After Kira recovered, she and Fenrir headed to the bath to clean themselves up, then the great wolf sought out Nelith. He found her in the library tower, which had half colpsed at one point. She had recruited Yumiko and Koreen to help her salvage what books they could, and surprisingly, Safara was also assisting. While the succubi's interactions with her were noticeably cooler than with each other, everyone was being surprisingly civil so far as he could tell.

  Stepping from the shadows near the door where he had briefly paused to observe them, he got the attention of Nelith, who was pulling books from under a colpsed bookcase. "Hey, Chief! We found this library, and we've been trying to save what books we can. The elf says there are some really old and rare tomes here."

  "I'm gd to see you're pying nice with her. Well done with the books as well; information is the most powerful weapon, so saving whatever you can here can only be a good thing." Fenrir gestured back towards the door. "Would you join me outside for a moment?"

  "Uh, sure." Leaving her task, Nelith walked with Fenrir down the hall outside the tower to a point where one wall had partially colpsed, giving them a good view of the forest and mountains, as well as a section of the road. "What's this about?"

  "Well," Fenrir said, "I mentioned I wanted to take several of you with me when I go to investigate Mavenia. The problem is that I don't know you well enough to be certain of who would be best suited for the job, so I wanted to get your input."

  "Good point." Nelith was silent for a moment. "When you say investigate, what exactly do you mean? That is, how do you pn to go about it?"

  "Good question. Let me start by asking this: do you think I could escape undue attention by simply wearing a cloak, or would I still stand out too much in any given Mavenian town or city?"

  "Maybe you could get away with it in the capital, but first you'd have to get inside the city. As for smaller towns, you'd stand out quite a bit just on account of your size, even if no one could see any of your features. The capital gets people of all sorts, so people there are more used to oddities."

  "Hmm. Are there any peoples among the Light-races who are covered in fur?"

  "No, all the beastfolk are considered Dark-races, even though most of them are nearly as civilized as most Light-races. A couple of the oldest races are allowed into the cities, but they're discriminated against pretty heavily, so not many try. Usually they keep to themselves. And anyway, your average beastfolk doesn't have that much fur, only on their arms and legs at most. Not like you." Nelith shrugged. "They also have more humanoid faces."

  "Damn. I had hoped I'd be able to move semi-freely, but I guess that was a bit much to ask. I'll have to devise some manner of complete disguise or restrict myself to undetectable reconnaissance. With that in mind, who would you recommend to come with me?"

  Nelith scratched her cheek thoughtfully, looking out at the trees as she considered his question. "The elf would probably be really useful, if you can guarantee she won't betray you. Kira would be good too, she's got a level head on her shoulders and knows how to handle herself in a fight better than most of the girls. If you can find some way of effectively disguising yourselves, I'd recommend Lilli, but I don't know if she'd want to leave Vi for that long. She'd be more comfortable around human nobility than any of the rest of us, though. Yumiko's a pretty good choice too; she's not as good as Lilli, but she's decent at cooking and can heal a little bit if you get into a scrape, but I guess if you take the elf she could handle any healing you might need."

  "I notice you failed to mention yourself," Fenrir commented. "Would there happen to be a reason for that?"

  Nelith's eyes widened. "Oh! I just assumed you'd want the girls with human skin tones for this. I mean, I like the way I look, but I don't exactly blend into a crowd. But if you can find a way to make sure I don't stand out, I wouldn't be a bad choice. I probably know the most about general human society of any of us."

  Fenrir grinned. "I like the way you look too. But what about the rest of the girls?"

  "Oh, really?" Nelith smirked back at him. "But as for the others, well, Aimi is too concerned with getting boned, Koreen could work, but she's got a serious knack for getting into trouble, and Chellise is, well, kinda young. I won't tell you not to take her, but I don't recommend her either, and Vi is... just no." Her voice hardened as she said the st two words.

  "Well, Violetta never did strike me as a master infiltrator. But thank you, you've given me all the information I need." Fenrir turned to leave.

  "Wait, who did you decide on?" Nelith asked curiously.

  Fenrir turned back to her. "If Safara comes around in time, I'll take her, Kira, and depending on if we can find some way of disguising ourselves, either you or Lilli. If I can't find a reliable way to hide in pin sight, I'll have to do my reconnaissance from the shadows or through Safara. I don't think she's very well versed in human politics, though. Oh, come to think of it, I still need some way to throw the Vigil of Marstolle off our scent. Entire ptoons don't just vanish overnight, and once they fail to report in, someone's going to come looking." His voice trailed off into a low rumble as he said almost to himself, "I wonder if I could use the yeti as a red herring, or maybe that ancient forest... hmm."

