Chapter 8 - Leaving the Warren

While the Great Mother was in the midst of her divination ritual in the depths of the warren, V had made her way back to the cubby where Leaf had switched with her. There was no time to waste as a single night was all that separated V from having her life fall into the hands of whoever would claim it. Leaf had no way of knowing how much was being placed on her, but the Great Mother would not be manipulated so easy. V was now like a hot coal before, but now was Blessed of Belos, coming right back at her. It would be difficult not to be burned for daring to involve the Great Mother in such a novice’s plot. Those who spent all their time in the warrens had seldom else to do, but plot against one another in a game of wits. And V was an unpredictable piece whose shape and purpose had yet to be known.

Leaf awoke to a hand shaking her gently in the cubby and she rolled over, wiping the sleep from her eyes. V was smirking at her and her right hand was in a bandage. What had she gotten into? Then her eyes caught in the darkness the brown tunic and the scent of flowers emanating off her skin. Bolting upright and slamming her head into top of the cubby, a bunch of hard earth loosed and fell around her.

“What happened to you!?” she shook off the dirt and the bump, “Did it work!?”

“What do you think?” V’s smile did not fade at all.

She let out a little laugh and pushed herself out of the cubby and looked at V more closely, “Well, what happened. You look like a newborn Gobbo…. And smell like one too.”

V’s eyes widened and Leaf pressed her question, “Answer.”

It was not like V to struggle with an answer, she was a terrible liar, but what escaped those lips was either the truth or the worst lie she had ever heard.

“I am blessed by Belos. The Great Mother wants you to take me to them.” V’s mouth opened to silently form the word, “Mahn.”

Leaf rushed forward and covered V’s mouth, “Sure! Sure! I’ll take you out. About time you decided to be useful.”

Realization hit V, but her heart still quickened as in the span of one night her friend had come to know of a secret that few were trusted with. The Great Mother had spilled it to a qued? That was a first. Did the old hag forget that, or did she see V as something more? A qued was a qued, it did not matter what she once was. Right?

“So, you are going to take me now?” V said with Leaf’s hand muffling her mouth, her lips moving against her palm.

Leaf shoved V backwards, throwing her against the wall and bared her teeth, hunching in a feral pose, “I’ll bite and claw you…. And tear…”

V’s laughter was disarming as much as her pointing. Had the crone’s madness spread to her as well? She was not worth the effort. Why was she so different from the others? Was it really noble blood that made her so intriguing even if she was a qued?

“Where is Muck?” V asked cautiously.

“Did you decide on him?” She was thrown off again by her strange leap of topic, “Wait. I thought you needed to go out.”

“I do.” V brushed off her back, knocking the dirt off the tunic, “I thought you might want to tell him before we leave.”

“No.” Leaf motioned for her to follow, “Come on. We are going now.”

“Now!?” V followed after her, “Now?!”

“You woke me up. Is it not the day?” Leaf headed down the tunnel only to realize the fervor of the common room was still empty save one or two Valo hunters who were in the midst of preparing a rabbit for the stew, “In the middle of the night, of course. Ugh, come on.”

The two made their way through the tunnels, up through the storeroom, the common rooms and towards the surface and came before the gateway, the secured front entrance of the warren which had its own guards and hunter barracks within several paces. The gate was little different then the hatchway except it opened outwards and the latching mechanism required two separate latches to be disengaged at the same time in order to lift the plank and disengage the lock. Leaf had seen it hundreds of times, but for V it was quite a sight, and she loomed over them with curiosity as Leaf explained why she was leaving the warren to Agruyl and Barkep as they complied with the request.

Agruyl, made eyes at her, but she turned her head away and stuck her nose in the air to show her lack of interest. It only seemed to encourage him. Why were all males so dense? Barkep was at least one to just do as he was told and not make a pass each time. Agruyl most likely took this post just to try and woo those who caught his fancy, time after time. Did it ever work? If it did not, he would have found something else to do for sure. His broad chin and high brows with a bulbous nose framed a face that had been kicked in more than a few times. Resisting smashing his face in was tough, but she wondered how squishy that eternally broken nose really was.

“Leaf…” V’s calling snapped her out it, “Let’s go.”

“The traps.” Leaf quickly made it seem like she was waiting for them to explain, “Have they been changed or moved?”

“No change, but edges are crumbling so watch your step.” Barkep answered for her.

Agruyl chimed in and said to her and to V, “Yes. Be careful, you too”

Leaf masked her frustration heading through before her mouth would get her into trouble. So, any female? Even a qued? How disgusting. She wanted to say it. She would say it. Just not now.

Leaving the warren was nothing to her, but V kept falling behind. The traps were obvious to her, but V had a tough time following closely. What did she have to do to get her to follow her footsteps exactly? Hold her hand? Drag her by her feet?

The most dangerous trap was the pit where a well-disguised blanket was propped up over a small post in the center. A thin layer of dirt was used to hide it, but four faint depressions gave it away to those who knew it was there. Stretching her back and hugging the foot-wide ledge she crossed the path. V, for once, followed exactly and did not fall into the spike laden pit of certain death. It had only happened once but once was enough.

“Well… we made it past the last of the traps.” She let out a sigh of relief, “Come on. The dawn will be on us if we are not quick.”