The Auric Insignia Read Free Page A

at him, sniffing the air around it.
         - Well hello there, friend. What can I help you with?
         Being the animal that it was, it did not answer, instead, it just stood there, looking at him. The situation was growing more awkward by the second and Roarke’s bafflement grew.
         - If it’s nuts you want, I don-....
         As suddenly as it had come, the chipmunk turned around and started making it’s way back towards the trees and before Roarke could really understand what had happened, the chipmunk was gone. Thoroughly perplexed with the whole event, Roarke sat watching the place where it had disappeared into the trees, until he realized he couldn’t explain what had just happened and made a vow to himself to get enough sleep now on, and to stop day dreaming so much. That same evening, after setting the snares for the night, he made good on his promise and went to bed early, hoping the next day would prove chipmunk free.
         - Ouch!
         Roarke jolted up in bed holding his ear, struggling to light his oil lamp that he kept on his nightstand. After a minute of frantic fumbling, he managed to light the wick, painting his bedroom in warm light and long shadows. He looked at his hand, it was red, something had bitten it, something bigger than a bedbug. He scoured the room looking for the villain when the chitter of a rodent drew his attention. On his window sill sat a rodent, chattering frantically, it was the chipmunk from the day before. When the chipmunk saw he had gotten Roarke’s attention. it started jerking it’s head outside towards some unknown place, for some unknown reason. Not quite sure if he was awake or dreaming, Roarke shook his head vigorously, trying to rid himself of the unwanted dream. His attempt was futile as the panicked rodent remained. As he started to regain his senses and the fog of sleep cleared from his mind, he noticed barking echoing from the forest. Making eye contact with the animal once more, he could have sworn it was urging him on, nodding it’s head frantically. Without fully knowing why, he quickly put on his clothes and retrieved his bow, grabbing a torch as he was running out the door, heading towards the ruckus within the woods. His bedside visitor was running ahead of him, jumping over roots and stones with ease.
         Roarke wondered what was happening, first of all, it was the middle of the night and no matter how crazy you were, hunting at night was a sure way to get hurt, either by accident or by an animal. Secondly, nobody aside from himself hunted this far north because of the dangers, real or imagined, making the first statement even more mad. Running there, through the woods in pitch black darkness, besides the shroud of light that the torch brought with it, he suddenly realized, the barking wasn’t coming from one dog, but two, and not just any two ragged old mutts but from the Marceau Hounds, belonging to Marielle Marceau. Roarke’s mind was going a mile a minute, what was Marielle doing here, so far north and in the middle of the night no less. He kept running not knowing if he had a long way to go. Judging distance and the origin of sounds in the midst of the Brightwood forest was tricky business, especially since he gathered that the likelihood of the hounds remaining in one place for any period of time was next to nonexistent. Just as he was beginning to doubt his rather rash decision to follow a rodent out into the woods in the middle of the night, the chipmunk stopped, looking around him for recognizable landmarks, Roarke realized he was nearing one of his snares. Activity in the area was teeming, birds were chirping and he could hear something jumping above him in the branches.
         Approaching the trap he had laid out the evening before, his heart pounded faster and faster, egged on by the echoing barks, seemingly closer for every breath he took. As the light of the torch, creeping over rock and root, with ghoulish