Chapter 4: Fox Hunt

Naomi spent the next few hours waiting patiently for the activity in the camp to cease. She watched as the men worked tirelessly to load crates onto the boats. Once they were full, both boats departed to transfer things to the ship in the distance. They returned again not long later and the process repeated itself. 

It was making her nervous. Eventually they would begin to move the cages as well. If they did that tonight, she wouldn’t even get the chance to enact her plan. Luckily, her biggest worry didn’t happen. It seemed that the hunters planned to stop halfway through and finish their work in the morning.

During all this time, a few hunters had come over to her cage to take a look. When they did, she tried her best to appear pitiful and hopeless so they would not suspect anything. Of course, none of the hunters showed any compassion towards her situation. There were some who even reveled in teasing her. Whatever these strange tailless creatures were, they seemed to have cruel hearts. 

The girl sighed to herself as she leaned against the bars. She didn’t understand why this group had come or what they wanted with her. When she escaped tonight, would they give up and leave? Or would she and Lillian need to be wary in the forest forever after this? Perhaps she would even need to make a new den far from her favorite bathing spot. Once she thought of that possibility, Naomi couldn’t help but feel angry. Hmph! Stupid, mean no-tails!

She ended up needing to wait longer than expected before the hunters went to sleep. Even after they finished their work, they still stayed up drinking around their fire. Naomi hugged her shoulders as she watched them from afar. The flickering glow looked warm and cozy. It had grown cold in the back of the camp after nightfall and all she had was the hard, metal floor of the cage for comfort.

One by one, the drunken men stumbled off to bed. Finally, after what felt like half the night had passed, the camp had quieted down. Even then there were a few men who were left as sentries, but this was probably the best chance she was going to get. She decided that she needed to take the risk.

Naomi looked around to make sure there was no one nearby. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves, then used her kitsune magic to shapeshift. Her body emitted a dull bluish glow as she slowly shrunk. The ropes binding her wrists and ankles fell away from her now much smaller limbs. At the same time, the dress she had been wearing covered over her like a blanket. When the glow receded, a little red fox poked its head out from the dress. 

The process was rather slow and cumbersome. That was due to her inexperience. Although kitsune possessed an innate talent and affinity for some kinds of magic, that did not mean they were born as fully fledged spellcasters. The only magical ability that could truly be said to belong to all kitsune was their ability to shift between their demi-human and fox forms, but even this would benefit from knowledge and practice. An experienced kitsune sorceress who knew what she was doing could shift between forms in a flash and even shift their clothing and equipment with them. Unfortunately, Naomi was only a young girl barely 18 years of age. For long-lived races, that was practically still a child. She was not yet so skillful. At least she knew enough to save herself in this situation.

In her fox form, Naomi was now small enough to squeeze between the bars of her cage. She had to wiggle and kick, but she slipped out without a lot of trouble. Tomorrow, the hunters would find nothing but the dress she left behind. They would probably scratch their heads thinking that she vanished into thin air. At least that humorous thought made her feel a little better for going through this dreadful night.

She slipped between two tents and ran in the same direction as she had been carried in from. There was one man still awake near the center of the camp that she needed to avoid, but it was easy enough. In this form, she wasn’t even the height of his knees. The hunters would never think to look for a little fox. Not only were they sure she was securely locked up, they had no idea she could shapeshift. 

Stealthy and silent, she peered around corners and dodged patrolling sentries. Her heart was pounding with a mixture of nervousness and excitement. Soon she would be back in her den, safe and sound. When she saw her friend Lillian again, she could tell her all about this adventure.

Naomi crouched low as she scurried away to the far side of the camp. She was so eager to escape that she grew a little careless and hurried. It didn’t matter, she was at the last tent. After that, it was nothing but flatland all the way up to the forest. But when she rounded the corner and saw what was on the other side, she froze stiff. There was a post with three dog beasts leashed to it.

To call these creatures ‘dogs’ was a stretch. They looked similar to dobermans with ash-gray fur, but they were more than twice as large and far more muscular. Their bodies were twisted and unnatural. Each had curled black claws as sharp as blades and multiple rows of jagged teeth. But the most striking feature was that their eyes burned red like flame. In the Dominion, these beasts were known as hellhounds and they were commonly trained as guard dogs or for hunting. No one knew for certain of their origins, but it was often speculated that long ago some twisted individual mixed normal dogs with demon blood.

The three hellhounds were laying around the post lazily, but the moment that the little fox stood face to face with them all three sprung up to their feet. For a moment, they just stared at her. Then one began to let out a low growl. That was the trigger for the others. All three began to bark and dash towards her. 

