Tears of defeat threaghtened to overflow as Draya quickly thanked the speaker and left. She angrily ran to the edge of the camp, unseen by any other guards. There she changed into a wolf, her anger allowing her to forget her fear of her gift. She knew where the castle was and was off to reach her parents. She had no time to waste, and knew it with every living fiber in her wolf-shape body. Wolf-instinct and predator smarts overpowered her own human stupidity and she was able to run in the shadows and folds of land unseen by human eyes. Out of breath, she stopped and lifted her nose to the air. The sweet, strong smell of campfire drifted through and overjoyed, she sat up from her haunches and traced it. The smell took her to the brushes behind the campfire of a large group of Scanrans. Unsure of their rank and purpose, she stealthily sat behind them, listening closely to their conversation.
"Aye, t'King has sometin' going on in that palace of 'is. He's got sometink mischievous and We all's know it's no good."
A new voice spoke, this one breathless and shaky, "I know what 'ee's up too I do, I saw him to it. Building new machines 'ee is, New Fierce ones. They're 'orrid and they're gunna kill all of Tortall they is. Just for test's he set those beasties on a group of 'is lil' slaves and they swiped 'em all out in seconds."
A gasp of astonishment went up throughout the camp as they all contemplated the new power that their leader held. The speaker continued and silence fell upon the soldiers.
"He's gonna use 'em ter kill the King 'ee is and all his little heirs too."
Draya couldn't take this talk anymore. Deftly she changed into a small beetle and crawled up a small pine that sat on the edge of the camp. Looking across the faces she could see that her parents were not among the group. A small sigh of defeat left her mouth and she crawled back down, letting miniscule beetle tears fall into the dirt. As quietly as she could, she once again, changed shape, this time into an eagle to allow her to fly over the tree tops.