The Auric Insignia Read Free Page B

shadows dancing on every tree trunk, reached the place where his snare was, his heart skipped a beat. Sitting in the trap was something, unnatural, at first he thought it was a woman clad in fur but after looking closer, he realized this thing, though similar, wasn’t quite human. Rather than wearing a fur coat, Roarke realized that the fur was the creature’s own. Flaming rust colored hairs covered the body, with the black and white stripes reminiscent to those of a chipmunk flowed down the back, with length increasing on the extremities. The skin beneath, in the few places he could see it, was dyed in rich brown hue melting in with the titian of the fur. The legs didn’t end in shoe clad feet or even naked toes, but rather in feral paws. The same was true for the hands, where the nails of a human had been exchanged for the black claws of a beast. All this seemed normal compared to what he noticed next, a tail, evocative of that of squirrel, sprouted from the lower back and flowed like molten silver mixed with fire across the forest floor. Emerging from the bundles of hair on top of the head were two fuzzy ears, far larger than those of a human. Roarke recoiled as he noticed the snare which he had forgotten in his wonder of this mysterious creature. Having trapped the left leg, the metal wire had cut in to the flesh of the thigh, effectively severing the femoral artery. The woman, for despite all, he could see that it was a female, was unconscious, having passed out from the blood loss, but not before having fashioned a tourniquet from a vine. A vine that had probably saved her life.
         Roarke was awakened from his state of shock by the intense chatter of several squirrels standing by the feet of the passed out woman. Without really thinking about it, and without knowing why, he knew he had to save her from the gnashing jaws of the hounds of Marceau. He removed the snare from its hidden fastening point and hoisted the female on top of his right shoulder. To his surprise she seemed even lighter than she looked, as he turned and started to run back the way he had come. Despite the relatively light load, running through the forest at night, with a torch in one hand, and an unconscious woman on top the other, was no easy task. His eyes strained to spot the gnarled roots that littered the way and his muscles burned, trying to avoid them. His adrenaline was pumping, urging him not to stop even if his whole body demanded it. When he could make out the faint slivers of moonlight that graced the clearing through the trees, he let go a sigh of relief. Slowing down in order to catch his breath and let the stitch in his side fade away, a blood curdling snarl reached his ears, the hounds were going into a frenzy, they had found the site of the trap, the blood on the ground making them lose their facades of otherwise absolute equanimity. He picked up the pace once more and made it up to the cabin, bursting through the door, he halted, breath panting heavily. Marielle was going to come this way, he had to deceive her somehow, he tried to think, to calm himself but the blood pounding in his head made it impossible to think clearly.
         - Calm yourself, c’ mon you can do this... Urrhg! Think!
         Once more he was stirred by a chipmunk chirping by his feet, and it hit him.
         - Blood! Come here pipsqueak!
         The chipmunk seemed to know his intentions were benign, and did not struggle under his hold. He smeared the small rodent in blood from the snare cut and placed it back on the floor.
         - There is a small pool of water east of here, head there! You can shake them off your scent in the water and then round back here. Run! Go!
         The critter sprinted out the door and disappeared out of Roarke’s sight. He didn’t know if it had understood what he had said but considering the circumstances, he was prepared to try anything in what he still was not sure wasn’t a fever dream. He placed the