Mary-Cade Mandus - Skin Deep

The hunter coursed silently through the forest. The obstacle course of collapsed trunks, snarled vines and jumbled rocks proved no impediment. The craving for vengeance afforded him such unnatural swiftness and dexterity that he halfway imagined his two human legs had miraculously been restored to four canine.

He had been cording firewood when Hyacinth had charged up bellowing, her eyes rolling with panic. In the kitchen house he’d discovered the source of her distress, seated unconsciously beside the table. Before detecting the telltale scent of troll dust, he’d suffered momentary anxiety, fearing that she’d been poisoned. Imperceptible to a human’s, his keen nose had picked up the peppery aroma from the puddle of tea on the floor and the residue left in Elena’s cup. From Hyacinth’s accounting of that morning’s events it had been easy to deduce who had laced the tea. After gently carrying Elena upstairs to her chamber to sleep off the drug’s effect, he’d left Hyacinth to sit guard and ran to his hut to fetch Toddy to the cottage. Until he knew what Amadeus was up to it would be safer to have the child under Hyacinth’s vigilant eye.

But Toddy hadn’t been in the hut, nor at any of his favorite play spots. When there’d been no reply to his mustering howl, Mutch had felt the first arrow of fear. Reminding himself that Amadeus hadn’t truly harmed Elena, he’d forced himself to conduct a calm and methodical hunt. Soon he’d picked up the child’s scent - and that of Amadeus - in the vicinity of a badger’s den. There were signs of recent excavation and the distinct odor of blood and raw meat mingled with the tang of disturbed earth. The scent of both boys led into the bush. Toddy’s overlapped, so it was apparent he’d been tracking the older boy. Since he was often in the habit of trailing after his ‘hero’, this in of itself wasn’t disquieting, but, as Mutch had followed their spoor deeper into the forest, the apparent destination most definitely was. An hour later he’d located Toddy.

He’d detected the muffled distress yelps two miles from the caverns’ entrance and had followed the heartbreaking sound to the crevasse where Toddy sat imprisoned. At the first sight of his small son - head thrown back, eyes screwed shut, face glistening with tears, throat muscles quivering with effort – he’d felt such rage that had Amadeus been present he would have torn him asunder.

After a tearful reunion during which Toddy had, between hiccupping sobs, related the entire tale of his ordeal, Mutch had carried him home. Elena had not awakened during his absence, so after yielding Toddy up to Hyacinth’s maternal ministrations he’d set off to hunt down Amadeus.

The motive behind Amadeus’ misdeeds was a mystery but it was crystal clear that Toddy’s marooning had been deliberately devised as a distraction to keep him, Mutch, occupied. The boy knew full well that once it was discovered Toddy was missing nothing would divert him until he had his son safe.

Topping the knoll above Filch’s bower, Mutch hesitated only briefly, pivoted, then charged onward, his gut thrumming with apprehension. Two other scents, Mirella’s and Crispin’s, now merged with Amadeus’.