Naomi was paralyzed with fear. She saw her death approaching. In a moment she would be ripped to shreds by these horrific beasts. Her instincts were screaming for her to flee as fast as she could, but her legs just trembled and her body wouldn’t obey her commands. All she could do was close her eyes. However, her end did not come. The three hounds were stopped just a couple feet short of her by the chains around their necks. She finally came to her senses and bolted into the night as fast as she could. 

Although the hounds were not able to reach her, they were barking like crazy. The noise had already attracted the attention of the sentries. Soon, the whole camp would awake. And not long after that, they would discover that she was missing. Her only hope was to put as much distance between them and her as possible with the few minutes headstart that she had.

She sprinted as fast as her little fox legs could carry her. Even when her chest and throat burned from the exertion, she still did not dare to slow down. Faster. She needed to run faster or they would catch her again. 

Although Naomi had been afraid before in the cage, she was able to take comfort in the knowledge that she had a method to escape. It was different now. If those men caught her again, they would surely watch her more closely. Her shapeshifting trick wouldn’t save her once they knew of it. Even worse, they would definitely be angry that she fooled them once. She dreaded to think what kind of vengeance such hateful people would enact on her.

All these worries passed through her thoughts as she did her best to increase her pace. Her legs and feet felt like they were being stabbed with needles. She struggled to control her breathing as her chest heaved up and down. Naomi could feel her heart pounding so hard that she thought it would burst. But still she ran. 

It took her an hour before she reached the outskirts of the forest, but she continued to push on for another half hour. Eventually, she had no choice but to stop at least long enough to catch her breath. But poor Naomi was not given long to recover. Only a minute after she had stopped to rest, she heard barking in the distance. When she gazed back the way she came, she saw torchlight through the trees.

Naomi forced herself to stand and continue on. Her pursuers fanned out to cover a wide area as the hellhounds led the way. The three beasts were tracking the little fox by her scent. 

Tears started to fall from her eyes. Her situation seemed hopeless. She was agile in her fox form, but she wasn’t an endurance runner. If she could change back into her demi-human form she might be able to run for a longer distance, but that would mean staying still during the slow transformation. Even if she somehow managed, she still didn’t believe she could outlast the hunters. 

The sound of barking grew closer with every passing minute. Now she could hear human voices mixed in. They shouted to each other spreading orders and reporting in. Naomi got the impression that they knew they were closing in on her. Flickering torchlight elongated the shadows of the trees making them dance in confusing patterns. They weren’t just straight behind her anymore, but at her sides as well. Soon it would be all over. Perhaps they wouldn’t even bother to bring her back to their camp this time and instead they would let their hounds tear her to pieces. She imagined them laughing while she cried and begged.

The young girl was struggling to continue any longer. She wasn’t so much as running any more rather than stumbling forward. Just before she felt like she was about to collapse from exhaustion, Naomi’s ears perked up. She heard something ahead of her. Not the snarling of hounds or the footfalls of hunters, something entirely different. Water. Rushing water. It had to be a river!

Naomi felt like breaking down and crying, but this time tears of joy. If she could float down the river, maybe she still had a chance to escape. The hounds would lose her scent and the hunters wouldn’t know exactly where she exited from. They would have no choice but to delay and widen their search.

Despite her aching body and labored breathing, the sudden hope that she might make it out of this gave Naomi the strength to press on with renewed focus. She summoned the last reserve of energy that moments ago she didn’t believe her body possessed. Just a little further. She just needed to hold on a little bit longer and everything would be alright. 

The corners of her vision were hazy and darkening. Several times now she had tripped over roots and nearly fallen flat on her face. She ignored everything else around her, looking only straight ahead. She could see it now. The river was just ahead. Just a few more steps. Just a little longer.

Sadly, Naomi’s miracle escape was not destined to be. She was laser-focused on the center of her vision, unable to hear anything but the rushing of blood in her ears and her own breathing. The girl had no idea how close her pursuers were behind her until something wrapped around her legs. One of the hunters threw some kind of rope with weights and used it to trip her up. Her momentum continued to send her forward even with her legs restrained. Naomi had barely been standing before to begin with. She fell. 

No. It wasn’t fair. She was so close. Just a few more steps. Just a little longer…

The last thing that Naomi remembered seeing was a set of heavy leather boots stepping up beside her. She laid her head down in the soft grass and closed her eyes. It felt so nice to stop running. Just as comfy as her warm and cozy den. Her body went weightless as she floated upwards. She vaguely understood that someone had grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and lifted her. Finally, it all went black as exhaustion fully took hold.