Silver Moon: Bk. 02 Ch. 07

Pam raised an eyebrow and then frowned since there was one of the red areas in the royal family section. "That isn't good and we are going to start there. When I say we I am talking the adults. I do not want you anywhere near this in case it is really bad. I am not going to have to tell your parents that something happened." *Xipil, Geoff, Mari I need you in my rooms and it is urgent. Urgent as in now please.*

Xipil was in the middle of a meeting when he received the summons. "Sorry ladies and gentlemen I was just notified of an urgent meeting that I simply can't miss. We will pick this up later." He stood and swept from the room before hurrying to Pam's room. When he walked in Pam gestured to a seat and he settled down.

Geoff and Mari were both busy though for Geoff it was helping to train what was going to be the elite troops. In Mari's case it was with that silly old bitch who was still trying to keep the changes to a minimum. Frankly Mari was about ready to chew her head off and give it to the pups to play with. "I didn't ask you idiot. I gave you a command and if you cross me again you will be a kickball for the pups. Now get it done before I come back." Her eyes were changing in color as she stood and stomped out.

She was still fuming when she reached Pam's room and snarled. "Any more resistance to my orders and that damn bitch is going to be torn to shreds in the courtyard." She glared at Xipil when she said that. They had discussed the intransigents of some of the old guard as she was coming to think of them. They were digging their feet in and doing their best to slow down and resist any changes.

Geoff came in and wrapped his arms around her and gave her a gentle kiss before nibbling on her lower lip. "Relax love and focus on why we are here. We will deal with her later." When she started to relax he directed her to a chair.

Xipil was seriously going to need to do something about the staff and some of the officials. He didn't want to just kick everyone out from the prior leader's reign but he was getting close to it. "I will see about terminating some of the worst and make an example of them. Maybe that will help."

Pam growled at the two. "Take it to your rooms you two. My mate isn't here currently." She growled a bit more and then snickered. "On a more serious note Amarish and Kasai have something they want to show us. I gave them a task a while ago to note down any spots in the palace that didn't feel right, made them scared or the two picked up as bad. I figured since they were doing the mouse hunts they would be perfect for this. In any case I asked about the status. Amarish show them what you have so far."

When the others came in both Kitsunes stood up and gave them all a nice bow. Once Pam had indicated that they could sit down they did though they stayed sitting up and not lounging like they usually did. Amarish focused on his map again and called it up. He was pleased that he had been able to duplicate the same feat twice. Since Auntie Pammy had been focused on the section in the leaders section he carefully focused and zoomed in on that section of the palace. "Here is where we's found bad feeling place."

He frowned and looked at Kasai and they talked via the bond for a moment before he turned back. "We's not really think about it. As if walk away and forget." He frowned and muttered something in kitsune.

Pam frowned at him. "Say that again and I will spank you. no swearing for you young man." She didn't blame him since essentially he was saying he had been forced to forget what was there. "Before we do anything I want this section cleared of all staff and people other than us. I am not going to take a chance that anyone, and especially the pups, will be injured by what is hidden there." She looked at the two little Kitsunes. "Go to the wolf's section and remain there till I call for you. Tell the senior female to call all the pups and children to the pack section as well."

Amarish stood and hopped down as did Kasai. Before they left both hopped up on Pam's lap and gave her a good hug before poofing.

"Well gentlemen and lady how do you want to do this?" Pam asked. She might be the most senior and powerful Kitsune in the room but she was still a total novice. She wanted suggestions and options.

Xipil sent for one of his specialist's. He was trained in a number of different magic's and how to identify them. He noticed Geoff doing much the same. "We have sent for some specialists who are familiar with a variety of magic's. If they can't identify it or it is too dangerous we will need to step back and consider other options."

Everyone traded looks and then nodded. Since they were waiting for the specialists to show up they simply sat. They were also contemplating the schematics and now that they could focus on the section it was rather obvious. There was a space between the former Emperor's room and the next room over. It was a reasonable sized area that could contain almost anything.

