Until she heard the sound of hooves on the road. A great number of hooves. She froze immediately and crouched down behind the hedgerow. A tiny gap in the tightly woven branches gave her a view onto a short section of the road beyond. The sound of hooves drew closer and closer, growing to thunderous volume.
And suddenly her view of the road was filled with riders. Feena caught a brief glimpse of Velsinore and Mifano in the lead, both of them following a flickering blue ball of crackling energy. Other riders followed them: half a dozen, a full dozen… twenty, easily. Feena drew back her lips. Velsinore and Mifano must have emptied Moonshadow Hall to carry out their pursuit. There couldn't have been more than novices, untested acolytes, and a scant handful of old priestesses left in the temple.
Moonlight shone bright around the entire party, strong enough to cast shadows beyond the hedgerows.
More than that, the hooves of the galloping horses shimmered silver when they touched the ground. Some magic sustained the animals, lending them speed and strength. Feena spared a prayer for Julith and Keph. Their lead over their pursuers wouldn't last for long.
As abruptly as they had appeared, the riders were gone, past her hiding spot and on down the road. Feena leaped back to her feet and resumed her pace. How much farther? How long had she and Keph walked? How long had they sat and talked?
The eastern horizon was purple-gray when the crops in the fields thinned and vanished. The walls of Yhaunn rose ahead. Out on the road, farmers and merchants were already beginning to move in and out of the city gates. Feena didn't bother looking for a particularly sheltered place to change. She made her transformation crouched in the shadow of a bush, hastily donning the bundled robe Julith had given her. The robe had a cowl. She pulled it up.
Grat and his partner were still on duty, though it seemed they were paying less attention to the travelers passing through the gates than they were to gossiping about the night that the clergy of Moonshadow Hall had apparently gone mad. Feena kept her head down and hurried past in the shadow of a wagon piled high with casks.
Julith hadn't thought to include sandals with the robe. Feena walked barefoot through the slowly stirring streets of Yhaunn. After so long in the dark, the light of torches and lanterns seemed harsh to her eyes. She darted from shadow to shadow, moving like a thief. Her muscles ached and trembled from the long walk, followed by the long run. She yearned to find a bed or even a dark corner to curl up in.
She couldn't. Dhauna Myritar needed her.
When she came within sight of Moonshadow Hall, Feena paused and bit her lip in thought. How was she going to get back into the temple? Even with most of the clergy out following Mifano and Velsinore, Idruth and her kitchen staff would be at work. Going over the kitchen wall was out of the question. The front gates were kept closed overnight, and though they were never locked, they would be guarded. Feena drew a sharp breath. If she had to use her magic against another acolyte, so be it.
For once, it seemed, fortune was with her. When she eased open one of the gates and peered through, she discovered the acolyte on dutya girl even younger than Jhezzailcrouched against a wall inside. Her head was down on her chest and she was sound asleep. Feena slipped through the gate, drew it closed, and padded into the temple. The slow rhythm of the girl's breathing didn't even shift.
There was a surprise waiting within the temple, however. The thick scent of roasting meat carried through the halls along with the sound of even more kitchen activity than usual. Idruth and her staff were especially busy, as if preparing for a feast… Feena's eyes widened as she remembered what day it was: the new moon.
In the face of everything that had happened, Velsinore was carrying on with the New Moon Beneficence. Unbelievable.
At least the activity was confined to the kitchen. The rest of Moonshadow Hall was quiet and empty. Feena creeped softly through the corridors, as silent as a novice sneaking in after curfew. The infirmary lay toward the back of the temple, on the side opposite the kitchens. She reached it without seeing another person and opened the tall doors silently.
The infirmary was a disaster. Beds had been overturned and cabinets smashed. Bandages and supplies were scattered everywhere. Shattered bottles spilled from one toppled cabinet. A mineral, metallic stink rose from them. Feena breathed through her mouth trying to block out the smell.
Up above all of the devastation, the entire ceiling shone with the bright, soft light of a full moon. Feena gazed at it in wonder. What magic had Dhauna called down to conjure such a thing?
She crossed under the shining ceiling to a door in one walla heavy door, crossed with iron bands and two, stout bolts on the outside. A door meant not for keeping people out, but for keeping something else in. She remembered all too well the cold grating of those bolts as they slid home.
"Mother Dhauna?" she called.
There was a little covered hatch in the center of the door, a window into the room beyond. Feena opened it carefully.
With a tremendous growl, a heavy weight crashed against the door. Narrow jaws and white teeth snapped together inches from Feena's peering eyes before falling away. She gasped and jerked back out of reflex.
She could hear the wolf as it paced back and forth on the other side of the door, and imagine it glaring up at the little window, waiting for another chance to strike. She set her jaw and stepped up once more.
The wolf leaped at the door again, but Feena didn't flinch back. When the wolf fell away, she peered through the window. The room beyond was small, barely big enough for a large animal to take three strides from wall to wall. When she had been at Moonshadow Hall, it had been dark and empty. Since then, it had been filled with shelves of clean linens. Under the light of the moonglow that extended inside, however, Feena could see that the shelves had been broken and the linens shredded. The foul pungency of urine wafted through the open window.
The wolf that was Dhauna Myritar circled through the torn, stinking cloth, then charged the door once more. Her body slammed into the wood and iron, her claws scratching as if she could climb it. She propped herself up against the door, and leaned there, snarling and snapping, the tip of her muzzle just below the window. Feena stood on her toes and looked down. The wolfs muzzle was heavily frosted with gray and white. Her teeth, when she bared them, were worn and dull. Feena waited. Eventually, Dhauna sagged down from the door and stalked away.
Her muzzle wasn't the only part of her that showed her age. Dhauna's gait was awkward, as if her back and hips were stiff. She was small as well, and her legs and chest were thin and frail. She limped badly, one foreleg clearly injured. Blood spotted her fur and stained some of the torn linens. Her tail dragged low behind her.
"With Selune's blessing," the elderly high priestess had said, "I will be stronger, more vitalthe Moonmaiden's arm!"
Feena tore her gaze away from the window. Dhauna's mad expectations of the transformation had failed her. Feena didn't think she had ever seen an older wolf.
Steeling herself, she peered through the window once more. The moonlight wasn't doing Dhauna any good. She touched her medallion.
"In Selune's name," Feena prayed, "let this magic be ended."
Throughout the infirmary, the light flickered and faded, leaving only a few of the cool crystal lights that illuminated the corridors of Moonshadow Hall behind. Dhauna spun around in a circle, howling in alarm. Feena waited. On the night of a true full moon, it wouldn't be so easy to put an end to the transformation, but removing the magical light would be enough for the moment.
At least it should have been enough. Dhauna stopped howling and eased down into a crouch, staring at Feena with hot yellow eyes. But there was no change. The woman didn't emerge from the wolf.