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Chapter 26. Essspionage

by Silisk

This was turning into a horrid waste of time.

Silisk's jaw's gaped in a yawn as she watched the proceedings from her spot, coiled on the table. Searching and scrounging about in such a place was far beneath a beast of her standing, and so she was quite content to let the others have at it as much as they liked.

As Rea, Aras, and Thalliv approached the wall, Silisk found her own attention wandering. It wasn't all that bad for a lair, she supposed, despite the copious amounts of dust and the lack of treasure.

The remaining beasts seemed ill-at ease. The cat was pacing about in high bad humor, and Antonio's eyes kept shifting toward an off-centered desk covered in a fine layer of dust. The marteness, meanwhile, was leaning against a pile of boxes, arms crossed. As if noticing she was being watched, Sybil glared upward, but looked away when she caught the adder's eye. Silisk smiled to herself. A truly pitiable situation.

--

"It doesn't matter to me what they do to you as long as you get your job done. Dismissed."

Silisk, no more than a shadow on the wall, watched as Sybil was dragged out Sarkleyet's study, cursing all the while.

The adder had come to the conclusion that private meetings were actually rather overrated.

Antonio had said that Sarkleyet was off, but this was something else entirely. Being forced to fulfill the plans of such a dangerous beast was akin to being trapped in a room with a mongoose. The adder nearly flinched at the very thought. Mongooses were almost as horrid as birds, in her opinion, and the both of them would be outlawed when she was in charge. Wait, was it mongooses? Perhaps mongeese was the correct term. Silisk pondered for a moment before deciding that the creatures were simply too barbarous for it to even matter.

It was at that time that Sarkleyet chose to look in the adder's direction, and Silisk froze, wishing she could melt into the wall. The marten's eyes narrowed and the serpent's muscles tensed in preparation to flee, but then he sighed to himself and turned on his heel.

"Of course, of course. I suppose it can wait until tomorrow."

The adder waited until the door was closed, and then remembered to breath. Loosening and stretching her coils, she slipped out from the hole in the wall that had lead her in from the hall. "You might think yourself clever," she hissed, slithering toward the marten's desk. "But today I am the victor."

Perched on the polished mahogany, Silisk admired her surroundings. The anger that had been roiling inside her blood had all but evaporated during the meeting, leaving the adder feeling somewhat silly for it. Of course, she would have never been called in; what use was there in poisoning an adder, a beast who lives and breathes toxins?

Nevertheless, the serpent flicked her tongue and set about looking for where Sarkleyet kept his antidote. She would have nothing to worry about, but if she was able to successfully acquire just one vial, then it would surely secure her partnership with Antonio.

Pushing her belly scales against the glass, Silisk made short work of ascending the structure and found herself staring at several rows of neatly labeled vials. The small glass door had already been left half-open, and all it took was a nudge from the serpent's head to finish the job. "Aha! Your strength needs attesting to before you can measure up to your brethren, door," she mocked. Now, came the difficult part.

The adder attempted to curl her tail around the vial, but found that movement was difficult at best. It only took two attempts at rolling it with her head, and nearly dropping it over the edge of the shelf, to realize that was also not such a great option, either. She glared at her foe, head swaying in an effort to learn its secrets.

Finally, as it seemed there was nothing else for it, Silisk stretched her jaw and managed to pick up the object. Satisfied, she made her steady decent to the floor and darted across to the hole where she had entered, twisting her head to allow the vial enough space as well.

Silisk, embraced by the shadows in the hall, was just about to congratulate herself on cunning success when she nearly slithered into the path of a furiously pacing Sybil.

Withdrawing as quickly as she could, the adder watched. She couldn't say she felt much for the crass marten, but neither was she going to take advantage of her position. Getting back to her chambers unseen was the top priority.

Hugging the walls, she snuck past the sulking Sybil with nary a sound. However, when the unfortunate thief strayed a few paces too close, Silisk drew back, letting go of the vial before she could stop herself.

There was a clink as glass met marble, and the marten's ears, and then her whole head, swiveled to face the adder. Silisk mentally cursed the sky blue, including the vial for being so horrid, the walls for not being particularly conducive to camouflage, and especially Sybil for being so perceptive.

Before Silisk had a chance to defend herself, the marten intercepted her. "What do you think yer doin'? How did yew get that?"

