The Hawk Lord by Amy Sumida

Chapter Thirty-Eight

The Hawk Lord's guards were not happy with Dal's plan. Mainly because the plan left them out completely. Sneaking into the Coyote camp would be difficult with two of us, but with his entire guard, it would be impossible. They argued with him—something I'd never seen them do. Finally, he told them that he wasn't the Hawk Lord anymore and they weren't honor-bound to protect him. That didn't go over well, and the arguments turned into shouting matches. But, at last, Dal won because his guards didn't have the power to stop him. We set off for the Coyote Army that very night.

And I flew! I was so excited. It was my first flight into battle, of a sort, and I would be going through the mists of Varalorre as well. I clutched my satchel—packed with supplies, clothes, and my sword—in one talon as I flew along the coastline of Larinesse, anticipating the mission ahead. We would find the traitor or evidence of one, clear Dal's name, and save our people from the Farungal. It would be fucking fantastic.

I made use of air currents most of the way, so the flight barely tired me despite its length. I'd been able to fly for up to two hours of practice time in Kestria so I wasn't worried anyway. Instead, I enjoyed the journey, admiring the sea as it sparkled beneath the moon and the twinkle of the sleepy towns we passed. We flew over the other Avian Kingdoms, then into the Canine ones, but we stayed near the water the entire trip. Even after we went through the mists, we clung to the coastline. The Coyote Army was camped along the sea.

Dal brought us down a good hike away from the camp. We shifted to Sidhe, got dressed, and circled the camp to approach it from downwind. The Coyote sentries would be able to smell us coming if we weren't careful. Once we were in camp, the scents of the other soldiers, especially the human ones, would hide us but for now, we had to keep aware of the wind.

“They've got a patrol switching now,” Dalsharan said as he peered around the side of a boulder. “That makes it a fifteen-minute rotation. We'll have about five minutes while they're settling into position.”

I scanned the area for cover. I was best with heights, but the camp was near the beach, set back from the sporadic trees that grew near the water. There were, however, many large growths of brush.

“I see a path for us,” I said. “Follow me and keep low.”

Dal grunted in agreement, and I sped off toward the camp. The guards on duty were heading toward the water which meant that they were facing away from us. We moved from brush to brush, then slipped past the communal washrooms and that were always on the outskirts of an army. Once within the rows of tents, we straightened and strolled forward as if we belonged there. I swaggered like a human and Dal kept his head lowered beneath the hood of his cloak so no one would recognize him.

We had searched for Kervel, the guard Dal had sent to spy on the Coyotes, from the outskirts of the camp, but hadn't spotted him. So, that would be our first task. We casually roamed the human section, walking past tents that emitted snores, loud conversations, and low grunting. We avoided the communal fires where soldiers gathered to drink and steered around the mess hall too. Kervel might be skirting the edges of those areas, but he wouldn't risk getting closer.

I started to get nervous when we'd made it through the entire human section of the Coyote camp without finding Kervel, but Dal whispered that the whole point was for Kervel to hide in plain sight. It shouldn't be easy to find him. And we needed to be on guard for anything suspicious as we searched for him. We needed to listen as we looked. So, we slowed down, ambling around and pausing to hang on each other as if we were drunk. We listened in on conversations, especially those that seemed furtive, but heard nothing more criminal than a planned prank.

“Let's go into the fae section,” I said to Dal, and he nodded.

In the fae section of the camp, we had to be more careful. We didn't stroll down the lanes but instead crept in the shadows between tents. The humans wouldn't notice a few extra soldiers, but the fae would smell us if we got too close. Coyotes were keen hunters with a strong sense of smell and hearing. Their sight was fair too, but as Hawks, our eyes were better. Of course, those senses improved vastly when we were in our beast forms, but we still got a slight improvement to our Sidhe senses. At least, the other Sidhe did. My forms hadn't harmonized yet, so I was still waiting on the improvement to my already improved sight. But Dal would be able to spot the Coyotes before they did us. That being said, if a Coyote in beast form took a deep sniff in our direction, we'd be discovered. It was like a deadly game of Hide and Seek.

“Hold on,” I whispered and grabbed Dal to pull him between two tents.

“What is it?”

“I thought I saw something that I couldn't possibly have seen.”

“What?!” Dal hissed.

“A Farungal.”

Dal went silent, his sharp stare instantly searching the camp in the direction I stared. Then his whole body tensed, and I knew I hadn't been mistaken. There was a fucking Farungal sneaking through the Coyote camp.

“He's dead,” Dalsharan whispered and started to move.

I grabbed him and pulled him back. “Hold on. Let him get ahead a bit. We'll follow him and see where he goes.”

Dalsharan nodded and we waited. The Farungal crept along the wall of a tent, his hood hiding most of his ugly face, but the tip of his tail peeked out from the bottom of his cloak, its poisonous barb twitching. I caught the gleam of moonlight on his claws as we crept after him. The monster carefully made his way through the fae section, moving ever closer to the center of camp.

“You see where he's going?” I whispered.

“He's going after the Coyote Lord,” Dalsharan whispered back. “Fuck, I have to save that bastard.”

I chuckled. “Just remember that this isn't about him. We're saving the Coyote Soul. It had to have been the stone that asked me for help. It knew it was still in danger.”

Dalsharan grunted.

We kept going, keeping several feet back until we saw the Farungal pause, watching the Coyote Lord's personal guards as they prowled around his tent. They, like the Hawks, were massive versions of their animals, standing as tall as a man. Fangs glinted as they pulled back their lips and scented the air. They'd surely smell the monster.

But they didn't. They prowled on, circling the tent at a steady pace.

“He must be masking his scent somehow,” Dal growled. “Fuck, there he goes!”

The Farungal waited for a space in the circling guards and then dove for the tent. He slid right beneath the bottom edge, squeezing his body through the slim slit made by the staked fabric. Dal darted after him and I followed. It didn't matter if the Coyotes sensed us at this point, once we were inside with the Farungal, we'd have all the proof we needed. We dove and crawled beneath the tent edge after the Farungal.

Before I could get to my feet, something hit me and everything went dark.