Emancipation

Chapter 5 : Inside Info

Chapter 5

Raen awoke among the other members of her pack of street children. They shared their warmth through the cold, covering up with tattered blankets, jealously guarded. She untangled herself from the pile and carefully adjusted one of the blankets. She crawled from the cardboard and plastic shelter out into the cold damp predawn mists. The sky had a tentative glow in the east. Raen ducked her head back into the makeshift shelter, "Hey, guys it's almost dawn. Shake a leg or we're gonna miss the sisters." The rest of her pack began crawling from their nest, yawning and stretching. Raen headed to the mouth of the alley and was the first one to reach the corner. This morning she even beat the Sisters of Charity and their wagon of morning rations.

Raen rubbed her hands together and blew on her fingers. Winter was coming. Raen didn't relish another long cold winter huddled in a cardboard box. She had a choice though. Master Honor Baggood of the apothecary guild had offered to sponsor her application for guild membership. Membership would mean a warm bed and full belly, some things her current situation lacked. Raen resisted the idea though. The rest of the pack had begun to join her on the corner. They huddled together. Raen couldn't abandon them to the cold. She didn't think she had the heart to abandon them like that, though that is what so many other members of the pack had done. Fred had several jobs, but he too hung in with the little ones. Raen wondered if he would ever leave the streets. Raen searched her own heart.

The fact was each and every one of her fellow street children had one thing she did not, the memory of a home that had provided care as long as it could. Raen just remembered wandering the streets, alone and hungry. She craved the idea of memories of a home and people who cared about her, took care of her. Raen's musings were interrupted by the arrival of the Sisters of Charity, with their attendant bell ringers. The eldest member of the order gestured for the wagon to stop. They opened the side panel and began handing out the small nutritionally complete loaves of nut bread. Raen accepted one and smiled then she turned and broke it in half she handed half to the smallest, newest member of her pack. He thanked her and ran off with his treasure of a loaf and a half which amounted to about half the calories he needed for the day. Raen started to walk away from the wagon but was stopped by a tap on the shoulder.

"Young lady, that was admirable. I see you do that every day," It was the eldest of the sisters present, "I would like to reward you. Open your messenger bag." Raen shrugged and did as she was told. The sister began filling the bag with closely wrapped nut bread. Raen's eyes opened wide. When Raen's bag was full, the woman smiled, "You know child, we are always looking for new members of our order."

Raen blinked and closed her bag, "Thank you sister, but I don't think I am called to your group."

The woman smiled again and nodded, "Go in peace and share what you have been given.

"Gladly," Raen skipped off and began handing half loaves to the other street children in the vicinity. She gradually set her course for Apothecary Square. The main Apothecary Guild Hall made up one whole side of the square and various apothecary shops lined the other three sides. Raen checked the message board at the center of Apothecary Square. Some messages informed people of membership openings, along with their qualifications but most were advertisements for specific jobs. A large number were bounties for escaped wildlife at large in the city. Most were harmless animals, which would likely be cooked and eaten rather than turned in for a bounty. A few, written in bold print with orange ink advertised bounties for escaped venomous snakes. The largest such poster was for an escaped silver striped viper, by far the most venomous snake in use by the apothecary guild. The reward was twenty chits, and the notice requested any qualified hunters report to the main apothecary hall to receive a dose of antivenom in case of accidents. Twenty chits would cover food for the pack for over a week. It would be dangerous and the notice was a week old. Realistically the snake could be anywhere in the city, but Raen had inside information. Silver striped vipers were partial to teegs as prey. There was one particular street in Baird Trade Territory that reeked of teeg musk. Time to go pick up an antivenom.


* * *

Beaoul followed the men as they drug a bipedal canine through the hallways of the Dark Compound to the cells designated to high-value prisoners. The men had called the creature a razorwolf. As the only hellhound with the freedom to move anywhere in the compound, Beaoul had overheard stories about razorwolves. As a hellhound, she knew that a female razorwolf, even of the bipedal type, was a perfect host-mother for a litter of hellhounds. That litter would naturally kill the host mother. For all Beaoul knew, her host-mother had been a razorwolf.

