[quote=@jordy0403]"What about the others?" I asked, to no-one in particular. "How are we going to move them?"[/quote]
Spook tipped his head at Alex; there were four other cages besides the one now attached to Alex's rucksack, all of which contained ratty, yowling felidrakes. They hissed and clawed at the corners and slammed their leathery wings against the bars with a clanging noise.

Behind them, the Temple of Spring Whistling echoed a beautiful chord.

[b]"We'll manage well enough,"[/b] Spook said pleasantly, and he reached out a gloved hand, offering to carry a cage himself.

[quote=@hoppiholla391]"Thank you, Spook," she said pleasantly, turning away with one last glance at the innocently grassy earth where the magic circle had lain just moments before. She planted her hands on her hips, nodding to the Traveller. "It is quite nice to know what's going on, for once. However, it's also nice to give the little critters a chance, no?"

If the surrounding cities had been wiped out by disease, what had happened to her sisters?[/quote]
[b]"Yes, I suppose it is,"[/b] Spook answered, though with an air of skepticism, as if he were smiling stiffly through the words. [b]"I admit, I've been chasing infected potentials for so long that sometimes I forget just that."[/b] He watched her a moment. [b]"But I can help you find the person you're concerned for."[/b]

[quote=@c3p-0h]She gave a short whistle from her spot behind the group to get his attention. Though of course, it was impossible to tell behind that mask of his. Her eyes were narrowed a bit as she focused on him, still trying to figure out who he was underneath everything else. She raised the felidrake a bit in a silent question.[/quote]
Spook had barely taken hold of the cage when a whistle raised his head. The glassy eyes of his mask stared through her for awhile -- or rather, he watched the dreams that whirled around her head, through the magus lenses in his mask.

[b]"You weren't here when I told everyone that it's impossible to tell now whether the felidrake has been infected,"[/b] he called to her at the back of the group. [b]"There is no blood test, no spell, no examination that could tell the difference between a healthy animal and an infected one -- until it begins to show symptoms, at which point it is imperative it is destroyed as quickly as possible."[/b] He spoke more quickly than he had before, his posture straighter -- though it was unclear whether he had shaken a facade or was putting one on. The smile showed through the sound of his voice.

Spook lifted the cage in his hand. [b]"It'll go into a trance, stop eating, and its eyes will glaze over. Then, black crystals grow on its skin, usually behind the ears or under the chin. In half a day, the entire body will be consumed by crystals. When the body dies, the crystals dissolve in the air and infect anyone and anything that surrounds it. Even if the host is killed before the crystals form -- even if the body is burned -- the chance is still too great that the remains will cause further infection."[/b]

The felidrake in Meryn's hands stretched its wings and yawned.

Spook laughed quietly. [b]"I've never been much for monologues. Here."[/b] With his free hand he reached into his inside jacket pocket and took out three folded sheets of paper. He handed one each to Alex, Lily, Meryn and Emma. On each of the pages was a different circular, geometric sigil.

[b]"Use these in an emergency,"[/b] was all he said about them, before he turned and began walking down the ruined road, away from the city of Enn. [b]"If we're to get anything done, I suppose we'll take the felidrakes to the Lady of the Lake,"[/b] he called back to them, even as his back was turned. [b]"This way."[/b]

Ahead, the forest was thicker, and the road had been broken and overgrown so well by the intruding woods that very little of it was left. The statues still peeked through moss and vines, watching with grinning faces from beneath fallen rotting trees. Soon, the chorus of whistling and the tinkle of bells would be gone, replaced only by thick trees and quiet shadows.