It wasn't more than ten minutes before the two specialists showed up. Xipil gave them a quick overview of what had been found. The two looked at the schematic of the palace and frowned. Using the bonds they quickly talked about it and then came to an agreement. One was going to provide the shield to protect the other. The other was going to be sending feelers out and see what he could find and what sort of response they encountered.

Shortly after the two were done talking the all clear was sent to all who were in the room. The entire wing was cleared out and people had been moved away from the throne room. Xipil stood and indicated the two to lead the way. "If you have shields call them up. Mari stay next to Geoff and he can protect you."

She nodded and moved over to Geoff and stood next to him. Once the two left the room the rest followed several steps behind. Not knowing how the evasion spell was configured they might have tripped some alert and it might be waiting to activate a defense.

As they slowly approached the leader's room they slowed down even more as the second Kitsune was testing the spiritual feel as well as any other sensations related to magic. He paused as they stopped at the entrance of the suite. He was starting to sweat some as he was working. As his feelers were probing the room he had to shudder several times. As soon as they encountered anything that was 'wrong' they would draw back but mentally mark the item.

Finally he had to take a break and pulled a flask out and sucked down about half of it and made a face. The drink was vile tasting but would keep him going for several more hours. It was dangerous if used too much but this was important. "Clan lords and ladies there is definitely magic of some sort in here. I don't recognize the feel or signature of it but it is steeped in darkness. I am familiar with virtually all the magic styles, both good and bad, on the west coast, Nippon, and Korea. The closest I could guess would be traces of some type of shamanistic magic combined with the malignancy, and maybe something from the east coast."

