Chương 70: Poisons and Venoms

"You're not going alone," Tala said. I turned to find her on the porch railing, her tail puffed slightly. I'd been so focused on opening a portal to the Liminal Land to store the cooler that I hadn't noticed her approach.

"I can turn invisible…" I started to say.

"You're. Not. Going. Alone." Her eyes were promising me hell if I disagreed.

"You're not doing it without someone watching your back."

"Tala, this is going to…" I managed to get out before she interrupted me again.

"I'm your wife." She jumped down to the porch, landing directly in front of me.

"For better or worse, remember? This counts as worse. I'm coming." I wanted to argue but the look in her eyes said I'd lose that argument badly.

"Fine," I said resignedly.

"But you stay in the trees. You observe. You don't get directly involved."

"Deal." She touched her nose to mine, brief and gentle.

"I'll be your eyes in the sky, so to speak." Although I thought about saying the birds from the Church of Reincarnation were our eyes in the sky, I decided against that idea. I just gave my true 'eyes in the sky' a nod. Then I opened the portal to the Liminal Land, easier now that I understood I was the Liminal Land, and stored the cooler inside. The poisoned burgers would be safe there, waiting until I needed them. Safe from everything, including Mort.

I'd even taken specific countermeasures to ensure that Mort didn't screw things up. I wasn't sure whether he'd try to eat the poisoned meat or try feeding it to Lifna. Either way, I'd told Bambi to sit on him. Knowing Bambi, she was probably doing that, literally. Now that all the preparations had been taken, we ran off into the dark forest. Tala moved through the trees above me, completely silent. As for myself, I wasn't quite as graceful or quiet. Not my fault, I reassured myself. She's going too freaking fast.

Thankfully, by the time we got close to the first bait site, she had slowed down so that I could move a little more quietly. Part of me did wonder if maybe, just maybe, she had been going so fast just to give me a little payback. Still, it did get me thinking about flying. Maybe next time I would turn into a bat. Although I'd considered a bird form, I couldn't bring myself to turn into either a raven or a bat. And also, I was kind of starting to enjoy being a raccoon.

As for the first bait site, it was a small clearing Luke had marked on his map, a few miles from my property line in the direction the Wild People had retreated after the battle. It was also where Tala confirmed she'd intentionally gone too fast earlier. Ignoring my frustration, I pulled some burgers from the cooler and then immediately put it back into the Liminal Lands. The smell hit me immediately. It smelled like savory meat despite being entirely plant-based. The Wild People wouldn't stand a chance.

I unwrapped a few of the burgers and placed them on a flat rock, clearly visible in the moonlight. Hopefully, what they would miss was the fact that it was laced with rat poison. I stepped back and felt something twist in my chest. It wasn't guilt, not really. I just… didn't want to do what I was about to do. This is necessary, I told myself. They attacked first. They killed Buck, Almond, and the others. With that in mind, I activated my Mask of Many Paws and faded from sight while the wait began.

We waited silently, watching the bait site. Although we could have spoken together telepathically, apparently, neither of us was feeling particularly talkative at that moment. I suppose we were both waiting to see if Luke's plan would work. They came an hour later. There were three of them. They were child-sized and moved through the forest with the practiced stealth of experienced hunters. They stopped when they smelled the first burger. Their heads turned and their noses twitched.

One of them approached cautiously. He was probably the leader since he looked older than the others. At least judging by the scarring on his arms and chest. He circled the burgers once, sniffing for threats as he looked around. Fortunately, the meat was seasoned enough that catching the scent of a raccoon was probably more difficult. Then he grabbed it and took a massive bite. The reaction was immediate. His eyes widened. He made a sound, not quite a word, but definitely communicative.

The others rushed forward, fighting over the food. They snarled as they fought over the few burgers. I was starting to wish that I'd left more burgers out. The leader got the largest share, but the other two got enough. Within seconds, the burgers were gone, despite their enormous size. After they were done, they huddled together. The leader then said, "We've eaten. Back to the base." This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

The other two looked annoyed, but said nothing. They just fell in behind the leader as they started back. Seeing that I was being left behind, I quickly stood up from where I'd been hiding in some brush. Whenever I wasn't sure of the way they'd gone, I'd look up at one of my 'eyes in the sky' to find the right direction. Silently, Tala shadowed me from above. The Wild People led me northeast, deeper into the forest, into an area I'd never explored. The terrain was rocky with steep slopes.

It was starting to get more difficult to navigate easily. Then they disappeared behind a thick tangle of brush. I looked up and noticed that my flying scouts had landed in the tree, with Tala joining them. That let me know we'd reached their base. I approached carefully, still invisible. Once I was closer, I tried to listen to their voices, but I heard nothing. I frowned, finding that odd. Maybe they don't small talk, I thought. At least they have one good quality.

