FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Yes its finally here..well..part of it... hence the \'a\' please read www.forestkeep.net to get the bigger picture and explanation! also the archive there now contains the latest \'tweaked\' version - less spelling errors,bad grammar and comprehension! Enjoy!!

Chapter 42a

James and Cill showed up outside the old lair before lunch and tentatively knocked on the disguised entrance. Shalla opened the door and welcomed them both inside with a smile.

\"Thank you for letting us stay here Cill\" she murmured before clasping the silver dragoness in a hug \"Tomako is out trying to find some food for the pantry and I have been ...thinking\"

Cill returned the hug warmly \"Oh? What about?\" she asked, seating herself on her haunches while James leaned quietly against her side.

Shalla gave a sigh \"A number of things, I don\'t know much, but Tomako spoke with the clanmaster and was told some things that made him very angry and determined. I\'ve never seen him so upset before. He came right back home and insisted we had to leave immediately\"

Cill nodded slowly, \"But what about your parents? Won\'t they be angry?\"

She knew about Shalla\'s father and his views about humans and honor.

Shalla looked as if she was about to cry once more but nodded slowly, \"Mother knew we were leaving...she had invited the drake that my father had chosen to be my mate, an elderly male called Lagaligo\"

Cill nodded slowly \"I have heard of him, he is high in the council\"

Shalla sighed, \"I loathed him on sight\", and gave a little shiver at the memory. \"Tomako went to find out what he could about him but when he came back...he was different. It was scary\"

Cill hastened to reassure Shalla as she considered the problems that had driven the young dragoness from her home \"You are safe here, no one need know where you are until you are settled and secure\"

Shalla nodded thankfully and shuffled her feet nervously \"I\'ve also been thinking about Tommy a-and I\'d like to try...what you said\" she stammered to Cill with a sidelong glance at James. \"I think I\'m ready now\"

Cill gave a grin and nodded slowly, \"I\'ll tell James to have a talk with him first\", nuzzling her mate as he leaned into her.

James flushed a little \"Me? But...\" he stopped short as both dragonesses glared at him

\"I mean...I would be...embarrassed.\" he finished lamely under their gimlet stares.

Shalla grinned at him \"That\'s all right...I will be too\"

Cill gave him a prod with a talon \"I want you to make sure he knows how to please her...She needs a supportive mate right now\" came over the shared private band.

James gave in \"Alright...I\'ll do it. And I suppose you\'ll want some oil too hmm?\" he leered at Shalla who squirmed under the gaze and muttered \"Yes\"

\"I\'ll speak to him tonight then and give him the jar so you can organize a nice time together,\" said James grandly. He recalled the small ‘perfume\' vial and the effect it had on Cill and decided it was perhaps a little too premature to present him with that also.

Shalla gave an excited wriggle and hugged James warmly, mumbling a \"Thank you\" before flushing again and letting him go.

Cill gathered James up in her paws once more; strangely, she felt no animosity towards Shalla now that she knew she had designs on snaring her own mate.

\"We have to go and see Marre now, but I\'ll be sure to drop in now and then and if you need anything at all, talk to Jane or Joe at the keep\"

Shalla nodded \"Are you still working on the shape-shift?\" she asked curiously.

Cill showed her the gold ring adorning her talon \"We had a little help... look at this. I can\'t wait to show Marre\"

She swiftly adjusted her size and concentrated on her chosen form before addressing the ring, there was a hint of the fairy song and she was suddenly an attractive human maid snuggling her mate.

Shalla\'s eyes widened in astonishment \"That is amazing...is that fairy magic?\"

Cill nodded \"There is a human female arriving soon – one that knows James\'s parents and we do not wish them to know ...yet...that he has chosen a mate. This is to deter her and allay suspicions she may have\"

Shalla leant in a little closer, she was no expert on human feminine pulchritude but had to admit that it was a fine form \"I was never any good at shifting form,\" she muttered. \"I upset Marre a few times by miscasting it badly\"

Cill nodded sympathetically, she had caught the sharp edge of Marre\'s tongue on more than one occasion – it was hard to forget.

\"It is certainly easier than the way we usually do it\" she admitted twirling slowly so Shalla could see it \"But it has its drawbacks too. It doesn\'t last as long and isn\'t as thorough at concealing. It will do until I can perform the proper glamour on my own though...but for now I\'m going to shock Marre\" she gave a giggle and skipped with James over to the travel portal.

