Into The Desert Wilds by Jim Galford

Author:Jim Galford [Galford, Jim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, Fiction, Furry
Published: 2012-08-06T00:00:00+00:00

*

Oria woke some time later, her whole body aching. Bloody and skinned patches of flesh were visible all down her arms and she guessed that the rest of her was in a similar condition. Looking at her wounds only made it worse.

Sitting alongside her, one of the unnamed male kits held a bowl of water and a damp rag that was stained red. He stared at her as she tried to get up.

“How long was I out?” she asked her little brother.

“Atall said you got hurt when we woke up today,” the little wildling answered, his big eyes wider still as he looked over her injuries. “Mom’s not back.”

That snapped Oria out of her pain-induced lethargy. Her mother was nowhere to be found.

“Where’s Atall?” she asked, using the wall to help herself stand. Nothing felt broken, but she did feel as though she had been trampled by horses. Sadly, she had to admit that she knew exactly what that felt like.

What did catch Oria’s attention, aside from pain, was a long chain that had been fastened from a manacle on her right ankle to a thick metal ring set into the wall.

The little male fox shrugged at Oria’s question.

“I need more than that. Where are the others?”

The boy thought a moment, then offered, “Atall told us to stay in the room while he looked for mom.”

“So how are you here?”

The kit grinned, showing off tiny but very sharp teeth.

“I followed your smell. The elfses didn’t care if I came in.”

Oria could not help but smile at the kit, giving his head an affectionate rub. She eyed the thick canvas tarp over the doorway, wondering how many guards they had left outside. She was willing to bet not many, but more were probably watching her mother.

“Good work,” she told the kit. She then lay down on her side, facing the door, hoping she had a good angle. “Go back to the room. I’ll find mother and let all three of you know what’s happening.”

Nodding vigorously, the kit hopped to his feet, leaving the water and rag behind as he hurried from the room.

Oria narrowed her eyes most of the way as her brother threw open the canvas door, using her position to see what was outside. By the time the cloth had fallen again, she had been able to make out just one guard in the candle-lit hallway.

Sitting back up, Oria shifted her attention to the manacle on her ankle. It was loose enough that she could move her foot comfortably, but not so much that she could slip it past her foot without doing serious damage to her upper or lower ankle. The only way to remove it appeared to be by way of the lock that held it closed.

Turning the lock over in the palm of her hand, Oria tried to see into the keyhole, but the single lamp on the wall was far too dim to give her any real view. She would have to be more creative.

Oria

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