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Town of Sopulch, Rroan

What a lot of hypocrites, she thought. She shook her head to herself as another pair of furred creatures approached her, probably seeking a drink in the tavern to her left. The duo of coyotes walked past her, granting her a nod in greeting, before heading in. The lizard stared coldly at the two, her amber gaze only wavering the slightest bit, refusing to return their gesture. Addled, the two continued past her to the entrance. She resumed her musings, her scaly tail flicking back and forth in annoyance. You will all remain ignorant and content in this little cluster of houses and roads, she accused. Only power can truly control the will of the sands that surrounds us. Build walls, close doors, but the desert is a harsh mistress.

To Tahlis Zzradi, the only way to live was on the move, always in search for power. It was for that reason that she was here, in Sopulch, among those that preferred a sedentary life. The lizard hid her disdain for such people beneath a facade of disinterest, which was, in all honesty, easy to fake. None could mistake the iron-clawed grip she held in her limber posture, however. Only one thing held the lizard here, in this drab squalor, halfway though the cruel desert: the promise of that very faint, esoteric thing which she and her associates searched for, had always searched for. "And I will find you ..." she said aloud, to naught but the dry air ahead of her.

Tahlis spent the next hour of the evening among the patrons in the tavern, consisting of the high-browed bartender and waiter, an inebriated spiny lizard, and two groups of coyotes, one of which she encountered earlier. She spent her time listening in on conversations that might pique her interest. There was a specific topic she wished to catch and, with all the time these ones spent conversing, she had high hopes the topic would reveal itself. It would be a fool's choice for the lizard to openly ask about such a thing, despite it starting in the fallibilities of rumor and superstition. Above that was the antipathy she held toward these foreigners, perhaps even a hint of anxiety present in her decision to remain an observer. Conversations were dangerous, for it was her experience that getting to know anyone was a path toward pain and eventual loss.

It had been nearly four weeks ago when she had first heard of a supposed 'grave robber' running around and looting grave sites. However this grave robber took not jewels nor heirlooms or other belongings, but the bodies themselves. Few even claimed the sight of scratch marks on the insides of the caskets, the wood or stone ravaged, as if the deceased decided to get up and start living again. Though this frightened the people living in towns nearby, the thought itself left Tahlis unphased, as it should. Her people buried their dead, surely, but they moved across the desert, as was their way since the once-fertile soil turned to sand, a time lost to myth. Among her people, there were technically no marked graves to return to. Still, the notion of the dead coming to life without aid was the thought that originally sparked Tahlis' interest in the rumor. Surely, if someone could bring the dead back to life, it left much to question as to the method. The implications of which, Tahlis could well guess at.

Despite the prevalence of the rumor, Tahlis had been vexed by a a decreasing amount of information regarding where these macabre cadaver runs actually happened. This town of Sopulch was the third city she had arrived at, traveling west across the vast desert in the shadow of the mountains, nothing to accompany her except the biting sand and the howling wind. Despite her aversion towards staying in one place, the towns she passed through provided her only real desire: further information about her mystery grave thief. The past eight days had been fruitless, however. Certainly, she heard rumors, but almost none of which pertained to her interest. Of the few tangible ones she chanced upon, they were all of the ilk she had heard many times over these past few weeks. As far as anyone cared to say, there was a nameless sicko hitting all the towns along the southern border of the desert with the imperceptible ability to command corpses.

The evening was nearly uneventful for Tahlis up to a point. The only exception was when the drunken lizard from earlier tried making a conversation which he would later regret. Granted, finding a lizard that could tolerate cities for more than a few days was notable, but of all the lizards in the desert, he had to chose the one who believed she had little companionship to give.

She watched as he downed the rest of his spirits and ordered two ales from the bartender. At least his ability to form sentences was commendable. With the two in claw he headed over to her table and with a quick grin, sat down opposite her. He seemed to admire her copper scales, the dark band below her neck, and lastly her banded tail. Tahlis just stared at him with that same air of disinterest, as if to say, 'Well?'.

Sliding an ale across the table to her, he said, "Saw you in here yesterday. In town for long?"

Before answering, she regarded his scales, which were grey with a ruddy band at the neck, which ended under the loose vest he wore. She admonished herself, old habits died hard. Besides, his breath was unbearable. Curtly she said, "No. In fact, I was just getting ready to leave." She pushed her seat back and rose.

The lizard blanched slightly at her tone and quickly tried to reestablish conversation. "Uh, wait! Are -are you Rock Clan, by chance?" She scoffed and continued walking toward the entrance. He took a last look at his ale, gulped half of it down, then stumbled after her.

Tahlis walked out onto the street, and turned a corner, intent on losing him. This was the reason she didn't make conversation. It drew attention to her, and attention was a bad thing for her to have. Nothing short of listening through walls could have saved her from this, from having to even enter those spirit-filled sags. Bitterly she almost renounced her current powers, practical and incisive though they may be. Not that she couldn't defer the lizard, no, that would take a flick of the wrist.

