Page 16 of Naga's Essence

He laughs, and I do my best to laugh with him.

If you only saw the way she fought,I think to myself.Then you’d really be scared.

Finally, I can’t stand it anymore. I’ve had enough of collecting vague rumors and petty anxieties from slaveholders.

I’m going into the forest. I want to find her.

“In a way, it’s not abandoning my mission,” I tell myself as I walk through the gates of the town. “There’s decent evidence to suggest she may well be connected with some kind of resistance activity, activity that’s been significant enough to draw the attention of the King. It’s important to establish whether she’s acting alone or connected to a more formal resistance. After all, if it’s the latter, my Prince could have quite a military advantage from allying with them.”

The problem is, I already know the answer to that question. Everything about the woman tells me that she works alone and has done so for a very long time. If there is a formal resistance cell in this area, and I’m not convinced of it, she’ll have no connection to it.

Comrades in arms would just be distractions to her. They would get in the way of her dedication to her mission.

But what is that mission? And why am I so curious about it and about her? I don’t have any answer, but I’m not letting that stop me.

I cross the treeline and let the green light of the sun filtered through the leaves welcome me. I walk as silently as I can, my ears focused on all the sounds of the forest, identifying the ones I can and searching for anything that sounds strange or out of place.

There are two ways to track someone. The first is to look for signs of their presence and follow those until you get close to them.

The other is to go somewhere you know they’ll be watching and let them track you. That’s what I’m doing. I don’t flatter myself that she’ll talk to me, not after last time. But I know that if I keep wandering into the forest long enough, she’ll start following me eventually.

I stop moving without warning, freezing with one foot still hanging in the air. Just as I suspect, I hear it. One footstep, somewhere behind me. On the ground or among the trees? There’s no way to be certain.

I consider turning around and darting behind me as quickly as I can. But it would be a dangerous move. I’ve seen just how fast she can disappear into the forest when she wants to. And that’s not even considering the question of whether she knows I heard her yet. For all I know, that one footstep might have been her taking off.

No, I’ll go on. I want to see what she does. Will she take out her bow and shoot me? Or is she curious about me too?

The best I can hope for is a glimpse. I’ll have to lead her somewhere with less cover. Then, maybe I’ll get my chance to see her.

I can just pick out the rushing of water somewhere in the forest. A river is usually difficult to hide near. I’ll lead her that way.

I continue to walk through, and I do my best to follow the sounds of her moving behind me, but it isn’t easy. Every once and a while, I hear a sound that I’m sure is her, but just as often, it will come from a direction I don’t expect at all. She is following me, I’m sure of it. But I can’t make out anything else beyond that.

At one moment, the direction of the breeze changes, and suddenly, I can smell her. I find myself enjoying her smell. Somehow, it carries something of her focus and dedication with it. Almost as soon as it happens, it begins to fade away without any sound of movement I can hear.

So, she even keeps track of her scent. I should have guessed.

Clearly, this is something she must practice. Probably, she follows groups of soldiers through the woods until one or a few of them are separate from the others. She could probably follow a small band of them for days if she wanted to, waiting for an opportunity to strike. Even when they became aware that they were being followed, it wouldn’t help them too much.

She must be considering the possibility of attacking. I don’t think it’s impossible that an arrow or a small fire blast could surprise me enough to hit me under these circumstances. There’s no one else with me. If she wants to kill me, she’ll never have a better chance.

But she doesn’t. That must mean something. It’s a sort of intimacy between us. She has accepted me into her forest, at least for now.

The river is coming into sight. I can feel a physical excitement at the idea of finally getting to see the woman who’s been following me all this way. This is about far more than curiosity, I realize. I have feelings about this woman. Feelings that run deep.

That’s when I become aware of another scent and another sound. I’ve been so focused on her that I haven’t been paying attention to anything else in the forest, and I should have. There’s no mistaking that sharp, musky odor. It’s a worg. And where there’s one worg, there’s a whole pack.

Before I can do anything, one of them is already leaping for me. Its dark fur is interrupted only by its shining green eyes and its deadly sharp fangs. There are at least three others around me. I manage to twist my way out of its path just enough that it doesn’t knock me over. Instead, I end up with a long gash running down my arm.

I draw my sword and step into a fighting stance, even as another worg is running at me. I swing my sword at it before realizing it’s a distraction, and the real attack is coming from behind me. I manage to dodge the brunt of it just in time, but again, I wind up with a nasty slash running across my back.

“I’ll make a coat out of your fur,” I threaten the animals, who just growl in response.

Is she going to help me? No,I realize.She wants to see if I can handle myself in this situation. She wants to know what kind of warrior I am.Well, I’ll show her.

Another worg barks at me, but this time I don’t fall for it. I wait for the attack, turning as the worg leaps off the ground and giving him a long cut all along the side. Without thinking, the other worg runs at me, and I swing my sword straight into its neck, killing it.

Now two of them, the last two I assume, charge at me together. I manage to repel one of them, giving it a wound in its belly for its pleasure, but the other one jumps up onto me and sinks its teeth into my neck. I stab it in the stomach with all the force I have left.