The other nodded. "I agree with what he said but for some reason the 'tang' of the magic almost feels familiar. It is like that memory that is on the tip of your tongue. It isn't quite there and the more you concentrate the harder it is to find. I would recommend that we all change our shields to something more complex. Something designed to protect from a variety of magic's.

~~~

Dan and his wolf suddenly appeared on one of the moon paths. He knew what they were but had rarely ever gone to them. He figured if his mistress needed something she would tell him one way or another. It just felt wrong to both he and his wolf to come here and beg for her intervention unless it was truly urgent and not something he could resolve.

As he looked out over the moon path it was covered with white sand and the moon was large in the sky. To the sides were fields and trees and they were a pale white as well. He glanced over at his wolf since here they were separate though still connected. "Well ol' boy shall we start walking? She might be a bit miffed if we were late for whatever she has in mind."

His wolf looked at him and rolled his eyes. Sometimes he really didn't understand his human side. In this case it was the flippancy he was using as Dan talked to him. He gave a snort of annoyance and started walking. Dan could catch up as he wished. For now he was going to respond to the summoning.

Dan grinned at the wolf since he knew what was going though his mind. He followed alongside his wolf as he stood and walked away. Just for good measure Dan started humming a silly song to annoy his wolf a bit more. It was an old game to them though in this case if he irritated him to much he could bite him. It wouldn't be a real bite since they were on the moon paths but it would still hurt.

How long they walked didn't really matter since time ran at whatever speed she wanted. When they finally started approaching a clearing Dan became more serious and settled down. When they walked in SHE was there. He went down to one knee and bowed his head. His wolf rolled over and exposed his throat and belly in submission. "You have called Mistress? How may this lowly servant of yours be of use?" His voice was filled with awe and pleasure that she had chosen to call on him.

She slowly walked over to the two and smiled. "Stand my wolf and relax. I needs speak to you for a moment before I must send you back." Though she showed little favoritism Dan was one wolf she greatly enjoyed. He was stubborn, bullheaded, willful, and occasionally downright disrespectful.

Dan stood and looked at her before meeting her eyes. She was as pale as the moonlight which made sense. Her body was tall and lithe and moved with a grace all her own. When she changed to her other form she was a solid white and her eyes were silver. "I am yours to command Mistress. Tell me what you need and I will do my poor best."

She laughed. "Oh my Danny boy you are one of my favorites, enough of the subservience from you. Face me like the proud wolf you are. If not I am going to begin to wonder if you were replaced by someone else."

Dan grinned and with a twinkle in his eye he stepped forward and gently took one of her hands and lifted it to his nose before kissing it. "Tis been a while milady and tis good to see thee. How I have longed to see your grace and beauteous form again. It is with a mournful sigh that I must inform you that dally anymore I cannot. I have since found a new and hopefully final mate. She hath claimed my heart though it makes me sad that I can't pause to spend some time with you."

She laughed and patted him on his cheek. "That is much better my Danny but I do need to be serious now that you have flirted with me." Her expression hardened. "There is a great evil approaching your new world and you and your lady mate are the rocks for it to break on. If you remain true to yourself and what you are you will survive. There will be pain and loss but you will overcome those if you persevere. As you know I test my wolves to find out who is worthy and who isn't. It isn't out of some perverted enjoyment. It is because when you come through the testing the dross is shattered and cleaned away. This allows the solid metal of your heart and mind to show."

He paused and tilted his head at her. His wolf took the same position since they were still one. "I am beginning to be aware of the darkness since it tried to kill me. I will not let it and when I meet the bastard I will chop him into little bits and pieces. They will be cleansed with the fire of the sun and scattered amongst the darkness of which it has vilely warped for its use." He stood straight and met her eyes and his were as hard as her's. "I know of your testing and why you do it. I bear no ill will towards you for what happened in my world. I have lost a mate and children and accept that. I also accept that it was necessary to force me to break my spirit so I could be reforged for my role in this world. I miss them and mourn them but I count it a blessing that I found my mate as soon as I did. I will mourn my last mate as I did my first but I won't let that drag me down and won't let it come between my mate and I."

She reached forward and stroked his cheek. "Thank you for that Dan. It hurt me as much or more than it hurt you to lose her and your children. I have brought them to my pack and given them the gift of lycanthropy. She and your pups sing to me with the rest of my pack. She is content though she misses you as well."

She looked deeply into his eyes. "I am sorry my son but I must test you more to finish the forging of your soul."

As she was speaking Dan was swallowed up in her eyes. "I give you this gift, when needed you has what is needed to remove the scourge on your soul. Till you are called you will forget." Before she sent him back she did grin at him. "I meant to say the tails look good on you." With that she sent him back to his body.

Dan felt the warmth and fire inside again and his consciousness dimmed as it was waiting for the call.

~~~

Pam nodded as did the others. The three of them might be more powerful than the specialists but they were trained for this. She turned to Xipil and waited for him to speak. Geoff and Mari did much the same.

Xipil simply nodded at the two. "What do you want us to do? You are the specialists so show us how you want our shield to be modified and we will do it." He felt them figure out the best form for the shields and finally sent each one a different version.

"Lady Pamela since you have access to the power of all the clan's we have added some special complexity to your shields. It will be using the power of the sun, the moon, and the night. Do as I show you please." The specialist touched her spirit and showed her how to set up the multi-layered shield. Once he was satisfied he spoke again. "We are going in first and to the primary source of the infection. Follow us but not too closely. The shields are designed to interlock and will protect all of us."

Xipil nodded and gestured for them to proceed. They did and both had some sort of crystalline rod in their hands. As they slowly moved in they would slowly move the rods back and forth to locate the source. Eventually they separated and focused on one wall. As they approached the wall they slowed down. One tossed some prepared dust at the wall and it adhered to the strongest source of the malignancy.

