One More Time (Silus Delmore)

[Substitute Author]

As the ferret stormed away, Silus sighed and sheathed his sword.  Ashira?s reputation for being resourcefully cruel and quick-witted fit her quite well, but the weasel was not without his.  Despite having a close connection with Jonas and being an unofficial subordinate to the pine marten, the vermin crew had marked Silus as being calm, calculating, and independent.  He gained more respect with his unexpected reaction to one of the crew rats making a snide comment about being Jonas? ?side-kick?.  Silus had finished chewing the fish and then calmly wiped his mouth.  The rat opened his maw to spout another insult, but before a full word was uttered, Silus threw the disgusting creature to the ground and had a dagger drawn on him.  Silus asked the rat if he was still a push over and if he?d like to be ?broken? in.  After that, the ship?s crew silently respected him giving him distance, just how Silus thought he should be treated by the lowly types.

Jonas, descendant of the infamous emperor Ublaz, was much more accommodating company, but in the recent months, Silus had slowly grown disgusted.  Jonas may have had his father?s love of knowledge, but he didn?t have the same leadership qualities.  Emperor Malachite made a mistake when he appointed Jonas captain, but Silus thought Jonas? confidence in him was not misplaced.

Reaching a paw into his pocket, Silus grabbed the ring that would shatter any sanity the pine marten had left.

?Jonas, it?s best not to delay the news, but your daughter??

?You found her??  Jonas hopingly said.

Silus cursed silently to himself; Jonas was only going to make this more difficult.  For a moment, Silus considered using the ring he toyed with in his paw to convince the captain that Dyera was dead; it would solve one problem easily and efficiently.

?Your daughter went into a tunnel outside of the fort.  We explored the entrance and a small way inside.  I deemed the cave?let me speak, Jonas, please?the cave not safe to enter without the proper equipment,? Silus said calmly, trying to keep the other from overreacting.  ?Sableclaw found her ring inside, and, well, we came back to get torches and other materials.?
When he offered the ring to Jonas, Silus had it snatched from his paw.  The doctor examined the small possession obsessively, and from what Silus could discern, the pine marten reread his daughter?s name at least five times before looking up with tearing eyes.

?You found her didn?t you??

Silus rubbed his chin before answering, ?No.  Why would we need to come back for equipment if we found her??

?Silus, I thought I thought I could trust you.  Why in hell?s gates did you not keep looking??
?I-?
?You found her didn?t you!?

?Jonas, I-?
?You found her, killed her, and you?re looking for an??

?JONAS!  I came back because I deemed the situation too dangerous.  What good am I if I?m lost in the same tunnel that your daughter disappeared into?  Now, and I hate to say this, but I don?t think finding your daughter should be top priority.  As you know, the slaves escaped, and if we?re going to get off this damned forsaken island, we?ll need them.?
?Silus, I have the empire?s blessing to lead this expedition.  Your Emperor put his trust in me.  Now, find my daughter.?

?You might have the empire?s blessing, Jonas, but I have Vonni?s trust and blessing.  Now, in our best interested, we need to get the escaped slaves recapt??
?FIND MY DAUGHTER!?
Silus discovered a long time ago that a dagger to a beast?s throat quieted them down swiftly, and this was no exception.  Jonas glared as Silus grabbed his collar and pushed him against the wall, all the while the dagger tickling the pine marten?s throat.

?Jonas, finding your daughter is in my interests as well.  But realize before you speak the sacrifices I?ve made for you and your project.  For the past day, I?ve kept my anger quelled trying to provide some stability for you, the crew, and myself, but I am finished dealing with you on this level.  So, here?s what?s going to happen:  I?m going to lower this dagger, and you?re going to calm down.  Tomorrow morning, after breakfast, I will lead a few members of the crew, Sableclaw, and Ashira to the cave and find your daughter.  You, tomorrow, will act like the captain you are supposed to be and figure out how to retrieve the missing slaves.  Understand??

After Jonas nodded as much as the dagger would allow, Silus lowered it and secured it under his right breast pocket of his vest.  Jonas stumbled to his chair beside an insignificant table, sat, and rested his head on his paw.  Silus felt like doing the same, especially right after the sinking, but pitying was not economizing.  He wouldn?t do it then, but now, after the slaves escaping and Jonas breaking down, the accumulating problems might allow for Jonas to be pitied.

The ghost otter walked up behind him, whispered into his ear:  ?Another one so soon, Silus??  The weasel quickly pushed her out of his mind.  No time for that.
?Silus?  Can you have Ashira stay back?  Take two slaves with you to help, but leave her here.?

?We?ll need her experience in tracking.  I haven?t had to track in over ten years, so don?t suggest it.?

?I want her here so that if something bad happens??

?Nothing bad will happen, Jonas.  Trust me.?

?Okay?  Take the slaves with you though.?

Silus shook his head and sighed.  There was no point in arguing over the disadvantages of having slaves to watch; Silus was sure the pine marten would only anger and nothing would be gained.  He headed outside to make sure everything was reasonably under control before heading to his undeniably temporary bed.

~

Silus retraced his pawsteps from the previous day to the dark cave, concerned with his own thoughts and not the crew behind him.  Clayworth and Ashira had him worried.  Clayworth, obviously under some influence, had seen paw prints in the cellars this morning?probably a side-effect of the drugs, but it was still worth listening to.

Ashira, on the other paw, had been recently acting odd around Silus.  He first realized it this morning after breakfast, and upon thinking about it, she had been acting odd for awhile.  She seemed less aggressive towards him, but retained the usual imperative quality about herself.  Sometimes though, she seemed to give orders for the sake of giving them.  This morning was a prime example:  Silus expected to lead the search party to the cave and didn?t need to be told to do so.  He anticipated her staying behind the slaves, but not asking Sableclaw to stay back if her doing so was indeed significant.  What?s her game?  He could only guess with the ferret.