Giving the emerald Dragoness a wave the couple faded out in a misty haze leaving Shalla alone with her heart pounding in anticipation.

Marre was feeling crotchety, his flight and shoulder muscles were sore from sleeping in a draught and he was unsure where his plans were going. He tapped a claw impatiently on the flagstones and eyed the scale in its jar. The damn thing was mocking him, he felt sure of it. Instead of conforming to his plans that blasted human had to get mana instead. It was time to try to bind him more closely to Dragon kind before he realized his full potential and ruined everything.

He flexed his wings and growled at the pain, there was nothing he could do about his advancing age but he could at least brew a decent potion to ease the pain in his joints... better still he could get Moona to do it. What else were apprentices for?

Moona was due to return to his people soon and he would have to rely on the human more in the future. This was another thing that bothered him, knowing another\'s weakness was a dangerous thing when you were unsure of their allegiances.

Growling softly under his breath at the pain, he reached for the ink and brush. It was time to formulate an oath that would ensure the safety of dragon kind as well as allowing James to chart his own course with his mate.

There was a loud thump outside the lair and Shalla ran to the portal, swiftly opening it to see what the noise was. Her gaze ran slowly from the pair of sheep Tomako was clasping in his talons, to the filth-encrusted torso and up to the smirking grin on her brothers muzzle \"I did it!\" he said proudly, waving the sheep at her and showering the nearby vegetation in muck \"All by myself!\"

He ducked as if to enter the lair but found himself looking at the firm-set muzzle of his sister as she carefully held up a paw to stop him \"What?\" he asked innocently.

Shalla delicately removed the sheep from his grasp and then smiled sweetly up at him.

\"If you think you are coming into our nice clean lair like that then you are sorely mistaken!\" her smile rapidly shifting to a scowl \"I just got it all tidy and you are not traipsing filth through it!\" she sounded a lot like their mother, Tomako thought nodding nervously at her.

\"I ... er...was thinking the same thing!\" he said quickly, backing away from the portal \"I\'ll just ... go and wash up ...shall I?\"

Shalla nodded emphatically \"Go wash...now\" she said, pointing imperiously towards the lake in the distance before tugging the two sheep into the lair \"I\'ll deal with these\"

Tomako\'s shoulders slumped as the portal closed and he kicked a bush to bits before slouching down to the lake.

Making her way back to the pack, Katreen the gryphoness was trying to analyze the morning\'s events. Her gaze flicking to the shiny new spear she carried loosely in a paw. That was quite a successful first outing as an ambassador she thought to herself.

The human lord was friendly and open, and - she could not help a twinge of curiosity at the thought, at least as interested in her as she was with him.

She tried to think of what this new alliance would mean, loose as it was, the promise of being able to hunt freely without fear of human attention was a major gain and one that would surely bring luster to her family name.

The pack leader would certainly be grateful for that she thought, before giving the creeling cry to alert the watchers in the camp that she was returning. Several other gryphons flew swiftly down from nearby trees to greet her with glad nuzzles and demands for the news of the dragons and humans as rumors were rampant.

She proudly showed them her new spear, they all admired it with curious trills and careful touches...amazed at the metal tip, and before long they were begging to borrow it sometime. She merely grinned and kept walking towards the centre of the camp where the pack leader Meron Darktail himself was waiting.

Approaching slowly, she swung the spear across her arms and grimaced privately, if he liked the gift he was within his rights to keep it, as she was merely an ambassador.

Bowing low, she proffered the spear humbly towards the large black and tan form of the pack\'s leader.

\"Well met Katreen\" Meron murmured, stepping forward \"How went the meeting?\" he reached out and took the spear from where it was resting across her arm \"I hope this does not mean we are at war with the humans?\"

Katreen grinned tightly, folding her arms as she stood proudly before him.

\"On the contrary, the human lord gave it freely to me as a gift...he was open and honest, the Dragoness was polite and peaceful and it is true that she has chosen a human as her mate\"

There was an excited susurration of murmurs around the pack at this \"So the fairy rumors are true then\" Meron said, shifting into a comfortable position and curling his leonine tail around his forepaws \"Did you get any hints as to their intentions?\"

Katreen nodded \"They do not intend to hunt upon our lands as they will be feeding at the human\'s Keep, there are two new young Dragons though who may be allowed to hunt within a specified area as they are there on her sufferance\"

Meron grinned \"Excellent, and what of this interesting Human and his wonderful gift?\" he cocked his head and returned the spear to her over his arm, hiding a grin as Katreen eagerly grasped it, taking a deep breath before continuing.