*Everyone step back. It is potentially trapped and we have no idea what might happen. Gather your powers and have your weapons ready. I am getting ready to trip the door and see if it will open." He concentrated his energy and slowly started murmuring strange words in Kitsune as one hand started to draw symbols in air.

~~~

As soon as the magic wards on the room sensed the gathering Kitsune power it activated the guardian. It also sent a signal to the vile one letting him know that something was going on. When he received it his head jerked up from what he had been doing. The lovely young girl who was tied to his bed would have to wait. He had just gotten started playing with her and she already needed time to recover. As he looked at her slender body the lines he had scored into her flesh were pulsing with darkness. It wasn't warping her spirit or soul since that would reduce the power as well as his enjoyment. "Rest my lovely treat and have no fear I will be back."

His cloaked and shadowed form flowed from the room and to the room he did all his magic in. The first thing he did was go to a prepared bowl of water. If any alerts were received an image of the location would start forming. He looked into the bowl and snarled. Those spineless over sized useless foxes were in the room as well as one wolf. It was obvious they had found the secret room the emperor had kept. The male had slowly seduced the stupid human into worshiping him. It had take some years but eventually his spirit was bent and warped the way he wanted.

Inside the room was where he had performed the magic his 'god' had been teaching him. It was also where sacrifices were made to him. It was a very powerful portion of his defenses and allowed an easy way to reach out and touch his other magic's. It had taken years to insinuate himself into the imperial family. It had taken even more years to slowly wean the emperor's away from being somewhat reasonable rulers to the despotic dictators they had become. If that room was breached and cleansed it would be a significant blow to his plans. "In the name of Zandru's frozen hell how did they find the room? It was heavily warded and sealed to keep its influence from showing." His voice was bleak and icy. If heard it would conjure up images of a screaming blizzard with no hope of survival.

He had to protect that room at all costs and he was going to pull out all the stops for this. He closed his eyes and called a number of items to himself. First were six red and black candles, another bowl but not for scrying. A number of bottles contained some extremely rare essences in them. He hated using them since they were so hard to replace but there was a time for everything. He lit the candles counter clock wise. As he did that he was starting to murmur the spell he was thinking of. Once they were lit he picked up the first vial which had the essence of a dragon lord in it. He had taken that from the dragon's dying breath after he had made him watch as he corrupted his youngest daughter.

After pouring a measured amount in the bowl he picked up the next vial and continued chanting while he decanted some of that. This was the blood of a naga lord he had killed simply because he could. He had taken some of the creature's blood in case it might have some use and it did.

The next vial contained the condensed essence of many innocents torn from their bodies as they were corrupted, raped, and then turned lose to spread agony. They would hunt down anything living and devour it. His favorite treat was sicking them on their families and watching the fun. That was the last vial.

As he had been pouring the essences into the liquid the chanting had been rising and falling. Similar to last time as the vile malevolence of the spell was taking effect it was impacting on the surrounding animals. He could see another fine meal in his future. Maybe he could force the dog bitch to fetch the corrupted carcasses for him. That would be enjoyable as well.

The last and final item needed was a splash of his blood. He picked up an obsidian blade and sliced his palm and held his hand over the bowl. The moment his black blood hit the fluid it started bubbling and surging. It almost looked like what would happen when you dropped dry ice in water except the steam was murky and black. He called out one final word and there was a deep thrum of power that blasted from his cave.

He smiled with satisfaction as he felt the power surge away from the cave and towards the guardian of the room. Normally he would expect the guardian to be powerful enough to destroy anyone that chanced on the room. In this case with that cursed bitch of the clans, the pathetic nine tail as well as the meddling child of four tails it would be a tossup. If they actually managed to subdue it or kill it and accessed the room he would lose a goodly portion of power. As he was thinking he moved back over to the scrying bowl and settled down to watch the fun.

~~~

The specialists had to try several different methods to try and open the door and gain access. When they eventually did Xipil was starting to let out a very angry Kitsune snarl. He was far from pleased since some of the magic needed to access the room was based on Kitsune magic. That was very hard to mimic if you weren't a Kitsune. It was almost bred into their spirits, souls, and bodies. They were the magic and the magic was them. For someone to have used Kitsune magic had implications he wasn't sure he wanted to face at the moment.