Spotted

Once inside the camp, Renat passed many busy workers who were both maintaining the camp and furthering Taran's cause in one way or another. Passing the artificially made lake, more abominations were trying their hand at swimming underneath the water's surface with varying levels of success.

Renat recognized the man leading the lesson. Seeing one of his fellow scientists—and a promising one too!—working with the monsters made his heart ache within his chest.

'You too, Benno? I thought you had gone to tend to your ailing mother. Mairwen and I sent a letter before we left inquiring after her health.'

So many had turned their backs on him. Was it because he was a royal now? It didn't make sense.

When Benno looked his way, Renat turned his face away toward his goal. Gawking any longer at the experiment would only draw unwanted attention. As it was, his lack of visible mission was drawing curious looks from his fellow abominations.

To remedy this, the brown wolf took an empty container and filled it with water from one of the many shallow troughs. Like the abominations, horses were in ample supply in the camp.

The canine prince only slowed his pace once more for the smell of cooking meat. His stomach rumbled as the delectable aroma filled his nostrils. If not for the well timed pebble hitting his furry head out of nowhere, the brown wolf might have given into his urges and investigated.

'I guess I know Alaron is still following me,' Renat sighed as he rubbed his temple. His comfort at the other man's presence overrode his annoyance.

The brown wolf picked his way carefully through the tents. There was not a lot of order to the structures, but there were roads here and there between them as well as spaces around each of the wooden buildings.

Following the directions of the Guardian, Renat neared the largest building in the camp. It was completely wooden except for the chimneys and made of more trees than the scientist cared to count. How long had this camp been here? Were the abominations like him just that much more powerful that building such structures was child's play? The building was only one story, but it was wide and sprawling, more like a lord's manor than a cabin.

Clutching the container in his hands, Renat confidently marched up to the entrance. The two guards, one wolf and one lizard, eyed him with mild curiosity as he approached.

"State your business!" the lizard said, her tongue flicking in and out with a hiss.

Renat jiggled the bottle in his hand. The water inside sloshed about for the creatures to hear. "Delivery." The brown wolf announced. He knew that in this case, less was more.

The abominations would fill in the blanks for him. "Is it for Dania?" The wolf asked, confirming the lady was within.

Nodding, the brown wolf simply grunted.

"Doesn't look like her normal vial," the lizard bent down and squinted at the bottle. It was more like a container for the rich drunkards than the female scientist.

"Don't ask me. I don't have any clue," Renat passed the blame. His disinterested nature convinced the guards that he was harmless.

"Very well," the lizard stepped aside and pushed the door open for him to pass. The brown wolf took a step forward and paused.

"What is that?" Renat pointed to a spot near the lizard's cheek.

Both the abominations tensed. The wolf squinted as he looked closely then snorted. "Oh, you mean her mole? It's always been there even before she transformed. Nothing to panic about."

Renat pulled back, his face full of approval. "You misunderstand. It looks just like a heart. I am glad your beauty mark stayed put. I hope you never hide it."

The lizard's leathery skin tinged with pink as the brown wolf entered the building. "Why don't you ever say nice things to me like that?" she bopped the wolfish guard as the door shut behind the scientist.

"Flirting with the guard? I shall have to tell my sister," a voice whispered from the darkness.

"I was creating a distraction. And what I said was honest, I am glad something of her humanity remained," Renat's low voice was more of a growl than a whisper.

Looking down the long corridor, the pair ducked out of the hallway and into the nearest room, which, fortunately, was empty.

"You know Taran better than me. Where would he squirrel away a reluctant fiancée?" Alaron looked around the storage room.

There were a ton of vials and other scientific instruments, as well as aprons to cover clothing. By their size, these were obviously meant for humans, not the monsters. Alaron stuffed one of the aprons and its matching cap into his magical cloak.

Renat ignored the other man's thievery. "I have no clue where a crazy person would hide his most valuable asset. I had half a mind to ask the guards where Dania was, but I didn't want to arouse their suspicions. I doubt she will be unguarded, though."

Alaron touched the fairy around his neck. The place was still too populated for its use.

"Well, we will go room by room then. Prepare your shocked/embarrassed face. I think you will be doing a lot of apologizing." Alaron smirked beneath his hood, but his amusement was evident.

Sighing, the scientist simply nodded. "As long as you have my back, it should be fine. We won't attack unless it is absolutely necessary."

In agreement, the two males exited the storage room and moved swiftly down the corridor. Because it was mid-morning, many of the rooms, which had beds, were empty of occupants.

'This must be where most of the scientists sleep.' Renat reasoned. It would make sense to keep them separate from the troops and in a secure location in case the natives went feral. The other option, which was that it was the holding space for human experiments until they turned, was a less appealing thought.

As they came farther into the building, there was more activity. Renat had to make a few hurried apologies, but no one seemed to pay him much mind. If they had, they might have noticed the shadow following closely behind, but none seemed to sense the Guardian while he was wrapped up in his fantastic black cloth.

With a gulp, the scientist tried another in a long line of rooms. This time, a human woman was pulling on her shift just as he opened the door. His forehead received the heel of a shoe before he even got a glimpse of who was present.

"Fiend!" the woman screamed.

"Wrong room!" Renat apologized. "I seem to have taken a wrong turn. I was looking for Dania."

"Everyone knows she is at the end of the hall," another shoe came barreling at the doorway but missed by a hair, "You are just a cad like the others. If I ever see you again, I'll report you to Taran myself!"

"I swear, madam, that will not happen." Renat shut the door faster than he had meant to, nearly ripping the wooden latch from its spot in the process. He rubbed his forehead, feeling a small knot under his hairy skin. 'She had decent aim for being scared.'

A light chuckle reached his ears. Alaron had somehow seen the spectacle, or at least deduced what had happened.

"Dania is at the end of the hall," Renat whispered, his face devoid of humor.

"That's good to know. One more door and the next lady might have hit something truly precious." Alaron blew past the wolf, barely a blur in the shadowy corridor. He knew how to move through the uncertain lamplight of the hall to make the viewer think they had seen nothing at all.

Renat moved behind him pushing back his shoulders and holding the container confidently in front of himself. A few monsters and humans passed, but they only nodded their heads in recognition as they moved along. Renat looked like one of them, so none felt the need to be concerned by his presence.

Based on what the woman said, Renat hurried to the end of the hall until he found three doors. Which one was correct?

Renat was still trying to decide which to try first when the middle door opened. Holding in his panic, the brown wolf lowered his head and stood beside the door, hiding the water container within the fur of his leg as he stood straight. The people here would not buy his water story anyway.

Out of the room, Taran came followed closely by a shrewd man wearing a cap and apron from the storage room. Renat recognized the dark-haired scientist instantly.

'Yumeto!' The brown wolf hated to see that his suspicions were confirmed. Along with Taran, Renat's other former friend moved on, deep in a discussion.

"I cannot believe that you may have succeeded! Who is the lucky one who will be trying out that concoction first?" Yumeto asked excitedly.

"I'll have to select carefully. I want to make sure the success is genuine before we move onto the next step." Taran seemed quite pleased despite his cautious words.

Then he turned and saw the brown wolf skulking in the corner. His eyes narrowed on the interloper.

"You!" the nobleman boomed.

Renat's heart skipped a beat. He had been spotted.