The men cut the tunic from the razorwolf with dull bloodstained knives. Their efforts revealed it was a female. This sparked Beaoul's curiosity further. The men threw the female into an empty cell and locked the forcefield down over the opening. Done with their task, the men left laughing about some inside joke held between them. Beaoul knew that the cells in this hallway only had what little fresh air that could diffuse through the forcefield. If the prisoner exerted themselves they could end up depleting their supply of oxygen to the point of passing out. The female razorwolf bounced herself off the forcefield several times, singing her fur, Then she clawed at the walls with her very human-like hands.

Beaoul formed words in her mind to press on the female, "Don't over-exert. You have limited oxygen. It only diffuses slowly through the forcefield."

The female stopped her struggles and came to the cell doorway. Using a real voice, like a sanruphrup or human, she responded, "Are you here to torment me?"

Beaoul raised her ears and shook her head no. She pressed a wordless curiosity towards the female.

"Why don't you just speak?"

Beaoul pressed the idea that she couldn't towards the female.

"Really? You look like you carry the genes for speech. Have you ever tried?" The female pressed the muscle memories required to vocalize on Beaoul's mind. It was the first time anyone else had purposefully touched her mind.

Beaoul absorbed and digested the information. It was a crash course on speech. Experimentally, Beaoul opened her muzzle and cleared her throat, "I can talk?"

The female smiled broadly, "Yes, yes, you can. So what are you?"

Beaoul looked herself over, "A hellhound."

The female blinked at that, "But you are female, and you have a lovely brown coat of fur. How can you possibly be a hellhound?"

"My name is Beaoul, and I swear on my host mother's corpse that I was born among a litter of hellhound brothers." Beaoul said, aloud, "I am a hellhound!"

The female lifted her hands in surrender, "I give up, you are a hellhound, an extraordinarily, shapely and beautiful female hellhound." Beaoul blinked at the female's response. There seemed to be a subtext of attraction. "My name is Seala, of The Truevoice Clan. My mother is Tiana of The Truepalm Clan. My father Neaan is Truevoice. I am a secondary field factor out of The Preserve. I am pleased to meet you Beaoul."

"Okay, aren't The Factors sworn enemies to The Darkone?"

"Yes, Beaoul, that is why they captured me, and it is why I will probably die a horrible death."

Beaoul cringed. She had never even considered what a friend might be or that she could have one. "I wish I could help you."

Seala lifted her chin and set her jaw, "I knew the dangers when I left the safety of The Preserve. I accept what is coming, but I think I can help you. Have you tried to move things with your mind yet? Healing hounds are telepathic, empathic, telekinetic, and can teleport at least themselves. They can't speak like we can, not without tech, but they are highly gifted. I thought since they could…"

Beaoul tilted her head to the side, "Could you show me how? Like you taught me to speak?"

Seala sighed, "I am not telekinetic. Telepathic, yes, but I have no telekinesis. You'll have to experiment on your own. Another thing you may be capable of is invisibility. Healing hounds can make themselves nye unto indetectable. Only other healing hounds, hellhounds, and one known humanoid can see them. I can't show you that either. I encourage you to explore your abilities but do not share what you learn with your mistress. Secrets could save your life."

"Too bad some cleaning bot bumped the forcefield release," Beaoul said pawing the forcefield off and pressing an internal map of the compound into Seala's mind, "I can't help you any more than that."

Seala smiled, "It is more than I could have asked." She darted off down the hallways. Beaoul knew the likelihood Seala would be recaptured, but Beaoul trusted Seala not to betray her.


* * *

Seyona didn't know where to go next. She had seen so much thanks to her ethereal benefactor. Pompeii as it had been before Vesuvius blew its top was beautiful and unexpectedly modern feeling. She watched the Eiffle Tower rise in the Parisian skyline. Her benefactor kept offering the multiverse to her in the notebook, but Seyona didn't know where or how to choose. Before hooking up with her benefactor, Seyona hadn't even been aware that there was a rest of the universe to explore. "I don't know what there is in the universe to see. I was born on earth, everywhere else is just science fiction."

A door opened in front of her. She stepped through it. On the other side of the doorway, Seyona had stepped through into a space similar to the one she left, except it was populated by a raucous variety of people and fantastic creatures. There were Bipedal wolves, cat people, quadrupedal birds without wings, People with hair of various colors and textures. They represented all heights and builds in the humanoid spectrum. Many of them were truly alien. Seyona stood on a wide wooden boardwalk lined on both sides with structures like so many normal buildings she might see on earth's various continents. People of all kinds walked in both directions down the wooden boardwalk.