The adder froze for but a moment. "I… pardon me, madam, I was simply hoping to deliver this antidote to you."

A harsh bark of laughter escaped Sybil's lips. "Why should I believe that tripe? Yew still haven't answered my question, either."

Silisk dipped her head. "Allow me to explain. I was spying on Sir Sarkleyet when I saw the black-hearted cur poison you." The adder hoped that the words didn't sound quite as hollow as they felt.

"Just great. Help from another poisoner; just what I needed." The marten's tone remained hostile, but Silisk tasted the air and sensed more than a bit of hesitation hiding just beneath the snarl. "Since when were you so concerned about my health, worm?"

"I am not a worm!" Silisk hissed, raising her upper body as high as she was able. "Furthermore, can you not see that I am only trying to--"

Silisk decided that there was only one way to deal with such a difficult creature. Without another word, she looped her upper body in an arch, blue scales shimmering against the floor as she slithered toward the abandoned vial. "Do what you wish," she sniffed, swiveling her head around. "Scorn me as you like. But if you do not want this antidote, then I shall simply keep it for myself."

With that, the regal serpent picked up the vial and slithered off. Or, rather, that's what she wanted to do. Silisk hissed around a mouthful of glass at the vial's incompetence as she struggled to gain control of the slippery object. "Ignoramus… hssk!" She reared back, prepared to strike the horrid glass as it rolled away from her.

"Here. I'll take that."

Silisk, regaining her dignity as best she could, held her head up, eying Sybil critically as the marten scooped up the vial. "I thought you did not require my assistance," she said, putting on a sulk.

"Don't think I owe you any favors, though," the marten narrowed her eyes even as she rolled the glass in her paw. It looked as if she was about to bolt, but then, almost as an afterthought, she added, "… Thanks."

--

"I think I found something."

Silisk raised her head off the table, straining to see exactly what had been excavated. Aras was fiddling with something in the wall, but it wasn't until the wolverine shifted his considerable bulk that it could be identified as a small hole. "Useless," he grumbled. "It's too small. I could try working at it some more—"

"Perhaps," Silisk spoke as she wended her way down the leg of the table to the ground, "I could be of some service." The adder cut a clean swath across the floor just as Rea took an unobtrusive step backward. "Mayhap t'would save the lot of us much grief if I were to investigate on my own? No sense in obliterating this wall if there's naught beyond it but air."

The wolverine blinked, a motion which Silisk tried in vain to copy before giving up. Surely something so foolish would be just the sort of activity that only a furred beast would engage in, anyway. "All right," Aras said, stepping aside. "… Be careful."

As she approached the hole, Silisk wished that she had taken the time to appraise it before volunteering. This hole looked much smaller and far more hostile than the one in Sarkleyet's castle. Nevertheless, she squirmed and slithered and managed to make it through with only a minimum of discomfort.

Unfortunately, the other side of the wall was entirely too dark to make anything out. Silisk flicked her tongue, but any familiar scent was masked by layers of dust and… was that blood? 'tis folly. Merely wishful thinking. But that didn't stop the adder from imagining what sort of blood it could possibly be.

"Silisk? Are you all right?" The voice belonged to Rea.

"Yes, yes I am unharmed," Silisk said, slightly ruffled. "Although I admit that this room is black as pitch and so I can see next to naught of it."

Thalliv spoke next. "Is there space enough for you to move?"

The adder slid away from the hole, only to feel the earth drop away from her. "Hellgates!" She hissed, swerving backward.

"What? What is it?" Rea again.

Tentatively, the adder pressed herself against the ground, following it as it dipped in the shape of a… "Apologies for my outburst," she said, "but I believe I've come across a staircase."

"…well, there's nothing for it, now." The serpent poked her head through the hole again just in time to see Aras roll his shoulders back, noticing the muscles rippling beneath his fur as he did so. "Let's get this over with."

"Harken to me," Silisk said, squeezing her coils through the hole and into the light. "Are you quite sure we have no tools with which to aid us in this task?"

Aras was in the act of shaking his head when Antonio spoke up. "I might be able to answer that, actually."

Everybeast turned to stare at the stoat. Silisk noticed Aras do that strange thing with his eyebrows again. "You do?"

"Quite sorry for not mentioning it earlier," the stoat said, a half-smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "But I managed to come into possession of a tool." The stoat pulled a hatchet out of his pack.

