10. Sloan
TEN
SLOAN
Sloan sat at a table along with Marcus and Jack.
They all opened folders and examined the information provided about the attacks in the Outland.
There were news clippings, firsthand reports, and interviews from witnesses.
What concerned Sloan the most was the quantity of attacks over such a brief period.
The first attack was dated two months prior.
In that short time, more than two dozen assaults were reported.
File after file told similar stories of torn bodies, violent confrontations, and a wild creature no one had ever seen before.
The eyewitness reports varied from descriptions of a huge dog-like animal to a large wolf.
The things consistent in all the reports were that whatever the mysterious creature was, it was massive and struck quickly.
It was covered in dark hair and traveled on four paws.
The noise it made while it attacked were loud howls and there was a lingering odor it left behind.
“Well.” Marcus placed worn spectacles on the bridge of his nose as he accepted a piece of paper from his son. “That’s impossible, isn’t it?”
Jack nodded.
“What is?” Sloan asked from across the table as she put down a folder. “Did you find something?”
“It’s an artist’s rendering of a life-size paw print left by the animal.” Marcus handed her the picture of the paw print that nearly covered the entire page.
Sloan looked down at the paper, at a loss. Sure it looked like a massive paw in dire need of a pedicure, but other than that, she had no idea what she was looking at. Rather than pretend to be in the loop, Sloan decided to admit her ignorance.
“Put me in a fight or a political debate, and I can hold my own.” Sloan bit her lip as she examined the giant animal print.
“I have no idea what I’m looking at here, sorcerer.
It looks like an enormous canine imprint.
I would say a dog, but there are no dogs that large, not in that part of the Outland, not anywhere. ”
“Well, you’re not that far off, Captain.” Marcus removed his glasses, leaning back in his chair. “It is a paw print of a canine, just not a dog. That’s a wolf print.”
“A wolf? That’s impossible. They get to no more than sixty, maybe seventy pounds.” Sloan shook her head, looking at the picture again. “Whatever made this print had to have weighed hundreds of pounds.”
“Well, that’s the impossible part, isn’t it?” Marcus touched the tips of his fingers together, deep into his own thoughts.
Sloan looked closer at the print.
“The print is one we’ve seen a hundred times before, but…” Jack pointed to the sketch of the paw design once more, “this one is four times as large as any we’ve come across.”
“So we’re ruling out wolves. What else could it be?” The voice came from the doorway. All three members at the table jumped and turned. Sloan’s hand tightened on her saber hilt once again.
“We’re really going to have to work on that, Captain.” Aareth grinned from the doorway. “Every time I talk, you don’t need to draw steel.”
“Well, you haven’t given me much of a reason not to, have you? What’re you doing back? You walked out on your Queen and on your city.”
“I had a change of heart.” Aareth sauntered toward the group. He shrugged off his long black jacket, placing it on an empty chair, and took a seat.
The room was silent as Sloan examined their new ally with a raised eyebrow. Marcus nodded a greeting toward Aareth. The room was quiet.
“Well, we’re glad to have you.” Jack cleared his throat. “At least I am.”
“Thanks. I heard you talking about the possibility of wolves. The canine animals that’re no larger than the size of large dogs?”
“My father and I have tracked our fair share,” Jack continued as he got the fourth member of their team up to speed, “but they’re not naturally aggressive animals. The largest we’ve ever seen couldn’t have been more than seventy pounds.”
“So we have nothing?” Aareth asked.
“It seems like we’re tracking an animal of unknown origin that has been able to elude, well, everyone.” Sloan ignored Aareth and looked only to the sorcerers. “Marcus, Jack, what do you think? Can you find it?”
Father and son smiled as Jack repeated what had become their catch phrase. “If it leaves tracks, we can find it.”
The answer was satisfactory. Even if it was a giant breed of wolf, Sloan felt confident in her own abilities to kill the animal once the magicians had found it.
As she mulled over the details, well-dressed servants brought in large platters covered with silver covers.
“And, mercenary?” Sloan decided to test Aareth. “When we do find this beast, do you think you can kill it?”
“I’m not a mercenary anymore, Captain.” Aareth pushed back a curtain of his long black hair. “But to answer your question, yes. I’ve never met an animal, man… or soldier, I couldn’t beat.”
The jab wasn’t lost on Sloan. Instead of allowing her anger dominance, she was surprised to find a smile tug at her lips.
The rest of the night was spent over a feast. It was a common enough meal for Sloan, but she wasn’t ignorant of the wide eyes on both the magicians. Even Aareth stared at the food as if he hadn’t been invited to a proper meal in months.
The night’s dinner consisted of roasted duck, grilled chicken, skewered salmon, salad, vegetables, rolls with butter, pitchers of wine and beer, and every kind of dessert imaginable.
Sloan unfolded her pristine linen napkin in preparation for the meal.
As she reached for her utensils, she noticed she was the only one.
Aareth was already serving himself mounds of food on his plate.
Marcus and Jack were better behaved, but their confusion as to which fork to use showed their lack of etiquette.
Sloan, and especially Aareth, helped themselves to the wine, while Jack and his father stuck to water.
After a mostly quiet meal, Sloan pushed her plate away.
“If we’re going to spend the next few weeks together, I’d like us to be honest with each other.
I’m not trying to be your best friend, but the most successful teams I’ve ever worked with in the past have had a mutual respect and trust in one another. ”
Sloan looked at each one of them in turn. She allowed the silence to build before she began again.
“I’ll go first. As captain of the Queen’s guard, I’m used to leading.
That doesn’t mean I’m not a team player.
With that said, in this mission, I want to make it clear that I am the leader.
I’ll do all I can to make this a quick journey.
We’ll go into the town—Jack and Marcus, you’ll find the animal.
Aareth and I will kill it and we can all go home. ”
“My son and I have been sorcerers of the paranormal for years.” Marcus smiled with pride at Jack. “We’ve tracked everything from shadow spirits to shape shifters. I’m honored to be able to help the Queen and the city of New Hope. We’ll find whatever this thing is.”
“I, uhhh, I’ve been practicing the magical arts and tracking ever since I can remember.” Jack stumbled under Sloan’s stern gaze. “My father and I have never failed a job we’ve been hired to complete. This one’s not going to be any different.”
All eyes turned to Aareth, who was wiping his hands and mouth clean of sticky meat juices.
“I’ve been working—freelance—in the Outland for the last three years. I’m here now and plan on seeing this thing through to the end.”
Sloan cocked her head to the side. There was something like sadness, maybe regret in Aareth’s bright blue eyes. As he remembered the last few years, it was clear he was troubled. Instead of continuing down the line of thought, Sloan reminded herself why she was there.
“We’ll leave early tomorrow, so be ready.
We’ll make a quick stop at the armory, gathering any supplies we may need for the journey, and then we’ll be off.
” Sloan rose from her chair and looked at the three men sitting at the table.
“Rest well. If I’m right, it’ll be the last time we can close our eyes without worry for a long time. ”