Seyona just stood watching people move. After giving herself a few moments to acclimate to the new environment she headed into one of the structures along the boardwalk that looked to be some kind of restaurant. A bell over the door rang as she entered. It was a bar, surreally tall shelving containing liquids labeled in more languages than she could have imagined sat behind a long bar with stools set in front of it. She walked up to the bartender.

"What'll ya have?" The bartender was large, muscular, hairless, and blue-gray. There was a trace of a dorsal fin on the back of his head. Seyona couldn't help but stare. Realizing it suddenly, Seyona ran her fingers through her hair accidentally pulling the chain and key from where it hung beneath her sweater. "Awe, a catalyst, you new girl?"

"Catalyst?"

He gestured at her key with his webbed hand, "The key, only catalysts have 'em. It gives 'em access to all time and space. So they can fix things."

Seyona felt the key, her benefactor had told her it would give her access to all space and time. "I received it from this place where I live. It rescued me from the destruction of my universe. It told me, kind of, that it would do that."

"You have yourself a personal MOE. Congratulations. Not many are so lucky. What would you like to drink to celebrate."

"What is a MOE?"

"It's a middle of everywhen entity, like this place," He gestured at the room and by extension the world beyond, "Now about that drink."

"I don't know what most of this stuff is."

"What is your homeworld?"

"Earth."

"Lovely world," He turned and began mixing liquid from bottles. He slid it across the bar at her.

"What is it?" Seyona sniffed.

"Sex on the beach. It's one of my most requested earther drinks."

Seyona sipped at it. It was wonderfully alcoholic. She remembered having it once before she had left through the portal. "What do I need to know about my Middle of Everywhen?"

"It seems to like you. I can smell on your clothes that your MOE provided them. It can provide anything you ask it for, as long as you are on good terms with it. I have heard they can talk to some people, clear as a bell, in their minds. But then that is nothing extraordinary most people are telepathic."

Seyona sipped some more at the drink. "What do most people do with MOEs?"

"Most people don't have their own private MOEs. They worked out of MOEs managed by Intergalactic Councils like this one. They are catalysts that maintain the natural timelines of each universe. There is good money in it. Speaking of, do you have money? Most people here aren't as generous as I am."

"No, I well I do have cash from earth but no Intergalactic Dollars."

He chuckled and opened his cash register. He pulled out a small stack of holographically printed bills, "They aren't called dollars. I had a party of Catalysts in here last night. They let the galactic credits fly. And they tipped well too." He placed a wad of credits in her hand with a smile. "Check out the bazzar at the far end of the boardwalk. You might find something you need." He gestured to the right and began polishing the bar top.

Seyona smiled and accepted the cash. She put it in her purse and chugged back the last of the drink. "Thank you! Uh.."

"Chester."

"Thank's Chester."

Seyona left the bar and began walking along the boardwalk in the direction Chester had pointed. Up ahead she saw a tall wooden fence with signs in many languages. Ahead of her, the fenced-in area had a clear label on its entry arch, “Intergalactic Bazaar.” Another sign purported, “If you can't find it here it's too bizarre to find anywhere.”

Seyona read the warnings, "This place is outside of intergalactic law the only law is the security people patrolling the Bazaar. Please cooperate with security at all times."

There were more warnings and she filed them at the back of her mind as she stepped inside the bazaar. It was chaotically organized. Seyona wandered around for a while picking up on the logic of the system. There was a section selling livestock and animals from millions of worlds. Another part of the bazaar was lined with tailors and shoemakers specializing in various species. Seyona was drawn to the portion of the bazaar specializing in the foods of many worlds.

Each food stall clearly displayed toxicity warnings for various species. Finally, she settled on a stall offering "Real Ethnic Human Food" she counted her credits and ordered a cheeseburger. When it arrived she was disappointed the meat smelled odd, and the "bun" was pasty and mealy. The toppings were odd, some kind of vegetable paste and a fishy-smelling spread. Her MOE fed her better than that. She paid her tab and left the food. The proprietor dumped her plate in a bucket like ones she had seen used to feed the creatures in the live animal section. Just so long as it didn't go to waste.

"Man, the council is being tight asses when it comes to freelancers. Used to be we got paid more than contracted catalysts. These days the pay really sucks." A man prominently wearing a key vaguely resembling hers grumbled to another man as they strolled through the bazaar.