  Shaking himself from his momentary reverie, he looked down at Nelith, who was looking back at him in confusion. "What's a 'red hearing'?"

  "Red 'herring'. A decoy, basically. If we trash the wagon on the road, then scatter some of their armor and clothing on the path to the yetis' den, they may believe the ptoon was decimated by the yeti and any survivors died in the mountains. As a pn, it's got too many holes to satisfy me, though."

  "Like the tracks that lead right to this castle, right?"

  "Among others, yes. This would be easier if I knew more about the Vigil. The bishop this commander reported to may not want to waste any more resources on this, or they may be willing to throw as much at it as it takes. Knowing their temperament would be invaluable in devising a pn to preserve our cover. Hell, I don't even know if they're a man or a woman."

  "Well, that is why you're going, right? To learn about the powers that be or whatever."

  Fenrir nodded. "Yes, you're right. I'm just getting impatient, I suppose. I- wait, what is that?" Activating God's Eye, he confirmed his suspicions. A war party of oni were climbing along the road and had clearly seen the soldiers' tracks, as well as the trail of blood he himself had left the night before. On the shoulders of eight huge bulls the two yeti corpses he had killed were being carried, and all in the party were on high alert.

  Nelith cursed softly beside him, eyes fixed on the oni. "That's a raiding party, and there's no way in hell they won't notice we're here."

  Fenrir watched their progress closely for several seconds. "In about ten minutes they'll be at the castle. Nelith, we need to gather everyone together. Maybe I can convince them to leave us be." Without waiting for a response he tore off down the hall, half-formed ideas of how to deal with the oni flitting through his mind.

  He found most of the succubi in the kitchens, chatting lightheartedly as they prepared for lunch. "Listen up. There's a war party of oni approaching. They'll be here inside of ten minutes." In the sudden stillness which followed this announcement he scanned the faces turned towards him, noticing one in particur that was missing. "Where's Chellise?"

  "She's still exploring the castle so far as I know," Lilli spoke from her pce beside the fire. Her face was white and tense. "Oni aren't known for being kind to strangers. What should we do?"

  "I'm going to see if I can't persuade them to leave us be, one way or another. You're going to watch from within the castle. If I fail, you are to leave by the north door and conceal yourselves in the woods, so they don't catch wind of you."

  "To hell with that!" interrupted Kira angrily. "If you're going to fight, then so am I!" Next to her, Aimi nodded in agreement, looking mutinous.

  "If it comes to a fight then there is no sense in everyone dying. Alone, I am fast enough to disengage if need be. Insofar as I am aware, they cannot know that there is more than one person still alive in this castle, thus, you will stay hidden. If I cannot convince them to leave peacefully, I will at least still be able to serve as a decoy. It is pusible that I alone could have killed the yeti which they have found, so they are unlikely to ever discover your existence if you stay hidden."

  "That would be a good pn if oni didn't have a keen sense of smell," said Nelith, coming into the kitchen with the library crew in tow. "They'll know there are succubi here by the time they reach the courtyard. Elves are less obvious, but I wouldn't be too surprised if they pick up her scent as well."

  Fenrir turned to face her. "Do you know much about oni?"

  "Not a lot, but I can tell you what I know," the dark-haired succubus shrugged.

  "Good, but keep it short, we're running out of time. Yumiko, Chellise was exploring the castle. See if you can find her."

  Yumiko nodded, and with a "Yes, Master" she slipped from the room.

  "I'll help," Koreen offered, and hurried after her.

  Behind them, Nelith quickly reted every detail about oni she thought could be relevant, Lilli chiming in whenever she had pertinent information. Fenrir listened intently, a pn forming in his mind as they spoke.

  Katari scowled up at the old castle as they approached, trying to identify any signs of life. The giant wolf-like tracks they had found around the bodies of the yeti led along the road in the same direction as the group of human soldiers they had been tracking. Vashedin thought the prints were those of a great mountain-wolf, but she disagreed. A mountain-wolf would have no reason to attack two yeti in their prime, and besides, the tracks were those of only two feet. Who ever heard of a wolf walking on only two legs? And for that matter, the scent of the thing was not like a wolf, really. It was like nothing she had ever smelled before, and if her woodcraft was not in error, it had killed two yeti alone. Not even the rashest bull would attempt such a thing, and from the amount of blood which sprinkled the trail she had expected to come upon its corpse long before now. But the tracks still continued, deep and sure.