I continued to wait, the silence starting to get on my nerves. I was starting to wonder if maybe it was an underground passage or tunnel. Realizing I might be losing them, I headed inside. I pushed through the brush and found the cave entrance. As expected, I found a small hidden entrance. It would've been easy to miss if I hadn't been looking for it. Cautiously, I moved deeper into the cave. That was when I encountered them, already sleeping. Part of me was confused. They hadn't left anyone on watch.

They were also alone, just the three of them. So, obviously this wasn't their home. Which made me wonder, why didn't they go home? While I thought about such questions, I watched for signs of the poison taking effect. However, since they were sleeping, there was nothing to see. Still, the rat poison should have started working by now, at least to some degree, especially considering how much rat poison had been in the meat. Luke had said I'd see signs within a few hours. After a few days, they would die.

However, the poison didn't seem to be working, at least not yet. Then again, I could just be too impatient. Part of me was also concerned about the fact that I knew they worked with poisons. Hopefully, that wouldn't be immune or resistant to the poison. That made me think, Are they immune to poison? Well, I can test that. Rattlesnakes had a venom that affected the blood. I remembered Luke saying it was called hemotoxin. There was already rat poison in their system, which also affected blood.

If they died more quickly than they would have otherwise, it would prove that the rat poison would affect them. I just had to see how long it would take for them to die. Because of this, I shifted into a rattlesnake and slowly crawled closer. It wasn't something I enjoyed. It felt too… limiting. My vision, hearing, and just about everything else also felt different. I slithered toward them, my belly scraping against stone and earth, and tried not to think about what I was about to do.

The cave was warmer inside with three bodies radiating heat like small suns in my thermal vision. I approached one of them, the boss. This close, I could see details I'd missed from a distance. There were scars on his arms and torso. Some were old, while others were more recent. Taking a moment, I gathered my courage. Then I struck. My fangs sank into his neck. Venom pumped, and hemotoxin flooded his system, combining with whatever rat poison was in his blood.

I retreated immediately, shifting to invisible mouse form while the leader jerked awake. His eyes were wide, clearly confused. In fact, he looked terrified. The leader of the Wild People clutched his throat, making choking sounds. He staggered upright. The other two scrambled awake. They saw their leader dying and panicked.

"What's wrong?!" one shouted.

"Something bit me!" The leader gasped, searching frantically.

"Find it!" They searched while their leader weakened, falling to his knees. I watched from the shadows, invisible. Within fifteen minutes, he was dead, his neck was swollen and bruised. His final word was, 'Gratcha.' I had no idea what or who that was. What I did know was how creepy his eyes looked as they continued to stare into nothingness after he died. The other two stared at the body in horror.

"Snake," one whispered.

"Just... bad luck." Still, neither one felt inclined to search for me. Instead, they grabbed their weapons and ran. I let them go. The birds would follow and track them to their base. That would give us the intelligence we needed. If I did this a few more times, the poisoned survivors would head home. Then I could lead the Raven Mocker to them. Once she smelled their impending deaths from poison, she'd finish them off. Of course, the Wild People who weren't poisoned would fight back.

Hopefully, they would take each other out without me having to get too much blood on my paws. However, I knew I would be getting more blood on my paws tonight. Considering how quickly the leader had succumbed to the rattlesnake venom, the rat poison was going to work. In a few days, those two would be dead. Now I just needed to use the rest of the bait, and wait. Slowly, I emerged from my hiding spot and shifted back to raccoon form.

Then I stood over the body of the Wild Person I'd just killed as I tried to compose myself before going outside. Although I knew he was a Wild Person, I had to wonder, Did he have a family? Could we have made peace with them? I hadn't even given him a chance. While that was part of nature, it still bothered me. I'd killed him. Not in battle. Not in fair combat. I'd murdered him in his sleep. I poisoned people and killed someone in the dark, while they were sleeping.

I waited for the guilt or for the horror, but I didn't feel either. I regretted what I had to do, but I also knew it needed to be done. It was necessary. Part of me wondered if something was wrong with me. Why don't I feel worse? That was when I felt the Web of Wisdom shuddering for a moment. I could hear it. It wasn't whispering. It was all but shouting, CHANGE. I didn't know if that was a warning or confirmation. Should I be terrified or relieved? I wondered.

Realizing I wasn't going to find my answers staring at the leader's body, I stored it in the Liminal Land. Then I walked outside, where Tala was waiting for me.

"Is it done?" she asked quietly.

"Yes, I did what had to be done," I said.

"Are you okay?" she asked. I didn't answer immediately. How can I answer that? I just killed someone. I tested poison on him like he was a lab rat. And I'm planning to do it again. Multiple times. I didn't answer immediately. Finally, I said, "Ask me tomorrow. For now, though, we have more bait to place." Tala pressed herself against my side, warm and living. I hugged her for a minute, then let go.

"Let's go. We are going to have a busy night."