"Blame the MOE, it isn't creating as much revenue as it used to. The radiation is getting to it too. Radiation levels are higher three dimensions over. I have heard rumors that the whole omniverse is dying."

Seyona followed the two men.

"Yeah, I've heard that too. Those damn factors seem to have something either to do with or about it. They stole another museum's worth of masterpieces, and half a University's worth of students. They used to be the good guys but now they are just thieves and kidnappers. They have been snatching the best and the brightest."

That piqued Seyona's curiosity, "Excuse me, what is a factor?"

The two men turned to face her. They both looked her over, "They're bad news. They used to be really good people but things are going to pot and they aren't even trying to help anyone anymore. They just take and take." The man complaining about pay answered.

"Oh," Seyona smiled, "Thanks for the warning."

"Be careful out there rookie," The other man smiled. Then they both disappeared in puffs of air. They teleported. Teleportation was real. It blew Seyona's mind. Suddenly she very much needed something familiar. All she had was her key. She walked for some time in the bazaar before she found a door standing alone in a braced frame. Only the letters "R&D" marked it. The door had no lock, but it was a solid surface as opposed to the draped fabrics that made up the majority of the stalls in the bazaar. She focused on getting back to her MOE and pressed the key into the surface of the door. She turned it and the door opened inward to the comforting whiteness of her home. Seyona crossed the threshold and sat hard as the door closed behind her. This day had given her a lot to think about.


* * *

Fiona stood in the women's bathroom at the City Museum of Natural History. It was after hours and a day early, and she was going to see the new dinosaur exhibit. It wasn't the first time she had teleported into the Museum, and it probably wouldn't be her last. She knew the alarm codes and as she left the bathroom, Fiona tapped the codes in the discrete alarm panels. There would be a guard at the next panel by now so she waited until he passed by. She tapped the code in and danced her way through The Hall of Minerals. The new dinosaur exhibit was on the other end. She picked the lock on the room and entered. So many skills and so much knowledge she had picked up over the last eighteen years. There really wasn't a place in the city she couldn't go to. Inside the exhibit, she snuck through a side door to the exhibit control room. Like the expert she was, Fiona flipped the appropriate switches to turn on the animatronics and other effects.

Fiona stepped back out into the exhibit and began her journey through prehistory. She was having so much fun she didn't notice the movement in the shadows. At the climax of the exhibit, where the T-rex bent down to roar directly at the level of the patrons, Men with full-body five-o'clock shadow stepped from their places of concealment. There were several dozen of them. Really they looked far from human. They had what could pass for a muzzle and their fur was slightly longer on their scalps, but it was a full-body fur coat. Fiona relaxed into a position to attack from. She had an embarrassment of riches when it came to martial arts forms to release on her would-be attackers.

A harsh chuckle emerged from the artificial foliage surrounding the T-rex. A woman materialized from a dark mist next to the T-rex. She walked through the railing separating the patrons from the display and her body parted like mist as she passed through. It was a creepy effect. Part of Fiona wanted to touch the woman and gain the skill, but most of her backed away fearing what it would cost her. "My reputation apparently precedes me," The woman chuckled. The fur men pressed in closer around Fiona. "Why not just come easy, Fiona. Save yourself an embarrassing defeat. We can start off on the right foot, or the other foot. It is entirely up to you!" The mist-woman said.

"Who are you?"

"Your new best friend, or your worst enemy. Your choice. My name is Mira Black."

Fiona sensed another person materializing behind her. Her first instinct is that no friendship ever really started with a threatening ambush. She decided to make a swift retreat. Failing to teleport away Fiona ripped a rift in space-time and stepped through it. She closed the rift before they could use it to follow her and quickly trotted down the rutted path that passed for a street in the rural Indonesian town she had arrived in. It was morning and she had no idea of the local language, but with her ability that wouldn't really pose a problem. She tapped the nearest local on their forearm and then used her new knowledge to ask in their native tongue, "Where am I?"

"Tenganan. How is it you came to be here and not know that?"

"I speak this language but do not read it. I am simply wandering through the villages at random."

"You should have a guide it isn't good for a tourist to just wander without someone knowing where they are."

"Don't worry, I know exactly where she is," Mira said stepping out from behind a house.

Mira's words hit Fiona like a bucket of ice water dumped over her head. It was a shock to her system, "I was hoping you would take the hint when I disappeared that I didn't want any part of you."