  Beside her Vashedin snorted disdainfully. "You have too much concern for the wolf. It has limped back to its den to die of its wounds. It is the humans you should be thinking of. The soldiers of the low-nds will furnish good sport and better loot."

  Katari sighed, but said nothing. The young bull had made no secret of his dissatisfaction with her leadership, but she had no choice but to put up with it for now. Intra-cn duels had to be approved by the Cn-Chief, and he had been careful not to go far enough to give her a good reason to punish him for insubordination. She tucked a lock of white hair behind one pointed ear and took a fresh grip on her patience. What he really wanted, she knew, was to goad her into a reaction unbefitting of a raid-chief, which she was determined not to give.

  Before the rebellious bull could say anything more, they reached the path which snaked down from the castle's gates. Both the wolf-thing and the soldiers had gone that way, and as they climbed the slope parallel to the walls Katari noticed the piles of ash spaced beside the path. Stepping off the path, she examined one. In the ash bones were still visible. Taking a stick, she stirred the gray powder, exposing a human skull. It broke apart as she poked at it, but she had seen enough to confirm her suspicions. Bodies had been burned here, only yesterday judging from the heat of the cinders.

  Behind her Vashedin shifted impatiently. "Are you finished pying in the dirt, esteemed leader?"

  As she turned she caught two other bulls sharing a gnce. All but Vashedin had submitted to her leadership with good grace, but his constant derision was slowly eroding the morale of the entire group. A raiding party needed to be unified and disciplined, and to have one of their number constantly doubting their leader was doing them no favors. Suppressing a growl, she said curtly, "Mind your pce, Unproven. This 'dirt' is the ash of human bodies. Most likely those we are hunting were attacked by the wolf-thing and chose this method of disposing of their dead."

  At the reminder of his status Vashedin bared his teeth in a snarl, his hand going to the hilt of his sword. Katari heard murmurings of surprise and amusement from the war-party and the general mood shifted towards anticipation as the oni waited to see whether the presumptuous young bull would draw steel against his raid-chief. Katari herself stepped past him disdainfully to retake her pce at the head of the column, trying to goad him into attacking. To her disappointment however, he quickly got a grip on his anger and rexed his stance, following quietly if sullenly in her wake.

  As they stepped through the arch into the courtyard she immediately detected a new smell. It was unfamiliar to her, but an older oness recognized it as the scent of succubi. More interesting to her was the camp set up in the courtyard, and her heartbeat quickened slightly when she caught sight of a great bck shape standing like a statue at the far end of the enclosure. A quick gnce around showed no other sign of the humans.

  As was customary the oni fanned out at sight of a potential enemy, the bulls carrying the yeti setting their loads upon the ground before they joined the rest in drawing weapons. Seeing their preparations, the strange creature advanced to meet them at a leisurely pace. His size was what struck her first. He was easily taller than the rgest of the bulls of her cn, covered in silvery bck fur. Looking more closely at his face, she was surprised to see how closely it resembled that of a wolf. But his eyes, oh, his eyes. She shivered involuntarily. Effortlessly they captivated her, his commanding gaze seeming to peer into her very soul. Tearing her gaze from his with some effort, she noted the haft of an axe or war-hammer rising above his right shoulder and three demonesses standing ready some distance behind him. His general attitude did not seem hostile, however, and she was not surprised to hear him speak.

  "Greetings. Why have you come here?" He stopped some body lengths away, out of sword-reach, but still close enough to easily speak with her.

  Another shiver ran through her at the powerful rumble of his voice. Gathering herself, she replied, "We came hunting the soldiers of the low-nds. We intend to kill them and take their loot."

  "Ah, that is unfortunate. You are too te; I have already killed them. What is left of their bodies lies yonder, beyond the wall. Insofar as their gear is concerned, I have already id cim to it, though I would not be averse to fair trade."

  "Or we kill you and take the loot," Vashedin interjected, a contemptuous sneer on his face.