\"He apologized for any harm that he or any humans from the keep may have done to us and has stated that he will inform any humans within the keep and its environs that we are not to be molested or harmed!\" she said triumphantly. \"And – he wants to hunt with me at some time in the future\"

Meron sat back on his haunches with a stunned look on his face \"You believe him?\" he asked carefully, watching her reactions.

Katreen nodded firmly \"At no time could I detect duplicity within him, I think he was just coming to realize many things he has heard about us or dragons is not true. He even let me walk freely around his own lair and share drink with him.\"

There was an agreeable murmur at this from the surrounding crowd, hospitality being very important among gryphons.

Meron grinned and nodded \"This is an important day then. Do you wish to remain as ambassador to the Humans and Dragoness then?\" he asked with a smile turning up the corners of his beak.

Katreen nodded \"I think it would be best, as they know me already\" she felt a strange leap in her chest as she thought of visiting the interesting human once more.

Meron chuckled and offered her a paw \"Very good sister...just as long as you know what you are getting into ...\" he murmured as he led her into the den.

Katreen gave an amused trill and licked her brother on the beak \"I think I\'m going to have a very good time\" she stated and followed him into their home.

Tomako looked morosely at the filthy water, he had managed to clean off the mud and the scratches weren\'t really that serious, but he wondered how long it would take for the water to run clear again. It really was a nice lake and he felt as if he had somehow despoiled it.

Giving a sigh, he lay back in the water and looked round. Overall, he thought it could have been worse, their father did not know where they were, and they had a home and food. He wondered how his mother was coping and hoped that she was all right. There had been no attempts at communication and he knew that he and Shalla would have to lay low for some time. Perhaps until he was full grown and had armor enough to deal with his father. He clenched a paw and squeezed a large chunk of mud free of water as a surge of anger rushed through him recalling Nokala\'s words following their fight ‘He fears many things, Why not his own son?\'

Tomako nodded to himself as he slithered out of the lake - and he has much more to fear now, he thought, shaking himself dry and heading slowly back towards his new home.

James and Cill arrived upon the travel ring in Marre\'s home and looked around but the old blue was nowhere in sight. Wondering if they had appeared too early, they looked at one another bemusedly until they heard a pained low growl from the workshop.

Making their way towards the noise Cill skipped ahead of her mate and peered round the corner so as not to alarm the elder if he was in trouble. Pulling back with a smile, she motioned to James to be quiet and he joined her silently.

Moona was perched between Marre\'s shoulder blades, the elf shaking his head as he shifted from side to side in his stockinged feet over the recumbent dragon.

\"Here?\" he asked and dug his toes in firmly. There was an answering growl from beneath as Marre grunted and twitched in pain, his wings flexing as they jerked in their spread position.

\"NO!\" came the response.

Moona sighed \"The potion works best with massage\" he explained patiently and bobbed up and down a little more, spreading his feet apart further this time.

\"So...uhn...you say,\" grunted Marre, unaware of the pair around the corner who were trying not to laugh at the sight. \"Who taught you this anyway?\"

Moona grinned down at him \"My Grandmother, she is a lot lighter than me though\" he used his toes to work at a troublesome knot, making the Dragon grind his teeth together noisily.

\"If you don\'t stop groaning I\'ll push harder\" he admonished and kept working the knot until it started to dissolve under his efforts. Marre felt the tension leave the muscle, replaced by a dull ache that soon faded under the movement. He gave a relieved sigh until the elf found another knot and began working that as well.

\"You are full of knots,\" said Moona \"You really should try to relax more\" He heard a muffled giggle behind him and half-turned to peer at James and Cill – or rather at the pair of humans, as Cill had not yet cancelled her glamour. He raised an eyebrow but grinned as he kept treadling at the Dragon\'s muscles.

