"I'm not sure what you mean..." A nervous Kayl stuttered, trying not to appear discomfited. Does she know? The shaman gestured for Kayl to sit, and continued as he did so.
"Your soul seems disconnected from your body, and you reek of divine energy," the shaman explained after sniffing the air. She opened her cloudy eyes and stared at Kayl. "What occurred on your journey to cause yourself to be torn apart thus?"
Kayl smothered a sigh of relief. It appeared the shaman only thought he had suffered through a traumatic event, probably one involving the priests or the temples, rather than having realized the body he inhabited was not his own. Nevertheless, she had noticed something was off, and would not let him leave without an adequate explanation. While Kayl knew he was possessing the body of another, he did not want to lose the opportunity to be with his pack and family, even if it was only for a moment longer. But how would he allay the shaman's suspicions?
"I saw something...strange, while I was in the town," Kayl started carefully, floating just enough truth on the surface. "A pack of criminals attacked a human rogue, and she...changed. When they had her pinned down, she turned into a giant spider and killed them. It wasn't illusionary magic; it climbed and spun webs and moved like any other spider. I was close enough when it happened to see everything." Kayl glanced cautiously at the shaman to see if she had bought his tale. What he did not expect was the look in the shaman's eyes. Rather than disbelief, there was a sharp concentration, and...fear?
Merse tensed as Kayl began to tell his story. She wasn't sure how much he would reveal, or whether she should risk trying to take back over her body, despite being in the center of the wolfen camp. However, when she realized that Kayl intended to hide his own involvement in the incident in Dregsbale, she actually realized that Kayl's actions might work to her advantage. The information dealer had advised her to seek out a shaman, and Kayl had just provided her with one. Merse waited eagerly for the shaman's reaction, hoping for some answers.
"That would explain the stench of a god's meddling," the shaman muttered to herself, staring blankly into the fire, her mind caught up in what Kayl had just said.
"Elder?" Kayl prodded, trying to evoke a response. The shaman's brow furrowed, but she replied to his query.
"I cannot be certain, but...there is an ancient legend," the shaman pondered. "All the beast tribes knew of it once, and feared it, but few probably remember it still. It is said that the old gods were prideful in their creations, each trying to outdo the other. However, one god grew jealous of the others, and angry that his creations could not stand above all others. The envious god decided that if he could not make a creation that was better than those of all the other gods, he would simply rob the other god's creations of their strengths. He selected a few of the beings he had created and gave them a special ability: the 'soul-stealing.' His chosen would be able to enslave the souls of the other gods' creations, subjugating their memories and gaining the ability to take their forms at will." The shaman looked up at Kayl. "The envious god was the god that created humans."
Merse could feel Kayl's shock, but in spite of her own disbelief, she also felt a sense of annoyance. I never had anything to do with the gods, what the blazes do they want with me?
"The old gods passed into history long ago, and few still hold to their ways," the shaman continued, more to herself than to Kayl. "However, if this is true, and another one of those abominations has emerged, the tribes must be warned. Once it learns to hunt, there may be no stopping it." She again turned to Kayl. "What did this rogue look like? And the spider?"
"It was chaotic, I did not see much," Kayl, taken aback, tried to be vague. "The rogue was dressed in hood and cloak, and at most I saw tanned skin and protective leathers. The spider was enormous, much larger than most dark-dwellers, but it moved fast and assuredly."
Merse sighed in relief, even though she did not know why Kayl was protecting her. Perhaps he realized that now that they were connected, whatever trouble she ended up in, he would fall into it as well.
"But you know its scent at least?" The shaman asked after scowling for a moment. Helpless to deny, Kayl nodded.
Stumbling out of the den after his heated conversation, Kayl walked through the village lost in thought until Rigg nearly crashed into him.
"Kayl! The krake-spawn is in Crescent Lake! C'mon!" Rigg bellowed at him. Still a bit unfocused, Kayl stopped him.
"We're not supposed to fight it," Kayl reminded Rigg. However what he heard next made his blood run cold.
"The pups are down by the lake!" Rigg hollered. Awareness dawned in Kayl's eyes as he heard a high-pitched howl in the distance. RAKA!
Bounding madly to the lake, Kayl arrived just in time to see three wriggling pups being dragged by the juvenile krake's tentacles towards the lake, the one with silvery fur further out than the others. As other wolfen arrived and set about rescuing the two closer pups, Kayl dived into the lake, following the tentacle which had just dragged Raka beneath the surface. Ignoring the other tentacles which snaked around his legs, Kayl attacked the creature tooth and claw, loosening its grip on the now unconscious pup. Releasing her from the krake's clutches, Kayl struggled to return her to the surface, but could not hold the pup and fight at the same time. Looking up, he saw a dark form swimming down towards him.
Fens and Kayl made eye contact, and in that moment, Fens understood Kayl's intentions. Pushing Raka's limp body upwards and out of the krake's reach, Kayl watched as Fens grabbed her and immediately shot to the surface, heading for the lake shore. Satisfied that his family would be safe, Kayl began a desperate battle with the krake. However, the tentacled monster was dragging him deeper, and he was quickly running out of breath. Soon, blackness began to close in on the edges of his vision.