“Yes, very much so. Just be back before the moon is at its zenith. That’s when we’ll regroup and set out. If the leaders are all close, we’ll go as one team, if they’re not, we’ll divide up as needed. Our three primary targets are Lord War, Lady Claw, and Lord Jaguar.”
“Jaguar’s mine,” Ant growled and the raw hatred and vehemence in the usually jovial man’s voice made me flinch.
“Understood. Lady Claw is mine,” I said, hopefully a bit less frighteningly. “Our secondary targets are any other high-ranking members of Panther House who would be able to take charge of their forces in the absence of the others. We want to leave no potential leaders alive.”
“Might they be captured?” Ahmaia asked.
“We have no way of bringing them back here,” I said.
“We do,” the enigmatic Fey woman said with understated efficacy.
“Then yes, capture them and return them here. I’d prefer not to kill if necessary.” Which then begged the question: did we need to kill War and Claw and Jaguar?
Perhaps not, but I didn’t think I could stop Ant… and I wasn’t sure I wanted to stop myself from dealing with Claw. I hated her with a fire in my soul which burned night and day and threatened to eat me up if I didn’t do something about it.
I guess we’d see how the night went.
“Any questions?”
Foggy, standing on his head, as usual, said, “You already killed the one who killed my brother, didn’t you?”
“Yes.” Lynx, my old flame from long ago had killed Fennec, Foggy’s brother. I’d then killed Lynx when he’d come for me next.
“Then I think we should try to capture as many as we can. We don’t know who on their side knows the real reasons for this war. We shouldn’t punish them all for something they may not know about.”
Fair. “I’m fairly certain War, Claw, and Jaguar know,” I said. “But you’re right, outside of that we don’t know and should not punish them for following orders. Capture if you can, work with the Fey.” I turned to Ahmaia. “How many can you capture and bring back?” I assumed the answer was one each, but I’d learned not to underestimate the Fey.
Ahmaia considered for a moment. “Perhaps six or seven each?”
I blinked. “How?”
Ahmaia smiled. “Our cloaks and clothes are enchanted, there are pockets within where we might store… more than usually would be possible.”
I didn’t really ask how. It was Fey magic and that baffled me. Giant-super-pockets, sure, I’d accept that. I had a glowing ball of spirit inside of me, granting me powers, so who was I to question strange things.
I am far more than a glowing ball of spirit,Auwei said indignant.
Yes, you are, apologies.
I nodded to the others. “It’s nearly sunset. Let’s all get something to eat and a bit of rest… Tonight we end this war.
Chapter 2
Sparrow carried Ant and myself.Midnight and Foggy could fly on their own, as could the Fey. I heard the faint fluttering of the fabric of their black cloaks but couldn’t see them in the night. One Fey would accompany each of us. The scouting had told us the leaders were scattered throughout the camp, though there was a concentration of a few near the center of the camp. Perhaps they thought themselves safe there. They’d find they were wrong.
I’d woven a small sail for myself, and when Sparrow let me go, I floated down slowly. Ant wouldn’t be coming with me. Jaguar was elsewhere, and he’d promised his revenge on the man.
I was going after Lord War and Lady Claw. It seemed they were sharing a bed now. It hadn’t taken that long after Lynx’s death for Claw to move on. I didn’t really mind. It made my job that much easier.
I landed lightly and, through my spider-sense, I knew three allies were nearby. One was Midnight, the other two were the Fey accompanying each of us. Still in spider form, I crawled under the tent flap to the dimly lit interior of the large pavilion. There were a few guards within, dicing. When the two Fey moved through the tent-flap, the guards looked but saw nothing of course. A moment later, the four men let out muffled screams as cloth reached out to cover their mouths. I couldn’t quite make sense of how the Fey ‘pockets’ worked, but the four men were swept into the cloaks and simply vanished. The two Fey, one of them being Ahmaia then shimmered to become more visible. I transformed, and Midnight stepped out of the shadows. She put a finger to her lips. Not that the signal for quiet was really needed.
She motioned to the central room and held up two fingers and pointed to me. So… War and Claw were in there. And from the grunts and moans escaping through the canvas, I thought I knew what they were doing. Ahmaia was at my side a moment later.
Her voice was barely a breath, which somehow carried to my hearing even though she didn’t have her lips to my ear. “I sense your desire to kill. Is this truly needed?”
Yes, Legs, is this truly what you want?I sensed Auwei’s reservations. One of the reasons the Lumani Bonded with us was to have new and interesting physical experiences of the world. But killing wasn’t one that Auwei wished to participate in. She felt my grief as her own. Even though their Lumani would have survived and returned to the Mists, those in my House who’d been killed had been to her as they had been to me, like family. Still, she did not wish for death as a revenge.
For a moment I hesitated. Was death what I wanted?
