Chương 7: Book 2 Ch 2: The weak and the tainted

Dantes drifted in and out of consciousness for some amount of time between thirty seconds and five hours. He had flashes of consciousness in which he saw streets, abandoned buildings, and an old haggard tree that he could swear he watched two wolves walk into and after that there was just an overwhelming sense of green. When he fully regained consciousness he found himself tied to a tree. He looked around to see nothing but dirt, wood, bushes, and branches.

He panicked for a moment before realizing that Jacopo was in a small net next to him, also attached to the tree, but still fast asleep. He started to test the strength of the vines he was tied down with. As he pushed against them he realized they weren't tied down… they were simply wrapped around him, and as he struggled, they tightened to limit the amount he could move.

He considered changing into a rat, but before he could, he heard a noise, and turned his head to see two wolves emerging from the woods to his right. One of them was dragging the bloody and battered corpse of a dead deer. As it walked toward him it slowly shifted from being a shaggy black haired wolf, into a tall naked man. He had tattoos across his chest that looked like wolf paws, as well as one that looked like a crescent moon.

His hair was down, but Dantes recognized him as the man that had grabbed him at the Vixen only a few weeks before. He clenched his jaw, he should've realized that there was something else going on with the man. He'd even forgotten that the man had warned that he'd be coming for him on the next full moon. The man dropped the dead deer on the ground, his mouth covered in blood and a bit of viscera. He looked at Dantes expectantly, as if expecting some sort of reaction. Dantes had a number of questions.

Why had the man kidnapped him? Why was he tied to a tree in the woods? How did they get there? But in the lingering haze of whatever had put him to sleep and his disorientation there was only one question he could actually get out.

"Why are you naked?" The man blinked, he had not expected that question.

"I was in wolfshape." he said as if that explained it.

"So? When I'm in ratshape I keep my clothes." The man opened his mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by the landing of a massive white eagle holding three rabbits in its beak. It dropped its prey, and shifted slowly into a second man. This one an elf with broad shoulders and long white hair that barely contrasted almost translucent skin that was absolutely covered in golden tattoos, too many to actually identify which animals they were meant to represent. He was also naked. He turned to Dantes.

"You really don't take to my sleep ability well, do you? The amount of times I've had to will you to sleep would make an elephant comatose for a week." Dantes had no idea what an elephant was.

"The deviant says he keeps his things with him when he changes shape." The elf frowned.

"Hmmm, that is very odd." Dantes looked at the two naked men that had just changed from animals to people and still had fresh blood coating the edges of their mouths.

"Yes… I'm the odd one. Excuse me for implying otherwise." Dantes could feel his wits returning as he sat there.

"You're druids, right?" The white elf nodded.

"Why did you kidnap me?"

"Because you need to be initiated," answered the elf.

"And an invitation wouldn't have sufficed?"

"You refused your first invite. It's too dangerous to let an uninitiated druid wander without guidance. You're a risk to yourself and your locus. You could do irreparable harm. Blood rituals, accidental spread of disease, preservation of one species over another. We had to bring you in." as he spoke, the man began cleaning and gutting the hares he'd just brought down. The other man leaned over the deer carcass, eating it raw. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Dantes noted the inclusion of blood rituals on the list, but decided to err on the side of caution and find an indirect way to ask for more information later.

"I didn't realize I was being invited. It seemed more like an attack at the time." The elf looked at the man shoving raw deer meat into his mouth next to the gray furred wolf that Dantes guessed was bound to him in the same way he was Jacopo.

"How exactly did you approach him?"

"Grabbed him. Told him to come with me. City was too noisy, too smelly, too different. Made me feel bad. Couldn't even detect life there. Wanted to leave as soon as possible." he spoke between mouthfuls. The Elf put his hand on his face.

"Mother, grant me patience." he muttered under his breath. He looked at Dantes.

"I'm sorry. He was raised by wolves and doesn't have a lot of experience with cities and manners."

"That was clear. Why send him at all?"

"He was the closest. No one else could forest walk there until the full moon. The trees in Rendhold are too weak to transport to otherwise. If he'd convinced you to leave the city it would've saved a lot of time and lessened the risk you posed." The wolf druid spat.

"Don't need to explain things like this to prey."

"How's your leg?" asked Dantes, recalling that he'd buried a dagger in him the previous night. He growled. Dantes ignored him.

"So, you wanted to initiate me and give me a heads up on a few things. He fucked up the normal invitation, so you came to Rendhold to drag me to it forcibly?"

"Yes."

"Where are we now?"

"The Veridian Expanse, or Abbe Forest if you're elvish." Dantes blinked.

"I have no idea where that is."

"It's in the center of the continent. Roughly…. Five months travel from Rendhold."

"Five…months." Dantes felt his mind prune a number of options for escape and combat from his mind in an instant.

"Well, five months by flight anyway. We got here in moments of course. It's only been half a day." Dantes nodded.

"I'd figured." He sat there for a few moments.

"Will we be able to transport back the same way?"

"Yes. In fact, we'll show you how to do it yourself." Dantes raised an eyebrow at that. Teleporting great distances in an instant… now there was a useful power.

"No we won't," said the wolfman with confidence.

"He is not worthy of that and the conclave will agree with me."

"We are too few to be so picky when a new brother arrives, Murk."

"Better to be dead than to accept the weak and tainted, Traizen." Dantes listened quietly, doing his best to absorb what he was hearing. It wasn't exactly the subtle innuendo of practiced politicians trading barbs, but he stayed focused on it anyway. He had a strong feeling that he needed every advantage and scrap of information he could hold onto.

"Any chance you can release these vines?" asked Dantes.

"I don't have a reason to run, especially since I'm so far from Rendhold. Besides, I want to know more about what it means to be a Druid." He was being sincere as he spoke. He'd been wanting more guidance on being a druid for quite some time. This wasn't his preferred way of learning, but he'd take what he could get.

"Oh, certainly." Traizen made a gently sweeping gesture toward Dantes and Jacopo, and the vines constricting both of them loosened. Dantes stood, and brushed himself off, then picked up a still sleeping Jacopo, and placed him in his jacket.

"Will he be alright?" Traizen nodded.

"Of course. I just had to put him to sleep when we were halfway here. He attempted to free you, and attacked Murk as well." Dantes smiled, and gave his pocket the same friendly pat he'd give it when it was full of a particularly good haul of pickpocketed jewelry.

"Thank you," he sent the thought to Jacopo. It was likely selfishly motivated, after all they were connected at the soul, but he still appreciated the gesture. He felt some slight movement in the pocket, but Jacopo didn't wake up.

"So, what does this initiation entail?"

"A pool, a tree, a full moon and the stars."

"Vague. No schooling beforehand? I have questions."

"Well-""No." interrupted Murk." He won't be initiated. He will not be given the sacred mysteries."

"If he's not going to be initiated then it won't really matter if I answer a few questions, will it?" Murk frowned and cocked his head.

"No…" Dantes stayed silent during the exchange. It was immediately clear to him that if he wasn't initiated he would be killed or at least reduced in some way. He got the distinct impression that the Druids didn't talk to people very often. The elf may have been attempting to be subtle, but to Dantes they were two of the most open books he'd ever seen. It was like seeing a whore saying, "Pay me for a fuck" at a brothel instead of, "Join me for a drink".

Their feelings were written openly across their faces and body language. Not to mention another obvious indication that they really seemed unsocialized.

"I have a few questions, but before we do anything, can I ask a small favor?" Murk said no and Traizen said yes at the same time.

"Would you both mind putting on some pants?"