"Young lady, is this woman bothering you?" The concerned local asked.

"Go fishing peasant!" Mira said. She waved a limp wrist at the man and he stiffly turned and walked away.

That set the chill of fear even more firmly into Fiona's spine. "That wasn't very nice of you."

"I'm sure he has a family or a dog he needs to feed. I am just reminding him of his responsibilities, elsewhere."

Fiona started to rip another rift in space when another woman jumped from behind the same house as Mira had appeared from. The woman cast an orb that simultaneously glowed and swallowed the light around it at Fiona. It hit her and Fiona felt suddenly detached from herself like she was somehow disconnected from her body. She still stood but couldn't move. Somehow the orb blocked her from accessing her internal library of abilities.

"Good shot Agatha!" Mira smiled broadly at Fiona, "Agatha here is a witch. I figured your skillset might require a solution outside of the usual to bring you in."

A blast of light filled the sky above them and two costumed individuals appeared hovering in the air. "I told you Jenovian, A dark witch cast a powerful spell. There she is!"

"Is that Mira Black?" The man dressed in woven metallic armor asked the woman who had spoken. The newcomers drifted to the ground. "Mira, I thought with the beating we heaped on your men last time that you wouldn't show face on this world again!"

"Ah, Jenovian, do not mistake a strategic withdrawal for any sort of victory on your part. Agatha, prove your skill."

Agatha began whipping orbs towards the newcomers. The first woman to have spoken produced a shield to reflect them all, the last orb bounced directly back at Agatha with increased force, knocking the dark witch to the ground. Jenovian stepped forward between Fiona and Mira. "I think you should leave Mira. Take your trash with you."

"I will get my hands on the girl. Jenovian!"

"Not if we're here to stop you!"

Mira let loose a wordless snarl. Her dress transformed into a dark mist and enveloped Agatha's motionless form then the mist spread to cover the rest of Mira before condensing into a ball and disappearing taking both women with her.

"Norda, see if you can loose the mystical binding." Jenovian said.

The woman stepped up to Fiona. She made some gestures over Fiona. White energy flowed like flame from her fingertips and slowly the paralysis faded. When Fiona finally reclaimed control of her own body and mind, she nearly fell to the ground, exhausted. Norda was quick to steady Fiona, "Easy, Agatha's spell was using your own energy to sustain itself. It wouldn't have killed you, but it did take a lot out of you."

"I got her." Jenovian scooped Fiona up into his arms. Fiona felt relieved that his armor covered him fully from the neck down and no contact was made.

"Careful with her Jenovian, she's weak and she came a long way to end up here."

"Really?"

"She's from an entirely different earth." Norda laid a gentle hand on Fiona's cheek. Fiona convulsed as Norda's wealth of mystical knowledge flowed into her. Her world flushed down to a pinprick of light as she passed out.


* * *

Tyrulan was not content in his skin. While purely of his body, it was a lie. Tyrulan had forsaken his purely Sanruphrup form and taken the form of those awful hairless monkey's called, human. It was his mistress's bidding that drove him to wear the lie. She wanted him to ingratiate himself to a particular group of humans on this world. They were political dissidents, ready made to spread the chaos Mira Black loved. All they needed was the right weapon. Tyrulan had half a dozen fifty gallon drums of that kind of weapon, if these stupid monkeys knew what he was selling their disgust might win over their disgust with their fellow monkeys.

"Ty, great, you're just on time!" Barnum, the man guarding the compound's only entrance greeted him with a smile, lowering his automatic machine gun. Barnum raised the gate allowing Tyrulan to drive into the compound. The drums in the back of the truck clanged together but not so violently as to rupture. That would lead to a premature release of the toxin, and quite probably the premature end of Tyurlan's life.

Sanruphrup weren't immune to the biotoxin. Only one type of creature in all of creation was naturally immune, hellhounds. That was because the disgusting truth of the toxin was that it consisted of the pureeed remains of hellhounds in their prime. One bite or scratch from a hellhound was deadly, and touching their pureed remains had the same effect, spreading all the same pathogens and venoms. The individual then decomposed to death spreading more pathogens every time their blood touched another. Tyrulan had heard of the effects of the puree and he had seen the creeping death brought by hellhound wounds. He backed up to the freight entrance to the bunker. The beeping sound the truck made seemed eerily like the last pulse beats of a heart monitor. From this point this world was doomed.