\"Too many things to do to relax\" grumbled Marre, feeling pleasant heat spread between his wings \"Blasted oaths to write and the Clan master breathing down my neck all the time\"

Moona nodded to himself as his toes dug firmly into the scaled hide \"You know I have to return home soon...\" he began, only to be interrupted by the tetchy Dragon \"I know... I shall miss having you around but I feel you are ready to take your place as a prince properly now\"

James and Cill exchanged glances at this.

\"You have progressed admirably since your arrival and earlier difficulties\" Marre continued, \"Which is a great relief...uhn...\" he grunted as the probing toes found another knot. \"Though you still have a touch of mischief within you\" he managed to chuckle.

Moona kept up the massage for several more minutes until the old dragon was more relaxed and less grouchy, \"Ahhh, thank you Moona\" he murmured, \"I had my doubts but it seems you were right about this\" he flexed his spread wings slowly.

\"I feel much better now – James and Cill will be along soon though and this is an undignified position to be seen in\" he shuffled his forepaws slowly as the elf clambered down off his shoulders.

\"It\'s not that bad Master,\" said James from the door, his head sticking round and smiling at the suddenly scowling Dragon. \"But you should watch the tongue...leaving it lolling out like that could be painful if you bit it\"

Marre growled and cranked himself up onto his feet, turning rapidly to face the human \"Are you being cheeky famulus?\" he growled, a hint of smoke trailing from a nostril

James struggled to keep the smile from growing, trying to draw his face into a serious pose \"No Master. Not at all Master\" he said deadpan.

Cill turned the corner, hoping to forestall any action by impressing the master with the glamour.

Marre blinked as he looked Cill up and down \"So\" he grumbled, \"It seems you have found a solution for your glamour\" he said, impressed despite his displeasure at being caught looking undignified..

Cill twirled prettily in front of him \"The fairies were able to help a lot Master,\" she said, snuggling against James before pulling away and canceling the glamour.

Marre nodded \"I take it the spell is linked to your ring?\" he said, leaning down and sniffing at the circlet \"May I see it?\"

Cill nodded and removed the gold band from her talon, handing it to her teacher \"I don\'t know how it works but I just think the form and ask the ring\"

Marre grinned broadly and slipped the ring onto his own talon \"What is the activator?\" he asked, innocence dripping from his tone..

Cill told him.

Marre nodded and a second later managed to turn himself into a giant sheepdog, then into a huge horse and after a little size adjustment...into a small unkempt sheep. \"This is fun\" he exclaimed, sounding like a hatchling with a new toy before shifting into his elderly human form \"There is hardly any mana drain at all!\"

Cill seemed a little taken aback, she had not realized the power of the ring could be used for forms other than human, and she itched to try it herself.

\"It will certainly be useful Master,\" she said \"but it is limited to two days and is not as accomplished as Dragon shifting\"

Marre nodded, readily agreeing as he slipped back to his normal size and shape before regretfully returning the ring to Cill.

\"I am sure you will use it wisely\" he said before turning to look at James once more \"and have you tried it yet?\"

James flushed and shook his head \"No Master, I didn\'t know I could\" he replied, privately deciding he wasn\'t going to even think about it – he didn\'t need more problems.

Marre humphed \"Just as well, no telling what havoc you\'d cause with it\" he shuffled around to his table and fussed with a few things on it. He seemed almost embarrassed for a moment as he considered his next words.

\"There is something important I have been meaning to talk to you about. The mana demands it from us and it is perhaps the hardest thing to understand or fathom\" He glanced at Cill then flicked his gaze back to James

\"As you are aware, wyrmtongue gives you power over the mana within you, but at a cost. Words spoken in haste or anger can rebound upon the speaker. This seems to be an inbuilt protection against abuse, though it can be overcome\"

He turned to his library and tugged out a scroll, unrolling it slowly \"Trust forms an integral part of the demands of the power. If you speak falsely or utter an oath then those words have power over you and your future\"

James blinked uncomprehendingly \"I don\'t understand master. I have had to deceive others to hide Cill before\"

Marre nodded \"The power seems to understand the intent of your words – that is what makes it so difficult. The simplest oath can bind you to actions or situations that you do not wish to be in and be difficult to extricate yourself from\"

Cill shifted beside James \"When a dragon makes an oath,\" she added \"we have to abide by it, breaking it can cause – problems\" she let the last word hang for a moment.

Marre chuckled \"That is putting it lightly; depending on the strength of the oath it is possible to cause ones death should it be broken\"

Spinning the scroll round so James could see it properly it showed the similar simplistic view he had come to expect for the elementary education of young dragons.

