"You are free to go. Good luck with your business in Wagon'brei."

Hearing the gate guard's words sent a jolt of terror through me, setting my mind racing. Sure, we were warned against doing anything - but there had to be something we could do, anything.

'Should I use my might?'

»Yes.«

It might catch everyone off guard, might even work, yet it would also mean condemning the city guards outside to death. That was a price I couldn’t pay in good conscience. The same was true of putting my hands through bars and otherwise drawing attention to myself and my pack. Not only were the gate guards compelled to look the other way and let the wagon pass without a proper inspection I wouldn't have achieved anything by doing so. I'd still be locked in this damn cage.

'Was there really nothing I could do, nothing I could use?'

No, there wasn't. Just the bars and the cold metal floor I was sitting on. They robbed me of everything. All I had on were torn shirts and shorts, smelling of sweat and soot and... well, dung. Yeah, scalehoof dung. When the big guy, the now dead bouncer, landed on me, he smeared a lot of it from his chest all over my back. Not the worst smell, honestly. Human shit smelled a lot worse. Still...

'Damn it, Korra! Stop it! Not the time!'

»The card!«

Remembering again the piece of metal still tucked under my waistband, I immediately reached for it.

"What are you doing... huh, Citizen Card?" Elira asked, lifting her blue eyes from the card into mine, a ton of worry, a bit of ruth, and frustration in them. "Sorry, Grey, even though many people think so, there's no tracking enchantment on it."

"Yeah, there better not be," Vara remarked, hissing and coughing in pain, and promptly added: "Don't get me... wrong. It would - It would be great... c-cough... if there was one placed on it, right now. But... I don't want someone tracking my ass all the time."

'Yeah, not the best feeling.'

That was until you needed help from the male watching your tail. And now I really, really needed that help. The only problem was, he could be anywhere - bleeding in a dark alley or worse, dead. Of course, I didn’t tell my pack any of that. Not only I couldn't, but my time to do something was running out.

"Thank you, sir. Have a nice night," my so-called master said, his words sickeningly sweet, throwing me into a panic.

'Should I - should I roar after all? Use my might?' Even if it means having the blood of others on my hands.

»Blood, yes!«

'Blood!'

While the beast hungered for blood, to show those who dared to put me in a cage what a mistake it was, the idea sparked in my mind - finally. I stabbed my index finger with the claw of my other hand and paused.

'What should I write on the card?'

They did mention the Beyond Reach Inn and Wagon'brei, but I highly doubted that either was our actual destination. After all, they wanted to use a completely different gate at first.

"Come on, Tate. What are you waiting for?"

"On your orders. Mr. Rutledge."

"Traiana, help me. Get the wagon moving."

"Yes, Mr. Rutledge," the young male sitting in the driver's seat said meekly and slammed the reins. "Gyddyup."

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

'Fuck it!' I thought in a panic as the car started to move. Quickly, I scribbled HELP on the card. Through the gap between the planks of the wagon floor, hidden under the tarp yet visible through my domain outside the cage, I slipped the only evidence of my freedom.

"A-are you crazy...?" Elira blurted out in a whisper, stopped by a jab to her shoulder from Vara.

"I'd say she's a genius."

"You too? What if...? They could kill the others. Elias."

The auburn-haired female could only manage, "Only if they notice." So, the three of us held our breath, waiting to see what would come next. Would the gate guards notice my Citizen Card and halt the wagon? Or would the slavers punish me for such a reckless act? Much to our collective relief, none of that came to pass. The wagon rolled on, undisturbed.

"Move it! Faster!" the slave trader snarled at the young driver as the steady clatter of wheels on cobblestones shifted to the rattling of dirt and gravel.

"That was risky. Damn risky," Elira hissed, her fists clenched. "You could have…"

"Still... tss... you have to admit, pretty brilliant too, El."

'Was it?'

It was the only thing I could think of to do. A stupid, cowardly cry for help. By this time, it must have been obvious to Captain Rayden and the others that I was in trouble, that mind mages were on the move.

"Yeah, it was," sighed Elira, agreeing with her friend.

'It was? What the fuck did I do?'

My confusion must have been obvious. Both of them chuckled. "Maybe not so brilliant as a stroke of luck. Look, Grey. No doubt they'll be covering our tracks," Elira went on to explain. "Ward and his Shadowbreakers are good at that. If they weren't, they'd be behind bars long ago. They will do everything in their power to throw anyone who tries to follow us off the trail."

"But blood... tss - cough... that's one of the hardest things to get rid of."

'Was it? The fire-wielding mage made it disappear easily enough out there in the streets.'

"I know what you're thinking, Grey. Harcon, he can't burn everything behind us. His magic would have left an even stronger trace. Same with any other magic."

'Then why did he say that the city guards won't find anything? And more importantly how the bloody fuck were they going to cover their tracks, then?'

"The old-fashioned way," Vara said with a lot of pain in her voice, as if reading my mind. It was so strange that I couldn't resist looking at her fingers and mine for the presence of a Union Ring. "... and a little magic, of course. What are you looking at? Ah. You know... when I started thinking of you as a wild beast, it became pretty easy to read you."

'Me, a wild beast?!'

»You want a taste of my claws?«

"See... hang on, I... stay in your corner."

Of course, I stayed. Hurting my packmates was unthinkable. Still, better safe than sorry. After all, there were times when the bloodlust got the better of me.

"They have to use as little magic as they can," Elira blurted out, obviously trying to get my attention and calm me down. Not necessary, but clever. She spoke of my feat, whatever it was, stroking my pride. "Your blood... surely some of it must have stuck in the crack."

»The crack in the floorboards?«

"Yes. Maybe if you dabbed a little more blood in there to..."

She didn't have to say more. More blood will leave a stronger scent trail behind us for hounds to follow. Pride and shame hit me at the same time. Pride over her. She was thinking like a true predator. Shame on me for not thinking of it myself. That didn't stop some of my instincts from kicking in, though. As far as my scent went, I had more than enough to offer.

'Sorry Sage,' I said, apologizing to my tail as once more I used my claws, this time to cut off a few tufts of hair - hair soaked in my apple-scented poison and sweat. To give it a little more bite, I smeared the hair with my blood.

"Excellent idea, but don't overdo it," Elira warned, her voice trembling with caution. "Too much at once, and they might notice."

Elira's fear was unnecessary. It was impossible to push much hair through the gap between the boards at once in the first place. But once they were through, they scattered in the wind.

At least as far as I could tell.

"El?" Vara asked as Blue Eyes froze, herself swallowing a painful howl. "W-What's wrong?"

"Sorry, nothing. Just that Harcon is back in range of the ring."

'She could tell?'

"So, what about Elias?"

"I... I'll ask..." Elira stammered, her fear and worry radiating from her like a stench. "G-give me a moment..."

While her gaze went blank, Vara looked at me. "By the way, Korra... tits that hurts... What did you write on that card? I... cough... quite couldn't read it."

»Help,« I said bluntly, horror hitting me as soon as the growl left my lips.

'How could I be so stupid?'

Without realizing it, in my panic, I wrote the cry for help in English.