Small Victory

Riding through the bristly cold, with one thought in mind. Find Dakran. Led by the volsa, they made headway fast through the northern lands. The volsa was a force of nature, with long legs, a lean muscular body and a razor-sharp focus, locked onto Dakrans scent, unstoppable. Little Dak kept the pace surprisingly well, falling behind here and there, but the mother seemed to be aware of that and slowed, allowing him to catch up to them. Impressed, Maya glanced over her shoulder brightly smiling at Eisza who rolled her eyes, growling.

Maya giggled, pleased with herself and her little accomplishment. It wasn't every day that she had a chance to prove that she wasn't completely useless. It was a small achievement, compared to what Eisza and the others but to her, it was a nudge in the right direction.

The volsa's pace dropped, slowing down, sniffing the air, and the ground in the pitch darkness. She could bearly see her fingers before her, once again she felt grateful for the volsa.

It seemed that Caell and Eisza were better at seeing in the dark than she was since Caell followed the volsa, leading the way.

" She stopped," Caell said, and Eisza pulled on the reins, slowing until they reached Caell.

" What is she doing?" Maya whispered as she tried to catch a glimpse of the beast sniffing the ground.

" She is sniffing the ground. Either she'd lost the scent or we are getting close." Caell jumped off the horse and Maya followed, digging through the bag for the tunic. If the volsa had lost the scent then maybe she needed to get another whiff of Dakran's scent.

A low moan, rang in the silence as they walked around following the volsa.

" Did you hear that?" Maya asked as she tried to figure out where it came from.

Eisza pulled out of her bag a torch, and lit it up " I came prepared " she scoffed, goading, waving the torch around looking for the volsa who was just a few paces in front of them licking something.

Maya jumped from her spot and ran as fast as she could, to the volsa followed by Caell and Eisza.

When the light finally reached her, she found that the volsa and little Dak were licking Corvin's face, who seemed to be asleep.

Eisza scoffed and waved the torch looking for Dakran, but he was nowhere to be seen.

" Where is he? They left together" Maya huffed, worried, and scared. Her eyes scoured the surroundings, looking for Dakran. He was nowhere to be seen.

Eisza shrugged " Corvin might be able to tell us" Eisza walked around, looking at the ground " Or the tribe. They were here, not long ago. They couldn't have gotten too far." Eisza looked in the distance trying to trace which way the Inari could have gone.

Caell lowered himself " Wakey-wakey" Caell called in a sing-song voice trying to wake up Corvin.

But Corvin was unmovable, moaning in his deep slumber, and that was all he did. Caell sighed and stood up " We might have a problem on our hands" Caell pushed Corvin with his foot " This, I've seen this before. That's how they send the old ones into eternal sleep when they can't move about anymore." Caell worriedly added, fumbling in his bag.

Maya frowned, even more, worried than he was " Poison? You mean he is poisoned" she panicked, looking down at Corvin.

Caell hummed " He is, but just enough to slowly kill him. When they give them fadrin, they kinda drift away into dreamland, numbing their fading bodies while in their mind, they are happily living the life they always wanted. " Caell pulled a vial out of his bag and lowered himself to the ground prying Corvins mouth open, pouring the content of the vial into his mouth.

Maya watched Corvin's listless body, on the ground terrified at the thought that Dakran was in the same sticky situation. She already had an inkling that the life he dreamed of was nothing like the one he was living. It was the perfect trap while he faded away, in the real one.

"Is that the cure? Do you have more ?" Maya worriedly asked stuffing the tunic back into her bag.

" Far from it, but it will help prolong his time in this realm" Caell stood up and sighed.

" I need all my things to make the cure to the poison" Caell clicked his tongue and took a deep breath.

" You and Eisza follow the trail. I need to head back to Ironstone. I will take Corvin with me, but since there is only one horse it will take us longer to reach Ironstone" Caell pulled out another vial from his bag and pushed it into Maya's hand " Issare follows Dakran wherever he goes. When you find him, send word and we will come." Caell pulled paper and a bago stick out of his bag, handing them to her.

" Don't start a fight with Inari." Caell raised his eyes and gave Eisza a pointed look, cautioning her.

Eisza grunted, " It only happened once." She scoffed and kicked a rock.

" Nonetheless, Eisza we are on their lands now. You know nothing of it, best to tread carefully than be regretful later." Caell picked up Corvin off the ground like he was a sack of grains, and threw him on the saddle. Eisza fell silent for once.

" He was here, and you are close. You will find him. I know you will." Caell encouraged, patting her on the shoulder.

Maya sighed, sagged shoulders, disheartened, squeezing the bits he'd given her. With a heavy sigh, she walked to where the volsa was and placed the tunic in front of her, hoping that it would refresh the scent she had lost. Caell mounted the horse, softly whistled and the volsa set on her path before she and Eisza even had a chance to climb on the horse.

" Hurry up, pussy foot" Caell chuckled as he turned his horse around, leaving them behind.

Eisza pulled her up in the saddle, and handed her the reins, still holding onto the torch, as they followed the volsa deeper into Inari lands.

Whatever the reason behind Dakran's dissapearrence, she refused to believe that Ianri would harm Dakran. How did everything turn into shambles all of a sudden?

Maya sighed watching the volsa move deeper, followed by the cub. She was going slower this time around, sniffing each patch of new ground she stepped on. Maya looked up hoping, to find Issare hovering above them or at least in the distance. Maya turned her attention back to the volsa when the starless skies were just as barren as the lands they trotted on.