There was the typical picture of a young dragon with a speech balloon, though James could not yet read the words it was obvious from the expression on the dragons face it was being deceptive when speaking to another.

Marre rolled up a little further \"Breaking a minor oath can cause unbearable pain when the dragon next attempts to use his mana\" The picture next showed the dragon curled up in agony on the ground with his forearms wrapped around his torso and his muzzle a picture of agony.

James went a little pale as he looked up at Marre \"So I shouldn\'t make any oaths unless I really mean them?\"

Marre nodded firmly \"Most definitely, else they can rebound and bite you on the ...er... tail\" his gaze twitching to James\'s tail-less rump.

Cill hid a smile and shifted quietly beside her mate.

\"That is why visitors to another dragon\'s territory must declare an oath of peace before being allowed to enter through a portal\" she said quietly \"It is the only way to ensure safe passage as to attempt to inflict harm upon a person who has granted you hospitality would lead to catastrophe\"

James remembered how Tomako and Shalla had looked that morning following Cill\'s claiming of the Keep and forests and how they had spoken before leaving the portal.

\"I think I see – It keeps dragons honest\" he murmured \"and humans too?\" the question hung in the air as he looked up at the ancient.

\"We believe so\" Marre murmured \"But we need to test it. The problem is - how small an oath breaking would be safe for a little human to try. If we misjudge it, you could end up dying the next time you try to call upon your powers\"

James went a little paler \"I see – If I swore an oath and then tried to break it, the rebound could hurt me far more than a dragon?\"

Marre nodded somberly \"I believe so, therefore I am going to ask you to read an oath I have prepared for you – the Clanmaster wishes this and as a loyal member of the clan I am sure you would not go against his wishes?\"

James grimaced - read the words and risk death next time he tried to use the power or defy the powerful leader of the clan he had just joined? Either path led to unpleasantness.

\"What is in the oath?\" he asked after long deliberation.

Marre let out a silent sigh of relief \"Merely that you state you wish no harm to dragon kind and that you will not use your power unwisely\"

James looked at Cill \"What do you think love?\" he asked her, though he trusted the old blue, he was less certain of Osedax\'s motives.

Cill was looking a little upset herself \"Show me the oath,\" she demanded, holding her paw out for the scroll Marre had picked up.

Marre wisely surrendered the scroll to her and Cill looked it over slowly, testing the wording in her head before nodding in agreement to James \"It is as he said – It is very broadly worded though\"

James nodded and took the scroll from her \"Very well\" he said to Marre \"I\'ll read it Master\" trusting to the ancient teacher who looked relieved at his acceptance.

\"Thank you James\"

Unrolling the scroll fully James looked at the first rune and shaped it with his lips, he was halfway across the first line when something odd happened. The runes seemed to shift under his eyes, twisting and squirming into unrecognizable shapes until his eyes began to water from the effort. He struggled to continue but eventually he had to lift his eyes from the scroll and take a deep breath.

\"What\'s the matter?\" asked Marre, looking genuinely concerned as James rubbed his eyes.

\"I couldn\'t focus on the words Master\" James replied, \"It was as if they were moving\"

Marre blinked slowly \"The only reason I can think of that happening is that you have already made an oath similar to this one and the power will not allow that\"

He tapped an irritated claw on the flagstones \"Have you sworn any such oath?\" he demanded, looking suspiciously down at the youth.

James started to shake his head and then halted as recent memory intruded.

\"I – may have,\" he stammered, \"I went to see Father Champlain about getting married in the chapel and I had to swear to him that I wasn\'t a demon and I told him...\" he struggled to remember the wording. \"... I shall use my power for good only and renounce Satan and his agents. I so swear I am no Demon and the union of dragons and humans shall be to the benefit of all\"

Marre blinked again \"You included humans...and that you would use your power for good\" He considered the possible repercussions this would have on his plans and the Clanmaster\'s desires and hastily retrieved the scroll from his apprentices grasp. He felt a little embarrassed that he not actually considered the role of humans in his version of the oath.