Looking over his shoulder, Silus noted with satisfaction that the worthless vole and rabbit were able to keep pace.  Both, especially the vole, would be excellent candidates to break in; the rabbit would be a new experience, mostly because he was more timid than the two hares he had to abandon.  The last dune was ahead.

Walking carefully down and cursing the sand that had slipped inside his boots, Silus sniffed the air trying to discern any threats that might prey on the party.  Anton stopped beside him, glanced at the cave, and shivered.
?Well, what are you waiting for, Silus.  Lead the way," Ashira said, gesturing with her saber to continue and breaking the silence issuing from the cave.

"Ashira, if you would be so kind, I would prefer you to lead," replied Silus, a stoic look on his face. 

Ashira blinked, rather startled.  "If you insist."  She lowered her voice so that only he could hear and said, "Be sure to keep any blades out of my back." 
Silus smiled.  ?Of course not, it?s just that you?re the better tracker.  It's been awhile since I actually was on the chasing end of the slave market; I'm out of practice."

Ashira smirked at him.  "It might do you well, then to continue ahead for improvement.  But if you so wish it, I will lead the way."  Then she turned toward the crew and said, "Break is over!  On your paws!"  She strode to the cave, expecting the other creatures to follow.
?Sableclaw, Clayworth, I want you to bring up the rear with the vole in front of you.  The rabbit will be behind me.?  He cocked his head at the vole and rabbit and said, ?If you don?t listen and don?t keep quiet, you?ll answer to me.?  The rabbit shivered in fear, but the vole remained concentrated on his own thoughts.  Silus continued, ?If, however, any of you contribute positively to the search, I will consider it respectable favor.?

The weasel entered the cave, smug knowing that the best gift to the slaves would be a quick, but delightfully painful, death.

Sableclaw, kicking him for additional encouragement, ushered the vole in to the cave, whispering to him, ?I hear Silus is worse ?n Ashira when it comes to slaves.  Best do as he asks, unless you want ter be dead, or worse.?
The light flickered casting black shadows against the sides of the tunnel; the flames whipped to and fro dependant on the ever changing airflow of the cave.  Occasionally water would drip onto the torches resulting in a short-lived sizzle.  To Silus, the cave seemed to gain a spiritual essence that hollowed the sounds of the other creatures, their breaths and foot falls squelching off the walls.  Ashira had set a steady pace of silence, occasionally broken by a few whispers from the crewbeasts.

The first obstacle the cave challenged the group with was easily solved.  The fork in the passageway caused some disgruntled mutterings in the back, but when Ashira announced that Dyera?at least Silus hoped Dyera?had taken the right passage, the trainer removed a piece of coal from his vest and marked the side they chose.

?Good idea, Silus,? Ashira complimented.

He gave a curt nod, trying not to think of the consequences if the moisture erased the coal dust.  As a precaution, he tried to memorize the subsequent turns:  right, right, then left, right, past the rock that looked like a fish, another left?wait, did that rock look like a fish or a crescent moon?  It was no use; the tunnel twisted even within its turns and blended together.  Three times already, Silus swore he saw a shape in the rocks that reminded him of a deformed fish.

When the cave widened, Silus walked closer to Ashira so that they could talk without being overheard.  Before he spoke, however, he reached a paw inside his vest preparing to defend himself if she turned against him.  He doubted it.
?Ashira.?
?Yes, Silus??  Ashira asked continuing to walk down the cave.

?What did Sableclaw have to say??  He calmly, confidently waited for the answer.
"As you might suspect, the usual grumbles and complaints on having to find the captain's daugther," Ashira said, and then growled.  ?What do you suppose the odds are she is still alive if this 'Big Evil' the natives talk about exists??
?What do you mean??  Silus asked.  He narrowed his eyes at her.  What game are you playing?

"The 'Big Evil?'  Have you been walking in your sleep this whole time?  Those grungy rats are terrified of it.  Whatever 'it' is," she said and bent down to look more closely at the ground at her paws, before standing back up again and continuing deeper into the tunnel.  Even with the torches it was almost pitch black.

Ashira held up her paw urgently.  The torches flickered violently at the sudden shift in air that caused a deep moan above the group.  Hair bristled; eyes darted around.  Silus felt the tension in the cave surge, and he heard a couple beasts behind him shudder.

Silus crept up beside her and peered into the darkness beyond the torches? reach.  Nothing.  He neither heard nor saw anything in the shadows.
?What is it?? he asked.
?She did not come this way,? Ashira said, looking up at the ceiling.  There was another passage heading up to the surface, or at least it seemed so.  Silus held his torch up inside the vertical passage, the drafts grabbing the flames and hurling them about.  Although the rugged edges appeared to be a viable mechanism for some truly acrobatic beast to climb up, Silus doubted any creature on the island could successfully climb it.
?Where did we lose her??
?I would say we lost Jonas? child yesterday morning the moment she left the fort,? Ashira responded.  Silus bit his lip, trying not to think about that conversation with the pine marten.

?We found her ring at the entrance yesterday though.  She came in here.?
?Yes, Silus she did.  I lost her tracks awhile ago.  Something else met her in this tunnel although I cannot tell from what origin. The tracks give no clues as to what, how many, or when this thing or things travel.  I know though, that we made a wrong turn two rights back.  The rest of the cave that way is undisturbed, and surely nothing went up,? she said, indicating the darkness in front with her free paw.
Silus stared at the vertical passage.  Another ominous gust of air announced the same eerie sigh. No creature could climb that, none.