Content that she lost the amorous reptile, she caught her breath and looked around. Her gaze drew to the sky, ghostly sable at this time of night. She let out an exasperated sigh, the buildings on either side of the alley blocked her view. What a careless thing to do, she thought idly.

The sounds of footsteps broke her train of thought. She cursed softly, the lizard from the bar had found her. She made out a reptilian figure approaching her in the alleyway. Short of breath, he stated, "Ah, found ya. Sorry if I uh, seemed too forward. I-"

Feeling more troubled by the second, Tahlis interjected. "Can't you take a hint, I said I wasn't interested." The lizard took a moment to let her sentence sink in. She was vaguely aware of her hand clenching, her annoyance giving way to burning anger.

"Wait, no you didn't! You said you were _leaving._I remember. C'mon, you didn't even take the drink I got-" before he could finish, Tahlis clenched him by his vest. To his horror, the part of the vest she had hold of began to singe, as if on fire. A hollow gasp escaped his lips, if not for his burning vest than for the intense look in the girl's eyes. A hiss formed on her lips as her claw reached for his neck, and upon making contact, a piercing pain soared through his chest. It was like being stabbed by needles, the pain sharp and acute, yet never stopping for him to breathe.

Mercifully, Tahlis let go of him and stepped back against the opposite wall, as if she, too was struck by the pain. He slid to the ground, grasping his chest with his claws, eager to put anything between himself and she. Again, she stared hard at him, the tint in her eyes a harsh contrast to their normal color. "Leave, before I lose my temper again!" At that he desperately shuffled away from her, not quite able to stand yet. "If I see you again before I leave town, you'll wish your vest isn't all I burnt off!"

Faultily, he got to his feet, backing away. "That w -was ... you use ma- .... ma ...." he coughed, unable to say anything else. She told him to leave again, louder this time. Finally he got over the shock and bolted in the opposite direction.

Once he was out of sight, Tahlis slumped to the ground. The tint in her eyes changed back as she willed the pain in her arm to extinguish. She reprimanded herself, not for the first time. Localizing the pain to her target was one thing, but keeping that power outside herself was a task not yet mastered. The fire that appeared briefly was simply a manifestation of her anger. Always a slippery bastard isn't it, she commented to herself. It's too bad, she added bitterly, he probably would have been my type.

After resting for a brief minute, the lizard got up and moved back out onto the street. Now that she had used her power, it would be wise to leave town, lest that lizard tell everyone they have a magician in their midst. Again the night grew quiet, until she stalked past the tavern she hurried from minutes ago. Quite suddenly, she was aware of footsteps running in her direction. Instinctively, she backed against the wall of the building across from the tavern.

At first she thought it was that overly affectionate lizard again, but quickly made note of the telltale fur and ears on the person's body. It was a coyote, young she guessed, judging by his size. As he ran down the street he paid her no heed. Abruptly, he turned and sprinted into the tavern. Tahlis' curiosity won over her caution and she went over to see what the commotion was about. As she entered the room once again, she saw that the young coyote had the immediate attention of the bartender.

"Kellr, Kellr!" the young coyote wailed.

"Hey, hey! Calm down, little Gribb. I told you not to bother me when I'm at work," the bartender scolded. He then realized the rambling of his son drew attention from the whole room and added to the patrons, "Back to your booze, all of ya. Family business." This seemed enough reason for the patrons, save Tahlis, to return to their respective drinks and conversations. She quickly found the ale the lizard had left for her, and, taking it without guilt, sat down near the back of the room where the two coyotes had resumed their argument.

"Aw, Gribbster, you better have a good reason for barging in here like that. Daddy's work can be a little dangerous, you know. Now, tell me what's wrong, boy."

By now, the young coyote was tearing up, obviously shaken by something. "Hann was making fun of me again, 'cause of mom, you know? So I went to go see her-"

The bartender growled slightly, "That's enough out of that Hann boy. I bet if his mom left him, he'd ... I'll set him straight, don't you - wait, you went to go see Onysa?"

The two continued their talk, as Tahlis got up to leave, draining the ale before standing. She didn't want to stay around town to hear the locals' family matters. Considering the incident earlier, with the lizard, she thought it best to leave town as soon as possible. Before she left the table though, she jumped at the sound of something crashing. She turned around to see the bartender had bolted upright, the chair thrown forcefully against the wall. "What!?" he yelled. "You visited her grave and ..."

The young coyote had his paws over his muzzle now, bawling. "It's true, I'm sorry. It was empty when I got there, I swear. They took mom!"

Suddenly, the world stopped for Tahlis, realization flooding over her. Her mystery robber finally revealed himself. Now, she could see her long search pay off. If this robber was actually what she believed him to be, the implications were astounding. And what luck!, she exclaimed to herself, he's in town!