After an hour of traveling down the river, Shortnose began to stir. It was time to get off. I dragged him off the wooden makeshift raft, making sure not to stab him with my claws. After I got him off and onto the shore I kicked the raft back out onto the river. It floated away in the distance.

"Why, why, why," Shortnose began to mumble. He was clearly out of it, but we didn't have time to waste. Slither would be coming this direction himself and mobilizing his forces.

I let out a sigh of relief for having survived the encounter. I turned to Shortnose and kicked him hard, hoping the pain would shock him back to reality. He just curled up on himself.

"If you don't want to die, then you better pull yourself togeather," I declared. While it wasn't the nicest way to get him to focus, I needed him to be aware of the current situation. Trying to drag along dead weight would just make things a lot more difficult.

"You don't understand, we are going to die horribly," Shortnose said with a moan.

"You are only going to die, if aren't ready to move. We managed to put distance between us and Slither, but I need your help and confirmation of the information you have," I said. The intelligence was to learn the movement of an elder snake and I needed to confirm it before escaping. If Shortnose was useless, then this entire operation would be a massive loss.

"We are dead," Shortnose just kept moaning on the ground.

"What do you know? You can die to the snakes, or you can tell me, and I might get you to safety," I declared.

"There have been resources moved. Slither has been getting raw materials for Haskins. There is a special project near the coast," he said.

"Where exactly?" I asked. The coordinates would take us away from the pickup location and Highwater Bastion. We would be going deeper into snake territory to the far end of the continent. That was a big trip to make and we needed to escape still.

"What about the elder snakes?" I asked.

"I just know that one is overseeing the project. That is why Slither gave such importance to it. They rarely go near the coast, due to the risks of your warships," Shortnose explained. "But we are dead. Slither won't hesitate to hunt us down."

The only thing that the snakes could be building on the coast was a large ship of their own. This was critical information that definitely had to be brought back. That way a strike team could be put togeather to investigate the sight and confirm with the snakes were building a large ship.

They were mining iron ore out of Slither's territory and refining it to steel before shipping it off to the snake Haskins. Even if it wasn't a ship, there could be any number of projects all that metal could be going towards. For a brief moment I thought of snake armor, but there would be no way they would invest in armor, when they believed in their scales.

Shortnose would have useful general knowledge, and it was my mission to get him out of here. How operations were being done and specific personal transfers, along with material movement. I had gotten the most critical information, but he was still a highly valuable resource as the Chief Attendant for one the snakes.

"Up on your paws. If you want to live. Then we need to get out of here," I said while pulling up the rat. That was when my ears twitched slightly, and I heard shouting in the distance. The search parties were closing in and we needed to get out of here as quickly as possible. They were traveling down the river, which was why I had chosen to abandon it before they got too close. My instincts were on point.

Looking at Shortnose he was in mental shock. The hypnosis wearing off clearly wasn't doing his brain any favors. I picked him up and put him over my shoulder. I then started moving through the trees by the side of the riverbank to get to a road.

There was nothing to do but run. Once I reached the dirt road near the river, I crossed it and kept traveling through the jungle. The heat was getting to me, but there was nothing I could do. My breathing was heavy as I tried to keep it steady.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Shortnose kept mumbling as I carried him. That was almost as annoying as the vines blocking my path. I cut through them with my claws, avoiding them where I could. The light was rapidly fading and I was exhausted. Eventually we reached a small stream and several rocks, where I called a halt for the day. It was getting dark, and my legs were about to fall off.

Shortnose wasn't light, combined with the rough terrain and heat, I was one exhausted cat. "Looks like we avoided pursuit," I said.

"It won't work. We will be sniffed out," Shortnose replied.

"Perhaps, but for now we are going to try and make it to the coast to get to our escape route," I said. Paladin Amberheart was waiting with the Night Blade, but I had been detected too quickly and had baggage. I laid down on the rock to rest my body while Shortnose kept moaning occasionally.