He hopped from the cab of the truck and climbed the stairs to the freight floor the back door of the rental truck was locked. He brought the key. "Dominic?" Tyrulan searched the room for the group's leader. He was supposed to be here to meet Tyrulan.

"Ty, sorry I'm late. I had buisness to attend to. It seems pro government agents had managed to infultrate our organization. They have been dealt with." Dominic wiped his conspicuously bloody hands on a filty rag. "You wouldn't know anything about them would you?"

"Nope. Now I brought you the biotoxin. Remember you can't get it on your skin or you are dead. Don't let anyone exposed touch you either. Same thing if you get their blood on you. It isn't the way you want to die. There is no anti-toxin, so be careful." Tyrulan instructed.

"Remind me why you are delivering this to us," Dominic threw the rag over his shoulder. Several armed men stepped out of the shadows.

This deal was going sour. Tyrulan considered cutting and running, but his job was to deliver the puree to a group that would put it to use and claim credit for the attack. That was key to his mistress's plans. She didn't want any meddling factors to connect the various worlds where the toxins had been deployed. Not that anyone could do anything about it once people were infected. There was only one known cure to a hellhound bite. It remained comfortably rare. The fruit of the tree of life, found on one planet in all of the multiverse. The layers of protection for the tree were all but impenetrable or Mira would have eliminated even that slim hope.

"Ty, it isn't that I don't trust you. Except that it is. Why should I believe you when we just rooted three pro-government operatives from our midst," Dominic stated.

"Believe me or don't I don't care either way. I am giving you exactly what I promised. And I am leaving." Tyrulan dangled the keys to the truck.

"It's just that, no you aren't leaving! Not until after our attacks are successful!" Weapons aimed at Tyrulan.

He sighed. He could teleport away at any moment without it affecting his mission too much. The damn curious monkeys would monkey about with the toxin and people would die. The thing was He needed these particular monkeys to spread the toxin among the rest of the monkeys for best effect. Teleporting away might lead these people to think he was lying. Oh the irony, his mission for the Queen of Lies required him to believably tell the truth. "Do you have a room to lock me away in until my product proves itself?"

Dominic smiled. "Right this way."

Tyrulan followed Dominic not the least bit intimidated by the half dozen armed men behind him. Dominic opened a door inside was all the amenities of your typical jail cell. "Oh, you shouldn't have. Is that a mint on my pillow?" Tyrulan tossed the keys to Dominic. "Remember, don't get any on you!" He stepped inside the room and closed the door behind himself. The lock found home and Tyrulan sat on the bed. He contemplated waiting to be released, but there would be no way for him to know if any of the men outside had been exposed. Tyrulan gave it about an hour and teleported to the hall outside. He unlocked the door to the room and teleported to The Main Dark Compound.

With no escort, Tyrulan went directly to Mira's throne room. When he arrived she was busy torturing one of her personal prisoners. "You'll tell me if it hurts right?" Mira pulled the man's fingernails out one by one as he stubbornly remained silent. Mira put the plyers down on a levitating surgical tray and made a dissatisfied grunt. "We have all of eternity buddy! I can keep you alive amazingly long!"

Tyrulan took another step towards Mira, and one of her hellhounds sat at attention, drawing Mira's attention from her victim. "Oh, pardon me Dudley, one of my loyal operatives has come to make a report. "FIrst Tyrulan, I want you to reassure Dudley here that I always get my way from my guests."

He grimaced, he doubted the man's name actually was Dudley. Mira enjoyed giving her guests new names. "The mistress always breaks you in the end. She is an incredibly intuitive torturer! I would have to say she is the best there is."

"Why thank you Tyrulan. And he hasn't even personally experienced the exquisite nature of it himself. Did you deliver the bioweapon?"

"Yes, Mistress. I did my best to allay all their hesitation at having found pro-government infiltrators."

"I am sorry about that, I had to give them a tip about their little problem. They had some vermin to handle. Two of their guests were actually factors investigating them for their dealings with various arms dealers. They were quite close to discovering your true nature."

"There are no apologies needed Mistress. I appreciate the assistance with my mission!" Tyrulan had no doubt that she would have cut ties had Tyrulan been discovered.

"You're welcome Tyrulan, now run along and grab yourself a meal. I have another mission for my favorite faux human!"

He backtracked out of the throne room and headed for the mess hall, where meals were usually just that, one big mess.