\"I believe that would suffice as a suitable oath for the Clanmaster to accept though I hope you do not come to regret it in the future\"

James agreed wholeheartedly \"I did mean it though Master. I just want to live peacefully with Cill and not hurt anyone, either human or dragon\"

Marre shook his head sadly \"let us hope it does not come to that then\" the old dragon murmured as he replaced the scroll in his library. \"Dragons that harm humans tend to be shunned and become outcast as they threaten the rest of us through their actions.\"

\"Whereas any human who kills a dragon is regarded a hero by other humans?\" James asked quietly.

Marre gave a quiet grunt of assent \"That was a result of ignorance, deliberate ignorance on our part. As I said previously only a few humans actually ever made the effort to communicate with us and of course their fellows took it as a sign of madness and either locked them away or killed them on the spot\"

James suppressed a shiver as he recalled his run-in with the ecclesiastical authorities as represented by Father Champlain and realized just how correct Marre was.

Marre hastily wrote James\'s oath down for the Clanmaster and hoped it would suffice. The testing of the humans\' oath would be a serious trial for the future he thought as he tucked the scroll away.

\"Now then ...\" he said, cheering up \"Why don\'t you show me how far you have progressed with your casting?\"

Tomako felt better as he entered his...their new lair and looked around, his freshly cleaned and gutted sheep were neatly hanging in the pantry and Shalla was looking surprisingly perky considering her recent upsets. He began to suspect there was something he had missed and wondered what it was as his sister bustled round the lair, tweaking the bed and hanging up a set of fireglobes that he had not known they had possessed until now.

He forbore from asking where they had come from as there could only be one source of such largesse and he realized they owed Cill another favor.

Shalla came up and hugged her brother warmly – now that he was clean.

\"Cill and James came past to make sure everything was alright,\" she murmured, plucking a piece of duckweed off his back absently.

Tomako grinned, \"I am grateful to them both, we shall have to find a way to repay them someday\"

Shalla pulled back a little and nodded her agreement, \"I am expecting ...a visitor later on..\" she murmured shyly, unable to prevent her ruffs heating up with embarrassment.

Tomako couldn\'t help a smirk from appearing on his muzzle \"And you would like to be alone mmm?\"

Shalla nodded meekly \"just for a few hours...\"

Tomako chuckled and nodded agreeably \"I\'ll go to the keep and work on my smithing then, so long as Master Desmond isn\'t too upset at me for not showing up today\"

He stepped out of the lair and stretched his wings luxuriously, flapping them slowly before heading up into the sky and turning for the keep.

After flying down into the forest near the keep, he shrugged into his human form and headed into the keep nodding cheerfully at the gate guards as he did so.

Mastersmith Desmond frowned briefly at Tomako as he wandered into the forge.

\"So lad, everything alright? The lord said there was a problem and that you might be late\" He sounded genuinely concerned and Tomako hastened to reassure him.

\"Its all under control Sir, at least for now. My sister and I will be living closer than before so it will be easier for me to come here now\"

Tomako sighted briefly beneath the forge and blew a powerful igniting breath through the draw area.

Desmond nodded and placed a set of irons in the now-blazing forge \"That\'s good to hear son\" he said, patting the young dragon on the back \"If there\'s anything I can do – let me know and I\'ll gladly assist\"

Tomako smiled and picked up the shield rough he had been working on. \"Thank you sir\" he grunted as he placed it in the fire.

The walls of the lair shook as the roars of rage echoed around them. Divitchka raked savagely at the gem-encrusted side of the main room once more, showering the cowering figure of his mate with small stones and rock, fresh wounds showing on her neck where he had clawed her in a fit of anger.

\"Where are they!\" he bellowed at her once more, infuriated that his probing could not reveal more than the fact that they had left to visit the traders.

Neither of his offspring were responding to his mental calls and he knew why. What had possessed his mate, he growled deep in his throat as he glared down at her, to do such a thing as invite the potential mate they had so carefully selected into the lair?

Nakkour whimpered as she coiled her mind tightly around the tiny nugget of information that she was keeping from her mate. The anger rising in her allowing her to remain focused and she found with horror that she was eyeing his throat herself even as she lay on the ground. She was starting to realize just how sensible her son was in leaving as quickly and quietly as he had and wondered who had put him up to such a thing.

Divitchka snarled a curse and strode to the portal where he shimmered briefly and vanished.

Nakkour permitted herself a small grunt of triumph before clambering back onto her feet and heading to her own room in the lair. It was time to do something she had wanted to do for a very long time now.

To be continued...