds. “What are you doing here?”

  here!

  here!

  here