Now it was Rea's turn to blink. "You… stole an axe?"

"I procured an axe," Antonio said cheerily. "And it is actually a hatchet."

The wolf crossed her arms. "But why?"

Antonio shrugged. "A hatchet has many uses, Miss Rea. In case we meet adversity, it would be nice to have along for self-defense as well."

"Well," Sybil quipped. "Maybe this won't be such a waste of time after all."

Dirano, who had been slinking off on his own, shrugged. "If you say so." His tone could be described as derisive at best. Rea rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything.

Thalliv cleared his throat. "If you will pardon the expression," he said with a small grin. "I'd say we'd best have a crack at that wall, eh?"

Aras looked as if he would have liked nothing better than to have a crack at the weasel's head (and Silisk would have fully endorsed it). However, before anything unfortunate could happen, Antonio handed the hatchet to wolverine, who drew his arm back for the first swing.

--

Although Aras was in possession of prodigious strength, he tired quickly. Sweat rolled down his forehead in rivulets, and Silisk could only imagine how hot he must have been under all that fur. Eventually, he ended up trading off with Antonio, Thalliv, and Rea, and the three of them made short work of widening the entrance into a hole big enough even for Aras.

Silisk slithered out of the way, nimbly avoiding dust and bits of stone as the wolverine shook his head. "Very well done," she purred, both admiring and envying his strength all at once.

Aras shifted his weight. "Thanks," he panted. He offered the hatchet to Antonio, and everybeast peered down the stairwell. Even Sybil seemed at least a little excited about their find.

"Excellent work!" Thalliv exclaimed. "Let's take a look, then."

The rag-tag group followed the weasel down the stairwell into a dank room. Tasting the air, Silisk found that the blood was still faint… much too faint to determine.

The entire room was in a state of darkened disarray. Sheaves of yellowed parchment lay scattered about like a pile of leaves after a young beast had thrashed about in it. The more she thought about it, the more she wouldn't have put such an act past Nevyeer. Vials and test-tubes, some filled with dubious-looking liquid, others cracked and bleeding, lay scattered about, abandoned and neglected. Glass objects in all manner of shades, shapes, and sizes lit up the shelves with ghostly hues, including more than a few objects (containers, perhaps?) that Silisk could only guess at. Rusted knives, scissors, and other twisted and unpleasant looking instruments could be seen poking out from half-opened shelves as if in preparation to pounce on unsuspecting prey.

The adder couldn't help but feel disappointed; no treasure. All in all, it was a rather poor lair.

"Huh, you would think this place has been ransacked by rapscallions." Antonio sniffed, more than likely pleased at his affinity for alliteration, as he turned up his nose at the main table. "Small wonder if we can salvage anything at all."

"What's this smelly ol' thing?" The adder looked away from the shiny bit of blue glass she'd spied to see Sybil standing in front of a strange looking box wedged in between the wall and a rotting bookshelf. The box was rather large with a curious lock attached, comprised of what looked like a spinning wheel and four rows of letters. The marteness fiddled with the apparatus for the best part of a few seconds before giving up. "No good. This ain't like a normal lock; we need to find some sort o' password."

"Methinks that is where Sir Nevyeer locked away his hoard." Silisk said, a covetous glimmer in her eyes as she slithered forward.

Rea nodded. "That sounds sensible enough. Now, what was that about a password?"

"Let me take a look at that." Antonio looked up from a letter atop the table and hurried toward the box, trying to step over bits of dirt and grime as he went. "Hmm… Yes. This Nevyeer knew what he was doing. The way this is set up, I am afraid we could be trying combinations of letters for hours with no results."

Dirano snorted. "Fantastic. We're right back at square one." He prowled over to Thalliv. "Well? What do you have to say for yourself?"

Before the weasel could speak, however, Rea spoke up. "Hold on! Quiet, everybeast!" Ears perked, the wolf held a paw to her lips. "I… hear something," she said.

Dirano curled his lips back in a sneer. "Hearing things, are we?"

The wolf shot him a warning glance. "Just be quiet and listen."

Silisk, along with the other beasts, stopped where they were and listened, although the serpent soon became frustrated. Counting bricks and now hearing voices... hellgates, but this is a fool's errand.

There had better have been rubies in that box.