I didn't hear anything during the night that indicated pursuers had caught up with us. We were deep in the jungle. The real danger in the jungle were the snakes that lived here on their own, picking off creatures where they could.

Many young snakes were sent out into the wild to fight for survival. If they were strong enough they could come back and get some territory of their own. It wasn't easy or as simple as I made it out to be, but the jungle wasn't safer just because we were avoiding pursuit. It was a proving ground to help create the most vicious, clever, and cunning of snakes. They would eat each other as well, not just other creatures.

Morning came with a light shower. I thought about our position and where I knew we had to go. I would turn back towards the coast and keep heading through the jungle the rest of today. The timing would be tight, but I should make it back to the Night Blade before it departed.

"Wake up," I kicked Shortnose awake. He quickly jumped up with a shout of surprise. "We are leaving," I said.

"Isn't there anything to eat?" he asked.

"Just have to tough it out. Unless you see some food here in the jungle?" I asked him. He shook his head. "Keep up with me, I will clear a path," I said.

That plan lasted for ten minutes before I went back to carrying him. Shortnose was too slow otherwise. We needed to make quick progress through the jungle. We couldn't stop at each vine and tree to think about the best way forward. We needed to keep moving if we were going to get anywhere in a reasonable amount of time.

I had left the road and river directly the previous day, but I would be angling back towards it, heading parallel to the road and the river. The rain made everything more miserable, but I kept moving. My body had kind of recovered, but I was still really pushing myself. Once I got back to safety, I would need some solid rest.

Just before mid-day we came across a tributary that had a lot of plantations along its banks. Observing from the jungle, I saw guards patrolling through the farmland. "Are those guards regular to this area?" I asked Shortnose who took a look.

"No. No. They are Slither's people," he replied. No Apostates thankfully or snakes. But that could easily change if we were discovered. There was a lot of territory the snakes had to cover, since I had lost our original pursuers. "Also soldiers from the capital." I looked where Shortnose had pointed and saw a vehicle, a truck, not a cart.

I noted the two slightly different styles of uniforms. "What does that mean?" I asked Shortnose. I had a couple of guesses, but it was better to ask someone who was familiar with the snakes.

"It means that Slither reported your arrival up the chain of command. Every single town, field, and hole is going to be crawling with soldiers from all over. While it makes Slither look weak, letting us escape would be far worse for him," Shortnose explained. The snakes weren't idiots. They had been resisting and fighting the Covenant Church for years. If they truly were incompetent they would never have been able to hold onto such power.

Looking at the soldiers moving through the area, sneaking by would not be easy. If I was by myself, then there was a strong possibility of getting through, but carrying Shortnose would slow me down too much. "Don't make a noise," I picked up Shortnose and put him over my shoulder.

I set off through the jungle heading for a large ditch. That would give us enough cover to reach the buildings in the middle of the settlement. From there I would make my way to the other side. Shortnose didn't say anything as I carried him and raced along a ditch. We reached a building, and I quickly scaled my way up to the roof. I had to tilt my head and Shortnose kept a grip on my back, so I had all my paws free.

Once we got to the roof, it was much easier to see the patrols moving about. Unfortunately, there were a lot of them and the far side of the village had even more creatures moving about, since a lot of them were tending to the fields on that side of the village. We had to wait, which was infuriating.

There was no other option, unless I chose to fight my way through. I had stirred up the snake nest. The guards and soldiers had nothing else of importance to do. If there was a rebellion or something else happening, then the pressure might have been less. But Slither most likely identified me as an assassin from the Covenant Church, which meant that I would be getting the highest priority. Time was quickly running out. I would have to travel more during the night, which would be a much greater hassle.

It was a shame that I couldn't escape with the truck. Stealing a vehicle would make my location very obvious and there were sure to be checkpoints on the road leading towards the coast. Going on foot was the best option for now, unless I was truly desperate and decided to fight my way through. I might win one or two battles, but I would be worn down. Which was a death sentence here in enemy territory.

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