  The wolf-thing did not react, not even taking his eyes from her. But the warm light in his eyes disappeared, and without any warning he became malevolent and terrifying. The oni stopped their slow advance, several muttering excmations of consternation. Katari had to restrain herself from taking a step back. So far as she could tell he had not so much as lifted his lip in a snarl, but a savage menace suddenly seemed to roll from him in waves, every line of his body promising a swift and painful death to any who dared cross him, his eyes cold and merciless. Only for a moment did he remain thus, then the warmth came back into his being and while he still seemed impressive, no longer was he dreadful to look upon.

  "I do not recommend that," he said calmly, finally looking at Vashedin. "I have killed mightier than you."

  The young bull bristled. "We'll just see about that," he snarled, stepping forward. Katari stepped forward as well to stop him from doing anything rash, but at that moment there was a shriek and a scuffle from the direction of the gate. The wolf-thing stiffened as he saw its cause and Katari half turned to see as well.

  By the old portcullis a rge bull of the rearguard held a struggling demoness with greenish skin and white hair. "What is this little morsel?" he asked amusedly.

  "Let me go, you jerkwad!" she panted, struggling fruitlessly in his grip.

  The wolf-thing spoke again. His voice had gained an edge of steel and his stance was far more threatening, but his words were still civil. "I must request that you release her. She is of my party."

  The bull which held the captive looked at Katari, and she thought quickly. This wolf-thing or another like him had killed two yeti in single combat. While she was still confident that he would not be a match for the entire raid-party, he would no doubt inflict major casualties if it came to a fight. But clearly the succubus meant something to him, so for the moment at least she held the advantage. "Why should I?" she asked. "What can you give me in return?"

  He seemed to reflect for a moment. "I could give several things. What is it that you want? If it is loot, you may have a fifth part of the soldiers' gear in exchange for the safe return of mine own. If you wish something else, please, enlighten me."

  Vashedin butted his head in again. "All the loot, and then we'll think about letting the bitch live."

  Katari snarled under her breath at the bull's indiscipline. His insolence chanced jeopardizing the negotiation. "A third part," she said, shooting a warning gnce at Vashedin. If he could not restrain himself, his eagerness to provoke a fight would be their undoing.

  Vashedin did not restrain himself. "Oh, esteemed Raid-Chief," he sneered, "this creature is no match for us. Why are we bothering to negotiate with it? Let us take what we wish as befits oni, and not cower like frightened children." He emphasized the st word with a mocking gnce at her height, and she felt her face grow hot at the implication. But before she could give voice to the angry words that clogged her throat, the wolf-thing spoke again.

  "The gray one seems confident in his fighting ability. Why does he not challenge me to a duel, if he is so certain he can defeat me?"

  Vashedin snorted. "There is no point in fighting such a duel. To kill a weakling such as you would bring me no honor."

  "Ah, yes. I assume you kill a pack of yeti every morning merely to stretch your muscles." The scorn was subtle but unmistakable, causing the rge oni to bristle angrily.

  "Enough!" Katari interjected, stepping between the two. "I will challenge you. Let the loot you possess be the price of your defeat, and the release of your cn-mate be mine."

  The other oni murmured excitedly, looking to the wolf-thing to hear his answer. "Very well," he said. "But if I win, not only will you release my succubus, but you will henceforth no longer molest any of my people."

  "The terms are acceptable," Katari replied, ignoring the angry objection of Vashedin. Much as she would like to let Vashedin take the duel and find out for himself the danger this strange creature posed, to step back and allow an unproven to die to the stranger would reflect poorly on her own courage and leadership in the eyes of her cn-mates.

  "The duel shall be fought with melee weapons," he said, causing a doubt to spring into her mind. She had never heard of a creature like him before, but he seemed familiar with the customs of the oni. Just what was he?

  Putting the question aside for now, she drew her sword, settling into a familiar stance. The other oni sheathed their own weapons, falling back to form a loose semicircle, Vashedin having to be pulled back by two of his cn-mates. The succubi standing at the far end of the courtyard walked forward to complete the circle on their side. Even in this moment Katari was struck by how beautiful they were. Nor was she alone in noticing this. From the corner of her eye she could see several bulls licking their lips as their eyes rested upon the curves of the women opposite.

  Focusing upon her opponent, she saw the wolf-thing slowly unsheathe the great-axe from his back, holding it loosely down and to the side. Unhurriedly he settled into a half crouch, legs spread slightly, and in his stance she saw the speed of him. Changing her own stance to a lower one which suited the faster reaction of the Dancing Jaguar, she met his eyes, waiting for the moment of action.

  For a long moment they held one another's gaze, and then, as though by unspoken agreement, they moved.

  TheBestofSome